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The Sundance Film Festival chose well in selecting the honorees for tonight’s Gala fundraiser at the newly opened Grand Hyatt Deer Valley.

Beyond freshly minted Oscar nominees Cynthia Erivo and James Mangold in the house to receive the Visionary Award and Trailblazer Award respectively, it was Michelle Satter — the Founding Senior Director of Artists Program for the Sundance Institute — whose stirring speech unified the high-profile packed ballroom.

Satter was recognized for her decades-long commitment to nurturing artists and cultivating independent film through the Sundance Labs. As many in the room knew and as Satter mentioned, she and her husband David Latt were among the thousands who lost their homes in the wildfires that scorched LA. Horribly, this tragedy came after Satter and Latt’s youngest son Michael, an advocate in the industry for social justice, was fatally shot in November 2023 at his Miracle Mile home in a senseless murder.

More than a week has passed since Pascal Ibgui's abrupt exit from The Golden Bachelorette, and Joan Vassos suspects she knows why he left so suddenly.

The show has bucked trends with reality TV dating competitions, with fan favorite interactions and friendships involving the men competing for Joan's affections.

Wednesday's penultimate episode of The Golden Bachelorette was a cheery "Men's Tell All," with all suitors present save for the remaining two, Guy Gansert and Chock Chapple.

That episode followed a visit to Tahiti and dates in the "Fantasy Suites" with Joan's final three and during that episode, Pascal "self-eliminated," removing himself from the running.

In a surprising turn of events, Pascal admitted to Joan that he wasn't ready for a commitment:

"I know what love is. Ive experienced it, youve experienced it, and Im caring about you as a friend.

"But Im not in love, you know, and I just cant be there,...

The Golden Bachelorette has unfolded in a rather unexpected way among reality TV dating shows, and the dynamics involving the male contestants are one major reason.

Pascal Ibgui was one of the standout contestants and a fan favorite, and his abrupt "self-elimination" in the third-to-last "Fantasy Suites" episode stunned both Joan and the audience.

Pascal wasn't just a fan favorite, either in our coverage of Wednesday's "Men's Tell All," we looked back at comments made by Pascal's roommate Greg Lassen.

Greg said he was "in love with half of the guys in the house," but had a special connection with Pascal:

"He's just such a cute guy and not like anybody I would've normally met. The first night we were having these conversations, and we stayed up really late.

"Of course, if I'm overly tired, that's when the snoring really happens, so yeah, I woke up to Pascal leaning over...

Unfortunately for fans of The Bachelor franchise, we did not get to learn much about Golden Bachelorette contestant Gregg Lassen aside from his apparently unbearable snoring before his untimely exit.

But fortunately, the Florida native is baring it all now that he has been eliminated from the popular reality TV show.

Initially, Gregg seemed to bond with leading lady Joan Vassos over their shared love for the beach.

But contrary to popular belief, things were far from smooth sailing (pun intended) between Gregg and Joan, as he failed to receive a rose during the third episode of The Golden Bachelorette.

Sitting down with Entertainment Weekly after his elimination, the 64-year-old admitted that his connection with Joan might have been a facade, something of a "a show for the cameras" after the novelty of night one wore off.

Gregg didn't shy away from the nitty-gritty details, either.

Related Who Are The Golden Bachelorette...

On a recent episode of The Golden Bachelorette, Joan Vassos wore a stunning dress that was once worn by Beyoncé and other celebrities. Keep reading for all the details.

Joan Vassos Captivates In Purple Diamond Gown

ABC is pulling out all the stops to make Joan Vassos as attractive as possible to her Golden Bachelorette suitors. While the contestants on the show provide their own wardrobe, the show dresses the leads.

Joan Vassos is back at prom again. – Golden Bachelorette

Joan Vassos stunned in a plunging purple gown with Swarovski crystals. The dress designer, Randi Rahm, made a YouTube video to share more details about the dress. The sparkling crystals are placed on the dress by hand. The process takes between 600 and 700 hours to attach all the crystals.

Joan Vassos’ dress was named the Lavender Diamond Gown by the designer and featured thousands, if not millions, of dollars in crystals.

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Time travel is one of the most popular sub-genres in films and TV shows. Both fantasy and sci-fi genre fans are probably already in love with time travel content. The most compelling thing about time is that it can used in various ways from time loop stories like Groundhog Day and changing the past stories like Terminator. So, we thought of compiling a list of all the best time travel shows on Netflix you should check out.

Travelers Credit – Netflix

Travelers is a sci-fi thriller drama series created by Brad Wright. The Netflix series follows the story of a group of people who send their consciousness back in time to the 21st century in other people’s bodies from a post-apocalyptic world so that they can save the world from a terrible future. Travelers stars Eric McCormack, Reilly Dolman,...

