Category: Entertainment

  • Bad Bunny, Taylor Swift, Timothée Chalamet, The Hollywood Reporter Among Webby Awards Nominees

    Bad Bunny, Taylor Swift, Timothée Chalamet, The Hollywood Reporter Among Webby Awards Nominees

    Bad Bunny, Taylor Swift, Timothée Chalamet and The Hollywood Reporter are among the nominees for the 30th annual Webby Awards.

    Other nominees this year include Jason and Travis Kelce, Kylie Kelce, Heated Rivalry, OpenAI, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Sinners, Waymo, Patreon, Amy Poehler, Netflix, PBS, MrBeast, Google Gemini, KATSEYE, Steven Bartlett, Justin Bieber, ACLU, Lady Gaga, Cardi B, Dwayne Johnson, Pedro Pascal, Kendrick Lamar & SZA, LeBron James, Rosalía, Keith Lee, Reese Witherspoon, Sydney Sweeney, LISA, Carmelo Anthony, Trixie Mattel, Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert.

    The Hollywood Reporter has been nominated in the category of entertainment, general desktop and mobile sites.

    The awards, which are run by the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences, honor “excellence on the Internet and celebrat[e] the creators, companies, platforms, and personalities shaping today’s cultural and technological landscape.”

    This year, the Webbys expanded several of its categories, adding additional awards in the areas of AI, creators, podcasts and social media. The AI categories were broadened to encompass the “tools, applications and innovations setting new benchmarks,” while a group of new awards spotlighting “creator business” aim to recognize “creators who are building brands, businesses and communities that shape today’s digital landscape.” The podcast categories include new awards such as best new podcast, best video podcast and best video podcast host, while the social media group added new categories such as best social video series – longform for social honors and best community experience for games honors. 

    “The Webby Awards’ 30-year legacy reflects how the Internet continues to expand how we create, connect and express ourselves,” said Jesse Feister, executive director of the Webby Media Group. “Each wave of technology reshapes our lives and the standards of what great work looks like online. From the birth of eBay to the rise of TikTok, the Webbys have defined excellence in those moments. This year, by recognizing new frontiers in AI and creators, we’re continuing to champion the kinds of creativity that challenge our conventions.”

    Organizers said they received more than 13,000 entries from over 70 countries. Fewer than 17 percent of submissions were named nominees. The organizations with the most noms include Google (46), PBS (29), Apple (23), The Walt Disney Company (23), NBCUniversal (22) and Netflix (22).

    The Webbys also hand out awards for podcast company of the year, media company of the year and brand of the years for the groups that garner the most recognition across relevant categories. Organizations in contention for the podcast honor include iHeartMedia (16 noms), Audible (10), SiriusXM (six), Wondery (six), and Audacy (five). Media company of the year finalists include PBS (29), The Walt Disney Company (23), NBCUniversal (22), Netflix (22), National Geographic (20), and Warner Bros. Discovery (19). Brands in the running include Google (46), Apple (23), Amazon (13), Sony (16), Microsoft (10), Nike (eight) and Marriott International (six).

    All nominees are eligible to win two awards: the Webby Award, selected by the Academy, and the Webby People’s Voice Award, voted on by the online community. Voting for the People’s Voice Awards is open through April 16 at vote.webbyawards.com.

    Winners will be announced April 21 and recognized May 11 at a special 30th-anniversary awards ceremony hosted by Emmy-nominated stand-up comedian and The Daily Show correspondent Josh Johnson in New York City. The ceremony is known for requesting that winners give speeches that are only five words long.

    A partial list of nominees follows. See the full list on the Webby Awards website

    Websites & Mobile Sites

    Entertainment, General Desktop & Mobile Sites
    Dropbox.com/McLarenF1 Partnership Website – Dropbox
    The Hollywood ReporterThe Hollywood Reporter
    Ludeo® – Kue Studio
    Foundation Theatres – Chook
    Television Academy/Emmys – Television Academy

    Events, General Desktop & Mobile Sites
    Kaleida – Fiddle.Digital Design Agency
    Sydney Film Festival – ED.
    Canva World Tour – Canva
    Outside Days Festival and Summit – Outside Inc
    Concerts Near You – Spotify
     
    Responsible Innovation, Responsible Technology
    Signs – DEPT®
    Nasdaq’s Frontiers Of The Future – Nasdaq
    Ethical Interface Design – Seton Hall University
    National Roundtable on Political Violence – AllSides Technologies, Inc
    GoFundMe Giving Funds – GoFundMe
     
    Best Mobile Visual Design – Aesthetic, Mobile Features & Design
    Dunes & Stars – Brand Experience – Ryze Agency UK
    Up – Woolly Mammoth
    2025 Metro Rewind – WHITE64
    Lady Gaga – A Digital Home for a Pop Icon – Morningview
    eero – Idol

    Advertising, Media & PR

    Best Use of Earned Media, Media Campaigns
    The Death of Duo – Duolingo
    Panera Croissant Clutch – 72andSunny
    Steph Curry Shoots the Moon – Known
    Bet on Kendall – OBB Media & Fanatics Studios
    e.l.f. x Sailing with Phoenix – e.l.f. Beauty

    Politics & Advocacy, Branded Content
    Zohran for NYC (New York City Mayoral Primary) – Melted Solids
    The Final Exam – BBDO Chicago
    NYC Votes x Mad Realities – Hollywood IQ
    Gavin Newsom: @GavinNewsom – LaMont Digital
    Poder Latinx North Carolina – Desconsiderados – Mundial Media

    Best B2B Campaign, Advertising Campaigns
    Centivo “How Dare We” – territorial
    Webflow’s AI Guy – neuemotion
    Microsoft – Yours to Build – Code and Theory
    Ramp’s Brian Baumgartner Box Stunt – Ramp
    Wake Up With Craig – BBDO New York

    Health, Wellness & Pharmaceutical, Branded Content
    OURA – Give Us The Finger – nice&frank
    The Relief Rider – The Martin Agency
    Louder Than Cancer – Amazon Ads Brand Innovation Lab
    The Swedish Prescription – Weber Shandwick
    Find out what you’re made of. – Autumn Communications

    Brand Strategy, Advertising Campaigns
    YouTube Rickrolls the Internet for 20th Birthday Celebration – We Are Social North America
    Mammut – Give mountainwear the life it deserves – DEPT®
    Adolescent Content x Ipsy: I Play Beauty – Adolescent Content
    The Swedish Prescription – Weber Shandwick
    Food Deserves Pepsi – BBDO New York

    B2B, Branded Content
    Bye Bye Dongle – Logitech – Logitech
    From Invisible to Indispensable: Reframing Maternal Health Through B2B Content     – Hello Helio
    Rewind it Back   Think – mojo, Inc.
    Vast: The Next Giant Leap – Vast, Inc
    The Next Chapter – Casual Films

    Corporate Social Responsibility Campaign, Advertising Campaigns
    LinkedIn – The Mom B.A. – R/GA
    Nat Geo x Costa Sunglasses – Disney CreativeWorks
    The Mind Set – Amazon Ads Brand Innovation Lab
    Sorry – Droga5 London
    How Ya Travellin’? – Keep Left

    Best Partnership or Collaboration, Advertising Campaigns
    Kyle F*cking Connor – Courage
    What’s Next? with LeBron James – Amazon
    Bet on Kendall – OBB Media & Fanatics Studios
    Stranger Things Season 5 Campaign – Game Seven
    Absolut Tabasco – Wieden+Kennedy London

