The 31st Slamdance Film Festival has announced its 2025 lineup as the festival makes the move from Park City to Los Angeles. The festival will run from Feb. 20-26 with the opening night event kicking off at The Egyptian Theatre. The rest of the screenings will rotate between the Director’s Guild of America and West […]

The Palm Springs International Film Festival has set its Talking Pictures Program, which will include “Babygirl,” “Emilia Pérez,” “Maria,” “A Real Pain,” “Sing Sing” and “Wicked.” The screenings will be followed by in-depth discussions with actors Nicole Kidman, Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Karla Sofía Gascón, Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez, Edgar Ramirez, Angelina Jolie, Jesse Eisenberg […]

Filmmakers Sara Crow, David Rafailedes and Lara Palmqvist are the San Francisco International Film Festival’s 2024 Sloan Science in Cinema Fellows. In partnership with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, these three creatives will be awarded $35,000 each and receive advisory feedback from scientists who are matched to their film’s topic to support the development of […]

For viewers who tune into the new Peacock series “Laid” this weekend, don’t be surprised if you spot a familiar public figure. Amanda Knox, the American exchange student who was convicted in Italy of murdering her roommate — before being ultimately acquitted by that country’s highest court in 2015 — makes a surprise appearance in […]

Perhaps no one in the filmmaking ecosphere understands and appreciates the accomplishments of filmmakers better than their peers. And no one articulates the wonders and achievements in more rewarding or greater detail. Here are some of global cinema’s finest directors explaining why they’re in awe of what this year’s top auteurs hath wrought.

The making of “Nickel Boys” — a film that follows two young Black boys, Elwood (Ethan Herisse) and Turner (Brandon Wilson), as they navigate a brutal reform school — presented a unique set of circumstances for cinematographer Jomo Fray. While Fray always wants his camerawork to feel vulnerable, director RaMell Ross’ vision of shooting the […]

Ahead of the streaming release of the wrestling movie “Unstoppable,” Jennifer Lopez joined the Variety Screening Series presented by Amazon MGM Studios for a career retrospective chat with Clayton Davis, Variety’s Senior Awards Editor. Lopez shared her experience taking on the role of a mother who raised famous wrestler Anthony Robles, played by Jharrel Jerome, […]

Maya Erskine, who was Emmy-nominated for her portrayal of Jane Smith in Prime Video’s “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” sat down with Variety’s Angelique Jackson at an FYC event to talk about forming a bond with her co-star Donald Glover, preparing for the physicality the role required and what drew her to Jane as an outsider […]

Billy Crystal is thinking back on his formative years in Martin Scorsese’s classroom. On the Dec. 15 episode of the “Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist” podcast, Crystal talked about his time being taught by Scorsese at New York University. “He was a graduate student at the time, just doing his first movie, called ‘Who’s That […]

Jill Jacobson, a film and television actress known for her work on “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and the primetime soap opera “Falcon Crest,” died Dec. 8 in Los Angeles. She was 70 years old. Jacobson’s death was confirmed to Variety by publicist Daniel Harary, a friend of Jacobson’s, who noted the actress died after […]

Thirteen years after “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” released in theaters and brought an end to Harry’s journey on the big screen, the Harry Potter universe is gearing up for a return in the form of episodic television. Led by showrunner Francesca Gardiner and director Mark Mylod of “Succession,” HBO’s take on […]

Carol Goldwasser, a casting director known for her work shaping young talent on shows like “Hannah Montana,” died Dec. 5 at her home in Palm Springs after surgery. She was 67. Goldwasser’s death was confirmed to Variety by her friend, manager Theodore Gekis. Goldwasser worked in Los Angeles and New York for over two decades, […]

Saban Films has promoted its top executive team and extended their deals through 2026, Variety has exclusively learned. Bill Bromiley has been promoted to Vice-Chairman, where he will work on advancing key strategic goals, while Shanan Becker and Jonathan Saba will now serve as Co-Presidents. Becker will focus on the company’s financial and operational functions […]

Fox has officially renewed the dating competition series “Farmer Wants a Wife” for a third season, with the premiere date set for Thursday, March 20. As part of the renewal, Kimberly Williams-Paisley has joined the show as its new host, replacing country singer Jennifer Nettles (who fronted the reality series’ first two seasons). Williams-Paisley is […]

Martha Luttrell, a talent agent who represented a notable array of directors, actors, writers and musicians, died on Dec. 9 in Calabasas, Calif. She was 80. Luttrell’s death was confirmed to Variety by her friend Holly Goldberg Sloan, with the cause being pancreatic cancer. As a one-time representative for directors Martin Campbell, Paul Weiland, Mick […]

When working together on “Queens,” a period piece set in 1992 Peru, director Klaudia Reynicke and her director of photography Diego Romero found themselves having to confront the country’s tense political climate. This especially came into focus when filming the street protest scenes. Reynicke had to find a workaround when it came to featuring communist […]

Michelle Yeoh stopped by the Variety Lounge, presented by Film AlUla at the Red Sea Film Festival, where she chatted with Variety‘s London Bureau Chief Alex Ritman about working with director Jon M. Chu on “Wicked,” her hopes for the film’s awards chances and the current whereabouts of her “Everything Everywhere All at Once” Oscar […]

Mark Withers, a television actor known for portraying Ted Dinard in the original “Dynasty” series, died Nov. 22. He was 77. Mark Withers’ death was confirmed by his daughter, Jessie Withers. The cause was pancreatic cancer. His daughter remembered him fondly, writing: “He confronted his illness with the same strength and dignity he brought to […]

A group of the industry’s top executives and creatives gathered at NeueHouse Hollywood for the Hollywood Chamber’s 2024 Entertainment Industry Breakfast on Dec. 5, presented by Variety, to look at “Driving a Path Forward” in the anxious aftermath of recent strikes and historically low records of production in Los Angeles. Paul Audley, president of the […]