Jennifer Maas: Last News

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterSPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Here Comes a Candle to Light You to Bed,” the July 1 episode of “The Boys.”The penultimate episode of “The Boys” Season 3 revealed Black Noir’s (Nathan Mitchell) back story with Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) in the cutest, and somehow still goriest, way possible.During Episode 7, Noir is in hiding at an abandoned children’s restaurant called Buster Beaver’s after running off from Vought Tower upon learning that Soldier Boy is still alive. Noir does not tell anyone, including his best buddy and captain Homelander (Antony Starr), where he went and is living there in seclusion — while joined by several imaginary cartoon friends.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterSPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Here Comes a Candle to Light You to Bed,” the July 1 episode of “The Boys.”“What father wouldn’t want that for his son?”The final words said by Jensen Ackles’ Soldier Boy on a call with a stunned Homelander (Antony Starr) at the end of Friday’s episode of “The Boys” Season 3 revealed a game-changing twist heading into next week’s finale: Vought’s original extra-super superhero Soldier Boy is the biological father of new-and-debatably-improved Vought star Homelander.Vought had Soldier Boy taken out of the picture so Homelander could grow up and take over as the supe in charge, something Soldier Boy reveals to Homelander while also saying he would have been happy to let Homelander step into the limelight. “As a fan of the show, I didn’t see that coming,” Ackles confessed to Variety.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterNBC has ordered two seasons of “Magnum P.I.” following the drama’s cancellation at CBS in May after a four-season run.The broadcaster has ordered 20 new episodes of “Magnum P.I.,” which an option for more, and intends to break those up into Seasons 5 and 6 of the series, Variety has learned.The reboot of the beloved 1980’s action series debuted Season 4 back in October on CBS. The show is described as a modern take on the original series centering on Thomas Magnum (Jay Hernandez), a decorated former Navy SEAL who, upon returning home from Afghanistan, repurposes his military skills to become a private investigator.Along with Hernandez, the series stars Perdita Weeks as Juliet Higgins, Zachary Knighton as Orville “Rick” Wright, Stephen Hill as Theodore “TC” Calvin, Tim Kang as Det.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterNational Geographic Content has promoted Karen Greenfield to the newly created position of senior vice president of content, diversity and inclusion.Most recently Nat Geo’s SVP of business operations while also serving as diversity and inclusion council chair, in her new role, Greenfield will “develop and execute programs and initiatives to produce diverse and inclusive content and contribute to a culture of belonging across all Nat Geo Content teams,” per the Disney-owned brand.Greenfield will lead the Nat Geo Content creative teams in producing inclusive programs “for a multicultural and multigenerational audience,” and collaborate closely with marketing and communications leaders to tap into “a broader array of fans.” She will also work with fellow Disney execs to ensure Nat Geo talent and programming are integrated into companywide DEI initiatives. She will report directly to Nat Geo Content president Courteney Monroe and will continue to be based at Nat Geo headquarters in Washington, D.C.Along with the news of Greenfield’s promotion to the new role, Nat Geo announced a second year for its Nat Geo Media Scholarship program for students who attend historically Black colleges or universities (HBCU), an initiative led by Greenfield.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer“Cake Boss” star Buddy Valastro, a longtime staple in the Warner Bros. Discovery lifestyle brands family, is making A+E Networks his new TV home.The cable giant has signed custom cake whiz Valastro, who rose to fame through his TLC reality series “Cake Boss,” which is centered on his long-standing family business Carlo’s Bakery, to a multi-platform creative partnership.The pact encompasses more than 60 hours of original programming, including development of multiple new series and holiday specials produced by A+E’s Six West Media, in association with Valastro’s Cakehouse Media.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterAMC’s “Alan Wake” TV adaptation has brought on two new producers following the exit of its previously announced showrunner, Variety has learned exclusively.Based on the best-selling video game of the same name, the potential series, which is in the very early stages of development at the cable channel, was originally set to have Peter Calloway (“Cloak & Dagger,” “Legion”) serve as its showrunner when it was first set up at producer Contradiction Films in 2018. He has now stepped away from “Alan Wake,” which recently landed at AMC, due to conflicting project timelines.Meanwhile, Jon Jashni, former president of Legendary Entertainment, and Jeff Ludwig, former vice president of scripted film and television production for Ritchie/Wigram Productions, have joined the drama as executive producer and producer, respectively.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterMore than 100 employees will be laid off as a result of the merger between CAA and ICM Partners, Variety has learned.It is expected that 425 employees will make the transition from ICM to CAA, resulting in a new combined staff total of approximately 3,200 employees at CAA.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterCAA has closed its acquisition of fellow mega Hollywood talent agency ICM Partners.“Today marks a new chapter in the history of our company, positioning us better than ever to deliver extraordinary opportunities for many of the world’s preeminent artists, athletes, thought leaders, brands, and organizations in entertainment, sports, and culture,” CAA’s co-chairmen Kevin Huvane, Bryan Lourd and Richard Lovett said in a statement announcing the close of the Tuesday. “We are thrilled to welcome our new ICM colleagues to CAA, and look forward to combining their expertise, relationships, and resources with those of our agents and executives around the world.