Strategy: Last News

McKinley Franklin editor LOC Agency, a brand and talent management service founded by Jessica Hoy and Teddy Duvall, has launched to offer strategic advisory and creative services for films, personalities and more. LOC Agency works with a range of feature films, brands and high-profile talent to deliver brand management, public relations, special events and sponsorship sales and brand activation services. Their clients have included companies such as Robert Schwartzman’s Utopia Distribution, which remains a client following the film company’s growth in the independent film industry, for their films including “Shiva Baby” and “Holy Spider.” LOC has also supported film campaigns for titles such as “Down With the King,” starring Freddie Gibbs, “Venus as a Boy,” starring Olivia Culpo, MUBI’s Paris premiere of the Dash Snow documentary “Moments Like This Never Last” in partnership with Dover Street Market and the KT Tunstall-produced short film “Gutterpunk.”

Joe Otterson TV Reporter ABC Signature president Jonnie Davis is exiting his role at the studio, Variety has learned. The announcement was made by Davis and Eric Schrier, president of Disney Television Studios and Global Original Television Strategy, in separate notes to the studio’s staff. “I’m forever grateful to Dana Walden and Eric Schrier for the wonderful opportunity to lead this world-class studio,” Davis wrote. “And while I will, of course, miss this outstanding team, after doing this job for over 20 years, I’m looking forward to figuring out my next creative challenge.”

 could have been short-lived. The 27-year-old actor, who plays Elliot on the Max drama, revealed in a new interview that he was reprimanded and nearly fired for being high on the job. «I was a drug addict and coming on to a show that's, you know, mainly about drugs, is very difficult,» Fike says in a wide-ranging interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music. Fike shares that writer and director Sam Levinson hired a «sober coach» to be with him «all the time,» but the strategy «did not work.» Asked whether he filmed any of his scenes while high, Fike replies, «Oh my god.

As the Writers Guild-AMTPT standoff hits double digits, Deadline’s Strike Talk podcast host Billy Ray focuses on a topic as important as his masterful recent conversation with AI. Writers rooms are the pipelines of talent that turn rookies into showrunners, the ones that make billions for studios and networks with hit shows.

Endeavor’s investment in the non-scripted space continues.

A Lanarkshire charity for the elderly is hosting a series of events designed to help older people navigate the cost of living crisis.

Fines for fly-tipping are set to more than double in a bid to tackle the “deplorable practice”.

The news Thursday about Universal Filmed Entertainment Group chairman Donna Langley’s ascent to bring TV content under her domain doesn’t just speak to the greater NBCUniversal plan to have a more unified strategy across theatrical, TV and streaming.

Donna Langley is a dame in waiting no more. The veteran movie executive, with deep ties to Hollywood filmmakers and a knack for shepherding blockbusters to the screen, ascended to NBCUniversal’s content throne on Thursday, one of the big winners in a sweeping reorganization made by company CEO Mike Cavanagh. In her new role as chief content officer, Langley won’t just be overseeing Universal’s slate of films. She will also take ownership of its TV and streaming creative strategy. It’s an elevation that many industry players saw as inevitable – after all, how much longer could the company keep the in-demand executive without expanding her portfolio?

Anyone looking for a sign of Comcast President Mike Cavanagh’s strategy as the recently installed overseer of NBCUniversal got a bright one Thursday.

Emiliano Granada Ana María Orozco and Jorge Enrique Abello will reprise their roles in “Yo Soy Betty, La Fea” (“Ugly Betty”) in “Betty La Fea,” a sequel set to bow on Amazon’s Prime Video in 2024. Produced by Colombia’s Estudios RCN for Prime Video, the third season of the series picks up Betty’s story 20 years later when she’s a successful woman, mother and wife. Still married to Armando (Abello) and trying to rebuild her relationship with her adolescent daughter, she battles the economic crisis of her family company and wonders whether the path she has chosen in life has really made her happy.

The Venice Film Festival will start with Luca Guadagnino’s sexy sports comedy “Challengers,” featuring Zendaya as a former tennis prodigy turned coach involved in a love triangle with two professional tennis players, played by Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist.

NBCUniversal is going through another restructure.

