Innholdsfortegnelse for 4/20/2022 i Variety

April 11 ‘The Dropout’ FYC Event Paramount Theatre, Los Angeles Amanda Seyfried says that after the Hulu limited series wrapped and she was no longer playing Elizabeth Holmes, she “washed her hands” of the role of the disgraced Theranos founder. “I had a moment after we finished shooting where I was like, ‘OK, well, that was good — I’m done,’ the actor told Variety. But her interest was piqued again while doing press for the show and following Holmes’ conviction. Now she’s looking to pursue similarly transformative parts. “Oh, I think I’m a character actor, judging by how much fun I had on this one,” she said. “God, I just want to get lost a little bit more!” April 12 ‘The Flight Attendant’ Premiere Pacific Design Center, West Hollywood Kaley…

Lisa Alter Founding Partner Katie Baron Partner Alter Kendrick & Baron Alter’s New York-based, female-centric firm stands at the forefront of working with major and independent music publishers as well as private equity, repping Primary Wave in its acquisition of the estate of James Brown, Reservoir Media Management’s purchase of Tommy Boy Records and South Korean giant HYBE in its $1 billion merger with Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings. Alter and partner Baron are also known for their work in helping artists regain publishing and master recording rights under the U.S. Copyright Act. Content consolidation: Alter anticipates an increasing consolidation of content ownership in the music space “as more of the short-term investment vehicles driving the current boom reach the end of their life cycles and complete exits.” Adds Baron, “It…

Nary Kim Partner Kendall Brill & Kelly Kim’s recent successes include the conclusion of a $55 million arbitration for CAA in which Kim and KBK partners Richard B. Kendall and Philip M. Kelly were co-counsel. The case involved a lawsuit brought by film producer and financier Worldview Entertainment. Along with Kelly, Kim is also co-lead counsel for Paramount Pictures subsidiary Paramount Licensing in a $20 million-plus breach of contract case brought against a former licensing partner in connection with the development of Paramount hotels and a theme park outside of London. Additionally, Kim and Kelly rep Universal Studios in a breach of contract action pending in L.A. Superior Court against streamer KC Global. Kim is a graduate of U.C. Berkeley School of Law. Kia Kuretski Director, Corporate Entertainment & Finance…

Teperberg lives the lifestyle of her CinemaCon Global Achievement in Exhibition Award. As chief commercial officer at Cineworld Group, Teperberg lives in Tel Aviv, but is a frequent traveler on weekdays to the London headquarters of her multinational circuit and also its Regal Cinemas operation based in Knoxville, Tenn. Her duties range from e-commerce, marketing, food service, HR, new product and business development. For film, that’s studio relations, film buying and scheduling. Development initiatives aim to to expand Cineworld beyond its core business to retail and kids playgrounds attached to theaters. Teperberg is also on the Cineworld board of directors. The Cineworld circuit spans 10 countries with 9,185 screens at 754 theaters and employs more than 30,000 people. Teperberg isn’t worried that consumers might lose interest because of home entertainment.…

Born in Calcutta, India, Jacob says he never imagined when he moved to Canada at age 15 that he’d eventually run the territory’s largest theater circuit. The Toronto-based president and CEO of Cineplex is the 2022 NATO Marquee Award honoree. Top-of-mind today for Ellis isn’t streaming competition or the pandemic hangover, but Cineplex’s 10,000 workers delivering a great cinema experience to customers. “We encourage our employees to be open-minded and entrepreneurial,” he says. Cineplex’s entrepreneurial outlet is its Rec Room location-based entertainment business of 13 operations, most of which aren’t attached to theaters. The Rec Room is location-based entertainment with recreational games, live entertainment and dining under one roof. “It’s really connecting the entertainment experience,” Jacob says. Cineplex is Canada’s largest exhibitor with 160 movie theaters with 1,652 screens, and…

Actually, she can make us love her, and Bonnie Raitt has been doing that since her 1971 self-titled debut album. A slew of Grammys for 1989’s “Nick of Time” created a new legion of fans and spurred a career reboot that’s never waned, particularly when it comes to her live appeal. She’s just started an eight-month tour behind her 18th studio album, “Just Like That,” another soul-stirring mixture of greasy good-time blues rock and heart-rending state-of-the-world balladry. • How is it, back out on the road? We just played our first date last night in Modesto [Calif.], and it was all I could do not to just break down, I was so excited. If you take somebody that’s been on the road for 50 years and then don’t give’em a…

