Category:

How Europeans Films and TV Shows Develop From Script to Screen

Creators and screenwriters from Europe discussed the importance of collaboration in filmmaking during a panel in the Variety Streaming Room.

Hosted by international features editor Leo Barraclough, the conversation, titled “Lost in Translation? Visual Story Development from Script to Screen,” included creators from the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival’s Black Room and writers from the Face to Face program. Prop maker and modeler Simon Weisse, production designer Jacqueline Abrahams, and writers Jana Burbach and Hanno Hackfort took part in the panel.

Collaborative endeavors have seen an increase in European filmmaking, said Hackfort, since teams have begun to see that different departments — writers, designers, directors — often have ideas that aren’t limited to just the part of the film or television project they’re working on.

“This concept of showrunner becomes more and more important in Germany,” he said. “Then you’re not just a writer, but you can also work together

… Read More
Posted On : Published By : [email protected]_84
Category:

Black Narcissus Review: FX Series Stars Gemma Arterton and Diana Rigg

In retrospect, it may have been a mistake to watch the original Archers film production of “Black Narcissus” before screening the limited series “Black Narcissus,” produced for FX and BBC One. Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s 1947 take on Rumer Godden’s novel is a cinematic landmark of its era, leaning on saturated colors, dramatic music cues and performances so pointed they threatened to draw blood. It’s dated but deliberate, tense and taut with simmering lust. This 2020 update, from writer Amanda Coe and director Charlotte Bruus Christensen, is careful to state that its primary source material is Godden’s book rather than the Archers’ film, and as such, should have more room to play with and develop the story. In practice, though, not even having three hourlong episodes versus a movie less than two hours long quite gives the series much of a personality of its own. Too much of FX’s

… Read More
Posted On : Published By : [email protected]_84
Category:

Trump has been a ratings driver for cable TV news. How will the networks adapt?

It’s never pretty for a hit TV show when it loses its biggest star.



Donald Trump wearing a suit and tie talking on a cell phone: Cable news has thrived during the administration of President Trump, with viewing levels reaching an all-time high in October. (Los Angeles Times)

© (Los Angeles Times)
Cable news has thrived during the administration of President Trump, with viewing levels reaching an all-time high in October. (Los Angeles Times)

Cable news networks are about to learn what it feels like when President Trump leaves the White House on Jan. 20 to make way for former Vice President Joe Biden.

Trump has fueled a five-year run of record ratings and profit for Fox News, MSNBC and CNN that began when Trump first descended the gold-plated escalators of his eponymous midtown Manhattan tower in August 2015 to announce his candidacy for president.

While the rest of the traditional TV business has spiraled downward as consumers have shifted away from pay TV subscriptions and consumed a bounty of streaming video services, cable news has thrived during the Trump administration. Viewing levels

… Read More
Posted On : Published By : [email protected]_84
Category:

Disney TV’s Head of Business Ops Ravi Ahuja Departs Company

Click here to read the full article.

A year and a half after being named president of business operations and chief financial officer of Walt Disney Television, Ravi Ahuja is exiting the company “to seek a new adventure,” Disney General Entertainment chairman Peter Rice.

The move comes amid a greater restructuring at Disney that has seen a greater focus on streaming at the entertainment conglomerate. As Rice notes in an internal memo to staff, Ahuja’s position has “significantly changed.”

Ahuja will stay with Disney as a consultant while the company looks for a new head of operations and finance.

In a separate note to colleagues, Ahuja said that he did not make the decision easily, but express pride in what he and his team have been able to accomplish since he joined the greater company in the wake of Disney’s acquisitions of 21st Century Fox’s entertainment assets. Ahuja was previousy

… Read More
Posted On : Published By : [email protected]_84
Category:

‘Finding Forrester’ TV Series in Development at NBC

NBC is developing a series adaptation of the 2000 film “Finding Forrester,” Variety has confirmed.

The film version followed a high school basketball star (Rob Brown) with a secret passion for writing who develops a friendship with a reclusive author (Sean Connery) who published a hit novel years before but then disappeared from public life.

The NBC version explores the unique bond between two gifted black writers: a homeless 16-year-old orphan who leverages his basketball skills to hustle his way into an ultra-competitive elite boarding school, and a reclusive lesbian author whose career was ruined by a public scandal.

TJ Brady and Rasheed Newson are writing and executive producing the project. Tim Story is attached to direct and executive produce, with Sharla Sumpter Bridgett of The Story Co. also executive producing. Stephen Curry and Erick Peyton will executive produce via Unanimous Media. Sony Pictures Television will produce. Unanimous is currently

… Read More
Posted On : Published By : [email protected]_84
Category:

TV star Melissa Gilbert shares big smile after successful spinal surgery

The “Little House on the Prairie” star detailed the procedure on Instagram.

