Entertainment Industry Moves

EXCLUSIVE: Neon has acquired the feature adaptation of Craig Marks and Rob Tannenbaum’s oral history I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution which Patti Cake$ filmmaker Geremy Jasper is directing from a screenplay he co-wrote with Jim Hecht (Winning Time). Neon picked

EXCLUSIVE: Innovative Artists Entertainment has hired talent agent Brian Sacripanti and promoted Celine Biancardi to agent in the same department. “Innovative has long prided itself on impeccable culture and a truly 360-degree approach to client representation, and Brian and Celine both repres

EXCLUSIVE: Nippon TV, the Japanese broadcaster, is stepping up its unscripted business in the U.S. and has hired former ITV America exec Nick Ower to help. Ower joins as director of development and sales, unscripted. He joins after nearly ten years at the Love Island and Hell’s Kitchen producer. He

Oprah Winfrey is setting up shop at Amazon. The media potentate’s Harpo Entertainment has signed a comprehensive multi-year deal with the tech giant. As part of the agreement, Wondery will have exclusive distribution and advertising rights to The Oprah Podcast on audio and video. The show is a

Spanish-language media giant TelevisaUnivison unveiled a surprise overhaul of its ad-sales structure Monday — with just weeks to go before the TV industry opens its annual “upfront” marketplace. The company replaced Tim Naividad, who had been in place since June of 2025, with a vet

Sabrina Carpenter and Madonna are officially releasing their Coachella duet. The song, titled “Bring Your Love,” is dropping on Thursday at 3 p.m. PT, the pop stars revealed in a joint Instagram post. The song is rumored to be part of Madonna’s forthcoming album, “Confessions

Slow Horses producer See-Saw Films has hired Fifth Season’s Ben Irving, with Helen Gregory exiting after five years. Irving has been appointed Joint Managing Director, working alongside Simon Gillis, who holds the same post. There’s currently no word on Gregory’s next role, but she

“The Possessed,” the third feature by Bosnian-Dutch writer/director Ena Sendijarević, has completed casting as the film moves toward principal photography, with a trio of hot talents boarding the project. Suzy Bemba, Khalil Gharbia and Ji-Min Park, whose credits span the spectrum from festival favor

See-Saw Films, the multi-award winning Brit TV and film banner behind “Slow Horses” and upcoming Apple original feature “Tenzing,” has hired Ben Irving as managing director. Irving joins from Fifth Season, where he is currently creative director of international scripted, and

EXCLUSIVE: The Rest is Entertainment maker Goalhanger is behind an audio drama series that it is billing as the “British Bourne.” Bear Hunt is the first release from Goalhanger Drama, a new scripted unit for Gary Lineker and Tony Pastor’s UK-based media business that launches today

“My trajectory is so weird,” offers Eric Goode. Back in the early ‘80s — before directing music videos for Nine Inch Nails, launching iconic New York City destinations like the Bowery Hotel and Waverly Inn and creating the docu-phenomenon “Tiger King,” but not long after showing a series of bondage-

SiriusXM hired Jenny Tartikoff, who formerly led communications for Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures, as senior vice president and head of communications for the satellite radio and podcast company. Tartikoff will start at SiriusXM on Aug. 10, 2026, reporting to president and chief content

EXCLUSIVE: The Great British Bake Off’s cosy brand of kind-hearted competition has made it one of the most enduring success stories on UK television. But trouble is brewing in the tent. In a highly unusual move, the former managing director of Love Productions is suing the company’s owner Sky,

EXCLUSIVE: Mike Darnell is back. The reality television luminary has struck a major deal with Netflix as he enters his third act. Darnell has signed an exclusive, multi-year overall deal with the streamer. He will also provide “strategic creative guidance” across its entire unscripted slate. The sur

James Gunn, there’s a Johnny Depp impersonator who would like to have a word about DC. “I think the new ‘Supergirl’ sucks,” 39-year-old Oklahoma City native and devoted DC fan John (go figure) says from San Diego Comic-Con’s main floor. He looks exactly like “Pirates” era Depp, with chunky sil

Artemis Pictures, the production and finance company founded by “Dead Man’s Wire” and “Fairyland” producer Siena Oberman, has promoted Ashley TY Chao, Maddie Olejnik, Jayden Mann and Nicole Fahel to executive roles. Chao has been upped to head of storytelling and innova

“She thinks big,” says Sabrina Impacciatore of her delightfully catty character in The Paper, in which the Italian actress plays Esmeralda Grand, managing editor of the Toledo Truth Teller and TTT Online. Conceived as a Halloween dress-up icon, Esmerelda exists almost entirely to thwart the idealist

EXCLUSIVE: WME Motion Picture Group Agent Niki Montazaran is joining Cinetic Media as Senior Manager where she’ll be based in the LA office expanding the firm’s representation with preeminent filmmaking and lit talent. Throughout her career at WME, and previously at the Motion Picture Li

Chris Berend, after leaving NBCUniversal News Group, is joining Hearst Magazines as chief content and experience officer. In the newly created role, Berend will be responsible for leading Hearst Magazines’ editorial strategy, content creation and programming across all platforms for publications inc

EXCLUSIVE: Kat Bird has signed with UTA for representation. A Los Angeles native, Kat Bird is a comedian, actress, and host of the Kat Bird Pod. Her debut Don’t Tell Comedy set, released just five months ago, has already surpassed 350,000 views, introducing her to a growing

The cinematic LP, out July 31, also features Kehlani, Orville Peck, Leon Bridges, and Jamie Foxx

Anmol Malhotra, a 10-year veteran of Snap, has been promoted to the role of global head of content and partnerships. He assumes the role after Jim Shepherd, formerly Snap’s senior director of global content partnerships, recently exited to join Meta as senior director of content partnerships.

Actress and producer Emma Roberts, the “American Horror Story” who also recently produced the hit series “Tell Me Lies,” has signed with United Talent Agency for representation. Roberts’ production company, Belletrist, produced Hulu’s “Tell Me Lies,” w

Netflix has greenlit the adult animated comedy series “Dealies,” Variety has learned exclusively. The official logline for the show states, “A savant salesman. A gentle gladiator. A quiet virtuoso. A summoner of the divine. And the poor soul who hired them. All part of the staff at

EXCLUSIVE: Another Mr. Smith slot on the Mr. & Mrs. Smith Season 2 roster has been filled. Actor-comedian Matt Rogers (No Good Deed) has been tapped as one of the title characters in the upcoming second installment of Prime Video’s spy drama series from Amazon MGM Studios and New Regency.

EXCLUSIVE: UTA has signed actress, producer, and entrepreneur Emma Roberts for representation. Roberts has built a television career spanning comedy, drama, and genre series. Her longstanding collaboration with Ryan Murphy includes performances across multiple installments of American Horror Story,

EXCLUSIVE: Buchwald is expanding its footprint in the branding, digital, and creator representation space with the launch of a new division, Buchwald Creators. Max Nagler has been tapped to lead the division, after joining Buchwald as Vice President of Branding & Creators in 2025. With the launc

Season 5 of Apple TV’s The Morning Show has begun adding new faces to its already stacked cast. Season 4 left off with a major character and actress making their departures about midway through. Already, three names have been added to the mix of the news network world and beyond. For everything we k

EXCLUSIVE: Cinetic has inked The Machinist and The Call filmmaker Brad Anderson for representation across all media. The director continues to be represented by Paradigm. Anderson recently helmed espionage thriller Beirut, penned by Tony Gilroy and starring Jon Hamm, which premiered at the Sundance