EXCLUSIVE: Former Universal Pictures Distribution and Marketing EVP John C. Hall has joined the team at American-European media fund APX Group , as it continues to restructure and expand ahead of a planned listing on the New York Stock Exchange later this year. Hall has been appointed special consultant to the Board of Directors and Head of the Marketing and Distribution Committee of the board of directors of APX Group. The Los Angeles-based executive will work directly with APX Group’s London-based Global CEO, Shelley Hammond and the freshly announced Director of Distribution and Acquisition Anthony Buckner. The group said the appointment is part of a strategic restructuring as it prepares for its expected listing on New York Stock Exchange. “John is a brilliant addition to the APX Group. He brings vast experience – especially with companies which are fast developing and existing on the outside realms of the norm and becoming game changers in their field,” … [Read more...] about Former Universal Pictures Exec John C. Hall Joins Burgeoning APX Group Team
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Finland’s ‘Yours, Margot’ And Belgium-Uruguay Co-Pro ‘The Invisible Ink’ Win Beta And Series Mania Seriesmakers Initiative
A project from Finland and a Belgium-Uruguay co-production have won the Seriesmaker initiative here at Series Mania . The projects, Yours, Margot and The Invisible Ink , both bag €50,000 ($54,000) each after winning the Beta Development Awards. They were announced minutes ago at Lille’s Series Mania Forum event, which is into its second day. Yours, Margot is an eight-part drama from Finnish director Juho Kuosmanen and producer Jussi Rantamäki. The logline is: “After discovering her father’s letters to an unknown lover, Vilja unearths her family’s traumatic past in 1980s East Berlin.” Kuosmanen’s 2021 road movie Compartment No 6 won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival official competition, and his biographical film The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki won Prix Un Certain Regard at Cannes Film Festival. The Invisible Ink comes from director César Díaz and producer Fernando Epstein, and also runs to eight parts. It follows a former Uruguayan … [Read more...] about Finland’s ‘Yours, Margot’ And Belgium-Uruguay Co-Pro ‘The Invisible Ink’ Win Beta And Series Mania Seriesmakers Initiative
Jay Ellis Sets True-Crime Podcast ‘Freeway Phantom’ & Plans Scripted Series
EXCLUSIVE : The story of the murder of six Black girls in the Washington, D.C. area in the 1970s is to be turned into a podcast and scripted series. Jay Ellis , who starred in Top Gun: Maverick and HBO’s Insecure , is behind both projects. The podcast series, Freeway Phantom , will launch May 17. It comes from Ellis’ Black Bar Mitzvah, Tenderfoot TV and iHeartPodcasts and is hosted by public radio veteran Celeste Headlee. It will tell the story of how Carol Spinks, Darlenia Johnson, Brenda Crockett, Nenomoshia Yates, Brenda Woodard and Diane Williams were murdered between 1971-1972 and discarded alongside D.C. highways. The killer taunted police with a chilling note claiming responsibility, and terrorized victims’ families with calls to their homes. Five decades later, their killer has never been brought to justice. Freeway Phantom will share the stories of the six victims and explore new evidence that could crack the cold cases wide open. Headlee has … [Read more...] about Jay Ellis Sets True-Crime Podcast ‘Freeway Phantom’ & Plans Scripted Series
BAFTA Defends All-White Best TV Actress Shortlist Amid Big Drop In Nominations For People Of Color
BAFTA has celebrated the number of older white women nominated for best actress at its Television Awards amid a steep decline in ethnic diversity in performance shortlists. All six nominees in the Leading Actress category are white and have been nominated for BAFTAs across film and TV multiple times in the past. Asked if BAFTA had hoped for a different outcome, CEO Jane Millichip said: “There is representation in that category in the fact that if you look at the age of the actresses and the roles written for them, it is extraordinary. This is something that we’ve discussed for a long time in the television and film world: Are the roles written for women over the age of 40? That is a really impressive result.” BAFTA later clarified that Millichip was referring to “representation” for older women as a separate issue from diversity, which it considers to relate to ethnicity and socio-economic background among other factors. Imelda Staunton (aged 67) has been nominated … [Read more...] about BAFTA Defends All-White Best TV Actress Shortlist Amid Big Drop In Nominations For People Of Color
Aaron Sorkin Had Stroke Last November Before ‘Camelot’ Rehearsals: “A Loud Wake-Up Call” For Lifelong Smoker
Aaron Sorkin , whose adaptation of the musical Camelot opens on Broadway next month, has revealed that he suffered a stroke last November. “Mostly it was a loud wake-up call,” Sorkin said in an interview with The New York Times . “I thought I was one of those people who could eat whatever he wanted, smoke as much as he wanted, and it’s not going to affect me. Boy, was I wrong.” The West Wing creator and To Kill A Mockingbird adapter has largely recovered from the incident, which he says occurred in November two months before Camelot rehearsals were scheduled to begin. Sorkin says he woke up one night and, on his way to the kitchen, stumbled into walls. The next morning he noticed he was having difficulty holding his orange juice without spilling. After a doctor visit that day, he was told his blood pressure was so high that he was “supposed to be dead.” The 61-year-old Sorkin slurred his words and had difficulty typing for a month, but his only lingering … [Read more...] about Aaron Sorkin Had Stroke Last November Before ‘Camelot’ Rehearsals: “A Loud Wake-Up Call” For Lifelong Smoker
