Todd Spangler: Last News

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Filmmaker siblings Anthony Russo and Joe Russo are calling their deep-dish interview series, “Pizza Film School,” back into session after a nearly three-year break. In Season 2 of the video podcast, the Russo brothers sit down with fellow directors to talk about their favorite films, discuss the craft of making movies — and chow down on a couple slices of pies from local pizzerias. Guests for the second season include Zack Snyder, Nia DaCosta, Justin Chon, R.J. Cutler, Justin Lin and Emerald Fennell. The series is produced by their production company, AGBO. Season 2 will premiered April 11 with new two-part episodes dropping weekly exclusively on AGBO’s YouTube channel.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Twitter had said it was going to start removing the blue check-marks of legacy verified users starting April 1, so that only people who paid Elon Musk’s company $8 or $11 per month would have the badge going forward. On Sunday, Twitter did something different: It updated the language in the description of verified users so that now you can’t tell who is paying Musk for the blue check-mark — and who isn’t. The text for both Twitter Blue subscribers and legacy verified accounts now reads, “This account is verified because it’s subscribed to Twitter Blue or is a legacy verified account.” Previously, the verification badge for those who paid for Twitter Blue had a description that said, “This account is verified because it’s subscribed to Twitter Blue.” In addition, accounts verified under Twitter’s previous regime — as being considered notable and authentic — had formerly said, “This is a legacy verified account. It may or may not be notable,” which was wording Musk boasted he’d come up with himself.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor As it tries to reverse a tide of red ink, FuboTV is rebranding its internet pay-TV service Fubo — and the company unveiled a new brand campaign co-produced with Maximum Effort, the advertising and production company headed by Ryan Reynolds, who’s an investor in Fubo. Fubo’s new nationwide ad campaign features NBA champion and Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett (pictured above) and former NFL quarterback Mark Sanchez, with the tagline, “If Sports Fans Built a Streaming Service.” The multiplatform campaign comprises a series of 15- and 30-second TV spots and digital display ads. Maximum Effort, co-founded by Reynolds and George Dewey, owns $10 million worth of shares in Fubo under a multiyear, first-look deal for unscripted content the production company inked with Fubo.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Sonia Coleman, a 15-year Disney veteran, is taking on a new role as head of human resources. The Mouse House named Coleman as senior executive vice president and chief human resources officer of the Walt Disney Co., effective April 8. She most recently has served as SVP of human resources for Disney Entertainment and ESPN. Coleman takes over the the top HR job at Disney from Paul Richardson, who is leaving the company after more than 15 years. As head of HR, Coleman will report directly to Bob Iger, who is serving as interim CEO for a two-year term. Coleman will oversee Disney’s HR strategy, global talent acquisition, leadership development, diversity and inclusion, organizational design and cultural development, employee education and development, compensation and benefits, HR operations and technology, and global security.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Fanatical collectors of Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” will get the chance to buy limited-edition multimedia nonfungible token (NFT) versions of the fantasy epic. Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is teaming with blockchain company Eluvio to launch “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” (Extended Version) Web3 Movie Experience, which will be available in two different editions that drop Friday, Oct. 21 at web3.wb.com. It’s the first time a major studio is releasing a movie as NFTs, which are unique identifiers that verify ownership of digital content. “The Fellowship of the Ring” NFTs are the first ones to be available in the “WB Movieverse,” a new marketplace that will in the future include other titles from the studio. Jessica Schell, GM and EVP, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, said future releases are yet to be determined. On the platform, fans will be able to buy, sell and trade movie NFTs.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Sex and relationship talk show “Call Her Daddy,” hosted by Alex Cooper, shot to the top of Spotify’s podcast charts following last week’s debut of Season 2. The premiere episode, released as a video podcast, featured an in-depth interview with Hailey Bieber. After the Season 2 premiere of “Call Her Daddy” on Sept. 28, the podcast hit No. 1 on the Spotify charts in English-speaking countries worldwide. As of Tuesday (Oct. 4), it’s the top Spotify podcast in the United States, Canada, U.K., Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Norway and Denmark. In the U.S., Cooper’s show is currently ahead of “The Joe Rogan Experience,” the perennial chart-topper on the streaming service.