Irony Point might not have wide name recognition just yet, but its projects, which include Netflix’s WGA Award-winning “I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson” and Marvel’s new scripted “Squirrel Girl” podcast, are attracting the attention of high-profile backers. The banner, now almost 12 months into a three-year overall deal with Netflix, is headed by co-presidents Alex Bach and Daniel Powell. Their little company also has partnered with Endeavor Content and Broadway Video on recent projects. Endeavor Content, Irony Point’s collaborator on Hulu dramedy “Life & Beth,” is a “behemoth” operating “in a budget space that we’ve previously not even come close to,” Powell tells Variety. “Being partners with them as the studio really allowed us to have our first experience in what I’d say is a different league,…

“WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW” are words to live by for any writer. Taylor Sheridan, showrunner and architect of the fast-expanding “Yellowstone” universe, excels at creating modern Western characters because he is exactly that. When Variety catches up with Sheridan for an in-depth look at the narrative worlds he is crafting for Paramount TV platforms, it is at the Schmersal horse ranch near Scottsdale, Ariz. Keen-eyed viewers may recognize the location from “The Last Cowboy,” the reality series that Sheridan executive produces. Sheridan arrives for the interview outfitted in a cowboy hat, aviator sunglasses, a denim jacket and jeans, a torn white T-shirt and boots with spurs that jangle every time he moves his feet. He has just come from an equestrian workout, riding a horse in a large covered arena…

Legendary Entertainment CEO Joshua Grode, the keynote speaker at Variety’s Power of Law breakfast on April 20, is having a good year. ¶ For one thing, his company scored big at the Oscars with its epic adaptation of Frank Herbert’s classic sci-fi novel “Dune” (produced in partnership with Warner Bros.), which earned 10 nominations, including best picture, and took home six statuettes. ¶ Additionally, in January he engineered the $760 million sale of a minority stake in Legendary to private equity firm Apollo, which reduced the ownership position of its majority shareholder, Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group, and returned operational, creative and strategic control to Legendary’s management. The move puts Grode firmly in the driver’s seat, flush with cash to explore M&A opportunities even as “Dune: Part II” is on…

Their names have graced the tabloids: Armie Hammer. Chris Noth. Danny Masterson. Bryan Singer. Prince Andrew. What kind of lawyer does it take to represent controversial public figures who have already been tried and pilloried in the court of public opinion? And how does that lawyer feel about taking on such controversial clients? Meet Andrew Brettler, partner at Los Angeles boutique litigation firm Lavely & Singer. Although he may be formidable in a courtroom or sitting across from you at a negotiating table, the lawyer’s phone manner is calm and soothing as he explains how he approaches his work. You represent many clients whose names are in the headlines. Do they find you or do you seek them out? Generally the former. They find me through their other representatives. I…

Joe Calabrese is one of those lawyers never omitted from Variety’s Legal Impact Report — until this year. The power attorney, who through Dec. 31 was chair of Latham and Watkins’ entertainment, sports & media practice, which he helped build in Century City after moving over with his team from O’Melveny & Myers in 2014, now holds the title of counsel and has taken on a consulting role with a few key clients. Drawing on his experience over four decades in the industry, — from the first golden age of TV to the advent of the second, and which includes the eras of cable, home video and OTT services — he spoke to Variety from his second home in Tuscany. You’ve been practicing over 40 years and were global chair…

Globe-trotting Disney executive Forman this year’s CinemaCon’s Passepartout Award honoree for excellence in the international marketplace. Forman is senior vice president of international sales at Disney media and entertainment distribution, where he was boots on the ground opening offices across the Asia-Pacific region in the 1990s. That was for Disney taking distribution of its films in-house after previously going through another major studio. Forman joined Disney in 1991 and in 1999 moved back to Los Angeles, where he supervised the studio’s distribution across the Asia-Pacific region. In 2010, he was promoted to lead Disney’s international distribution organization. In his career, Forman has marketed over 500 films including Disney blockbusters. He doesn’t fret over the future of cinema amid competition for movies with in-home media options. “People are social by nature,”…

