UPDATE 2: Complete list of nominees, below: UPDATE: More nominees, below: The National Theatre of Great Britain’s ingenious adaptation of The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time and a revival of David Hare’s end-of-the-affair romance Skylight, with Carey Mulligan and Bill… Read
Faced with stiffening demand for its home-grown stars from online competitors and traditional media, YouTube said it will back original series by four of its best-known creators, including the Fine Brothers, Prank vs. Prank, Joey Graceffa and SMOSH. The Google subsidiary will also partner with DreamWorks Animation-owned AwesomenessTV to create “several” films featuring YouTube stars over the next two years. Together, the deals mark a significant shift in approach for… Read
Like other digital video providers, Maker Studios is using its NewFront presentation in New York this morning to introduce new shows. But the short-form content specialist is especially eager to highlight its alliances — including with parent Disney, advertiser data services, and celebs such as designer Rachel Zoe, actress Taryn Southern, comedian Lisa Schwartz, and web-series star Meghan Camarena (a/k/a Strawburry17). Maker will team with Disney-owned Marvel to develop… Read
Andrew Lesnie, the cinematographer on all six of Peter Jackson’s Lord Of The Rings and Hobbit movies and an Oscar winner in 2002 for the seminal franchise kickoff The Fellowship Of The Ring, died Monday. He was 59. The Australian Cinematographers Society confirmed “the sudden death of Andrew,” according to Australian news outlets. The Aussie-born DP’s most recent film was Russell Crowe’s directorial debut The Water Diviner, which debuted in the U.S. in a platform release… Read
Refinery29 – the female-centric online-media company – has raised another $50 million in a Series D round of funding from Scripps Networks Interactive and the WPP Ventures arm of giant advertising and marketing holding company WPP, the company announced. The round, which brings to $80 million the total raised by Refinery29, will be used to expand its video and entertainment programming targeting Millennial generation women, to expand internationally, and to build more… Read
Seville International, the boutique sales outfit of eOne, is set to handle sales on Cannes Critics' Week selection Sleeping Giant. It’s the feature directorial debut of writer-director Andrew Cividino, which is in competition for the Caméra d'Or at Cannes. Newcomers Nick Serino and Reece Moffett star alongside Jackson Martin, David Disher and Erika Brodzky. The story follows Adam, a teenager who is spending his summer vacation with his parents on Lake Superior. His dull… Read
At today Milken Institute Global Conference panel on “Can Hollywood Speak Chinese,” a number of film industry execs who have overcome hurdles and succeeded doing business in China — IM Global founder and CEO Stuart Ford, Relativity founder and CEO Ryan Kavanaugh, STX Entertainment CEO-Chairman Robert Simonds and Lionsgate Co-COO Brian Goldsmith — shed light on how they’ve obtained financing, released films and essentially navigated the culture’s business… Read
Paul Ryan, an actor, TV host and former Entertainment Tonight correspondent, has died. He was 69. Ryan died April 23 of leukemia at Providence Saint Joseph Hospital in Burbank. He hundreds of celebrity interviews as ET‘s Hollywood correspondent, co-hosted the local Mid-Morning Los Angeles and most recently produced web series A BraveHeart View. Ryan also authored the 2007 book The Art Of Comedy: Getting Serious About Being Funny. His acting career included more than two… Read
EXCLUSIVE: Paul Wernick & Rhett Reese, the scribes behind Zombieland and the X-Men spinoff Deadpool, next will craft a movie about the disastrous launch of New Coke, perhaps the worst product introduction since the Edsel. Last week marked the 30th anniversary of when Coca-Cola veered from the secret formula that had been around since the 1890s to unveil what the company hoped would be a new and improved drink for a younger generation. It went so flat it imperiled its… Read
2nd UPDATE, 5:46 PM: Peter Hoffman told Deadline he is “stunned” by the verdict but would have no other comment until he moves to have it set aside. UPDATED, 4:51 PM: Peter Hoffman, Hollywood's once-highflying guru of exotic tax breaks, has been found guilty on tax fraud in federal court in New Orleans. Hoffman was convicted on 21 counts of conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud as part of a scheme to defraud the state of Louisiana out of $1.13 million in tax credits to… Read
Yahoo kicked off NewFront week in NYC today by stepping up its effort to blur, if not erase, the line befween online and TV programming. It unveiled 18 series, including a Simon Cowell-produced DJ talent show, a daily news show hosted by Katie Couric, a live weekly business news show, and magazine-related series including one featuring model Naomi Campbell and another with actress Michelle Rodriguez. "We know that advertisers want to tap into premium video content that… Read
EXCLUSIVE: In what will be his first collaboration at New Line in a very long time, Michael De Luca is at the center of a deal for Dukes Of Oxy, an article in the April 23 issue of Rolling Stone about a pair of teen high school wrestlers from Florida who built a multimillion-dollar business smuggling OxyContin and other painkillers. The deal is coming together quickly for De Luca to produce the film with Ansel Elgort and Emily Gerson Saines (Temple Grandin). The hope is… Read