November 23, 2020, 1:42 PM

2 min read

Actress Melissa Gilbert was all smiles after her “wildly successful” spinal surgery.

The 56-year-old television star, who has battled with neck and back injuries since 2001, shared a photo on Instagram with a caption explaining the procedure.

“Surgery was wildly successful! Dr. Bray was able to remove all the old hardware, shave off bone spurs causing numbness in my right hand and, and, and, he was able to give me the artificial disc,” she wrote. “So now I focus on recovery and remaining Covid free. Thank you all for your love, support and prayers. I send so much love back to you all. Happy Thanksgiving indeed!!! Love and love and love…MG.”

Dr. Vik Patel, an orthopedic surgeon with UC Health,

… Read More
Posted On : Published By : [email protected]_84
Category:

American Music Awards Fall 50% to New Record Lows

Click here to read the full article.

The 2020 American Music Awards delivered a big decline in rating and total viewership from last year, falling to record lows in both measurements.

Last night’s awards show, which was hosted by “Empire” star Taraji P. Henson and saw Taylor Swift, The Weeknd and Dan + Shay emerge as the big winners, averaged a 0.9 rating among adults 18-49 and around 3.8 million total viewers. That represents a 50% rating decline and a 43% loss in total viewership. For comparison, last years AMAs were down only 4% on the year prior in the ratings column, and in fact gained around 200,000 viewers from 2018. Its “America’s Funniest Home Videos” lead-in scored a 0.5 rating and just under 4 million viewers.

Of course it needs to be mentioned that those historically small AMA numbers aren’t really particularly surprising given that awards shows are tumbling

… Read More
Posted On : Published By : [email protected]_84
Category:

U.K. TV Exports Soar to $1.97 Billion, With Shows Like ‘Chernobyl’

Scripted dramas drove U.K. TV exports to a record £1.48 billion ($1.97 billion) in 2019/20, a 6% year-on-year increase, according to a report from producers’ trade body Pact.

Dramas like “Chernobyl,” “His Dark Materials,” “The War of the Worlds,” “The Feed” and “Doctor Who,” produced by U.K. companies, were the key export drivers and accounted for 48% of all revenue. Factual programming, including “Seven Worlds,” “One Planet” and “The Planets,” increased its share from 23% to 28% year-on-year.

The U.S. continues to be the most important market for U.K. exports contributing 32%, or £466 million ($622.5 million) of all revenue in the 2019/20 financial year, an increase of £22 million ($29.3 million) year-on-year, the report states. France, with £102 million ($136.3 million) and Australia with £98 million ($131 million) complete the top three markets for U.K. TV exports.

China was identified last year as a market with growth potential and

… Read More
Posted On : Published By : [email protected]_84
Category:

how Friends’ Ross Geller pivoted from sartorial disaster

The first time I watched Friends, there was a clear style hierarchy among the male characters. Gunther, Joey, Chandler, baby Ben, Mr Geller (Ross and Monica’s dad) – and then Ross.

Gunther, with his bleached-blond, close-cropped hair and bold coloured shirts, had a “New York artist in the early 80s” vibe about him. Joey, meanwhile, with his crackpot magnetism, managed to make any outfit from sweats to plaid shirts work, with his heart-shaped face and curtains haircut. He even went accidentally high-fashion with a man-bag and, in the episode where he wore all of Chandler’s clothes, predicted Balenciaga-esque layering. Even Geller Sr had a very specific rumpled, older-gentleman style about him, with his one-size-too-big suits and jumpers.



Courteney Cox sitting at a table using a laptop: Black is the new black ... Courteney Cox as Monica and Elliott Gould as her father, Jack. Photograph: NBC/Getty

© Provided by The Guardian
Black is the new black … Courteney Cox as Monica and Elliott Gould as her father, Jack. Photograph: NBC/Getty

But Ross … oh, poor Ross! Wasn’t he always

… Read More
Posted On : Published By : [email protected]_84
Category:

CNN, MSNBC and Fox News prepare for life after Trump

It’s never pretty for a hit TV show when it loses its biggest star.

Cable news networks are about to learn what it feels like when President Trump leaves the White House on Jan. 20 to make way for former Vice President Joe Biden.

Trump has fueled a five-year run of record ratings and profit for Fox News, MSNBC and CNN that began when Trump first descended the gold-plated escalators of his eponymous midtown Manhattan tower in August 2015 to announce his candidacy for president.

While the rest of the traditional TV business has spiraled downward as consumers have shifted away from pay TV subscriptions and consumed a bounty of streaming video services, cable news has thrived during the Trump administration. Viewing levels reached an all-time high in October.

Despite Trump’s false allegations of voting fraud and legal challenges in the closely contested states he lost to Biden, the daily

… Read More
Posted On : Published By : [email protected]_84