    Best Viral PR Campaign, PR Campaigns
    The Dr Pepper Jingle – Deutsch
    Bet on Kendall – OBB Media & Fanatics Studios
    Eau de Croissant – A fragrance by Lidl – Coolr
    Sydney’s Bathwater Bliss – Made You Feel
    The Death of Duo – Duolingo

    Video Ad Longform, Individual
    The Unanswered Children – Accenture Song Brand Denmark A/S
    Facebook “Secret Santa” – Droga5, part of Accenture Song
    Human Grade (Taxider My Family) – Good Behavior
    Imagine That, Frankenstein – Park Pictures
    A Spicy But Not Too Spicy Plumber, Björn Rühmann – SMUGGLER

    Products & Services, Branded Content
    A Tale As Old As Websites – Squarespace
    Five Star Theater Starring Benedict Cumberbatch – Amazon
    Expedition Impossible, Benji Weinstein – SMUGGLER
    Someday – TBWA Media Arts Lab
    Downy’s Almost Scandalously Soft Stories – Saatchi & Saatchi

    Game or Application, Individual
    The Final Exam – BBDO Chicago
    The Roblox Unbox – SERVICEPLAN GERMANY
    One Battle After Another: The Revolution – Sawhorse Productions
    KFC 11 Secrets – m ss ng p eces
    The World’s Hardest Captcha – Loop

    Launch or Drop, Advertising Campaigns
    NikeSKIMS Spring ’26 Campaign featuring Blackpink’s LISA – Karla Otto
    Ricola Scarf – Tombras
    Venmo Taco Bellt – 72andSunny
    Filet O Fish Facebook Society – Leo UK
    Fractional Window Shopping – Ogilvy Canada

    Belonging & Inclusion, Branded Content
    Defy the Storm – Vladimir Jones
    Re:framing Mentorship – SixDegrees.org
    HBO Max Pride 2025: Trixie Mattel Gay HBO Max Song – HBO Max
    Face the Difference – BDG
    How to Raise Adults – SHE Media

    AI

    Creative Tools, AI Experiences & Applications
    Flow – Google
    Sora 2 for Sora 2 by Sora 2 – OpenAI
    Stitch by Google – Google
    Suno – The Untold
    ElevenLabs Creative Platform – ElevenLabs

    Consumer Application, AI Experiences & Applications
    Google Gemini Marketing Site – Google
    Amazon introduces agentic Health AI assistant for simpler, personalized, and more actionable health care – Amazon
    Advisor: Warby Parker’s styling expertise paired with the power of AI – Kettle Solutions LLC
    McAfee’s Scam Detector – McAfee
    BestInterest Coparenting App – BestInterest, Inc

    Data Visualization & Reporting, AI Experiences & Applications
    Language Explorer – Hook
    FRnD Insights: realtime AI marketing consultancy – FRnD
    Boomtown Unboxed – Hyper-personalised festival aftermovies for every unique visitor – Monks
    ROAM-AI – Wolfpack Digital
    Aily Labs – Aily Labs

    Energy & Sustainability, AI Experiences & Applications
    ClimateGPT 3+ – ClimateGPT Foundation / Erasmus.AI
    Beewise’s BeeHome™    – Beewise
    Tapestry: using AI to build a more resilient & reliable electric grid – Tapestry
    ON.energy AI – ON.energy
    Groundbreaking Climate Video Powered by Real-Time Data – Huge

    Best AI Agent, AI Features & Innovation
    Opal – Google
    G42.ai – R/GA
    Google’s Agentic Checkout – “Buy for me” with Price tracking – Google
    Deductive AI – Method Communications
    You.com’s ARI: the most intelligent, accurate deep research agent – Six Eastern

    Best Product or Service, AI Features & Innovation
    Claude Code – Anthropic
    Particle – Particle
    Flow by Google – Google
    Google NotebookLM – Google
    AI Arbitrator – American Arbitration Association

    Best Use of AI Voice & Conversational Interface, AI Features & Innovation
    ElevenLabs Agents Platform – ElevenLabs
    Krisp is the infrastructure that makes conversational AI usable at scale – Krisp.ai
    VoiceAI by EliseAI – Aircover PR for EliseAI
    T-Mobile’s AI Assistant – T-Mobile
    Project Jade – a Peridot embodied AI experience – Niantic Spatial, Inc.

    Experimental & Innovation, AI Features & Innovation
    Touch: Beyond Vision – AI for Blind – Carveco LTD
    Internet Storm Tracker (GUDEA) – GUDEA
    Carpe Diem Creative Intelligence Dept. – Carpe Diem Creative Agency
    My First Voice – Monks
    MiroMind.ai – MiroMind.ai

    Travel, Transportation & Hospitality, AI Experiences & Applications
    Waymo | Safety Hub – Waymo
    Reinventing Travel with HTS Assist – Hopper and HTS (Hopper Technology Solutions)
    Qatar Museums AI Tour (QM AI Tour) – Qatar Museums
    Réno — Luxembourg Airport’s AI Concierge – Arhs Cube S.A.
    Drive Stories – ZeroSixty

    Creators

    Best Creator-to-Creator Collaboration, Creator Excellence
    Try Guys Try Ghost Hunting – The Try Guys (2nd Try LLC)
    Ask It Anyway – Uncommon
    Dancing Weatherman X CORTIS collab – SOCIAL SIMPATICO LLC
    Quest for the Impossible – Portal A
    Veritasium, featuring Tom Brady. The biggest misconception in football – Electrify Video Partners

    Best Prank, Stunt or Activation, Creator Excellence
    Cardi B – “AM I THE DRAMA?’ Album Content – 300/AMG
    J.C. Carter – Kensington Grey
    Delivery Man Falls for Grandma’s Prank – Getti Show LLC
    Back to the Future Garden Railroad – Bungalow Heaven Railroad
    Nick Pro – Viral Nation

    Creator/Influencer Partnership or Collaboration – Brand, Creator Business
    Toast x Keith Lee “It’s the Little Things” – neuemotion
    Planet Fitness – New Year’s Eve – Movers+Shakers
    Booking.com – This Guy Books – We Are Social Amsterdam
    Full Bush Summer – The Martin Agency
    W PRESENTS: The Retreat – Marriott

    Multi-Creator Campaign, Creator Business
    InStyle’s “The Intern” Series – People Inc.
    The Community Wears Gap – Buttermilk
    Where Are You Going? – Uncommon
    Alexis Williams and Aidan Kohn-Murphy — @Creators4Zohran – Gallaher Group Management & Advisory
    LIV Golf’s The Duels – Oust

    Best Community Engagement, Creator Excellence
    The @MeetCutesNYC Universe – Palette Media
    Justin Bieber Livestream on Twitch – StagePilot
    Shop Cats – Hollywood IQ
    Astronaut Mom Takes on the TSA – and Wins – TheSpaceGal Company Inc
    The Nursery Nurse: Ofsted Storyline – WE CREATE POPULAR

    Newsletter or Written Series, Creator Business
    No Mercy / No Malice – Prof G Media
    Kirbie Johnson – Outshine Talent
    The Publish Press / Colin & Samir – align PR
    MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories – Ballen Studios
    Chris Colombo – Brighter Path