Joan Vassos’ season of The Golden Bachelorette began earlier this week. Viewers were introduced to her 24 suitors at the same time she was. But a brief appearance on TV didn’t really tell much about the contestants. Keep reading for more about contestant Pascal Ibgui.

Joan Vassos 24 Golden Bachelorette Suitors

Joan Vassos was among the 22 women on the first season of The Golden Bachelor. She was named the first Golden Bachelorette after leaving Gerry Turner’s season early. ABC found 24 eligible men to vie for Joan’s final golden rose.

Bob Kilroy, 66, Chiropractor Charles “Chock” Chapple, 60, Insurance Exec Charles King, 62, Portfolio Manager Charles Ling, 66, Retired Financial Advisor Christopher Stallworth, 64, Contractor Dan Roemer, 64, Private Investor Gary Levingston, 65, Retired Finance Exec Gil Ramirez, 60, Educator Gregg Lassen, 64, Retired University VP Guy Gansert, 66, ER Doctor Jack Lencioni, 68, Caterer Jonathan Rone, 61, Shipping Consultant Jordan Heller, 61, Sales Manager Keith Gordon, 62, Girl Dad Kim Buike, 69, Retired Army Captain Mark Anderson,...

When you purchase through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Midnight at the Pera Palace is a Turkish time-travel historical drama series created by written by Elif Usman. Inspired by the 2014 historical non-fiction book titled Midnight at the Pera Palace: The Birth of Modern Istanbul by author Charles King, the Netflix series follows the story of Esra, a young journalist in modern-day Istanbul as she is tasked with writing an article about the Pera Palace Hotel and soon she is transported back in time and tries to stop a sinister plot from unfolding that could change the Turkey she knows. So, if you loved the time travel intrigue, compelling characters, and a thrilling story in Midnight at the Pera Palace here are some similar shows you should check out next.

Dark (Netflix) Credit – Netflix

Dark is a German sci-fi mystery thriller series created by Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese.

Forget dropping the mic; music mistakes can drop millions! Diddy’s been stuck paying Sting a king’s ransom ($730k a year!) for a sample in I’ll Be Missing You. But that’s a small change compared to Juice Wrld’s estate coughing up 85% of Lucid Dreams royalties for an unauthorized Sting sample. Dang!

Sting and Shaggy on tour January 2018 | Image by Elekes Andor, via Wikimedia Commons.

One sampling slip-up can turn your hit song into a miss for your wallet, and here’s how!

The Price of a Hit: Diddy & Sting’s Sampling Saga American rapper P. Diddy | Image by Shamsuddin Muhammad, via Wikimedia Commons.

Diddy coughs up millions for a musical oopsie? Dear music lovers—the internet is buzzing with hilarious claims. It seems Diddy (Sean Combs) has been shelling out a small fortune to Sting (Gordon Matthew Thomas Summer) for years, all thanks to what? A single sampling mistake.

MGM celebrated its centennial on April 17th. Marcus Lowe established the studio by merging Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures and Louis B. Mayer Pictures. Boasting it had “more stars than there are in heaven,” MGM may have been the biggest studio during the Golden Age of Hollywood, it has gone through many owners and regimes over the years but seems to on terra firma since Amazon acquired MGM in 2021. In fact, Amazon MGM Studios won best screenplay Oscar for “American Fiction.” And speaking of Academy Awards, MGM has earned numerous statuettes over the years. Here’s a look at five Best Picture winners produced between 1929-1958.

“The Broadway Melody”

The 1929 musical made Oscar history by being the first talkie to win the top prize. Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed wrote the songs which include “The Broadway Melody,” “You Were Meant for Me” and “The Wedding of the Painted Doll” but...

Exclusive: In a highly competitive situation, Warner Bros has landed a deal with writer-director-producer Ryan Coogler and star Michael B. Jordan for an untitled new movie based on an original script by Coogler.

The project reunites Coogler and Jordan, who have collaborated on the Creed and Black Panther franchises and first made their mark together on the acclaimed Fruitvale Station. It also marks the second project of Coogler and Jordan’s that Warner Bros Film Group co-chairs and CEOs Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy have championed, following their greenlight of Creed III during their time at MGM.

Coogler will produce the new film alongside Zinzi Coogler and Sev Ohanian through their production company Proximity Media, with Rebecca Cho executive producing for the company.

Not much is known about the film other that it is a period genre pic and production is expected to start in April.

Coogler is repped by WME,...

Exclusive: Looks like it’s down to three studios on the year’s hottest auction, the untitled genre thriller that will reunite writer-director Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan, Deadline hears. Sony, Warner Bros and Universal are battling it out for a deal that would allow Coogler to start production this summer. It also might portend a longer relationship for the hitmaker-with-heart filmmaker and his Proximity Media.

Here’s what I’ve heard. Coogler’s script is a period genre film that is a true star vehicle for Jordan, who has worked with the director on Fruitvale Station and the Creed and Black Panther franchises. The numbers being thrown around for worldwide rights are large but not out of line, given the commercial track record of both men. I’ve heard the film’s budget is around $90 million.