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Disney+ was first launched three years ago with the “pretty absurd” low price point of $6.99 per month, CEO Bob Chapek admitted. Now the company is gearing up to raise prices again on the flagship streamer — but Disney+ still offers a better price/value equation than competitors, he said. “I think we’re way underpriced relative to the value we provide,” Chapek said, noting that the core Disney+ service without ads will continue to be priced below several competitors. The CEO was speaking Wednesday at Goldman Sachs’ Communacopia + Technology Conference 2022. Amid rising inflation, Disney has announced price increases coming in the fourth quarter of 2022 for Disney+ and Hulu, as well as a December launch for the ad-supported Disney+ tier in the U.S. Disney+ Basic, the name of the plan with ads, will launch Dec. 8 in the U.S. for $7.99/month. That’s the price of the current ad-free version of Disney+, which at that time will bump up to $10.99/month, a 38% increase, and will be known as Disney+ Premium.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorWarner Bros. Discovery is not going to say how many HBO and HBO Max customers it has.In the second quarter, the media conglomerate said HBO Max, HBO and Discovery+ subscribers combined were 92.1 million, up about 1.6 million from 90.4 million the prior quarter. That’s up 22% 75.8 million on a pro-forma basis versus a year earlier.However, WBD’s streaming businesses lost subscribers domestically in Q2, dropping 300,000 — falling from 53.3 million in the first quarter to 53.0 million as of June 30.For Q1, AT&T — the prior owner of WarnerMedia and HBO Max — had reported 76.8 million total HBO and HBO Max subscribers worldwide, including 48.6 million domestically.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorNetflix is acquiring Australian animation studio Animal Logic, which is producing films for the streamer including “The Magician’s Elephant,” directed by Wendy Rogers, and “The Shrinking of the Treehorns,”  directed by Ron Howard.Animal Logic has about 800 employees, mostly based in Sydney and Vancouver. The acquisition “will help us accelerate the development of our animation production capabilities and reinforces our commitment to build a world-class animation studio,” Netflix said in its Q2 letter to shareholders.Click here to sign up for Variety‘s free Strictly Business newsletter covering earnings, financial and investment news, and more.The company did not disclose the purchase price for Animal Logic but said it will fund the acquisition from cash on hand.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorQuinta Brunson channels her inner talk-show host to portray Oprah Winfrey in Roku’s “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story,” starring Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe, as the frizzy-haired musical parodist.The movie is billed as “the unexaggerated true story about the greatest musician of our time.” “Weird,” which has a runtime of 108 minutes, is slated to premiere on the free, ad-supported Roku Channel this fall.Brunson is the latest cast member announced for “Weird,” which in addition to Radcliffe stars Evan Rachel Wood as Madonna; Rainn Wilson as radio broadcaster Dr. Demento; and Julianne Nicholson and Toby Huss as Yankovic’s parents, Mary and Nick.Brunson recently made Primetime Emmy Awards history with three nominations — for comedy series, lead actress in a comedy and writing for a comedy series — for ABC’s “Abbott Elementary,” which she created, executive produces and stars in.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorTrailblazing trans actor Hari Nef will headline “Lina’s Song,” a new scripted podcast from executive producer Mark Duplass, set in the ’80s punk scene of East Berlin.“Lina’s Song” is set to premiere on Spotify and Apple Podcasts on Aug. 19.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorStudio71 has dramatically stepped up Facebook video distribution efforts — with the digital content studio and network claiming its efforts have already produced more than 1 billion views on the platform.In addition, the company announced that it has signed several top creators to its roster, including Whitney Port; Epic Meal Time, the cooking show hosted by Harley Morenstein; and drag queen Trixie Mattel.Historically focused on YouTube, Studio71 last year formed a dedicated Facebook division. The company says it’s been publishing more than 1,000 videos per month on its creators’ Facebook pages, which have amassed over 50 million followers.Whitney Port, a vlogger, fashion designer, entrepreneur and an alum of MTV’s “The Hills,” has a bigger following on Facebook (430,000-plus followers) than on YouTube (178,000 subscribers).

