Innholdsfortegnelse for 5/4/2022 i Variety

Venus Williams, whom I interviewed as one of our six Power of Women New York honorees, clearly has broken barriers. And she has great admiration for other women who have done the same in their respective realms. As for her biggest role models, Williams says she really doesn’t have to look beyond her own mother and four sisters. However, “I definitely look up to a different, interesting set of women,” she says. “Of course, who doesn’t love Oprah and Michelle Obama.” Someone else Williams greatly admires is Anni Albers, the late German artist known for her bold, geometrically patterned textiles and prints. “She ended up having to work in textiles because that was what was kind of accepted during that time,” says Williams. “But she was an incredible artist who…

After four days stuffed with hourslong CinemaCon pitches to tout blockbuster hopefuls like “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Avatar: The Way of Water,” Variety has assessed the major studios’ presentations that earned gold stars and the ones that were closer to getting demerits. • SONY Sony announced Bad Bunny is joining its extended universe of Marvel characters and “Venom” is returning for a third movie, but the studio also wowed the Las Vegas audience of movie theater owners with extended looks at director David Leitch’s star-studded “Bullet Train,” an intense and comedic action thriller in which everybody is out to kill Brad Pitt’s character, Ladybug; as well as historical action epic “The Woman King,” starring Viola Davis, touted as a real-life version of “Black Panther.” But aside from Davis, who was…

Searchlight Pictures’ “Fire Island” doesn’t come out until June, but Matt Rogers (1), who plays Luke in the queer romcom, has high hopes that it launches a big gay franchise. Joel Kim Booster and Bowen Yang star as friends who head to the iconic LGBTQ vacation locale ready to have the best summer of their lives. “‘Provincetown’ should be the sequel,” Rogers told me at the premiere of his Showtime show “I Love That for You.” “Let’s do ‘Palm Springs.’ Let’s do ‘Puerto Vallarta.’ This is going to be the ‘Fast & Furious’ for queers!” Jazmyn Simon (2) says don’t be surprised if a fourth “Psych” movie gets greenlit. “As long as the fans want them, we will do them,” says Simon, who plays Selene in the film franchise based…

Welcome to our annual Power of Women New York issue! We have an extraordinary array of honorees whom we are thrilled to celebrate in these pages and at our May 5 in-person dinner event — our first live POW gathering in New York since the pandemic forced us to go virtual these past two years. The dynamic women we are recognizing — Venus Williams, Amanda Seyfried, Drew Barrymore, Queen Latifah, Camila Cabello and Kim Cattrall — use their influential platforms to champion philanthropic causes for social good. We also want to salute the 87 exceptional individuals in our Women’s Impact Report: New York who have made significant contributions to the entertainment business over the past year. Enjoy!…

Alumni Entry Up Next Nancy Abraham Exec VP, HBO Documentary and Family Lisa Heller Exec VP, HBO Documentary and Family As co-heads of the HBO docs division for five years, Abraham and Heller’s 50-plus titles in 2021 included watercooler hits like “Allen v. Farrow,” “Nuclear Family” and Bill Simmons’ Music Box series. This year they are behind Sundance hits “The Janes,” “Phoenix Rising,” “The Princess” and most recently Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio’s “George Carlin’s American Dream.” “Ideally you feel and think about things in a new way after seeing these films and series,” says Abraham. While they have more competitors than ever before, Heller is enjoying the current documentary boom. “The newfound broad appeal means it’s easier to convince the world that documentaries can be as dramatic, life changing…

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Broadway choreographer Camille A. Brown has had a momentous few months. In September, she became the first Black artist to direct a main-stage production at the Metropolitan Opera, sharing directorial duties with James Robinson on “Fire Shut Up in My Bones,” which she also choreographed. Now, she’s making history again with “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf,” which opened April 20, as the first Black woman since Katherine Dunham in 1955 to both direct and choreograph a Broadway play. For “Fire Shut Up,” which includes dance routines at the start of the second and third acts, Brown tapped into African American history by bringing step dance into the performance. The story is based on Charles S. Blow’s memoirs about coming of age as…