There also has been discussion of potential co-ownership of the IP, as...

The Producers Guild of America (PGA) announced that their 2024 Milestone Award would go to Charles D. King, founder and CEO of MacRo, for his contributions to the film industry. The “They Cloned Tyrone” producer will accept the award at the 35th annual Producers Guild Awards on Sunday, February 25.

Past recipients of the Milestone Award, meant to recognize producers or production teams that have made historic contributions to the entertainment industry, include 2023 recipients Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, the current co-CEOs of Warner Bros., as well as Steven Spielberg, Bob Iger, Sherry Lansing, Clint Eastwood, James Cameron, George Lucas, and Kathleen Kennedy, and Brian Grazer and Ron Howard. Its legacy goes far enough back to also include Hollywood legends Louis B. Mayer, Walt Disney, and Alfred Hitchcock as past recipients.

“Charles King’s achievements in our industry are undeniable whether as an agent representing important voices or as the...

Trailblazing industry producer, financier earned historic Oscar nod for Judas And The Black Messiah.

The Producers Guild of America (PGA) will honour Macro CEO Charles D. King with the 2024 Milestone Award “for his immeasurable contribution to the film industry” at the 35th Annual Producers Guild Awards on February 25, 2024.

The Milestone Award recognises producers or production teams that have made historic contributions to the entertainment industry. Warner Bros picture group co-heads Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy received the award this year, and prior recipients include James Cameron, George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg, and Alfred Hitchcock.

As a producer and financier,...

The Producers Guild of America announced today that Charles D. King will be honored with the 2024 Milestone Award, citing “his immeasurable contribution to the film industry.” King will accept the award at the 35th Annual Producers Guild Awards on Sunday, February 25.

The Milestone Award recognizes producers or production teams that have made historic contributions to the entertainment industry. The 2023 recipients were Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy. Other past honorees include Louis B. Mayer, Walt Disney and Alfred Hitchcock, as well as Steven Spielberg, Bob Iger, Sherry Lansing, George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy, Clint Eastwood, James Cameron and more.

Related: 2023-24 Awards Season Calendar – Dates For Oscars, Emmys, Grammys, Tonys, Guilds & More

King is the Founder & CEO of Macro, a multiplatform media company representing the voices and perspectives of Black people, indigenous people, and people of color. The company’s business verticals include film (Macro Film Studios) and television studios (Macro Television Studios) that finance,...

The Producers Guild of America will honor film producer Charles D. King with the Milestone Award at the 2024 PGA Awards.

King will accept the accolade, which is the PGA’s most prestigious honor, at the 35th annual awards show on Feb. 25.

The award recognizes producers or production teams that have made historic contributions to the entertainment industry. Early recipients of the Milestone Award include Hollywood legends Louis B. Mayer, Walt Disney and Alfred Hitchcock, as well as contemporary innovators Steven Spielberg, Bob Iger, Sherry Lansing, George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy, Clint Eastwood, Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, and James Cameron. The PGA most recently honored Warner Bros. Picture Group co-chairs and CEOs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy with the award in 2023.

King is the founder and CEO of MacRo, a multiplatform media company representing the voices and perspectives of Black people, indigenous people, and people of color. The company...

IndieWire proudly announces that Deputy Managing Editor Ryan Lattanzio will join Editor-at-Large Anne Thompson as co-host of our long-running, popular weekly podcast series, “Screen Talk.” Launched in 2014, “Screen Talk” is a weekly dive behind the scenes of the latest industry news while debating and discussing new film and television releases. Thompson previously co-hosted “Screen Talk” with Eric Kohn, who joined filmmaker Harmony Korine’s multidisciplinary design collective Edglrd earlier this fall.

“It’s been a lot of fun to see Ryan grow his career and his voice at IndieWire,” said IndieWire Editor-in-Chief Dana Harris-Bridson. “I’m looking forward to hearing what he brings to ‘Screen Talk’ and his longtime partnership with Anne.”

“I’m thrilled to take the reins of co-hosting ‘Screen Talk’ alongside Anne, my friend and mentor of many years,” Lattanzio said. “Eric shaped such a great legacy for the podcast with his sharp week-by-week analyses and insights.

The highly anticipated addition to the action sci-fi franchise Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts opened in theaters on June 9. According to Deadline, “the movie has pounced on a $110M opening weekend. Combined with domestic, that gives the Autobots and Maximals a global debut of $170.5M, coming in ahead of projections. The Steven Caple Jr-directed franchise reboot was No. 1 worldwide and at the international box office for the frame.” The film’s exciting score is from Jongnic “Jb” Bontemps.