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorNetflix has tapped longtime finance executive Ken Barker in a new role as principal accounting officer, assuming the duties from CFO Spencer Neumann.Netflix revealed the hiring of Barker in an SEC filing Monday. Barker starts at Netflix on June 27, reporting to Neumann, who continues to serve as the company’s chief financial officer and principal financial officer.Barker, 55, comes from games company Electronic Arts, most recently as senior VP finance since August 2021, and as SVP and chief accounting officer from June 2003 to August 2021.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorElon Musk is getting a little help from billionaire friends for his $44 billion Twitter takeover.According to an SEC filing Thursday, Musk has secured $7.14 billion in new financing commitments for the Twitter bid, including $1 billion from Larry Ellison. Ellison, co-founder and CTO of software giant Oracle, also sits on the board of Tesla, which Musk heads as CEO.In addition, Prince al-Waleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia committed to retain the equity he owns in Twitter — his 35 million shares are worth $1.9 billion at Musk’s buyout offer — instead of receiving a cash payout, per the filing.Musk “will continue to have… discussions with certain existing holders” of Twitter stock, including ex-CEO Jack Dorsey, to contribute their shares toward his bid, according to the filing.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorRoku is super-sizing its cooking entertainment lineup.The streaming platform announced co-production deals with Marquee Brands and Milk Street Studios to develop seven original series starring lifestyle and culinary personalities Martha Stewart, Emeril Lagasse and Christopher Kimball.The new programming was unveiled as part of Roku’s 2022 NewFronts presentation for marketers. The shows, to premiere exclusively on the Roku Channel, are “Martha Cooks,” “Martha Holidays” (working title), and “Martha Gardens” from Martha Stewart; “Emeril Cooks,” “Emeril Tailgates” from Lagasse: and “Milk Street’s Cooking School” and “Milk Street’s My Family Recipe” from Christopher Kimball.In addition to the all-new original series, the deals will bring complete past seasons of Martha Stewart, Emeril Lagasse and Christopher Kimball series to the Roku Channel — comprising more than 3,000 episodes from the vault for free.

Claudia Eller Co-Editor-in-ChiefWhat a whacked-out couple of weeks this has been!When I began writing this editor’s letter about the onslaught of news, I wasn’t even planning to mention Elon Musk’s pursuit of Twitter because a deal looked dead in the water. Then we got whiplashed this past weekend when suddenly the acquisition appeared imminent.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorPeople has a new top editor: Liz Vaccariello, formerly editor in chief of Real Simple magazine, is taking over the reins of the entertainment and human interest title.Vaccariello takes over for Dan Wakeford, who is leaving after three years as EIC.The change at the top of People’s masthead comes after Meredith’s magazine group was acquired by IAC’s Dotdash in a $2.7 billion deal. Earlier this month, the resulting Dotdash Meredith shuttered print editions of six magazines, including InStyle and EW, and laid off about 200 employees.Dotdash Meredith also announced the promotion of Zoë Ruderman to VP and GM of People’s digital operations.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorMoonbug Entertainment is expanding its kid-vid footprint by snapping up Little Angel, a big producer of YouTube videos and songs for preschoolers.Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. The acquisition is Moonbug’s first since it was bought in a $3 billion deal by Candle Media, the next-generation media roll-up venture headed by former Disney execs Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs and backed by private-equity firm Blackstone.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorMeta, Facebook’s parent company, forecast slower growth in the first quarter of 2022, citing “headwinds to both impression and price growth” in its ad business, sending the stock into a nosedive.In addition, CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s high-stakes gambit to turn Facebook into a “metaverse” company — burning billions of dollars — led to a rare earnings miss for the company in Q4.Meta’s stock dropped more than 22% in after-hours trading.In the current quarter, “On the impressions side, we expect continued headwinds from both increased competition for people’s time and a shift of engagement within our apps towards video surfaces like Reels, which monetize at lower rates than Feed and Stories,” the company said in announcing Q4 2021 results. On the ad pricing side, growth will be hurt by several factors, including greater impact from Apple’s iOS privacy changes and “we anticipate modestly increasing ad targeting and measurement headwinds from platform and regulatory changes,” Meta said.Click here to sign up for Variety’s free Strictly Business newsletter covering earnings, financial news, and more.For the fourth quarter of 2021, Meta reported ad revenue of $32.64 for its core social apps, including Facebook and Instagram, an increase of 20%.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorA new podcast imagines what happens five years after the events of beloved musical “Annie.”“Tomorrow,” a scripted drama series featuring new music and new arrangements of the musical’s classic songs, premieres exclusively on Amazon Music and Wondery on Monday, Dec. 13, before it will come to other major audio platforms a month later.Intended to run for a full year, the weekly podcast series stars Laura Benanti (“Supergirl,” “Into the Woods,” “Gossip Girl”) as Miss Hannigan, Lance Reddick (“John Wick,” “The Wire”) as Oliver “Daddy” Warbucks, and Alan Ruck (“Succession,” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”) as Drake, Annie’s robo-butler.The teenaged Annie is played by newcomer Abbie-Grace Levi.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorDiscovery inked a development deal for a slate of new original series for Discovery Plus from Group Nine Media, the digital media company whose brands include NowThis, the Dodo, Thrillist and Seeker.Discovery is one of the founding investors in New York-based Group Nine and has already licensed some Group Nine programming for Discovery Plus.Under the pact, in addition to new shows in development, Discovery Plus has a first-look option on 30 additional original series from Group Nine.