‘Abbott Elementary’ Finale Ratings Spike 200% With a Week of Multiplatform Viewing (EXCLUSIVE)

Anna Marie de la Fuente Long established as a venue for festivals devoted to music and the performing arts, Brazil’s alpine city of Campos do Jordão has also hosted audiovisual industry events, led by the annual showcase of upcoming releases, the Winter Show. Now on its 13th year, it was paused for two years because of the pandemic.With the launch of FestCampos, new screening venues are being constructed, says Sergio Sá Leitão, São Paulo State Secretary of Culture.

K.J. Yossman The U.K.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Despite the cuts to federal tax incentives in recent years, Brazil remains a good source of production mechanisms. “The major platforms led by Netflix, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime Video have production service agreements with Brazilian production companies to take advantage of these funding possibilities,” says FestCampos Talks producer-curator Fernanda Martins.Jose Mauricio Fittipaldi, a partner at law firm CQSFV, adds: “It is true that investment has been severely cut in the last couple of years, but the causes are a bit more complex than just [President Jair] Bolsonaro.

Four Tet‘s Kieran Hebden has shared a new song under his KH moniker – listen to ‘Looking At Your Pager’ below.Hebden has used the moniker sporadically throughout his career, most notably on the Nelly Furtado-sampling 2019 hit ‘Only Human’.‘Looking At Your Pager’ centres around a sample of 3LW’s 2000 single ‘No More (Baby I’ma Do Right)’. Speaking of the track’s genesis and eventual release, Hebden said: “This track was made in the summer last year just before my first festival set in a long time.

Zack Sharf It’s quite the Cannes Film Festival for first-time director Riley Keough.Not only is she debuting her first movie as a filmmaker (“War Pony,” which she co-directed with her producing partner Gina Gammell), but her family history is the subject of Baz Luhrmann’s starry film, “Elvis,” which will make its world premiere next week at the festival. Keough is the granddaughter of Elvis Presley, played in the film by Austin Butler.Keough joined Variety and Kering at Cannes for a Women In Motion conversation, where she said Luhrmann spoke to her family when working on his film, but she was never approached for a role, despite the strong resemblance she has to her grandmother, Priscilla Presley, and mother, Lisa Marie Presley. Keough also revealed that the trio of women watched the movie together.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Taking place over May 13-22 in Brazil’s highest city, the verdant mountain resort town of Campos do Jordão, more akin to a northern European city thanks to its architecture and pine tree forests, the maiden FestCampos Cultural has launched this year in tandem with the 13th Winter Show, an annual Brazilian audiovisual industry event not unlike CinemaCon where exhibitors and distributors tout the latest releases.The free activities include screenings of current releases, video projections and panels.A key component of FestCampos is a series of 18 online interviews, FestCampos Talks, kicking off on May 21, comprising conversations with prominent international film and TV industry players who will expound on the practices and trends in content production and distribution.

Blu DeTiger has teamed up with Chromeo on two new songs – listen to ‘Blutooth’ & ‘enough 4 u’ below.The tracks follow the bass virtuoso’s ‘How Did We Get Here?’ EP, which came out last year. She also recently played a series of UK shows at The Great Escape and more.“We clicked with Blu and Rex immediately, they became like our younger siblings,” says Chromeo’s Dave 1 said of their new collaborators. “Our top priority was to make records where you can really feel both of them playing live…cuz they’re so talented and endearing. We kept telling them: it’s gotta be funky, it’s gotta be catchy, but it’s also got to get respect from all our musician friends.”The band’s P-Thugg added: “Bass is the backbone of funk music.

Sebastian Stan dropped by Friday’s edition of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”, where he discussed his recent role playing Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee in Hulu’s “Pam & Tommy”.

A Scots dad has shared how proud he is of his young Rangers mad son who congratulated Frankfurt fans on their Seville win.

An airline has apologised after passengers experienced a 'nightmare' wait for luggage at Manchester Airport. Amy Platt, 36, was travelling home after a dream trip for her wedding and honeymoon.

Jay Blades was thrilled to find out he had been appointed the first chancellor of Buckinghamshire New University.The Repair Shop star promised some “big changes” would be coming during his time in charge.Jay, 52, took to Twitter this morning to update his 49,300 followers about his exciting new role. “GREAT NEWS FLASH,” he wrote in the caption accompanying a video clip. “This morning I became the first chancellor of my old university, @BucksNewUni, making some big changes future.” (sic)“What do you think?” he asked his fans.Jay attended Buckinghamshire New University as a mature student studying criminology and philosophy at the age of 30.Now, the furniture restorer will be its first chancellor - a role he accepted on the condition that the university reinstated its furniture and restoration course.He also asked to start a scholarship programme and will sponsor several students each year.Jay appeared ecstatic in the accompanying video as he gave his fans the full rundown. “I tell you what, today is a good day,” he began. “I said to some of you (a few of you) that on Friday I got some great, great, great news… And here it is.”“The great news is that I have become a chancellor - I know, a chancellor - of my old university in High Wycombe. At this point Jay nodded, adding: “I know, it’s a big look isn’t it?”“Normally being a chancellor is left for people like Lords and Ladies, but there’s me… Being a chancellor.“And I said to my university…” Jay said as he came to a realisation.