    Sports, General Creator
    Rabid Fans – Rabid Fans
    Katie Feeney – Snapchat
    The Trauma Behind the KO. Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua              Dynamo Health
    Coach RAC – Outshine Talent
    Boardroom – The Lede Company

    Best Longform Video, Creator Excellence
    What does Palantir actually do? – Morning Brew Inc
    Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson Surprises Apalachee High School Football Team, Attends First Home Game – Seven Bucks Marketing
    Flying the U-2 Spy Plane 70,000 Feet to the Edge of Space – SE Media
    Can I Turn MrBeast Into A MasterChef? – Nick DiGiovanni – align PR
    Veritasium – Electrify Video Partners

    Fitness, Health & Wellness, General Creator
    Joel Bervell – The ‘Medical Mythbuster’ – Kensington Grey
    Chloe Ting – Chloe Ting
    I Shaved My Vag For This – Katie Thompson & Soul People Productions
    Rena Malik, MD – Rena Malik, MD
    growwithjo – growwithjo

    Podcast, General Creator
    Steven Bartlett – R. Agency
    One Nightstand – Bustle
    Silver Linings with The Old Gays – iHeartMedia
    Jay Shetty – On Purpose
    Jake Shane – PASS THAT PUSS Inc.

    Art, Culture & Music, General Creator
    Alex Warren – Odd Projects
    Arianna Cabrera – Artist – Whalar Group Ltd
    CG5 – CG5 Music
    Thoughts Become Things – SJD World Ltd
    Audrey Chou.Studio – Audrey Chou.Studio

    Most Viral, Creator Excellence
    Cardi B – “AM I THE DRAMA?’ Album Content – 300/AMG
    Vanessa Van Edwards | Science of People Viral Teachings – Science of People
    Motherhood, From the Very First Steps – Fluffy Feather Farm
    Cheryl Porter – Cheryl Porter Vocal Method
    Timothée Chalamet Lookalike Competition – Pufferfish Studio

    Best Duo or Group, Creator Excellence
    Colin & Samir – align PR
    Smosh  – Motiv
    The Siu Siblings (RJ, Jalin & Kina): Dynamic Comedy & Sibling Content Creators – Whalar Group Ltd
    Trixie & Katya – Producer Entertainment Group
    Rhett & Link – Mythical

    Best Series: Longform, Creator Excellence
    AntsCanada – AntsCanada
    Track Star – Track Star
    Exploring All 350 NYC Neighborhoods as a Native New Yorker – N/A
    Hank Green – Ask Hank Anything – Complexly
    Soirée School – To Be Hosted

    Games

    Best Community Experience, Games Excellence
    Pokémon GO – Burson
    Overwatch 2: Spotlight Community Management & War Room – Mutiny
    Phasmophobia – Swipe Right
    Hello Kitty Island Adventure – fortyseven communications
    Warframe – Digital Extremes

    Kids & Family, Games General
    LEGO® Party! – Fictions
    Planet Pigeon – PBS Nature / The WNET Group
    Hello Kitty Island Adventure – fortyseven communications
    Mission US: Spirit of a Nation – The WNET Group
    LEGO® VOYAGERS – Tara Bruno PR

    Best Music/Sound Design, Games Excellence
    Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – Tinsley PR
    The Outer Worlds 2 – Obsidian Entertainment
    Battlefield 6 – Tara Bruno PR
    DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH – Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
    Split Fiction – fortyseven communications

    Podcasts

    Scripted (Fiction), Shows
    DC High Volume: Batman – Realm
    Red For Revolution – Red For Revolution
    The Big Fix: A Jack Bergin Mystery – Audible
    Calm Sleep Stories – Calm, Inc
    Buzz: The Man & The Moon – iHeartMedia

    Best Partnership or Collaboration, Features
    The Rest Is History: The Complete History of The Beatles with Tom Holland and Conan O Brian – Goalhanger
    The Bowen Yang/Matt Rogers X Sesame Street X NBC Olympics Crossover Event – iHeartPodcasts
    Not Gonna Lie, with Kylie Kelce “My Disney Spectacular” from Walt Disney World, Episode 43 – Disney Experiences
    The Story of Woman in Kenya, with Orchid Project – The Story of Woman
    Downton Abbey: The Official Podcast – Treefort Media

    Best Host, Features
    Good Hang with Amy Poehler – Kovert Creative
    Next Question with Katie Couric – Katie Couric Media
    The Mel Robbins Podcast – Best Host – SiriusXM
    Baby, This is Keke Palmer – Wondery
    Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky – Wondery
     
    Lifestyle, Shows
    We Can Do Hard Things – Silver Tribe Media
    Coffee Convos Podcast – KILLR Network
    Food Network Obsessed – Food Network
    Bookmarked by Reese’s Book Club – iHeartMedia
    Nice Talk with Nikki Ogunnaike – Future PLC
     
    Sports, Shows 
    Pablo Torre Finds Out – Meadowlark Media
    All The Smoke – All The Smoke Productions
    New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce – Wondery
    Bussin’ With The Boys – Hirsch Leatherwood
    7PM in Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony – Metro PR
     
    Best Video Podcast, Features
    Good Hang with Amy Poehler – Kovert Creative
    The Mel Robbins Podcast – 143 Studios, Inc.
    That Was Us – Rabbit Grin Productions
    Only Murders in the Building: Official Podcast – Hulu Originals
    21 Questions w/ Madison Tevlin – by coastal inc.
     
    Interview or Talk Show – News, Business & Society, Shows
    On with Kara Swisher – Vox Media
    The Assignment with Audie Cornish – CNN
    My First Million – HubSpot
    The Diary Of A CEO – R. Agency
    Not Another CEO Podcast – Ringmaster B2B Podcasting
     
    Interview or Talk Show – Entertainment & Culture, Shows
    Thanks Dad with Ego Nwodim – Thanks Dad with Ego Nwodim
    All There Is with Anderson Cooper – CNN
    Office Ladies – Audacy
    Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard – Wondery
    Baby, This is Keke Palmer – Wondery
     
    Best Co-Hosts, Features
    SmartLess – SiriusXM
    Sibling Rivalry – Studio71
    The Pivot Podcast – The Pivot Podcast
    New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce – Wondery
    The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast         – Rabbit Grin Productions
     
    Belonging & Inclusion, Individual Episode
    Handsome with Tig Notaro, Fortune Feimster, and Mae Martin – Headgum
    UNDISTRACTED with Brittany Packnett Cunningham – The Meteor
    The Anti-Trans Hate Machine     – Trans Lash Media
    Driving All Night: The Relentless Rise of Brooke Goff – Rankings.io
    Rebel Girls Get to Know – Rebel Girls
     
    Comedy, Individual Episode
    Paul Rudd 3.0 on TYSO – TYSO Productions
    On Par with Maury Povich Podcast/Kathy Griffin Talks About Being The Most Hated Woman In America in 1-On-1 Interview With Maury – A Better Life Media
    Wisecrack – Tenderfoot TV
    The Nightly – Hatch
    When The Cops Say No, We Say Yes – A step too far productions
     
    Best Video Podcast Host, Features
    The Don Lemon Show – Lemon Media Network
    Seen on the Screen with Jacqueline Coley – We Are Social North America
    This Is Gavin Newsom – Independent
    In the Test Kitchen – America’s Test Kitchen
    Take Your Shoes Off – TYSO Productions
     