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterAnonymous Content’s Tehmina Jaffer has returned to the Disney fold, joining Disney Branded Television as head of business affairs.Jaffer, a former business affairs Disney+ exec, succeeds Adina Savin, who has served as executive vice president of Disney Branded TV’s BA department for 23 years. Savin announced her departure in a memo to staff in early May, citing a desire to focus on personal pursuits.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterPaul Reiser was introduced as The Legend, the nickname of Vought’s former head of hero management, on last week’s episode of “The Boys” Season 3. But Reiser himself was introduced to the character and the show, in all its bloody, raunchy superhero glory, not long before the world saw him in the part, as the “Stranger Things” star was oblivious to the Emmy-nominated Amazon Prime Video series until showrunner Eric Kripke and co. reached out to him for the guest spot.“I knew precious little about the show.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer“The Daily Show” is hitting the road for midterms again. This fall, host Trevor Noah will take his Comedy Central late-night series to battleground territory in Atlanta, Ga.While on-the-ground election coverage is nothing new for “The Daily Show,” which has previously moved to Ohio and Florida for midterms, the decision to head to Georgia for the first time is “highlighting key races and broader voting issues,” per the Paramount show.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterFormer HBO chief marketing officer Pamela Levine has been tapped as the new head of marketing for Disney Branded Television and National Geographic Content.Levine, who is replacing the recently exited Jayanta Jenkins, will lead an integrated internal agency across brand and creative marketing, strategy, publicity, media planning, digital/social, events, talent relations and awards, supporting content created for Disney+, as well as the Disney and National Geographic-branded linear networks, per Disney General Entertainment.In her new role, which she will begin June 27, Levine will jointly report to Disney Branded Television President Ayo Davis and National Geographic Content President Courteney Monroe. Levine’s direct reports include Chris Albert, executive vice president, Marketing and Publicity; Chris Spencer, executive vice president, Creative Marketing; Kristin Corrigan, senior vice president, Marketing Strategy; Jessica Bodaken, vice president, Marketing Production; Abby Ho, vice president, Social Media & Engagement Strategy; and Katie Morrow, vice president, Media Planning.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterThe 2022 Women in Entertainment Summit has added several notable speakers to its lineup, including Connie Britton (“The White Lotus”), Sofia Carson (“Feel the Beat,” “Descendants”), Chandler Kinney (“Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin”) and Reign Edwards (“The Wilds”), Variety has learned exclusively.The actresses will all participate in fireside chats at the June 22 event, which marks WIE’s first summit since 2019 and its sixth overall.As Variety first reported earlier this week, the 2022 WIE summit’s panel topics include “how creatives keep a beloved story relevant to up and coming audiences, how media companies are expanding their offerings to meet the needs of today’s consumers, how to negotiate deals within the IP and talent rights space, and much more.” Previously announced speakers for Women in Entertainment Summit 2022 include Paul Feig, Karen Pittman and Alexandra Shipp, among dozens of other executive producers, writers, executives and stars from within the entertainment and media industries.This edition of WIE will be held at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, California on June 22.Founded by Renee Rossi (Relativity Ventures) and Gretchen McCourt, WIE aims to bring together women and men who are “dedicated to celebrating the empowerment of women in all areas of the entertainment industry.”“Our mission is and always has been to share knowledge from incredible women who have built successful businesses in the world of entertainment and media,” Rossi said when the return of WIE Summit was revealed.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterNat Geo’s “SharkFest” is turning 10 and marking the occasion by enlisting sister Disney brands ABC, ESPN and Hulu to help air its largest programming slate ever across the most platforms it has ever been on, Variety has learned exclusively.While “SharkFest” aired during a six-week period last year, making the 2021 edition the longest “SharkFest” ever, that lineup was limited to Nat Geo, Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo Mundo, Disney XD and Disney+.This time around, Nat Geo is putting out nearly 30 hours of new content and 60 hours of “enhanced” programming over four weeks beginning July 10, its most-packed “SharkFest” schedule on record. And that increased content load is spread out not just across Nat Geo, Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo Mundo, Disney XD and Disney+, but also broadcast network ABC, cabler ESPN and streamer Hulu, making it an historic occasion for the decade-old fin-tastic event.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterAmazon Prime Video’s “The Boys” is bringing another iconic character from the comics to the screen, this time with the help of Paul Reiser.The legendary actor will take on the all-important in-universe role of “The Legend,” which in the original “Boys” comics from Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson was a parody version of the late famed Marvel creator Stan Lee.According to Amazon, “Reiser will be introduced as The Legend in this week’s episode titled ‘The Last Time To Look On This World Of Lies,'” which is the fifth episode of “The Boys” Season 3.Prime Video’s “The Boys,” which is executive produced by “Supernatural” creator Eric Kripke along with Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, didn’t provide a description for its version of “The Legend” beyond referring to him as “an iconic fan-favorite character fromt he original comic book series,” but the streamer did release a first look photo, which can be viewed above. New episodes of the eight-episode third season of “The Boys” premiere Fridays, with four remaining until the July 8 finale.