Parent and Villeneuve, the producing and directing forces behind Legendary Entertainment-made “Dune,” receive the Intl. Filmmakers of the Year from CinemaCon. The sci-fi epic grossed $108 million domestically and $400 million in worldwide box office for distributor Warner Bros. “Dune” won six Oscars, including for visual effects and production design, which is the most for any single film at this year’s Academy Awards. Parent, chairman of worldwide production at Legendary Entertainment, was hands-on on Legendary blockbusters including “Godzilla vs. Kong,” “Godzilla: King of the Monsters,” “Enola Holmes” and “Pokémon: Detective Pikachu.” Her career and credits include an Oscar nom for best picture “The Revenant.” Her earlier credits include “Kong: Skull Island,” “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water,” “Godzilla,” “Noah,” “Pacific Rim” and “You, Me, and Dupree.” Parent received the…

Vox Cinemas, the highest-grossing exhibitor in West Asia, where it operates more than 600 screens, will focus on diversification next, while also continuing its geographical expansion plan, says Ignace Lahoud, CEO of Majid Al Futtaim Leisure (MAF), Entertainment and Cinemas, which operates Vox. “In the last two or three years, most of our growth has been focused on building and opening cinemas in Saudi Arabia. We intend to continue expanding there, although probably not at the same pace.” Several analysts, including PwC, see Saudi as becoming a billion-dollar movie market. Variety is honoring Vox with its Achievement in Intl. Exhibition Award. The company, operating in eight countries, is optimistic about its future in such markets as Kuwait and Egypt, with plans to bring cinema to rural areas and provide an…

The third-ever Black List specialty report celebrating LGBTQ inclusive stories, released exclusively to Variety, includes work from 12 notable out creators in film, along with eight television pilots. In only two years, nearly 50% of projects named in the previous two editions of the GLAAD List have been optioned, are in production or have been released, with Billy Porter’s directorial debut, “Anything’s Possible,” among them. For the 2022 edition, GLAAD also called on top-tier production houses, streamers and studios to help vet the list. “The industry has finally realized after a very long time that they’re not telling the stories of various communities, and when they do, they tell certain kinds of stories. Stories of struggle, of victimization, or angels walking on Earth that must be perfect,” says The Black…

At a time when there are more streaming services available than you can shake a stick at, breaking through the clutter is harder than ever. Just eight streamers have a reach of more than one in five adults, with that ratio falling to one in seven for kids and teens, according to data provided to VIP+ by measurement specialists TVision. Netflix and YouTube are first and second among those both over and under 18, with Disney’s more adult-themed Hulu taking third for grownups and Disney+ placing third among the younger set. The data suggest a world where just a few services are nearly ubiquitous, while the rest serve more targeted interests. It also points to Netflix and YouTube maintaining their place atop the mountain once today’s kids and teens become…

April 20 Wednesday • Zendaya, Angus Cloud, Sydney Sweeney, Jacob Elordi, Hunter Schafer, Barbie Ferreira, Eric Dane and Maude Apatow walk the red carpet at the Season 2 FYC event for “Euphoria.” Academy Museum, Los Angeles• “The Offer” stars Miles Teller, Matthew Goode, Giovanni Ribisi, Colin Hanks, Burn Gorman, Patrick Gallo, Justin Chambers and Lou Ferrigno and producers Russell Rothberg, Albert S. Ruddy, Michael Tolkin and Nikki Toscano celebrate the premiere of the Paramount+ series about the making of “The Godfather.” Paramount Pictures Studio, Hollywood April 21 Thursday • Steven Spielberg, Drew Barrymore, Henry Thomas and Kathleen Kennedy attend TCM Classic Film Festival’s openingnight-gala tribute to “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.” TCL Chinese Theatre Imax, Hollywood• Ben Platt and Ellie Goulding perform at the LA Family Housing Awards. The evening honors Interscope…

It’s hard to imagine the world of entertainment without Jean Smart. With “Hacks” and “Mare of Easttown” bringing her back to the forefront in the recent years, some call it a Jean Smart renaissance — but that’s not really the case. In fact, she’s never not been working — maybe we just haven’t been paying attention. “In the last five or six years, I’ve had some extraordinary roles that were just kind of handed to me on a silver platter, which has been really amazing — ‘Watchmen,’ ‘Fargo,’ and of course, ‘Hacks.’ I couldn’t have written something for myself that I would have enjoyed more,” Smart tells Variety. “But there are other things I’ve done that weren’t as visible as most shows.” The four-time Emmy winner has made quite an…