FILM REVIEW Director: Audrey Diwan Starring: Anamaria Vartolomei, Pio Marmaï, Sandrine Bonnaire A quietly devastating sophomore feature from Audrey Diwan, “Happening” is the latest in an ongoing run of tough, emotionally intelligent art films dealing frankly with the subject of abortion access. Adapted from Annie Ernaux’s semi-autobiographical novel, this 1960s-set story isn’t new, but bears repeating at a time when no ground gained in the long-term battle for women’s reproductive rights can be taken for granted. Without didactic rhetoric or politicking, last year’s Venice Golden Lion winner powerfully essays the risks of refusing women control over their bodies. It’s impossible to watch it and not think of the recent, regressive change of abortion law in Texas. Decades on from the film’s milieu, too few lessons have been learned. “It suits…

1 ‘The Masked Singer’ to Produce Global Competition Version “The Masked Singer” is launching an international competition where celebrities from various local editions of the show around the globe face off in a worldwide battle. Tentatively titled “One World, One Masked Singer,” the show pits regional stars against each other in the search for “The Global Masked Singer Champion.” “One World, One Masked Singer” will be helmed by format owner MBC America and U.S. “Masked Singer” executive producer Craig Plestis of Smart Dog Media. Plestis will serve as creator and exec producer of “One World, One Masked Singer.” — Michael Schneider 2 Issa Rae to Be American Black Film Festival Ambassador Issa Rae has been tapped to serve as the ambassador for the 2022 American Black Film Festival. Rae will…

With the second season of “Tehran” about to debut on Apple TV+, Niv Sultan admits she’s balancing being scared with having hope for how the series’ continued exploration of the Iran-Israel conflict can open minds versus further stereotypes. “Tehran” first aired on Israel’s public channel Kan 11 in June 2020 and began streaming on Apple TV+ a few months later, gaining a global audience and strong reviews. Season 2 of the tense spy thriller picks up where the first left off, with Sultan’s Tamar Rabinyan, a Mossad agent, hiding in Iran after a risky undercover mission. Glenn Close joins the cast in episodes that begin streaming May 6. • What was it like getting to work this season with Glenn Close, who plays a British woman named Marjan Montazeri living…

When “Fresh off the Boat” premiered in 2015, only a handful of shows with a predominantly Asian American cast had ever aired in primetime — and none of them lasted long. But the success of that ABC sitcom, which spanned six seasons, inspired a long-overdue boom in series and films featuring Asian American leads — including “Doogie Kamealoha, M.D.,” from “Fresh off the Boat” producing partners Melvin Mar and Jake Kasdan. The duo, who have been based at 20th TV for more than a dozen years, have eight active TV and film projects, each showcasing different elements of the vast Asian American and Pacific Islander experience. “It’s all part of the fabric of being American,” Mar says of the slate, speaking to Variety as AAPI Heritage Month gets underway. “Every…

May 4 Wednesday • Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell and Jay Ellis walk the red carpet at the world premiere of “Top Gun: Maverick.” USS Midway, San Diego • Mike Myers, Ken Jeong and Debi Mazar toast their new Netflix series “The Pentaverate.” Liaison, Hollywood New York City Center’s Spring Gala presents an Encores! production of “Into the Woods,” with Neil Patrick Harris, Sara Bareilles, Heather Headley and Gavin Creel. New York City Center May 5 Thursday • Deborah Roberts and Lesley Stahl are among the guests at the New York City Ballet’s Spring Gala. David H. Koch Theater, New York • Paul Raci, Ryan O’Connell, Phil Lord and Chris Miller present at the Easterseals Disability Film Challenge Awards ceremony. Sony Pictures Studios, Culver City…

With the casualties continuing to rise in Russia’s months-long invasion of Ukraine, reporters in the field face a daily tightrope walk between getting the story and potentially getting killed. At least 14 journalists have already died in the conflict, which broke out when Russian troops invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. “It is something you’re constantly grappling with, and trying to set boundaries to ensure that it doesn’t get out of hand, because in a situation like this, where you have a massive war unfolding, you do feel, understandably, as a journalist like you want to be here every step of the way,” Clarissa Ward, CNN’s chief international correspondent, tells Variety. “If I’m being really honest, I also feel that there are situations where, as a mother, there’s a limit to…