    Best Live Podcast Recording, Features
    On Purpose with Jay Shetty – On Purpose
    Eva Guzman: You Are Enough | Women, Ambition, & Reinvention in Law – MMO Media, LLC
    Surface Level Live – Surface Level
    Crime Junkie Live on Tour – Audiochuck
    The Magic of Mushrooms with Kacey Musgraves and Paul Stamets – Sing For Science
     
    Featured Guest, Individual Episode
    Michelle Obama Reveals All: Life-Changing Lessons on Fear, Faith & Hope – The Jamie Kern Lima Show – The Jamie Kern Lima Show
    Aspire with Emma Grede – Audacy
    Skip Intro – Netflix
    One Song – Hartbeat
    Mark Ruffalo Says ‘Boycott, Divest, Sanction, and Prosecute’ Israel – Zeteo

    Social

    Arts, Culture & Lifestyle, Social Content Series
    The Museum Rizzler – National Gallery of Art
    The Wright Parking Ticket – The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History Museum
    Vic Mensa: Orange Tree Series – Vic Mensa
    Etsy – Organic Social – Etsy
    Make It Like Martha – MarthaStewart.com – Better Homes & Gardens
     
    Best AR Filter or Immersive Experience, Social Features
    Moon Punch – Goodby Silverstein & Partners
    color e.l.f.nalysis – Movement Strategy
    Gladiator II / Enter The AR-ena – BOND Creative LLC.
    Wicked: Shizify Me Generator – Addison Interactive
    A Minecraft Movie Hologram Box + Lenses – Warner Bros.
     
    Events & Live Streams, Social Video Short Form
    Justin Bieber Livestream on Twitch – StagePilot
    NFL on YouTube: The São Paulo Game – We Are Social North America
    Opposites Attack – Wieden+Kennedy
    Shot on iPhone – Dua Lipa – TBWA Media Arts Lab
    Northeastern University Commencement 2025 Event Coverage – Northeastern University
     
    Celebrity/Fan, General Social 
    Jennifer Garner (& Pretend Cooking Show series) – Jennifer Garner
    Backstreet Boys – Millennium 2.0 Residency Sphere + Germany Residency Marketing – Crowd Surf
    Ron Funches – Block Party
    Jimmy Kimmel Social – 42West
    This Month On Social – The Kelly Clarkson Show
     
    Food & Drink, General Social
    Mythical Kitchen – Mythical
    Can 8 Cultures Make One Sandwich? | Sandwich Club Jackson Heights – TheFull-Half
    Chili’s | Triple Dipper Virality – Chili’s Grill & Bar
    Food Network Socials – Food Network
    Get Cookin’ – People Inc.
     
    Fashion & Beauty, General Social
    Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez – Best Social, Fashion & Beauty – Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez
    Tory Burch Social – Tory Burch
    Diamond Divas – Shahla Karimi LLC / Diamond Divas LLC
    Popsugar Beauty – Popsugar
    Who What Wear – Future PLC
     
    Entertainment, General Social
    The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon – The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
    Bravo TV Social Media – Deep Focus Agency
    The Muppets 70th Anniversary Celebration – Disney
    Heated Rivalry Social – Bell Media
    Sony Instagram Channel – Sony
     
    Education & Science, Social Campaigns
    NASA’s Webb Telescope and the Universe: Using social media to connect us all – NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
    Digital Well-Being on Sesame Street – Sesame Workshop
    Walking With Dinosaurs Social Campaign – PBS
    Fat Bear Week – Katmai National Park
    Immigration TV – Immigration TV
     
    Television & Film, General Social
    Jimmy Kimmel Live Social – 42West
    South Park Social – Comedy Central
    Heated Rivalry Social – Bell Media
    The Late Show with Stephen Colbert social media presence – The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
    A Minecraft Movie Theatrical Social Campaign – Warner Bros.
     
    How-To, Explainer, & DIY, Social Video Short Form
    YouTuber VS Real Carpenter – Bully Media Inc
    Mini Katana – Mini Katana LLC
    Delta Air Lines’ Travel With Confidence Series – Delta Air Lines
    The Brain Docs’ 5 Tips to Limit Microplastics – AARP Studios
    The Electoral College – Explained – CBS News
     
    Best Social Video Series – Shortform, Social Features
    The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon – Digital Originals – The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
    Unrivaled 101 – Unrivaled Basketball League
    How To Capri – Wieden+Kennedy London
    Nat Geo’s 30 Seconds of Baby Animals – National Geographic
    Sinners Theatrical Social Campaign – Warner Bros.
     
    Television & Film, Social Campaigns 
    Stranger Things: One Last Rewatch – Netflix
    The Righteous Gemstones – Season 4 Social Campaign – BOND Creative LLC.
    Toy Story’s 30th Anniversary – The Walt Disney Company
    Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Social Campaign – Part 4
    Weapons Theatrical Social Campaign – Warner Bros.
     
    Arts, Culture & Lifestyle, Social Campaigns
    Yahoo – The Touch Grass Keyboard – Conscious Minds
    Google x Wicked For Good: The Magic of Choice – Wasserman
    The Beatles Anthology 2025 – Versus Creative
    Loctite’s Museum of Second Chances – Kill Boring Dead
    Launching Taylor Swift’s Fate of Ophelia on YouTube – We Are Social North America
     
    Best Partnership or Collaboration, Social Features
    Tracking Bad Bunny – DDB Latina Puerto Rico
    Disney x F1 at Las Vegas Grand Prix – Disney
    The Masked Singer | Where Partnerships Take Center Stage – FOX Entertainment
    Sesame Street Comes To Netflix – Netflix
    Superman + Spotify Collaboration (Superman Official Playlist) – Warner Bros.
     
    Best Community or Fan Engagement – Media/Entertainment, Social Features
    Tracking Bad Bunny – DDB Latina Puerto Rico
    Heated Rivalry: Hudson Williams vs. Connor Storrie – Razorfish
    When Fandom Leads: Law & Order: SVU on TikTok – NBC Entertainment
    Kellyoke Request – The Kelly Clarkson Show
    Sinners Juke Joint – Warner Bros.
     
    Events & Livestreams, Social Campaigns
    Lady Gaga Monster Press Conference – Spotify
    Butter Baby and LV8’s Strategic Content Rollout for LA Pop-Up – LV8
    7-ELEVEn × Hot Wheels, The First Official 7-ELEVEn Car Meet – Dentsu Creative US
    EDITION Hotels x Met Gala – Marriott
    It’s Britney, Twitch – Legacy Recordings
     
    Music & Performance, Social Video Short Form
    Step to the Mike – Fallen Media
    Someday – TBWA Media Arts Lab
    Nat Geo x Fred Again – National Geographic
    Benson Boone – Coachella Performance with Brian May – Warner Records
    GiaNina’s Dance that started the JLo ‘on the floor’ Trend and hit over half a Billion views – Anderson Group Public Relations

    Video & Film

    Food & Drink, General Video & Film
    The World’s #1 Sushi Restaurant That’s Impossible To Book – Alvin Zhou Films
    First We Feast Presents: Pro Moves (Season 3) – First We Feast
    What I learned from cooking my way across a continent – TED Conferences
    The Theory of Spice – Passion Point Collective
    I Cooked For A Lion – Nick DiGiovanni – align PR
     