Bontemps is a uniquely modern film composer, harmonizing a classical education with his rich tech background. As a maestro of Silicon Valley he wrote everything from The CW sci-fi series 4400, the Netflix docuseries We Are: The Brooklyn Saints, Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker, the Netflix and Shondaland-produced documentary about the Debbie Allen Dance Company’s award-winning production of The Nutcracker, and the Netflix documentary Murder To Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story.

In the three decades since School Daze and the equally influential TV series A Different World were released, HBCUs, or historically Black colleges and universities, have seen a resurgence of much-needed attention. In 2019, Beyoncé’s Homecoming docufilm celebrated Black marching band and dance team culture, a pinnacle of any Hbcu football game. The 2021 inauguration of Vice President Kamala Harris put her undergraduate university Howard in the national spotlight; that same year, the Washington institution would rename its College of Fine Arts in honor of the late Chadwick Boseman, who graduated there in 2000, with Phylicia Rashad as dean.

For Hbcu alums working in Hollywood, there’s a connective thread of deep pride for their educational foundations. THR spoke with nearly 30 executives, producers, directors, actors and writers who collectively acknowledged how their collegiate experience best prepared them for the multifaceted demands of careers in entertainment. While some have built formal alumni networks...

A scene from ‘Dear Mama’ with Tupac Shakur (Photo Cr: FX)

FX’s critically acclaimed Dear Mama premiered to the largest audience of any unscripted series in FX’s history. The docuseries comes from executive producer, writer, and director Allen Hughes and focuses on the lives of Tupac Shakur and his mother, Afeni.

Dear Mama debuted on April 21, 2023, with new episodes of the five-episode series airing on Fridays at 10pm Et/Pt.

“It’s only fitting that Allen Hughes’ definitive piece on Tupac and Afeni Shakur delivered a record performance for us, and it speaks to Tupac’s enduring legacy,” stated Nick Grad, President, FX Entertainment. “Allen’s examination of Tupac viewed through the prism of his mother Afeni is a fascinating take that really gets beneath the education and experience that shaped his life and inspired him to become one of the greatest artists ever.”

Additional executive producers include writer Lasse Järvi,...

FX’s docuseries Dear Mama set a new ratings high for an unscripted series debut on the Disney-owned outlet.

The chronicle of the lives of Tupac and Afeni Shakur, which premiered April 21, passed Welcome to Wrexham as FX’s most watched unscripted debut in cross-platform viewers. The full cross-platform figures aren’t being released, per FX policy, but the majority of Dear Mama’s audience likely streamed the show on Hulu.

The two-episode premiere of Dear Mama, directed by Allen Hughes, averaged about 185,000 viewers for its on-air debut (episode one drew 196,000). That trailed Welcome to Wrexham’s linear premiere in August 2022 (it averaged 271,000 viewers for its first two episodes), but Dear Mama made up the difference with streaming and other delayed viewing. Streaming often makes up the majority of viewing for series that originate on ad-supported and premium cable outlets.

“It’s only fitting that Allen Hughes’ definitive piece on...

FX’s latest docuseries opened on a high note, the network reveals. According to multi-platform ratings, the “Dear Mama” debut scored FX’s most watched premiere for an unscripted series ever. The show opened on FX on April 21 and became available to stream the following day on Hulu, which combined for the record setting performance.

From director Allen Hughes, the five-part docuseries explores the lives and legacies of mother and son, Afeni and Tupac Shakur. A renowned revolutionary, Afeni became a feminist figure of the ’70s, a female leader in the movement amidst the macho milieu of the Black Panther Party. Tupac, a rapper and poet, also became a political visionary, philosopher and one of the greatest rap artists of all time. “Their story chronicles the possibilities and contradictions of the United States from a time of revolutionary fervor to Hip Hop culture’s most ostentatious decade,” reads the official description.

FX is touting record performance for the premiere of its new docuseries Dear Mama.

The premiere episode, which debuted on April 21, is now FX’s most-watched unscripted series premiere in this history of the network when accounting for both same-day viewing on FX and next-day viewing on Hulu. FX didn’t disclose exact viewership numbers, as is typical when streaming is involved.

“It’s only fitting that Allen Hughes definitive piece on Tupac and Afeni Shakur delivered a record performance for us and it speaks to Tupac’s enduring legacy,” said Nick Grad, President, FX Entertainment. “Allen’s examination of Tupac viewed through the prism of his mother Afeni is a fascinating take that really gets beneath the education and experience that shaped his life and inspired him to become one of the greatest artists ever.”

Directed by Allen Hughes, Dear Mama dives into the personal relationship of mother and son,...

Update, Thursday, 12:27 Pm Pt: A New York Judge granted a motion to vacate the convictions of Muhammad A. Aziz and Khalil Islam in the 1965 assassination of Malcolm X, as District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. apologized for what he called a “decades long injustice.”

