Strategy: Last News

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Former IFC Films president Arianna Bocco, Berlinale managing director Mariette Rissenbeek and the British Film Institute’s head of industry and international policy Agnieszka Moody are set as keynote speakers for the upcoming Locarno Film Festival’s StepIN think tank on the most pressing issues in the indie film industry. The Swiss fest’s unique event, now at its 11th edition, will explore various aspects of this year’s timely theme, which is “What’s the Deal With Independent Cinema?” A select group of European and international industry players — distributors, exhibitors, producers, sales agents, film institutions, financiers, streaming platforms, broadcasters and film festival and markets reps — will be participating in closed working sessions to exchange thoughts on practices and business models and propose new ideas and strategies.

Pact Hires International Boss From UK Government

Georgia Stanway’s penalty helped a disjointed England overcome Haiti and make a winning start to their World Cup campaign.

After securing the signings of Andre Onana and Mason Mount, Manchester United are now looking to add a new striker to their ranks.

The Miss Italy competition has banned transgender women from competing in the beauty pageant.

Fans are going to have to a wait a few more months before Zendaya‘s next movie hits theaters.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Don’t cancel those Emmy campaign plans: As expected, the Television Academy has decided to keep its Phase 2 calendar intact, news confirmed on Thursday night during the org’s board meeting. That means final-round voting for the 75th Primetime Emmys will still take place between August 17 and August 28 (ending at 10 p.m. PT) as previously planned. But that also means that Phase 2 campaigning will have to continue without the presence of any of the nominated actors or writers, as the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes are ongoing. The strikes had led some awards pundits to wonder whether the TV Academy might push the Phase 2 window, given the inability of stars to campaign per SAG-AFTRA’s strike rules.

Challengers,” starring Zendaya, which had been set as the Venice Film Festival opener, has been pulled from the festival due to promotional complications prompted by the SAG-AFTRA strike. Venice has announced that the sexy sports comedy — in which Zendaya plays a former tennis prodigy turned coach entangled in a love triangle with two pro tennis players, played by Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist — has changed its distribution strategy. The film’s promotion has been disrupted by the current actors strike, which prohibits SAG-AFTRA union members from doing any type of promotional activity. This means Zendaya, O’Connor and Faist would not have been able to launch the film on Aug. 30 on the Venice red carpet.

Or Dadia has completed a season-long loan move to Aberdeen, subject to successful completion of the UK immigration process.

Progress at Twitter. Inquiries from members of the fourth estate to the company’s official press email are no longer receiving an automatic poop emoji in response. Instead, Musk said, the company “is now changing the auto reply to “a ‘We will get back to you soon’ infinite loop.”

A member of Keir Starmer’s shadow Cabinet has said a Labour Government needs to find the money to scrap the two child benefits cap.

Good Morning Britain will not air today in an ITV schedule shake-up, as the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 will be shown instead.This Morning and Lorraine will air as usual, after the former was absent from yesterday's schedule.The Women's World Cup will see the Filipino and Swedish teams go head to head, with the match airing from 6am until 8, where it will be followed by an episode of The Chase, before ITV's schedule returns to normal with Lorraine at 9am. It comes after regular host Susanna Reid paid her farewells to viewers as she left for her extended summer break.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Four senior executives at Interscope Geffen A&M just got a little more senior, as the company has boosted four execs that have already proven integral up to the president or general manager level. The promotions find Michelle An being named president of creative strategy; Gary Kelly becoming general manager of Interscope and EVP and chief revenue officer of Interscope Geffen A&M; and new roles for Sam Riback and Nicole Wyskoarko as presidents of A&R, with the former exec assigned to pop and rock genres and the latter charged with on urban music. John Janick, chairman-CEO of Interscope Geffen A&M, said in a statement: “Each of these four executives has played an integral role in propelling Interscope Geffen A&M to become one of the most consistently successful music and culture companies in the world. In doing so, they and the amazing teams that they lead have made IGA a magnet for some of the world’s most talented artists. These promotions recognize their innumerable contributions and ensure our success for years to come.”

Throughout his reign as Manchester United manager, Erik ten Hag has been keen to stress that he only wants players who have the right mentality.

Prime Video Italy’s scripted chief Davide Nardini took to the stage at the AVP Summit today and provided views on the actors strike, the streamer’s strategic shift towards mainstream audiences and local talent.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Digital media and advertising company Yahoo tapped Tressie Lieberman, a marketing veteran from the fast-food biz, as its new CMO. Lieberman, who previously worked at brands including Chipotle, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, was selected for the post “following an extensive executive search process,” according to Yahoo. She will report directly to Yahoo CEO Jim Lanzone. Lieberman is Yahoo’s first executive in the chief marketing officer role since 2015, when then-CMO Kathy Savitt exited the company (prior to Yahoo’s 2016 acquisition by Verizon and its subsequent spin-out in 2021). In Yahoo’s current incarnation, marketing functions had been dispersed under the business units and now it will be centralized under the new CMO role with Lieberman.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent After changing its top leadership and merging its Swedish and Norwegian production units, Viaplay, the listed Scandinavian streamer, has announced that it will lay off 25% of its workforce as it plans to focus on its core Nordic and Dutch business. Viaplay’s new CEO and president Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, who recently took over from Anders Jensen, said the layoffs resulted from “the material change in the international business plans, and the fact that not all of the content investments that we have made are paying off.” The second quarter financial results for the group, which were published on Thursday, reveal that the robust organic sales growth of 16% to $448 million was offset by combined TV, radio and AVOD sales being down 16%. Operating income and net income were also down for the group. Operating losses for the full year are predicted to be between $83 million and $102 million.

Viaplay is letting go of more than 25% of its staff as it pulls streaming out of the U.S. and UK and mulls a sale.

EXCLUSIVE: LA VFX and animation studio Saffronic has named its first CEO.

A three-storey block of 20 flats could be built at the former site of a church hall. Plans have been submitted in the last week to build the block of one-bedroom flats on the site of the former Deane Memorial Hall on Junction Road in Bolton.

The risk of a terror attack in the UK is rising according to a new report as the government has confirmed its commitment to Martyn's Law.