Choosing the tunes for HBO’s “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” became a treasure hunt for hidden gems for music supervisor Gabe Hilfer. Set in the ’80s, the limited series loosely tells the story of the Los Angeles Lakers, owner Jerry Buss and Magic Johnson. Hilfer came on board and immediately pulled “cool, stylized music from the period and before, so we could paint a picture of that time in L.A.” Orchestral disco from Spirit of Brotherhood, Arizona hard rockers Loosely Tight and Miami Cuban salsa band Ray & His Court are just some of the lesser-known acts Hilfer chose to reflect the era. The music supervisor says his goal was to introduce viewers to artists like Afro-rockers the Hygrades, whose song “Somebody’s Gonna Lose or Win” plays…

Fear and loathing are on the rise in Hollywood as top execs and rank-and-file employees grapple with growing uncertainty about their place in a rapidly changing entertainment industry. One pervasive concern: that the streaming-fueled content bubble has finally burst, with more consolidation on the way. Wall Street darling Netflix lost $54 billion in market value in one day last month amid concerns about a slide in subscriber numbers and promptly reorganized its marketing department once again, axing writers on its fledgling Tudum fan site five months after launch. And the fallout from the Warner Bros. Discovery merger and Amazon’s acquisition of MGM has just gotten underway, with top exec Michael De Luca exiting the latter April 27 and squashed initiatives at the former. Neither the disrupted nor the disruptors are…

AWARDS CIRCUIT One of the biggest head-scratchers about the Will Smith Oscar-night slap fiasco is why the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ powers that be keep hiring new executive producers for the telecast every year. In a misguided hope that they’ll stumble across someone who will actually hit ratings gold, they repeatedly tap big-name movie producers. And the show winds up with producers not skilled in the art of live TV. I can almost guarantee that the Oscars would have handled the Slap better had a seasoned TV awards show producer been in charge. (Thank goodness for veteran director Glenn Weiss, but he didn’t call the final shots.) And while AMPAS tears up its Oscars playbook every year, ABC has limited say in bringing on an experienced producer…

DREW BARRYMORE WORLD CENTRAL K I TCHEN Founded in 2010 by Chef José Andrés, World Central Kitchen (WCK) is first to the frontlines, providing meals in response to humanitarian, climate, and community crises while working to build resilient food systems with locally led solutions. WCK has served more than 70 million fresh meals to people impacted by natural disasters and other crises around the world. WCK’s Resilience Programs strengthen food and nutrition security by training chefs and school cooks; advancing clean cooking practices; and awarding grants to farms, fisheries, and small food businesses while also providing educational and networking opportunities. Learn more at wck.org. CAMILA CABELLO THE HEALING JUSTICE PROJECT The Healing Justice Project is an initiative launched in January 2021 by Camila Cabello and Movement Voter Fund, a group…

Supervising sound editor Jane Tattersall, sound designer Brennan Mercer and rerecording mixers Matthew Chan and Lou Solakofski knew the stakes were high for Paramount+ series “Halo,” based on the wildly popular Xbox video game, which for years had been trying to make the leap to movie theaters. “There was enormous pressure,” says Tattersall of the series, which is in the middle of its nine-episode first-season run on the streamer. Also head of sound for Toronto’s Formosa Group, which was responsible for post-production sound work on the show, Tattersall says producer Sheila Hockin had told them that “it’s very important to learn not only the world of the game, but also respect the fans.” Set in the 26th century, “Halo” focuses on a cybernetically enhanced super soldier known only as Master…

TV REVIEW True Crime: HBO Max (eight episodes; five reviewed); May 5 Starring: Colin Firth, Toni Collette, Michael Stuhlbarg, Juliette Binoche The true-crime tale has lately dominated scripted TV, with miniseries-length dissections of infamous incidents coming thick on the ground. Many of these shows have played as flat reen-actments that don’t earn the running time they demand, serials that seem to be more interested in checking items off a list to get us to an opinion about “what really happened” than in finding something transformative in a familiar story. So it comes as a surprise that HBO Max’s “The Staircase” does exactly what its title implies, taking the audience beyond the first level and reaching for a second, elevated story. This show dramatizes the events covered in the French documentary…