“I apologize for what were serious, unacceptable violations of the law and the public trust,” Vance told Chief Administrative Judge Ellen Biben. “I apologize on behalf of our nation’s law enforcement for this decades-long injustice, which has eroded public faith in institutions that are designed to guarantee the equal protection of the law. We can’t restore what was taken from these men and their families, but by correcting the record, perhaps we can begin to restore that faith.”

Vance said that Deputy Chief Charles King and Carey Dunne worked with the Innocence Project and David Shanies on a new investigation over the past two years.

Exclusive: Uncmmn is continuing to expand with the addition of Mariam Rastegar as Senior Talent Manager, and Alexa Whittington as Talent Manager.

In her new role, Rastegar will report directly to Founder Stephanie Piza, her primary focus being Gen-z talent in the digital space with large followings on YouTube and TikTok. Her specialty lies in identifying business opportunities for clients that blend both the lifestyle and branded aspects of their existing portfolios; she was instrumental, for example, in helping to build Drew Scott’s e-commerce shop “Lone Fox Home,” which is an extension and result of his interests and specialties in home & décor.

Whittington will focus on bringing new opportunities to the company’s existing roster, leveraging knowledge built in her 10 years of experience across all aspects of entertainment and talent management to build 360-degree businesses with multi-hyphenates, having advised a number of music artists on TV and film crossover...

What do MacRo’s Charles King, CAA’s Kevin Huvane, and 20th Television’s Karey Burke have in common? They have all appeared in The Hollywood Reporter‘s annual Next Generation issue, our definitive list of the year’s 35 best and brightest leaders age 35 and under.

THR is now accepting online submissions for the 28th edition of the Next Gen list, which is slated to publish Nov. 3, and will identify 35 standouts who one day will run the entertainment industry. Candidates should be submitted in one of the following categories: agents, managers, film, TV, digital, legal and business managers. When submitting,...

What do MacRo’s Charles King, CAA’s Kevin Huvane, and 20th Television’s Karey Burke have in common? They have all appeared in The Hollywood Reporter‘s annual Next Generation issue, our definitive list of the year’s 35 best and brightest leaders age 35 and under.

THR is now accepting online submissions for the 28th edition of the Next Gen list, which is slated to publish Nov. 3, and will identify 35 standouts who one day will run the entertainment industry. Candidates should be submitted in one of the following categories: agents, managers, film, TV, digital, legal and business managers. When submitting,...

New York, New York is a helluva town. The Bronx is up. And the Battery is down. The people ride in a hole in the ground. New York, New York. It’s a helluva town. And it’s also a perfect backdrop for countless Broadway and movie musicals.

And for good reason. The metropolis is a melting pot of cultures and boroughs. Over the decades, the Great White Way has been home to burlesque, vaudeville, Broadway. The town always is brimming with the best writers and composers. Remember Tin Pan Alley?

There is also a romanticism of New York often depicted in these musicals: most of them were shot on sound stages and studio, so they offer an expressionistic, impressionistic, and even surreal look at NYC. Martin Scorsese tipped his out to these studio musicals with his classic 1977 “New York, New York,” starring Liza Minnelli and Robert De Niro.

The...

“Judas and the Black Messiah” writer and director Shaka King has defended the casting of Daniel Kaluuya in the role of American civil rights leader Fred Hampton.

The historical biopic, produced by Ryan Coogler and endorsed by Hampton’s son, Fred Hampton Jr, positions the British actor as the iconic leader of the Black Panther Party with Lakeith Stanfield playing the lesser-known William O’Neal, the FBI informant who infiltrated the political group and fed intel to the FBI and Chicago Police, leading to Hampton’s killing in 1969.

“I’m well aware of the debate around British actors playing American Black, iconic figures,” King said during a virtual panel attended by Variety. “But I was born in America, my family is Caribbean and I have a South African name so I am, literally, emblematic of a diasporic way of thinking.

“Kidnapped Africans ended up all around the world,” King added. “We...

Chairman Fred Hampton was 21 years old when he was assassinated by the FBI, who coerced a petty criminal named William O’Neal to help them silence him and the Black Panther Party.

But they could not kill Fred Hampton’s legacy and, 50 years later, his words about revolution still echo, maybe louder than ever. Shaka King’s latest feature, “Judas and the Black Messiah,” aims to tell this story, and a blazing first trailer makes it look like one of the film events of the year.

In 1968, the young, charismatic activist became chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, who were fighting for freedom, the power to determine the destiny of the Black community, and an end to police brutality and the murdering of Black people. Chairman Hampton was inspiring a generation to rise up and not back down to oppression, which put him directly in the line of fire of the government,...

Macro is expanding its talent management operations with the hiring of Jerome Martin and Natalia Williams.

The pair join Macro Management as managers. The division was launched in January by Macro partners Gaby Mena and Jelani Johnson.

“I couldn’t be more excited to have Jerome and Natalia on our team,” said Charles King, founder and CEO of Macro. “Both have a keen eye for identifying next-level talent and creators and a skill in building and guiding careers that perfectly matches the ethos and mission of Macro Management.”