    Business, General Video & Film
    I’m Building an Algorithm That Doesn’t Rot Your Brain – Patreon
    CNN goes inside the shipping industry to follow the journey of made-in-China goods – CNN
    Explainomics | I tried to live a tariff-free life. Here’s how it went. – Dow Jones
    A bold idea to rebuild the working class – TED Conferences
    You Need to Be Bored. Here’s Why. – Harvard Business Review
     
    Music, General Video & Film
    ABC News Studios – Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery – The Untold Story – ABC News
    CHANCE THE RAPPER – RIDE | THE BOOTH – soundcloud
    Park Sessions – Outside Inc.
    Selena Gomez, benny blanco – I Said I Love You First… (Short Film) | Vevo Extended Play – Vevo
    Does JENNIE Know Her Lyrics From Her Biggest Songs? – Variety
     
    Music, Branded Entertainment
    adidas | Oasis – Johannes Leonardo
    Severance S2 – Music to Refine to – Apple TV+
    Find Your Friends – Apple
    All Nighter Amazon Music 2025 Holiday Brand Campaign – Amazon Music
    Spotify Jorja Smith – Hoff Studios
     
    B2B, Branded Entertainment
    Figma Slides: All hands on deck – Figma
    We Trust in Kids – Edelman
    Peter Piper’s Path to Perfection – Joint
    The Table Read – Air
    Vicarius: Cybersecurity Edutainment – Vicarius
     
    Best Art Direction, Performance & Craft
    Pinterest Brand Assets – Media.Work
    Everyone Has Something To Say About Shoes – Las Meninas Films
    Wednesday Now Streaming – Netflix
    GIVEON – “TWENTIES” (Live) | Spotify OUTSIDE in The Mojave Desert – Spotify
    Badman Generation – Slick Rick Music Corp
     
    Sports, General Video & Film
    More Than A Game – ACLU
    New York Road Runners – m ss ng p eces
    Hugo Calderano – One of One     – JOOLA
    Chuskit & Saldon: Frozen Dreams of Ladakh | Winter Playing Fields – Olympic Channel
    Sports City USA: Where Greatness Grows Docuseries – VERB Interactive
     
    Public Service & Activism, Series & Channels
    Nevertheless: The Women Changing the World – The Elevate Prize Foundation
    Portraits of Protest – ACLU – ACLU
    Dual: The True Cost of Care – New Disabled South
    Lanterman and Friends – Public Pixels Media
    Civics Made Easy – Second Peninsula
     
    Entertainment & Music, Series & Channels
    NPR Music Tiny Desk Concerts – NPR
    LADbible Entertainment – LADbible Group
    Mixtape – Digging The Greats
    Stagebound – Great Performances
    Coal Drops Sessions – Mercury Studios
     
    Fashion, Beauty & Lifestyle, Branded Entertainment
    GAP “Better in Denim”  ft. KATSEYE – Modern Post
    Reference 1832. Our Most Brilliant Failure. – Scholz & Friends Berlin GmbH
    Real Ones Know – Happy Place
    New Jeans – Epoch Films
    The PATTERN Lounge – ATTN:
     
    Long Form, Branded Entertainment
    The Appraisal with Pauline Chalamet | Official Short Film | Fujifilm X-H2 – Fujifilm North America Corporation
    Stranger Things in Search – Google
    MrBeast Lab – Moose Toys
    FruitHead – General Mills
    The Terry Crews School of Acting for Athletes – Mother
     
    Short Form, Branded Entertainment
    Timothée Chalamet for Cash App – Cash App
    Five Star Theater Starring Benedict Cumberbatch – Amazon
    A Critter Carol   – TBWA Media Arts Lab
    W PRESENTS: The Retreat – Marriott
    Mercedes Benz FYI Radio – Clash of The Artistic Minds
     
    Music Video, General Video & Film
    Kendrick Lamar & SZA – Luther – Fela
    Sabrina Carpenter – Tears – Modern Post
    Rosalia – Berghain – CANADA
    Young – Little Simz – Freenjoy
    Claude – C’est La Vie – 10-Oct

  • ‘The Black Mirror Experience,’ “Immersive” Blend of “Physical Space and VR,” to Premiere in Montreal

    ‘The Black Mirror Experience,’ “Immersive” Blend of “Physical Space and VR,” to Premiere in Montreal

    Watch out, Montreal! The Black Mirror Experience is coming! Launching in May at location-based virtual reality (VR) Infinity Experiences in the Canadian city, the 60-minute “immersive experience blending physical space and VR” is based on hit drama series Black Mirror and produced by Banijay Live Studio, part of Banijay Live, in partnership with VR studio Univrse.

    Additional locations will be unveiled soon. The Black Mirror Experience accommodates groups of up to six participants ages 12-plus.

    “The all-new experience is inspired by the award-winning dark, satirical TV anthology, which explores humanity’s uneasy relationship with technology,” explained Banijay Live, part of Banijay, which recently struck a mega-merger deal with All3Media. “Blending sci-fi and social commentary, Black Mirror, a Banijay Entertainment format, which resides on Netflix, has earned 29 major awards (including nine Emmys and four BAFTAs) across seven seasons, captivating over 3.3 million global subscribers and 86 million social views.”

    Explained the company about the Black Mirror immersive experience: “With each of Black Mirror’s episodes holding a mirror up to our relationship with technology, showing how our digital choices shape society, this first-of-its-kind experience will force visitors to make these same choices. Groups are invited to the exclusive opening of Phaethon’s showroom – a tech giant about to unveil its most ambitious creation yet: LifeAgent, a robot designed to simplify your life, understand your desires, and help you become your best self. At first, everything feels seamless. Reassuring. Almost perfect. Until it doesn’t…”

    Banijay Live CEO François De Brugada

    Courtesy of Banijay

    The Black Mirror Experience is the first offering from Banijay Live Studio, a Banijay unit tasked with turning Banijay Entertainment’s intellectual property (IP) into location-based entertainment experiences. Said François de Brugada, CEO of Banijay Live: “We’re expanding Banijay Entertainment’s relationship with the screen into real-world experiences. Banijay Live Studio is making its public debut with The Black Mirror Experience, a ‘never-before-seen’ location-based VR experience that encapsulates all the cultural relevance of Black Mirror and brings fans into the story.”

    Tristan Desplechin, producer at Banijay Live Studio, said that his team’s focus is on turning IPs into experiences “that you can only live in-person,” adding: “Black Mirror is the perfect starting point – a universe that is as thought-provoking as it is cinematic. Working with Univrse, we have built something that doesn’t just extend the franchise – it redefines what location-based entertainment can be.”

    David Bardos, director and founder at Univrse, said the collaboration required technology “that has never been seen before in the location-based entertainment sector,” touting the creation of “a new standard for what this industry can achieve – technically, narratively, and experientially.”

    Created by Charlie Brooker, Black Mirror‘s seventh season debuted on Netflix in April 2025, produced by Broke & Bones, with Brooker, Jessica Rhoades and Annabel Jones as executive producers. The show brand is represented by Banijay Rights.

  • Taylor Swift Releases ‘Elizabeth Taylor’ Music Video Featuring Clips of the Screen Icon

    Taylor Swift Releases ‘Elizabeth Taylor’ Music Video Featuring Clips of the Screen Icon

    Taylor Swift released a music video for “Elizabeth Taylor” Tuesday morning, putting visuals to her salute to one of the most recognizable and vibrant screen stars of the 20th century.