New York’s state senate passed a bill on Tuesday that would restrict the use of song lyrics in court, a common practice disproportionately applied to prosecute rappers. Senate Bill S7527, co-sponsored by state senators Brad Hoylman and Jamaal Bailey and dubbed the Rap Music on Trial bill, would require prosecutors to prove a lyric is “literal, rather than figurative or fictional,” before presenting it to a jury.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterCartoon Network Studios and NFL alumnus Trevor Pryce’s animation studio have teamed up on a content development deal designed to discover emerging creators and artists from underrepresented communities, Variety has learned exclusively.Pryce’s Mid-Atlantic-region-focused Outlook Company will host the initiative out of its recently formed animated projects incubator Neru Projects. The program will launch with six local participants who will have creative executives at Cartoon Network Studios and Neru Projects to shepherd their ideas from concept to pitch through the development of a series bible.Per Cartoon Network Studios, “At least one project will be selected to begin formal development at Cartoon Network Studios and Outlook Company but, through the program, all participants will learn how to collaborate with creative partners to develop and package their original animated series ideas.” The inaugural group for the development program includes these six individuals, who “represent diversity in race, gender, and age and will use their unique perspectives to shine a light on their homes, communities, and personal experiences through animation”:“Elevating original and diverse creative voices is one of our top priorities at Cartoon Network Studios,” Sam Register, president of Cartoon Network Studios and Warner Bros.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterGeekWire co-founder Jonathan Sposato has launched JoySauce Network, a new ad-supported multimedia platform aimed at the “American Asian” audience and its allies, Variety has learned exclusively.The site, which went live Wednesday morning, boasts “multiple channels of vibrant digital programming dedicated to celebrating both new and established American Asian talent.” JoySauce Network notes the use of “American Asian rather than Asian American” is its way of “shifting the center of gravity, while recognizing that each of us chooses how the pieces of our identities fit together.”Per JoySauce Network, “Viewers can expect unscripted and scripted streaming shows, licensed movies from respected directors and writers in the Asian diaspora, stand-up comedy specials from emerging talent, documentaries, and more in a weekly episode format. The site will also publish original editorial from some of the community’s most talented writers, aiming to represent the full spectrum of American Asian narratives, covering culturally relevant topics in lifestyle, food, entertainment, pop culture, education, romance and more.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterNBCUniversal Television and Streaming has promoted Orit Blankrot to senior vice president of entertainment business and legal affairs, Variety has learned exclusively.In her new role, Blankrot, who most recently served as vice president of entertainment business and legal affairs for NBCU’s TV and streaming arm, has increased oversight of business and legal affairs for NBCUniversal’s syndication studios. This includes Stamford (Conn.) Media Center’s first-run programming, E! News and co-productions for distribution on both internal and external platforms.As SVP of the department, she will report to Inge Van Herle, the head of entertainment business and legal affairs for NBCUniversal Television and Streaming.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterAfrican American-founded, faith-based channel Impact Network is making a big push into entertainment and lifestyle content with the ramping up of its Saturday programming slate, the hiring of a new chief creative officer and executive producer of original content, and the launch of a 6,000-foot production facility in Detroit with a music division, Variety has learned exclusively.The privately owned Impact Network has a reach of 80 million homes and distribution deals with DirecTV, Comcast Xfinity, Charter Spectrum, Verizon Fios, Frontier, Cable Bahamas, Cox and Altice USA. Founder and CEO Bishop Wayne T.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterHBO’s “House of the Dragon” cost under $20 million per episode to produce its 10-episode first season, which debuts Aug. 21, a source close to production told Variety.For comparison, “Game of Thrones” cost HBO around $100 million to per season.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterSPOLER ALERT: Do not read if you have not watched “Farnsby & B,” the Season 2 finale of “Ghosts.”Sam (Rose McIver) and Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) finally opened their bed & breakfast in the “Ghosts” Season 1 finale Thursday — only for their dreams to come literally crashing down moments later thanks to a curse. In the closing seconds of the episode, titled “Farnsby & B,” Sam and Jay are ready to welcome their first guests to the Woodstone B&B after defeating their enemy neighbors the Farnsbys in a game of pickle ball to get them to close their spitefully opened competitor, the Farsnby & B.But just as they open the doors, the floorboards crumble beneath them, suggesting the curse Thor (Devan Chandler Long) put on them before he got to know Sam is actually real.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterDiscovery+ is set to launch a new docuseries focused on Black food history in America from producer Viola Davis, featuring scholar and cookbook author Caroline Randall Williams as host, Variety has learned exclusively.The four-episode show, titled “Hungry for Answers,” will follow Williams as she travels the country, “uncovering the fascinating, essential, and often untold Black stories behind some of America’s classic and emblematic food and spirits,” per the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned streamer.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterThe finale of CNN+’s “Land of the Giants: Titans of Tech,” titled “The Netflix Effect,” launches Thursday, perfect timing for an entertainment industry that is both reeling amid Netflix’s shocking Q1 subscriber miss, poor second-quarter outlook and the wait to see if CNN+ can find its groove as quickly as it might need to in order to survive.Based on the “Land of the Giants” podcast from Vox Media’s Recode, the CNN+ docuseries explores the complicated histories of Meta (a.k.a. Facebook), Apple, Amazon, Google and now Netflix.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterWhip Media has hired Disney global integration and digital distribution operation’s strategy executive Artin Nazarian as vice president of global enterprise account management, Variety has learned exclusively.In his newly created role, Nazarian will develop and grow the company’s enterprise platform customer relationships worldwide, including focusing on strategy, product adoption and revenue.Whip brings Nazarian on board on the heels of  the commercial launch of the Whip Media Exchange, described by the company as “a first-of-its-kind global licensing and research platform for film and TV content.” Whip will model the product, along with the company’s CVM and CVMi platforms, at the 2022 NAB Show next week in Las Vegas. Prior to joining Whip, Nazarian spent nearly two decades at Disney, where he most recently served as head of global integration and digital distribution operation’s strategy.