Martin brings a range of actors to the Macro fold including “The Chi’s” Luke James and “Queen Sugar’s” Kofi Siriboe. He has previously repped such artists as Janet Jackson and Ciara during his tenure with Jerome Martin Management, which was affiliated with Cmg/Azoff Entertainment. Earlier in his career he worked with NFL star Eric Dickerson’s Select Artists International and ran Ford Entertainment,...

Theresa Kang-Lowe, a respected lit agent and Partner at Wme, is leaving the agency. She will be launching her own management/production company and is finalizing a multi-year overall deal with Apple TV+, I hear. She is joining there her client Alfonso Cuarón, who has an overall deal with Apple TV+, and she will continue to rep him, along with selected other clients, as a manager.

Kang-Lowe, who has been a partner at Wme in the literary department since 2014, is one of the highest-profile departures from the agency, which recently underwent cuts amid the coronavirus pandemic.

At Wme, she has represented television and film clients, including Gillian Flynn, Steve Zaillian, Lisa Joy, Simon Beaufoy, Lena Waithe, Guillermo Del Toro, David Goyer, Destin Daniel Cretton, Roberto Patino, Prentice Penny, Justin Simien, Charles King’s MacRo TV Studios, The Ink Factory studio, amongst notable others.

Her focus has been representing clients with...

Exclusive: Confluential Films has set Mel Jones as Evp, Production & Development. Jones will oversee the film and TV slates for the Confluential Films and Black Love Productions brands. She will report to Confluential Films founder, Tommy Oliver.

Prior to Confluential Films, Jones was the Head of Production for Stephanie Allain’s Homegrown Pictures for five years. Her credits include Gerard McMurray’s Burning Sands, Justin Simien’s Dear White, Netflix’s Juanita starring Alfre Woodard and Blair Underwood as well as Stella Meghie’s The Weekend, which premiered at Tiff. She recently produced Really Love starring Kofi Siriboe with Charles King’s MacRo. A graduate of Howard University, she earned her Mfa in Producing from AFI.

Confluential Films forthcoming slate includes The Perfect Find starring Gabrielle Union, Flint starring T.I. and John Ortiz and Season 3 of Black Love on Own. Oliver’s Confluential Films is devoted to championing projects that...

Former Wme partner Charles D. King’s media company Macro has signed a first-look deal with Warner Bros. Pictures, it was announced on Wednesday.

King, along with Warner Bros. Pictures Group chairman Toby Emmerich and the studio’s president of production and development Courtenay Valenti, made the announcement.

“We are thrilled to join forces with Warner Bros. Pictures and their visionary leadership team whose bold choices have led to some of our industry’s most successful and impactful films,” King said in a statement. “This expertise, combined with WarnerMedia and At&T’s global assets and distribution, offers Macro an unparalleled opportunity to expand our reach and further our mission of identifying and producing authentic stories by and about people of color.”

Also Read: Charles King's MacRo Raises Additional $150 Million for Film, TV Projects

Under the terms of the deal, Warner Bros. will have a first look on all projects...

Charles King's Macro is setting down roots at Warner Bros., signing an exclusive first-look deal with the studio.

Under the pact, Warner Bros. will have a first look on all feature films Macro intends to develop or package, and will also have the option to co-finance the projects and handle global distribution of the releases.

“We are thrilled to join forces with Warner Bros. Pictures and their visionary leadership team whose bold choices have led to some of our industry’s most successful and impactful films,” said King, who made Wednesday's announcement with Warners chairman ...

Charles King's Macro is setting down roots at Warner Bros., signing an exclusive first-look deal with the studio.

Under the pact, Warner Bros. will have a first look on all feature films Macro intends to develop or package, and will also have the option to co-finance the projects and handle global distribution of the releases.

“We are thrilled to join forces with Warner Bros. Pictures and their visionary leadership team whose bold choices have led to some of our industry’s most successful and impactful films,” said King, who made Wednesday's announcement with Warners chairman ...

Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield are in negotiations to star in the historical drama “Jesus Was My Homeboy” about Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton.

The project is set up at Warner Bros. with “Black Panther” director Ryan Coogler producing along with Charles King through his Marco production company. Executive producers are Sev Ohanian, Zinzi Coogler, and Macros’ Kim Roth and Poppy Hanks.

Shaka King will direct and produce from a script he wrote with Will Berson, which will focus on the death of Hampton, who was killed in 1969 while sleeping in his apartment during a raid conducted by a state tactical unit in conjunction with the Chicago Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. His death was ruled as a justifiable homicide by the inquest. A civil lawsuit resulted in a settlement of $1.85 million in 1982.

If the deals are made, Kaluuya will portray Hampton. Stanfield, who starred in “Sorry to Bother You,...

Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield are in talks to star in Jesus Was My Homeboy, a movie about the assassinated Black Panther activist Fred Hampton.

Ryan Coogler will produce the Warner Bros. project, along with Charles King's Macro. Shaka King (High Maintenance, People of Earth) will direct and produce from a script he wrote with Will Berson.

If the deal is made, Kaluuya would play Hampton, the enigmatic activist and organizer who quickly ascended the ranks of the Black Panther Party to become the chairman of the Illinois chapter and deputy chairman of the national party before being assassinated ...

Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield are in talks to star in Jesus Was My Homeboy, a movie about the assassinated Black Panther activist Fred Hampton.

Ryan Coogler will produce the Warner Bros. project, along with Charles King's Macro. Shaka King (High Maintenance, People of Earth) will direct and produce from a script he wrote with Will Berson.

If the deal is made, Kaluuya would play Hampton, the enigmatic activist and organizer who quickly ascended the ranks of the Black Panther Party to become the chairman of the Illinois chapter and deputy chairman of the national party before being assassinated ...

Hollywood needs to offer audiences more diversity in movies if the industry is to stay in business, several key independent film executives asserted at Saturday’s Produced By Conference.

“The marketplace is more receptive to diverse content,” said “Mudbound” producer Charles King at the event on the Paramount lot in Los Angeles. He appeared on a panel titled “Financing Your Film: How to Find the Right Partners” at the Paramount Theatre.

“Mudbound” wound up receiving four Oscar nominations in a major triumph for streaming service Netflix, which has profoundly disrupted the movie business. King, who also produced “Fences” through his Macro company, praised Netflix’s awards season campaign as “above and beyond.”

He noted that Netflix presented an offer for “Mudbound” at the Sundance Film Festival that far exceeded the others, including a commitment for an Academy Award campaign. “To be honest, they were an incredible partner,” King said.

Pandemonium chief Bill Mechanic,...

Macro, the black creator-focused production studio led by former Wme agent Charles King, announced on Wednesday it is launching a new initiative, The Macro Episodic Lab, designed to help discover and advance the work of writers of color in TV.

The studio is partnering with Franklin Leonard’s The Black List, Eva Longoria’s company UnbeliEVAable, and “Master of None” writer and actor Lena Waithe to help get the new project off the ground.

“We are elated to partner with Franklin Leonard of The Black List, Lena and Eva to further our mission of bolstering fresh voices of color,” said Macro CEO King and Chief Content Officer of its digital studio Aaliyah Williams in statement. “They are all leaders of the current shift towards equitable representation and we are thrilled to join forces as Macro continues to produce and champion work that is rooted in authenticity, creativity and excellence.”

Also...

Lena Waithe and Eva Longoria have teamed with Charles King’s Macro and Franklin Leonard’s the Black List to launch a script development contest for writers of color.

The Macro Episodic Lab Powered by the Black List invites writers of color to submit “ideas for review” by Macro executives and the Black List team. The Black List script review site founded in 2005 by Leonard provides the data hosting infrastructure for submissions.

Semi-finalists in the review process will compete for deals to produce a $30,000 presentation or sizzle reel. Submissions at will be accepted online from June 6-Aug. 6. Up to three winners will be named in December.

“I’m super excited to find some fresh new voices. By working with Macro and the Black List it’s a great way for me to find scripts that otherwise wouldn’t reach my desk,” said Waithe.

“When Macro and the Black List presented...

“I know for sure that you won’t find two people with bigger hearts and that create more opportunities for others,” producer Charles King said in a touching introduction about his good friends and founders of The Story Company, director Tim Story and wife Vicky Mara Story.

The Storys accepted the 2018 impact award at the Independent School Alliance for Minority Affairs dinner at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica on Tuesday evening. Also honored with an impact award was director of admission at Harvard-Westlake School Elizabeth Gregory Riordan.

The theater welcomed a variety of patrons of diversity and education, including Ava DuVernay and “Insecure”’ star Yvonne Orji, who served as the night’s emcee.

Raised by a Nigerian family in Maryland, Orji explained how important education was in her household. “My mother had a whole book throughout the New England area for boarding and private schools, and she made sure...

The “Star Wars” universe is making some changes.

While the ever-expanding movie franchise has been taken to task plenty of times for its repeated hiring of exactly one type of filmmaker — white males, including recent turns from Ron Howard and Rian Johnson — “The Force Awakens” director J.J. Abrams is bringing someone brand new into the fold: filmmaker Victoria Mahoney. The filmmaker and producer will serve as the second unit director on Abrams’ upcoming untitled “Episode IX,” marking the first time an African-American woman has served in any directing capacity on a “Star Wars” film.

The news was first announced by fellow Disney filmmaker, Ava DuVernay, who shared a picture of Mahoney and Abrams hanging out at a recent open house at her own production and distribution company, Array.