    In contrast to high-concept productions like her recent video for “Opalite,” Swift has not cast herself in the video for “Elizabeth Taylor,” but rather has assembled a clip job featuring a supercut of scenes from the late actress’ movies, along with bits of newsreel footage of Taylor seen in the public eye in real life. The clips include shots from films including “Cleopatra,” “Father of the Bride,” “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” “A Place in the Sun,” “Giant,” “Suddenly, Last Summer,” “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” “Julia Misbehaves” and even the late ’60s cult favorite “Boom!”

    For now, the music video is only available on Apple Music and the premium Spotify level, as happened with the February premiere for the “Opalite” video. (A link to the video on those two services can be found here.) Having it premiere exclusively on those premium apps would seem to be a reflection of recent changes to the Billboard charts that only allow videos on paid services to count toward streaming totals. But in the case of “Opalite,” the video made it to YouTube’s free tier two days later, so the same may hold true with “Elizabeth Taylor.”

    YouTube did get a new, more generic visualizer that simply shows the cover art for the single, which is coming out as a 7-inch vinyl in April for Record Store Day. YouTube also is now streaming a “So Glamorous Cabaret” version with just piano accompaniment that was previously a part of exclusive, limited album or single variants.

    When the album “The Life of a Showgirl” came out in October, Swift revealed that she had asked permission from the estate of Taylor, who died in 2011 at age 73, to put the song out. Her remark came in response to a question about whether she asked permission from her subjects to write about them. She does “if they’re real people,” she said, “and if it’s Elizabeth Taylor, we go to their family and her estate and let them know and they were lovely about it.”

    Lyrics in the song include clear references to Taylor’s life and style, and also some more obscure Easter-egg-type reference. “I’ll cry my eyes violet” refers to the eye color that entranced hundreds of millions, while “All my white diamonds and lovers are forever” is a call-out to Taylor’s fragrance line, White Diamonds. The song also references some of Taylor’s favorite places, including Portofino, Italy and the Plaza Athanee hotel in Paris.

    On “The Elvis Duran Show,” Swift said of the song, “”In this record, there’s a song called ‘Elizabeth Taylor,’ which is sort of my emotions and my issues with fame through the lens of cosplaying the life of Elizabeth Taylor, so you kind of meld the two experiences together. She is always someone that I’ve looked up to as being this very glamorous, very beloved, but for some reason a polarizing figure, which I found myself in that place, too.”

    In a TikTok video, Swift talked about the origins of the song. “My parents sent me this clip of Elizabeth Taylor’s son saying something very flattering, that if there were one person he might compare to his mother in the modern day, in terms of persona and…the chaos around us, he said it would be me. I was so flattered by that. I just immediately started talking to Travis (Kelce) about it. I was going on and on about Elizabeth Taylor, talking about all the things about her that I loved… how she kept challenging herself late into her life. I had to get out of the car. I was like, ‘One sec, I have to get out of the car for a second,’ and I just sang this melody into my phone, got back in the car and… that’s what it’s like when it happens.”

    Swift may have been referring to a 2024 interview Taylor’s son, Christopher Wilding, did with the Guardian, in which he said, “I can’t tell you how much I admire Taylor Swift. I’m now a Swifty. [Her Instagram post] at the end of that presidential debate was so f—ing great. Huge props to her. That reminds me a little bit of the same spirit my mom had.”

    The music video’s end-title scroll includes a thank you to House of Taylor & the Elizabeth Taylor Trust, the Todd family and the Wilding family.

    “My family loves the song, and grandma would have loved it too — I wish she could have heard it,” said Quinn Tivey, Taylor’s grandson, who is a trustee of her estate, after the song first came out. “Taylor Swift not only made a beautiful homage to Elizabeth Taylor, but it feels like she is addressing her directly while invoking her legacy in a way that is dimensional, confessional, honest, and fun. It dances across the trappings of fame and the rollercoaster of falling in love and has so many heartfelt references, from the iconic perfume White Diamonds to her jewelry and, of course, her love of love.”

    “Elizabeth Taylor” marked the second time Swift referred to the actress in song. The first came in “…Ready for It?,” the lead-off track to her 2017 album “Reputation,” which included the lyrics, “”And he can be my jailer, Burton to this Taylor / Every love I’ve known in comparison is a failure.”

  • ‘Sound of Falling,’ Berlin Winner ‘Yellow Letters’ Lead German Film Awards Nominations

    ‘Sound of Falling,’ Berlin Winner ‘Yellow Letters’ Lead German Film Awards Nominations

    Family drama Sound of Falling, directed by Mascha Schilinski, and İlker Çatak‘s Berlin Film Festival winner Yellow Letters are leading the nominations for the 2026 German Film Awards, also known as the Lolas, Germany’s equivalent of the Oscars.

    Sound of Falling received 11 noms, with Yellow Letters receiving nine. In the best director category, they will compete with Simon Verhoeven’s comedy Ach, diese Lücke, diese entsetzliche Lücke, which received a total of seven noms.

    In the best feature film category, those three movies go up against Fatih Akin and Herman Weigel’s Amrum, which got a total of six noms, Anna-Malike Eigl, Thomas Wöbke and Philipp Trauer’s 22 Lengths, which received five, and Felix von Boehm’s The Disappearance of Josef Mengele, which received seven noms.

    THR‘s review called Sound of Falling, which depicts four generations of young women inhabiting the same farmhouse in northeast Germany, “a haunting meditation on womanhood and rural strife that heralds the arrival of a bold new talent.”

    Competing at Cannes, the second feature from Mascha Schilinski (‘Dark Blue Girl’) .

    About Yellow Letters, THR‘s review said: “For his follow-up to the tense and claustrophobic German middle school drama, The Teachers’ Lounge, director Ilker Çatak has attempted something both more ambitious and more mystifying: a tale of authoritarian oppression, artistic strife and family conflict that’s set in contemporary Turkey but was shot entirely in Germany, with no attempts to hide the fact that nothing is taking place where it should.”

    Already unveiled on Tuesday as the winner of the biggest box office hit of the year was slapstick comedy Western parody Manitou’s Canoe, directed by and starring Michael “Bully” Herbig.

    The German Film Academy unveiled the nominees for the 76th edition of the German Film Awards midday Tuesday. The awards ceremony will take place in Berlin on May 29, hosted by Christian Friedel (The Zone of Interest, The White Lotus, Babylon Berlin) for the second year in a row.

    Last year, Tim Fehlbaum’s September 5, the real-life thriller based on the terrorist attacks at the 1972 Munich Olympics that stars Peter Sarsgaard, John Magaro and Leonie Benesch, swept the German honors.

  • Sarah Everard Abduction to Be Dramatized by ‘Philomena’ Scribe Jeff Pope for BBC

    Sarah Everard Abduction to Be Dramatized by ‘Philomena’ Scribe Jeff Pope for BBC

    Events leading up to the abduction and murder of Sarah Everard are set to be dramatized in a new two-part series for the BBC.

    “Philomena” scribe Jeff Pope is writing the factual drama, which follows the events of March 2021 when Everard was falsely arrested for breaking lockdown rules by a serving police officer who went on to rape and murder her.

    The 33-year-old marketing professional was walking home through South London when she was stopped by officer Wayne Couzens and falsely placed under arrest. He then drove her outside of London to rape and murder her before setting her body on fire and later dumping it in a lake.