Mathew Rosengart has been “a massive Bruce Springsteen fan” since about 1980, when he was a college freshman. So it was a thrill when the high-octane Hollywood attorney was asked to guest DJ an episode of “Be the Boss” on SiriusXM’s E Street Radio. The segment, which aired Feb. 26, consists of Rosengart’s 10-song Springsteen playlist, as well as stories and memories related to each track. Gavin Edwards, music journalist and best-selling author of “The Tao of Bill Murray: Real-Life Stories of Joy, Enlightenment, and Party Crashing” and “Last Night at the Viper Room: River Phoenix and the Hollywood He Left Behind,” calls Rosengart’s list “the best fan picks I’ve ever heard.” Here is Rosengart’s “Be the Boss” playlist: “Land of Hope & Dreams” “One of my favorite all-time songs,…

Andrew Baum Partner Glaser Weil As a law student, Baum never thought about becoming an entertainment attorney. Today he’s in arbitration with several cases — contract disputes, accounting and profit participation issues, defamation, misconduct accusations, and more — involving celebrity clients and entertainment companies. His work requires discretion, especially during arbitration. Baum enjoys a challenge. Having represented clients on both sides of the #MeToo movement, he’s glad to see that those cases are beginning to change the industry for the better. Where’s the truth? “People live in the land of their perceptions,” Baum says. “What people perceive and what they believe is 10 times more important to them than what the actual truth is. They’re just stuck on their perception.” John Berlinski Partner Kasowitz Benson Torres Berlinski, a talent-disputes expert,…

Brandon Bauman Global Head of Legal Affairs, Spotify Studios Jean Chi  Global Head of Business Affairs, Studio Content Spotify An experienced music executive, Bauman has lent his talent to media titans including HBO and Machinima, and jumped to several key roles during his five-year stint at Spotify, where he now heads legal for original content and serves as associate general counsel. During the pandemic, he helped foster an “explosion” of podcast growth on Spotify, in addition to founding his own content discovery app, ZinBin. Chi, meanwhile, secured a first-of-its-kind deal with J.J.Abrams’ production company Bad Robot to produce podcasts exclusive to Spotify; solidified a partnership with Ava DuVernay’s Array, also for exclusive podcasts; and nabbed an exclusive rights deal to popular Alex Cooper podcast “Call Her Daddy.” Furthermore, Chi manages…

Saudi Arabia posted $239 million in 2021 box office, after generating zippo six years ago because of a lack of operating cinemas. Analysts now project that the Middle East territory will surpass box office of $1 billion later this decade, as theater-building progresses. (Pictured: VOX Cinema hall in Jiddah.) With its super-charged growth, Saudi Arabia receives the Comscore Emerging Market Spotlight Award at CinemaCon. “This is the very definition of what an emerging market looks like,” says Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at media research giant Comscore. “The trajectory is incredibly impressive even with the impact of pandemic landing in these growth years.” With the end of 35 years of a movie theater ban, the doors are now open in an affluent territory with a population of 35 million. About…

Acclaimed for such Oscar-winning films as “Broke-back Mountain,” “Belfast” (pictured) and “Lost in Translation,” Focus Features is honored on its 20th anniversary with NATO’s Spirit of the Industry Award at CinemaCon. The specialty film distributor is a corporate sibling to Universal, and is thriving under chairman Peter Kujawski and vice chairman Jason Cassidy. Over the past 20 years, Focus has released 166 films that collected 143 Academy Award nominations and 27 Oscar wins. The most common thread is an upmarket orientation with serious subject matter and compelling storytelling. NATO “has been a tremendous partner over our 20 years as specialty studio and particularly over the past 25 months, where with their support we have been able to open 22 films exclusively in theaters,” says Focus president of distribution Lisa Bunnell.…

If you weren’t familiar with Harry Nilsson before the first season of Netflix’s “Russian Doll,” you certainly knew his song “Gotta Get Up” after it recurred on all eight of the show’s episodes — every time Natasha Lyonne’s Nadia reawakens on the same night after dying in different ways. The second season of the series, arriving on Netflix April 20, doesn’t have a specific tethering song, but it serves up some choice cuts from the ’70s and ’80s, including Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus,” Bauhaus’ “Bela Lugosi’s Dead,” Falco’s “Der Kommissar,” Van Halen’s “Runnin’ With the Devil” and Nena’s “99 Luftballons.” These needle drops are apropos considering the central theme of the new season is time travel — whenever Nadia takes the subway. “We wanted the music to feel authentic and…