Happy to share this historic news. A black woman directing stories in a galaxy far, far away. First unit director #JJAbrams. Second unit director @VictoriaMahoney.

J.J. Abrams has begun pre-production on “Star Wars: Episode IX” and tapped Victoria Mahoney as his second unit director, a major milestone for the franchise as its first African-American woman to serve in any directing role.

Ava DuVernay, who recently directed “A Wrinkle in Time” for Disney, announced the news on her Twitter feed on Tuesday.

Happy to share this historic news. A black woman directing stories in a galaxy far, far away. First unit director #JJAbrams. Second unit director @VictoriaMahoney. #StarWarsE9 #StarWars pic.twitter.com/s689jv9I4u

— Ava DuVernay (@ava) April 17, 2018

Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy made it clear that she would like to see more diversity behind the camera going forward on future “Star Wars” films during the press tour for “The Last Jedi.”

“We want to make sure that when we bring a female director in to do ‘Star Wars,’ they’re set up for success,...

Another historic moment for a female director, as Victoria Mahoney has been tapped by Lucasfilm and Jj Abrams to be second unit director on Star Wars: Episode IX. Ava DuVernay just tweeted the historic news. DuVernay became the first African American woman to sign on to direct a major superhero film in DC’s The New Gods.

Happy to share this historic news. A black woman directing stories in a galaxy far, far away. First unit director #JJAbrams. Second unit director @VictoriaMahoney. #StarWarsE9 #StarWars pic.twitter.com/s689jv9I4u

— Ava DuVernay (@ava) April 17, 2018

Mahoney, who is African American, is the first black woman to direct a Star Wars film, sources said. On the feature front, she wrote and directed the loosely autobiographical indie film Yelling At The Sky, that premiered in Berlin. She just directed Red Line, a pilot for CBS that is exec produced by DuVernay and Greg Berlanti.

When Underground returns to Wgn America for season two on Wednesday, March 8, it’ll make history by presenting Harriet Tubman’s narrative onscreen for the first time since 1978, when Cicely Tyson played the abolitionist on the TV miniseries A Woman Called Moses. In the 39 years since, there’s been little of Tubman’s vast story -- from her escape from slavery to the Underground Railroad to her role as spy and military leader during the Civil War and, later, a suffragette -- presented, unless one counts her brief appearance on an episode of NBC's 1982 time-traveling series Voyagers! or in 2012’s Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, which even the film’s screenwriter, Seth Grahame-Smith, admitted was “sad.”

In fact, several versions of Abraham Lincoln’s story have appeared on TV and in theaters since 1978, with Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln earning Daniel Day-Lewis the 2013 Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of the president. Even [link=nm...

Exclusive: Soul singer Mary J. Blige has joined the cast of Dee Rees’ Mudbound alongside Jason Mitchell, Jason Clarke, Garrett Hedlund and Carey Mulligan. The project, which starts filming soon in New Orleans, follows two men returning home from World War II to work on a farm in rural Mississippi. Once there, they struggle to deal with racism and adjust to postwar life. Cassian Elwes, Charles King, Kim Roth, Sally Jo Effenson Chris Lemole, Tim Zajaros and Carl Effenson…...

Here’s the new Viewfinder List, the entertainment industry survey which polls studio executives, producers and creatives for their top 10 short films, commercials and/or music videos. This is similar to The Black List, as the Viewfinder List honors short form content and the directors who made them. The list was created by producer Jeff Schroeder, Aaron Schmidt (Langley Park Pictures) and Patrick Chu (FilmNation). In recent years, some of the shorts have been optioned and some of their directors have gotten jobs — and hey, the attention never hurts. This year’s top vote-getter, Fool’s Day, was directed by Cody Blue Snider, the son of Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider. Here is the website where it is possible to watch the shorts:

Related:

Viewfinder List 2012

Viewfinder List 2011

Votes: 17

Fool’s Day, directed by Cody Blue Snider

Agents: WME – Roger Green, Solco Schuit

Managers: Circle of Confusion – Zach Cox

Votes: 15

Noah,...

Three entertaining novels: an epic, wry account of Brits in the Balkans during WWII, a gripping murder mystery in a Southern town, and what Marilyn Monroe's dog, Maf, saw.

The Balkan TrilogyBy Olivia Manning

Related story on The Daily Beast: This Week's Hot Reads

No young man dreams of growing up to be a lecturer for the British Council. But when I first stumbled across Olivia Manning's Balkan Trilogy in graduate school, I was ready to be signed up. At nearly a thousand pages, Manning's three novels are a sweeping story of marital love, English manners, and Balkan intrigues, set against Europe's descent into the Second World War. Harriet Pringle, bright and self-confident, joins her husband, Guy, in Bucharest, Romania, where he teaches English at the local university as part of a British cultural program. "Anything can happen now," Harriet thinks as her train chugs eastward, somewhere beyond Venice.