“The Boys” has already been renewed for a fourth season by Amazon Studios, a decision that was announced soon after the impressive viewership for the Season 3 premiere weekend came in last week.“We’re just really excited.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer“Silos Baking Competition” premiered to record-setting ratings for Magnolia Network Sunday, a turnout Chip and Joanna Gaines apparently saw coming a mile away, as their channel is already in pre-production on another baking competition series, Variety has learned exclusively.That unannounced baking competition is the first of several in the works at the cable channel, according to one source close to production.Simulcast across Food Network and Magnolia Network, a joint venture between the Gaineses and Warner Bros. Discovery, the one-hour premiere of “Silos Baking Competition,” which takes place at Chip and Jo’s Waco-based bakery, Silos Baking Co., drew more than 1.5 million viewers Sunday.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterJune is ’90s month on Vice TV. But based on its recent programming decisions, it could be argued that the cable network is currently in a perpetual state of ’90s month.With the debut of “Dark Side of the 90’s” Season 2 on Tuesday and the July 12 premiere of Nacelle Company’s docuseries “Icons Unearthed: Star Wars,” Morgan Hertzan, Vice TV executive vice president and general manager, tells Variety his team’s goal with this content is to reach the Gen X audience through its seemingly endless love for the era.“Obviously, a lot of media has focused on millennials, a lot of media is focused on the ‘Greatest Generation,'” Hertzan said.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterThis year marks the 30th anniversary of Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky’s “Brother’s Keeper,” which, as Berlinger says, is “one of the granddaddies of the true-crime docu movement.”It’s true that the 1992 film about the bizarre murder trial of Delbert Ward, who was accused of the “mercy killing” of his brother in rural upstate New York, was an early entrant in our collective societal obsession with the unscripted true-crime format, which in recent years has crossed over to the scripted side.As one of the founding fathers of the format that has piqued our interest in true crime to the point where limited series including “Impeachment: American Crime Story,” “The Staircase,” “The Dropout,” “Inventing Anna,” “Dr. Death,” “A Very British Scandal,” and several more are all competing in the same Emmys’ cycle, Berlinger has some unique insight into the nonfiction-to-dramatized evolution.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterSince launching its mobile games offering to members seven months ago, Netflix has released a total of 23 titles. While the streamer has just debuted its “Queen’s Gambit” game and revealed plans to make titles based on popular Netflix IP — including “Shadow and Bone,” “Too Hot to Handle” and “Money Heist” — plus a unique “Exploding Kittens” franchise plan that will see both a TV series and new version of the hit mobile game come to the platform, the streamer still hasn’t given much in the way of details about its gaming future.But part of its strategy, for the moment, is not announcing its strategy.“We started in November of last year, so only a handful of months and we’re still intentionally keeping things a little bit quiet because we’re still learning and experimenting and trying to figure out what things are going to actually resonate with our members, what games people want to play,” Leanne Loombe, Netflix’s head of external games, said during a panel at the Tribeca Film Festival on Monday.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterThe Women in Entertainment (WIE) Summit will return with its sixth annual event this June, taking place for the first time since 2019, Variety has learned exclusively.Founded by Renee Rossi (Relativity Ventures) and Gretchen McCourt, WIE aims to bring together women and men who are “dedicated to celebrating the empowerment of women in all areas of the entertainment industry.” Held at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, California on June 22, the 2022 summit with panel topics including “how creatives keep a beloved story relevant to up and coming audiences, how media companies are expanding their offerings to meet the needs of today’s consumers, how to negotiate deals within the IP and talent rights space, and much more.” The current lineup of speakers for WIE Summit 2022 include:Erika Anderson, West Coast Director, The Slate GroupCasey Kriley, Co-CEO of Magical Elves (Top Chef, Nailed It)Anjali Midha, CEO & Co-Founder of Diesel LabsTeri Weiss, Executive VP, Television Development, DreamWorks Animation;Anastasia Puglisi, Senior Vice President at Wolf Entertainment (FBI: Most Wanted, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit)Dana Block, Senior Vice President of Digital Entertainment and Consumer Technology at Metro Public RelationsAlexandra Moore, Global Strategic Initiatives Leader at Amazon MusicJess Kessler, Head of Content & Creator Marketing at AudibleJennifer Brunsweiger, Senior Director of Content Marketing at ShutterstockKaitlyn Powell, VP of Talent at BrightLisa Guerrero, Investigative Journalist at Inside EditionJeanne Mau, Senior Vice President, TV Programming Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at NBCUniversalIram Bilal, Filmmaker (I’ll Meet You There)Zakiyyah Alexander, Executive

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterBroadway returned to broadcast — and streaming — Sunday with the 75th annual Tony Awards. The show’s first ever live coast-to-coast telecast drew 3.86 million viewers for its three-hour portion on CBS, according to special time-zone adjusted Live + Same Day Nielsen data.Like last year’s special edition in September, the four-hour ceremony kicked off with an exclusive start on Paramount+, before CBS joined in. But unlike the fall 2021 show that was just two-hours long on network TV, the 2022 Tonys saw its CBS broadcast restored to a full three hours.