Who returned to green lake after a twenty year absence

NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell said execs at the company and parent Comcast are “more confident” than they were a year or two ago that investments in streaming service Peacock will soon yield profits. How soon remains a bit unclear, however. “We’ve been clear from the start that we’re going to see a return on that investment — I think we feel better about that now based on where we are,” Shell said during Comcast’s fourth-quarter earnings call. The company said Peacock had passed 20 million subscribers by the end of 2022, more than double its size at the start of the year. It added 5 million subscribers in the quarter thanks to Spanish-language World Cup coverage as well as original programming, other live sports and the addition of first-window movie titles and NBC and Bravo series that used to go to Hulu. Over the rest of the year, CEO Brian Roberts said, “subscriber cadence will follow content launches, which will fall more heavily in the second half of 2023” than … [Read more...] about NBCUniversal And Comcast Execs “More Confident” Than They Were A Year Ago In Peacock Profit Outlook, Jeff Shell Says

Kevin Fortson, the Executive Vice President of Production & Administration for Warner Bros . Unscripted Television, will retire this summer after three decades with the studio. “For the past 30 years, Kevin has been an indelible part of Warner Bros,” said Mike Darnell , President, Warner Bros. Unscripted Television. “His name has literally become synonymous with the company and the lot itself. Personally, I will miss him for his counsel, his friendship and his endless string of dad jokes. He truly is one in a million … although he would probably try to cut that budget down! He is as important to the studio as any movie or television show ever produced here, and if I had the power to do it, there would be a stage with his name on it, right next to Friends and The Big Bang Theory. He is known as the unofficial Mayor of the lot, and his constituents will miss him dearly… and no one will ever be re-elected to that position.” Fortson has been leading all aspects of … [Read more...] about Unscripted TV Exec Kevin Fortson To Retire After 30 Years With Warner Bros.

French gender equality and diversity group Le Collectif 50/50 has hit out at the lack of female representation at the upcoming César awards, France’s equivalent to the Oscars. The protest comes after not a single woman made it into the Best Director category in nominations announced Wednesday. The awards ceremony is February 24 in Paris. Just one feature by a female director — Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi’s controversy-hit Forever Young — was nominated for Best Film. This outcome raised surprise in some quarters as there was a raft of strong features by female directors on release in France this year including Alice Winocour’s Paris Memories , Rebecca Zlotowski’s Other People’s Children , Léa Mysius’ The Five Devils and 2023 French Oscar submission Saint Omer by Alice Diop. “Le Collectif 50/50 deplores the total absence of women in the Best Director category and their lack of representation in the Best Film category,” the body wrote in a statement … [Read more...] about French Gender Equality Group Launches #CesarSoMale Campaign After Female Directors Shut Out Of Awards

Bella Ramsey stars in HBO ’s The Last of Us and the Game of Thrones alum is teasing that a second season is highly “likely.” “If people keep watching, I think [a second series] is pretty likely. It’s down to the guys at HBO,” Ramsey told BBC in an interview. “There’s nothing confirmed yet so we’ll have to wait and see.” The Last of Us is based on a PlayStation video game and in its debut season on the premium cable network it scored the second-largest premiere after House of the Dragon since Boardwalk Empire’s launch in 2010. Ramsey stars as Ellie and is joined by Pedro Pascal, Gabriel Luna, Anna Torv, Nico Parker, Murray Bartlett and Nick Offerman as well as Melanie Lynskey, Storm Reid, Merle Dandridge, Jeffrey Pierce, Lamar Johnson, Keivonn Woodard, Graham Greene, Elaine Miles, Ashley Johnson and Troy Baker. The Last of Us takes place 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed. Joel (Pascal), a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle … [Read more...] about Bella Ramsey Says ‘The Last Of Us’ Season 2 Is “Likely”

UPDATE: President Volodymyr Zelensky was greeted by rousing ovations by a joint session of Congress as he told lawmakers that Ukraine would “never surrender” in its war against Russia. In his speech, running about 20 minutes and delivered in English, Zelensky compared his country’s winter fight to that of American soldiers fighting Nazis in the Battle of the Bulge, which also took place in a cold December. “Ukraine holds its line and will never surrender,” he said. It was one of several moments in his speech that connected American history — and American ideals — to what is happening in Ukraine. “It is just a matter of time when [Russia] will strike against your other allies … if we do not stop them now. We must do it,” he said. The speech reflected the former comedian’s gifts at communication, with memorable lines and standout visual moments, as when he presented House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with a Ukrainian battle flag as a “symbol of our victory in this war.” … [Read more...] about Volodymyr Zelensky, In Historic Speech To Congress, Says Ukraine Will “Never Surrender” To Russia

