Variety 3/1/2023

Every week, we give readers an inside look into the world of entertainment as it continues to grow and evolve in a post-streaming age. And this week’s issue — in time for International Women’s Day on March 8 — is no exception: Our cover subject is Carolyn McCall, the dynamic CEO of ITV. As detailed in the cover profile by Variety’s London-based correspondent K.J. Yossman, McCall made her mark in the U.K. as a leader in newspapers (Guardian Media Group) and aviation (EasyJet) before taking the reins of the U.K.’s largest commercial broadcaster in 2018. After a lengthy, wide-ranging interview, Yossman and Variety’s international executive editor, Manori Ravindran, came away impressed with her confidence and ability to adjust to changing times. Certainly, ITV is in the throes of a massive transition…

International correspondent K.J. Yossman was excited to get a peek behind the curtain at U.K. network ITV when she sat down in West London with CEO Carolyn McCall for this week’s cover story. Executive editor of international Manori Ravindran hosted an industry roundtable at a Leicester Square hotel with a smashing view of London’s skyline. She’ll be out and about for this week’s London Screening events. Associate features editor Sharareh Drury spotlighted Iranian artists who have stood in solidarity with the country’s women-led protests, despite dangerous and deadly consequences. David Vintiner photographed Carolyn McCall at ITV on Jan. 30: “From newspapers and airlines to major TV channels, it’s amazing how much the life of a U.K. citizen is touched by the companies at which Carolyn has served as CEO.”…

Will Hollywood decamp for Cannes this year? Organizers for the annual celebration of all things cinema certainly hope so, though their ambitions could collide with a new spirit of economizing that’s making studios hesitant about shelling out the hundreds of thousands of dollars it takes to pull off a Riviera bow. Cannes Film Festival chief Thierry Frémaux has barely gotten over his jet lag after a whirlwind trip to Los Angeles this month, but he’s already planning a return visit as he attempts to pull together one of the most formidable lineups in the 76-year history of the event. He’s made it clear to studio executives that he would love to highlight both their blockbusters and their awards contenders, and though formal offers have not been made or accepted, this…

From the moment Riley Keough heard about “Daisy Jones & the Six,” she felt it was her destiny to play the title character. “I just knew I was gonna be Daisy,” she tells Variety about Prime Video’s adaptation of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s bestselling novel, which chronicles the rise and fall of a 1970s rock band. “It was very weird.” And then the anxiety set in. Despite having music in her blood — she’s the granddaughter of Elvis Presley — Keough says she had no professional singing experience coming into the show. That seems almost unbelievable on hearing the first note she sings, her voice velvety yet jagged, in the debut episode. “I was really like, I don’t know if I can do it,” Keough says of Daisy, a Stevie Nicks-inspired…

So you’re throwing a must-attend Oscars fete? How embarrassing to serve your swank Hollywood pals the wrong cognac or off-vintage wine. We’ve got your back. Buying top-flight tipples from our checklist will send all the right signals that you have taste and know-how when it comes to assembling a bar cart. Should some friends abstain from imbibing booze, we include a very grown-up nonalcoholic choice too. Now raise your fancy cocktails and toast the Oscar winners. GIN Citadelle Jardin D’Éte (1) Our favorite gin has the joyful fragrance of a summer French garden. It’s imbued with melon, lemons and oranges, yuzu zest, and 19 other aromatic botanicals. Jardin D’Éte is a love letter from founder Alexandre Gabriel to his wife, Debbie, who cultivates her exquisite garden at their manor house,…

STRICTLY BUSINESS The Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have settled on March 20 to begin negotiations on a new master TV and film contract. The clock is already ticking and strike fears are growing. The WGA’s current contract expires May 1. The issues that the scribe tribe will place on the charcoal-gray table in the enormous conference room at the AMPTP’s Sherman Oaks headquarters have come into sharp focus in recent months. Just about everybody agrees that the compensation standards for writers — as well as actors and directors, whose unions will also hold contract talks this year — have been outmoded by the streaming revolution. The hard part will be reaching a compromise on how to adapt them. Hollywood labor veterans…