    It later emerged he was a sexual offender with multiple complaints and allegations against him, which were not taken seriously by the police force. On the night of the murder he had just finished working a shift at the U.S. embassy before embarking on the premeditated and well-planned slaying.

    According to the press release the BBC series, which is currently untitled, will “examine the circumstances that allowed a sexual offender to become, and remain, a Metropolitan Police officer.”

    The series will be produced by ITV Studios company Etta Pictures, who are in contact with Everard’s family.

    “Wayne Couzens should never have been a police officer, but opportunities to deny him that privilege were missed,” said Pope. “That he was still a serving officer on the night of March 3rd 2021, after committing numerous sexual offences over a long period of time, was a tragedy waiting to happen, and the key question asked by this drama.”



    Lindsay Salt, director of drama at the BBC, said: “Drama has a unique ability to sensitively and respectfully tackle real life subjects and this series will explore the impact of this horrific crime, the misogyny and failings from within the Met Police and what lessons can be learnt. Award-winning writer Jeff Pope will treat this with the utmost care, helping to ensure that the issues that led to Sarah Everard’s murder remain in the public consciousness for years to come, whilst continuing to hold the police to account.”

    Pope exec produces alongside Saurabh Kakkar and Kirsty Cunningham for Etta Pictures and Nick Lambon for the BBC.

  • Sarah Everard’s Abduction to Be Dramatized by ‘Philomena’ Scribe Jeff Pope for BBC

    Sarah Everard’s Abduction to Be Dramatized by ‘Philomena’ Scribe Jeff Pope for BBC

    The abduction and murder of Sarah Everard is set to be dramatized in a new two-part series for the BBC.
    “Philomena” scribe Jeff Pope is writing the factual drama, which follows the events of March 2021 when Everard was falsely arrested for breaking lockdown rules by a serving police officer who went on to rape and murder her.

    The 33-year-old marketing professional was walking home through South London when she was stopped by officer Wayne Couzens and falsely placed under arrest. He then drove her outside of London to rape and murder her before setting her body on fire and later dumping it in a lake.

    It later emerged he was a sexual offender with multiple complaints and allegations against him, which were not taken seriously by the police force. On the night of the murder he had just finished working a shift at the U.S. embassy before embarking on the premeditated and well-planned slaying.

    According to the press release the BBC series, which is currently untitled, will “examine the circumstances that allowed a sexual offender to become, and remain, a Metropolitan Police officer.”

    The series will be produced by ITV Studios company Etta Pictures, who are in contact with Everard’s family.

    “Wayne Couzens should never have been a police officer, but opportunities to deny him that privilege were missed,” said Pope. “That he was still a serving officer on the night of March 3rd 2021, after committing numerous sexual offences over a long period of time, was a tragedy waiting to happen, and the key question asked by this drama.”



    Lindsay Salt, director of drama at the BBC, said: “Drama has a unique ability to sensitively and respectfully tackle real life subjects and this series will explore the impact of this horrific crime, the misogyny and failings from within the Met Police and what lessons can be learnt. Award-winning writer Jeff Pope will treat this with the utmost care, helping to ensure that the issues that led to Sarah Everard’s murder remain in the public consciousness for years to come, whilst continuing to hold the police to account.”

    Pope exec produces alongside Saurabh Kakkar and Kirsty Cunningham for Etta Pictures and Nick Lambon for the BBC.

  • Disney+ Signs Deal With Italian State Broadcaster RAI, in Latest Similar Agreement With Leading European Public Networks

    Disney+ Signs Deal With Italian State Broadcaster RAI, in Latest Similar Agreement With Leading European Public Networks

    Disney+ and Italian state broadcaster RAI on Tuesday signed a deal under which a selection of popular RAI unscripted and scripted shows will play on Disney+ alongside its slate of global movies and series.

    The Disney+ deal with RAI is the latest of a series of similar agreements with leading European pubcasters across Europe – including Atresmedia and RTVE in Spain, ITV in the UK, SIC in Portugal, and ARD and ZDF in Germany.

    Under the deal, RAI talk show “Belve,” hosted by Francesca Fagnani, and “The Floor – Ne rimarrà solo uno,” a game show hosted this year by Paola Perego and Gabriele Vagnato, will be available for Disney+ customers to stream, starting from the next day after airing on RAI 2.

    In terms of scripted content, Disney+ will now expand its local content offering with a selection of RAI’s top shows from the recent past, including hit series such as “Braccialetti rossi,” “Mina Settembre,” “My Brilliant Friend,” “Un passo dal cielo” and “Màkari”, as well as the docu-reality series “Il Collegio,” in which adolescents between the ages of 14 and 17 have to study for two weeks in a sixties-style boarding school with no cellphones or social media. These shows will soon be offered soon in a dedicated collection on Disney+ . They will be added to popular RAI titles already available on Disney+ such as “Don Matteo”, “I Bastardi Di Pizzofalcone”, “Un Medico In Famiglia,” and “Doc – Nelle Tue Mani,” that’Il complement Disney+ Italian originals such as “The Lions of Sicily”, “The Ignorant Angels”, “This is not Hollywood” (Qui non è Hollywood), and “Boris 4.”

    The deal was inked by Disney with RAI’s RAI Com sales arm.

    “This collaboration with RAI will bring Disney+ customers in Italy an even broader selection of incredibly iconic local shows,” said Karl Holmes, general manager Disney+ EMEA

    “Building on over 40 years of Disney and RAI working alongside each other in Italy, this initiative also aligns with our approach to working with free‑to‑air broadcasters across Europe, helping them bring their stories to wider audiences while giving Disney+ customers more extraordinary local entertainment and more ways to enjoy the shows they love,” he added.

  • ‘Project Hail Mary’ Holds No. 1 at U.K., Ireland Box Office as ‘Magic Faraway Tree’ Opens Strong

    ‘Project Hail Mary’ Holds No. 1 at U.K., Ireland Box Office as ‘Magic Faraway Tree’ Opens Strong

    Project Hail Mary,” distributed by Sony, held the No. 1 position at the U.K. and Ireland box office in its second weekend, taking £4.7 million ($6.3 million) and lifting its total to £15.1 million ($19.9 million), according to Comscore.

    Entertainment Film Distributors’ “The Magic Faraway Tree” was the top new entry, debuting in second place with £2.8 million ($3.7 million).

    Disney’s “Hoppers” continued its steady run in third, adding $1.4 million in its fourth weekend for a cumulative $14.4 million. Moviegoers Entertainment’s “Dhurandhar: The Revenge” followed in fourth with $885,000, reaching $4.4 million overall.

    Universal’s “Reminders of Him” placed fifth in its third frame with $686,000, bringing its total to $4.4 million. Disney’s “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come” ranked sixth with $530,000, pushing its cumulative to $1.8 million.

    Warner Bros.’ new release “They Will Kill You” opened in seventh place with $434,000, while family event title “Bluey at the Cinema: Playdates With Friends” debuted in eighth with $247,000.

    Further down the chart, Entertainment Film Distributors’ “Mother’s Pride” added $199,000 in ninth place for a total of $4.3 million, while Studiocanal’s “How to Make a Killing” rounded out the top 10 with $189,000, bringing its cumulative to $2.5 million.