Donna Langley is set to take control of content and creative ops across NBCUniversal’s portfolio of brands, as TV chief Susan Rovner exits the company. The shakeup in leadership is the first major restructuring move made by Mike Cavanagh since he took over ousted Jeff Shell’s position atop the Comcast-owned media company. In a memo to staff Thursday, Cavanagh announced NBCUniversal will be reorganized into four key units: NBCUniversal Studio Group, led by Langley, NBCUniversal Media Group, run by chairman of TV and streaming Mark Lazarus, NBCU News Group, run by existing news boss Cesar Conde, and the Universal Destinations and Experiences Group headed up by parks boss Mark Woodbury.

The Venice Film Festival will open with the world premiere of Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers.

Thania Garcia Spirit Music Group has signed Grammy-winning songwriter and producer Autumn Rowe to a worldwide publishing administration deal that encompasses a select catalog as well as a go-forward publishing deal. Rowe’s songwriting real estate includes co-writing credits on Jon Batiste’s “We Are,” which was nominated as record of the year and won in the album of the year category at the 2022 Grammys. She’s also worked alongside such celebrated acts as Dua Lipa, Pitbull, Diana Ross, Zendaya, Ava Max, FKA Twigs and Leona Lewis. Rowe is also a prominent figure in the fight for songwriters’ rights, serving as a member of the Songwriters of North America (SONA) board. She also co-founded and became co-director of the Songwriter Fund, a nonprofit enterprise that has raised and distributed more than $500,000 in an effort to support songwriters affected by COVID.

AMC Networks International UK (AMCNI0UK) has forged a new Content Group across the UK and EMEA and promoted Sam Rowden to run it.

Doctor Michael Mosley has shared a weight loss strategy that could help you shed pounds without calories cutting or dieting.

Naman Ramachandran Amazon miniTV, the free streaming service available on the Amazon Shopping app in India, is dubbing a raft of Korean, Turkish, Mandarin and Spanish dramas into the Hindi language for local consumption under the MiniTV Imported banner. The first set of shows, which streams from July 7, are all Korean and includes “Cheer Up,” “Heart Surgeons” and “Doctor Detective.” Amogh Dusad, head of content, Amazon miniTV, said: “In recent times, the viewing preferences of digital video consumers in India have changed significantly. They love diversity in content offering and are looking for unique stories & captivating characters from across the world. We have curated a list of blockbuster shows, from Korean, Turkish, Mandarin, Spanish and many more languages, that we believe will resonate with Indian viewers.”

Atresplayer, which ambitiously re-launches July 5.  Just until a few years ago, European TV giants treated their streaming operations to bedrock linear lineups. Those days have gone. At Annecy, BBC and France Télévisions were talking up their streaming services as their future. ITV and Germany’s RTL are bowing their biggest plays on OTT operations, ITVX and RTL+, respectively, powering up strong subscriptions’ hikes.  Belgium’s VRT currently estimates “almost a 50/50 split” in its acquisitions budget as it focusing on “finding unique series that viewers wouldn’t expect from a public broadcaster for its streaming service,” Sven Van Lokeren, head of international fiction series acquisition at Belgium’s VRT told Variety at February’s London TV Screenings. 

Joe Otterson TV Reporter “Insecure” is now officially available to stream on Netflix, the first HBO original to launch on the streamer under a new licensing deal with Warner Bros. Discovery. It was first reported on June 20 that WBD was in talks to license some of their original shows to Netflix. In addition, the streamer has confirmed that “Band of Brothers,” “The Pacific,” “Six Feet Under,” and “Ballers” will be coming to the service at a later date. “True Blood,” which also currently streams on Hulu, will be available to Netflix subscribers outside the U.S. All of the shows remain available to stream on Max (formerly HBO Max) as well. The deal marks the latest shift in content strategy at Warner Bros. Discovery under the David Zaslav regime. In January, Warner Bros. Discovery made licensing moves by partnering with Roku and Tubi to launch free, ad-supported channels with HBO shows. The FAST channels included all seasons of shows like “Westworld,” “Raised by Wolves,” “Legendary,” “FBoy Island,” “The Nevers,” “Finding Magic Mike,” “Head of the Class,” “The Time Traveler’s Wife” and more. In 2014, HBO and Amazon reached an exclusive licensing deal to stream shows like “the Sopranos,” “Boardwalk Empire,” “True Blood” and more on Amazon Prime Video.