The Jim Henson Company And Marblemedia To Shine Light On Neurodivergent Children In Miklos Perlus Comedy ‘Felix’
EXCLUSIVE: The Jim Henson Company and Marblemedia are using comedy to put children’s mental health under the microscope. The pair has teamed on Felix , a live-action comedy about a boy, his family and his ‘feels’ — five original characters created by Fraggle Rock and Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio maker Jim Henson’s Creature Shop that manifest his larger-than-life emotions. The emotions live in his house, follow him to school and eat his snacks, but once he joins a school for neurodivergent kids, he learns to live with them. The ten-part series was created by Miklos Perlus and inspired by his neurodivergent son. It will run to ten parts and aim to “break new ground by debunking the stereotypes and stigmatisation around neurodiversity and mental health challenges among children.” No network is attached at this stage. Co-producers Jim Henson and Marblemedia previously teamed for live-action preschool series Hi Opie! in 2014 and its spin-off, Opie’s Home … [Read more...] about The Jim Henson Company And Marblemedia To Shine Light On Neurodivergent Children In Miklos Perlus Comedy ‘Felix’
DirecTV Resolves Carriage Fight With Newsmax, Ending Two Months Of Media Industry Acrimony That Spilled Into Washington
DirecTV has reached a carriage deal with conservative news outlet Newsmax , ending two months of media industry acrimony that spilled into Washington. Under the new multi-year deal, Newsmax will return Thursday to DirecTV satellite systems, DirecTV Stream internet bundles and U-verse cable. With about 13 million subscribers, DirecTV is one of the top pay-TV providers in the U.S. Financial terms were not disclosed, but the parties said Newsmax will be available without an additional charge to DirecTV subscribers. A live, linear stream of Newsmax has been available for free on YouTube, a fact DirecTV noted in its public statements objecting to the news outlet’s fee demands, but that feed has been expected to end later this year. Across all of its linear and digital platforms, Newsmax claims reach to 40 million U.S. households. The channel went dark in January, with DirecTV balking at what it called “significant fees” being demanded by Newsmax. The news outlet’s CEO, … [Read more...] about DirecTV Resolves Carriage Fight With Newsmax, Ending Two Months Of Media Industry Acrimony That Spilled Into Washington
NBA’s Cliff Robinson Reveals Brain Hemorrhage … ‘I’m Improving Every Day’
Ex-NBA star Cliff Robinson has finally revealed the medical condition that left him hospitalized in Oregon ... saying he suffered a brain hemorrhage, but he's on the mend. The 50-year-old former Portland Trail Blazers star was hospitalized on March 8 and is still receiving treatment at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center ... but he just released an update on his condition. "I had an unfortunate incident with a minor brain hemorrhage which means I’ll be in rehabilitation for a while. But I’m excited about trying to get past this speed bump. I’m improving every day." He added, "I want Trail Blazers fans and friends to know I’m doing well and in the process of getting better. My family and I appreciate the prayers and well-wishes for my recovery." … [Read more...] about NBA’s Cliff Robinson Reveals Brain Hemorrhage … ‘I’m Improving Every Day’
Jim Calhoun Spoke with Cliff Robinson … ‘He’s Resting & Recovering’
TMZSports.com Finally, some news on the health of ex-NBA star Cliff Robinson -- and it's good -- courtesy of Cliff's former college basketball coach Jim Calhoun . We spoke with the former UConn coach who tells us he spoke with Robinson yesterday ... following a medical emergency in Portland earlier this week that left him hospitalized. Information on Robinson's health has been minimal -- but Calhoun tells TMZ Sports he's confident the 50-year-old is on the road to recovery. "He's resting and recovering," Calhoun said ... "But he had something sitting on the couch, something happened to him medically. They're working on that now. Yesterday he was on the improvement side, which is great news." Calhoun wouldn't reveal specifics about what caused Robinson's condition but says, "Very simply, he had a situation that came out of nowhere . For a young man, very unusual." We asked if the prognosis was good ... he replied, "Yes, it is. But like I said, what … [Read more...] about Jim Calhoun Spoke with Cliff Robinson … ‘He’s Resting & Recovering’
Steven Knight Set As New Scribe For Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s ‘Star Wars’ Movie
Academy Award nominee Steven Knight ( Peaky Blinders ) has taken over as the screenwriter for Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s Star Wars movie following the recently announced departure of scribes Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson, Deadline can confirm. Little is known about the film, though new details should be unveiled at next month’s Star Wars Celebration in London. Sources tell us that the film will likely be one of the first out of the gate for the storied Lucasfilm franchise since 2019’s Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker , if not the first. It’s not clear what led to the departure of from the project of Lindelof and Britt-Gibson, though the former alluded to the move in a recent interview with SlashFilm . “I will just say, that for reasons that I can’t get into on this Sunday morning, on this day, the degree of difficulty is extremely, extremely, extremely high. If [the film] can’t be great, it shouldn’t exist,” said Lindelof. “That’s all I’ll … [Read more...] about Steven Knight Set As New Scribe For Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s ‘Star Wars’ Movie