Strategy: Last News

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorWarner Bros. Discovery’s brutal year in the stock market hit a new bottom, as shares of the media conglomerate sank 8.1% Thursday — taking a bigger punch than peers.With the stock drop Thursday, to close at $13.65/share, WBD’s market cap stands at about $33.1 billion. That’s well under its current debt load of some $55 billion.

As it boosts the number of film and TV adaptations of its properties, Mattel has hired Disney and Marvel veteran Josh Silverman as global head of consumer products and chief franchise officer.

Emiliano De Pablos Suggesting an appreciable recovery in the dynamism of international film markets, Madrid-based Latido Films has unveiled a raft of deals on its Cannes line-up, led by standout sales for Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s Cannes Premiere player “The Beasts.” The Spain-set rural thriller was acquired by Movies Inspired in Italy and Imagine in Benelux. Co-produced by Spain’s Arcadia Motion Pictures and Sorogoyen’s Caballo Films with France’s Le Pacte, “The Beasts” has also been taken by Kino Mediteran in former Yugoslavia territories and Transilvania Film in Romania.Meanwhile, fruit of Latido’s strengthening of its remake rights sales strategies, the company has optioned Mexican movie adaptation rights on Nicolás Postiglione’s drama “Immersion” to Paloma Negra Films and Whisky, as a French redo of Gastón Duprat’s Spanish-Argentine drama “Masterpiece” is moving into production.  Also, Latido is in advanced negotiations on further remake rights deals in France, Italy and Mexico, among other territories.“Our sales expectations are beginning to approach pre-pandemic levels,” said Antonio Saura, Latido Films managing director.“We saw a market with multiple signs of dynamism but, at the same time, we feel that less and less risks are being taken,” argued Juan Torres, head of international sales. “Projects with a commercial vocation today attract the attention of many buyers more quickly,” he explained. “On the other hand, films that are more fragile from a commercial point of view but which previously managed to find acceptance in various territories today seem destined more than ever for festivals or minor online exhibition,” he added.Regarding signs of dynamism, Saura points out, “we see that independent distributors,

Manchester must build 36,000 new homes across the city over the next 10 years to keep up with demand – and 10,000 of them should be affordable. That is the town hall's take on what the city must do to tackle its housing crisis.

More talent deals are incoming at Blue Ant as the Canadian giant seeks “significant growth” over the coming years, according to Content Production Co-President Sam Sniderman.

Thousands of families in one area of Greater Manchester will be offered vouchers worth up to £50 to spend on school uniforms. Bury council is one of the first in the country to provide help with the price of uniforms as the cost of living crisis continues to bite.

Supermarket giant Sainsbury's has issued a message to shoppers about its prices. The retailer says it is changing its prices so drastically, many of its item's will no longer be any more expensive than those in Aldi.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film WriterJen Garcia Allen, a veteran journalist and digital media executive, has been named co-president of social entertainment studio and brand consultancy firm Shareability.Garcia Allen will oversee day-to-day operations of the company as well as key divisions including strategy, content and the newly formed Insights group. She will report to Shareability CEO Tim Staples.“I am thrilled to join the incredible team at Shareability.

Squid Game is becoming reality.

The UK’s ITV has agreed to acquire a majority interest of 79.5% in Hostile Planet and Tiny World producer Plimsoll Productions for approximately £103.5 million ($126 million), giving the company an enterprise value of £131 million ($159.7M). The stake is being acquired from private equity group LDC.

Kimberly Guilfoyle, Donald Trump Jr.’s fiancee and a former adviser to his father’s reelection bid, got paid $60,000 for a two minute speech at the Stop the Steal rally that preceded the attack on the Capitol, according to one of the members of the January 6th Commitee.

Maane Khatchatourian News Editor, Variety.comRenewals and trailers were on the agenda for Netflix this week and the strategy paid off with viewers. On Variety’s Trending TV chart for the week of June 6 to 12, the streaming service secured eight of the Top 10 spots with overall mentions and engagements on Twitter.“Stranger Things” was this week’s overall winner with more than 638,000 engagements, continuing a three-week run at the top following the show’s May 27, fourth-season return.

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.

Amber Heard. On Monday, NBC News released a promo for Heard's first interview since losing against her ex-husband, Johnny Depp, in a defamation trial — and a source tells ET that this is just the beginning. «Amber was waiting a bit before speaking out about the trial and sharing her truth until she felt ready and, like, it was a good time,» the source says of the actress waiting over a week before giving an interview. «She was advised by her team to lay low and take time for herself for a couple of weeks, see how she felt and take care of herself.»As for how she's feeling now that she's had time to process the verdict, the source tells ET that Heard «is feeling more optimistic now.»The source adds, «She is confident that her side will come out eventually.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterCAA’s strategic consulting service CAA Social Impact has struck a partnership with global sustainability company Aspiration to provide sustainability services, carbon reduction services and customer-centric climate impact solutions to corporate, sports and entertainment industry brands, Variety has learned exclusively.Per the companies, “CAA Social Impact and Aspiration recognize the importance of sustainability as a winning business strategy and the opportunity for sports and entertainment to play a critical role in influencing culture, to build public will for solutions in the face of a deepening climate crisis.”With an increase in companies’ awareness and focus on their sustainability efforts, “the partnership enables CAA Social Impact and Aspiration to combine their expertise and resources to develop sustainability and carbon mitigation strategies for leading brands and organizations.” Additionally, Aspiration is working closing with CAA on its own carbon reduction efforts. Run by Aubree Curtis and Judee Ann Williams, CAA Social Impact has led philanthropic work for companies including KPMG, Walmart, PGA TOUR, Continental (Germany), Volvo (UK), and AppHarvest, and helped shape strategies for organizations including The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Alzheimer’s Association.“Businesses urgently need clear and comprehensive solutions to curb their emissions and improve their impact on the planet,” Curtis said.

West Lothian Council is making funds available to help families buy school uniforms,

Kris Commons has questioned why Scotland look a shadow of the side they were before losing Kieran Tierney to injury.

Manori Ravindran International EditorSkyShowtime — the joint venture between Comcast and Paramount Global — has unveiled key hires for the European streaming service, including its head of programming.BBC Select executive Jon Farrar has been named head of programming, Variety can reveal. The executive joins from BBC Studios, where he led the direct-to-consumer programming strategy in his dual role as global VOD director and editor-in-chief of North American SVOD service BBC Select.Farrar was also part of the team that developed BritBox, the streaming joint venture between BBC Studios and ITV.Reporting into SkyShowtime CEO Monty Sarhan, Farrar will be responsible for programming strategy, overseeing the platform’s pipeline of studio content, and building a programming team across SkyShowtime’s 20 markets to develop original and local content.

The government is expected to reject proposals to introduce a new salt and sugar tax in England. Ministers have been criticised after a new food strategy white paper was leaked ahead of its expected publication on Monday.

Manori Ravindran International EditorCanada’s Bron Studios has appointed Haydn Snape, CEO of Dubai’s Decentralised Investment Group (DIG), as a Web3 advisor to the group of companies.Through Snape’s appointment, Bron will look to maximize its IP and investments in Web3 platforms and opportunities. Snape and his team will lead the company’s foray into the Web3 space with NFT, token and marketplace strategies for Bron IP.The companies are also partnering on interactive games through DIG’s Miami-based GameFi metaverse company XYZZY.NFT strategies are being assembled for marketing, sales, project financing and global distribution.

Veteran international media exec Kathryn Fink has become Director of Television at public broadcaster SBS in her home country, Australia.