SPOILER ALERT! This story contains details from the Season 2 finale of HBO Max’s Gossip Girl . It was never supposed to end this way. HBO Max ‘s Gossip Girl took its final bow on Thursday as the Season 2 finale hit the streamer. Since news of the show’s cancellation broke last week, the episode now also serves as a series finale. Showrunner Josh Safran told Deadline that he’s holding on to a glimmer of hope that the series might land at a new home, but he’s had an inkling for months that this might happen, considering the growing number of streaming cancellations and Gossip Girl ‘s hefty price tag. “I asked HBO Max if I actually could go back in [to the episode]. I had the idea to take some of the cliffhangers out, because there were a lot of cliffhangers,” Safran said. “We got the editorial team back together. I went in and I lifted a bunch of stuff, I changed as much as I could. I couldn’t do as much as I wanted, because I couldn’t re-shoot anything, … [Read more...] about ‘Gossip Girl’ Boss Josh Safran Explains How He Re-Shaped The Season 2 Closer As A Series Finale & What He Had Planned For Season 3

Jafar Panahi ’s wife Tahereh Saeedi issued a fresh appeal for her imprisoned husband to be released as his period of captivity entered 200 days, in an Instagram post on Thursday. Her statement follows the news at the weekend that Panahi was possibly on the verge of being released on bail after his lawyer Saleh Nikbakht successfully challenged his detention in the Supreme Court last October. “Last week, the news came that Jafar will be released within the week. We were happy again and felt better. Today, a week has passed, and Jafar hasn’t come. Exactly 200 days have passed since Jafar was imprisoned. We are disappointed,” she wrote. Panahi was arrested in early July amid a crackdown on freedom of expression, after going to a prosecutor’s office in Tehran to enquire the about whereabouts of filmmakers Mohammad Rasoulof and Mostafa Al-Ahmad following their detention a few days previously. It was announced a few days later that the Iranian authorities had decided to … [Read more...] about Jafar Panahi’s Wife Issues Fresh Appeal For Imprisoned Iranian Director As Release Hopes Dashed

EXCLUSIVE : Larry Wilmore is tapping into his experiences in late-night for a primetime comedy in development at ABC . Wilmore is writing, executive producing and is set to star in Lately , described as a behind-the-scenes look at the upstairs-downstairs dynamics of the people who work at a late-night talk show, sources tell Deadline. Tamara Gregory, Head of Television at Wilmore’s Wilmore Films, also executive produces. The project comes from Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, where Wilmore is under an overall deal . Wilmore was host of his own late-night talk show, Comedy Central’s The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore , which ran for nearly two years . He also appeared as “Senior Black Correspondent” on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and more recently hosted and executive produced Wilmore, a limited weekly special talk series for Peacock. This marks Wilmore’s return to ABC, where he helped to launch Black-ish as an executive … [Read more...] about Larry Wilmore To Headline Late Night-Themed Comedy ‘Lately’ In Works At ABC

Stubborn and iconoclastic as always, Jean-Luc Godard has passed to another realm –and by his own choice–at age 91. Ever impudent and exasperating, forever pushing boundaries but remaining elusive, and an artist in every fiber of his being, Godard always did exactly what he wanted to do; for a few years many followed him ardently, and for lots of us in the 1960s he led the way into a vastly exciting and personal form of cinema. Thereafter he went entirely his own way, losing most of his audience but remaining at the forefront of exploring what cinema is, could be, and, sometimes, what it absolutely shouldn’t be. The official obituaries and tributes will certainly convey Godard’s importance and influence through the 1960s, the way he helped liberate cinema from its literary and orderly appearance to something far more energized, unexpected, jarring and often exhilarating. Although Godard consumed and brilliantly wrote about the existing cinema as a young critic, he … [Read more...] about Godard Is Gone: A Remembrance Of The Stubborn & Iconoclastic Film Director

IMAGN Rui Hachimura made his debut as the Los Angeles Lakers' newest addition on Wednesday ... but a lot of his fans back home missed out on the action -- 'cause the historic moment caused the NBA's streaming service in Japan to crash. The Lakers acquired the 24-year-old from the Washington Wizards earlier this week ... shipping Kendrick Nunn and a handful of second round picks to secure the deal -- making Rui the first Japanese-born player in Lakers franchise history. Fans were quick to complain on social media about not being able to watch Rui check in towards the end of the first quarter of the Lakers' home win over the San Antonio Spurs ... forcing the streaming service to address the issue. Rakuten -- the Association's official streaming partner in Japan since 2017 -- released a statement on the matter ... saying, "Starting around 12:20 PM Japan Time on Thursday, January 26, the NBA Rakuten site became inaccessible when a sudden surge in user traffic caused … [Read more...] about Rui Hachimura’s Lakers Debut Crashes Streaming Service In Japan