    Looking ahead, Universal is set to dominate the upcoming Easter holiday frame with “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” launching wide across more than 300 locations. Entertainment Film Distributors counters with “The Drama,” starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, also opening wide.

    Event cinema continues to play a prominent role, with Trafalgar Releasing presenting “Siegfried – ROH, London 2026,” while Dartmouth Films releases the music documentary “McCartney: The Hunt for the Lost Bass.”

    The specialty and repertory market remains active. Curzon marks the 25th anniversary re-release of “Amelie,” while Park Circus brings “Merrily We Roll Along” back to cinemas. Studiocanal adds thriller “Fuze,” and BFI Distribution releases “D Is for Distance.” Further independent titles include Icon’s “Two Women,” Tull Stories’ “Being Ola” and Peccadillo Pictures’ “Night Stage,” alongside Dogwoof’s “Kim Novak’s Vertigo.”

  • Disney+ Strikes Latest Content Deal With Euro Broadcast Giant, This Time With RAI in Italy

    Disney+ Strikes Latest Content Deal With Euro Broadcast Giant, This Time With RAI in Italy

    And the latest content deal between Walt Disney‘s streaming service Disney+ and a big European broadcaster is with… RAI in Italy.

    The agreement, unveiled on Tuesday, follows a Friday deal with RTVE in Spain that marked the first time that a state broadcaster in Europe agreed to make shows available on a streaming platform the day after their linear broadcasts. Now, the RAI deal marks the second agreement for Disney, and also the second within a week, that will bring content to Disney+ immediately after its linear broadcast.

    As part of it, popular talk show Belve, hosted by Francesca Fagnani, and game show The Floor – Ne rimarrà solo uno, hosted this year by Paola Perego and Gabriele Vagnato, will be available for Disney+ customers in Italy to stream from the day after airing on RAI 2.

    In addition, Disney+ will feature such RAI titles from the recent past as Braccialetti rossi, Mina SettembreL’amica genialeUn passo dal cielo and Màkari, as well as the docu-reality series Il Collegio. These programs will be offered in a dedicated collection on Disney+ in Italy, which will launch soon.

    The RAI deal is the latest step in a big Disney+ push to strike collaborations with European free-to-air broadcasters. Its previous deals have been with ITV in the U.K., which was recently extended to Hulu, ARD and ZDF in Germany, SIC in Portugal and Atresmedia in Spain.

    Karl Holmes, general manager, Disney+ EMEA

    Courtesy of Disney

    Disney executives have touted the content-sharing agreements with European broadcasters as a win-win proposition, citing how the big free-to-air channels still aggregate the largest audiences and have the largest shows, along with the largest production budgets. These deals allow Disney+ to complement its global hit content with local programming, while the broadcasters get a chance to reach younger audiences via the Disney streamer.

    “This collaboration with RAI will bring Disney+ customers in Italy an even broader selection of incredibly iconic local shows,” said Karl Holmes, general manager, Disney+ EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa). “RAI has a deep connection with viewers, an extraordinary decades-long heritage of high-quality storytelling, and we are proud to bring them to our audience on Disney+. 

    He concluded: “Building on over 40 years of Disney and RAI working alongside each other in Italy, this initiative also aligns with our approach to working with free‑to‑air broadcasters across Europe, helping them bring their stories to wider audiences while giving Disney+ customers more extraordinary local entertainment and more ways to enjoy the shows they love.”

  • Canneseries 2026 Dials Up U.S. Presence With HBO Opening Series ‘Half Man,’ Scott Free’s Latest ‘Terror’ Season and Apple TV+’s ‘Star City’ 

    Canneseries 2026 Dials Up U.S. Presence With HBO Opening Series ‘Half Man,’ Scott Free’s Latest ‘Terror’ Season and Apple TV+’s ‘Star City’ 

    The Hollywood studios may be sitting out the Cannes Film Festival but a more than respectable cohort of major U.S. players will hit Canneseries, Cannes TV festival, a month earlier. 

    They are led by HBO with Richard Gadd’s highly anticipated “Half Man” which opens the French TV festival on April 23. “Half Man” screens in the evening day and date and a few hours after its release on HBO in the U.S. Other higher profile U.S. shows playing out of competition are world premieres: Apple TV+’s ““Star City,” produced by Sony Pictures Television, and “The Terror: Devil in Silver,” the third iteration of the Scott Free franchise, backed by AMC+ and Shudder. 

    Titles were revealed at a Canneseries presentation in Paris March 31 which confirmed that among U.S. stars expected to walk Canneseries’ pink carpet are “Severance” lead Adam Scott, a Canal+ Icon Award recipient, “Transparent” matriarch Judith Light who will leave her handprint on Cannes’ Walk of Fame and among U.S. creatives “Alien: Earth” showrunner Noah Hawley and “Mad Men” and “Homeland” director Leslie Linka Glatter. 

    In more U.S. involvement, Disney+ is backing “Alice and Steve,” from “Sex Education” director Sophie Goodhart. Another main competition player, the Sweden-set “Summer of 1985” from “The Bridge” creator Bjorn Stein, is produced by L.A.-based Media Res, behind “The Morning Show” and “Pachinko” and sold by Fifth Element. Both are world premieres.

    It is symptomatic, however, of the way that global markets are trending that the biggest star at Canneseries may well be K-pop phenom Jisoo, an ex-Blackpink girl band member and Dior face and now Tommy Hilfiger global ambassador who starred in this month’s Netflix chart-topper “Boyfriend on Demand.” She will pick up a Madame Figaro Rising Star Award.  

    Running April 23-28, Canneseries will close with the buzzy “California Avenue,” ‘70s-set and described as a “fractured family drama”starring Bill Nighy and Helena Bonham Carter, and created by “The English” writer-director Hugo Blick.

    A still growing Canneseries Industry also includes conversations with U.S.-U.K. “Unorthodox” showrunner Anna Winger and Ron Leshem, creator of the original “Euphoria,” “No Man’s Land” and “Bad Boy.” Gadd will be presented with a Konbini commitment prize at Canneseries’ opening ceremony. Spain’s Isabel Coixet (“The Secret Life of Words,” “Three Goodbyes”) chairs the main competition jury award. 

    Canneseries Artistic Director Albin Lewi described several series as “dark” or “very dark.” For him, there are few higher terms of praise. 

    “I was very afraid when we started selecting that we wouldn’t get as many series driven by strong creative voices. But I was wrong. I’m very pleased commissioners are betting on talented authors as well as IPs. There’s still room for inventiveness, for risk-taking. What we try to achieve is to have a diverse selection that reflects everything that takes place. Some are crowd pleasers, some are not,” Lewi told Variety

    He added: “Certainly, it’s harder to finance a project now. You need to be inventive in the way you finance a show, finding different partners, linking streamers and linear channels. But producers manage to find solutions and we want to represent this.”

    Of potential crowdpleasers, Lewi cited Disney+’s U.K. show “Alice and Steve,” and from France TF1’s “Zodiac,” France Televisions’ Stendhal adaptation “The Red and the Black” and Disney+ comedy “Minimal Security,” fronted by big French star Jean-Pascal Zadi (“Simply Black”) in a series he dubs “’The Office’ in prison.” 

    Regarding trends, Lewi noted the rise of sports-adjacent programming, seen in this year’s doc titles “Platini” and “Cruyff,” from Box to Box Films and madcap HBO Max French series “I Hate Swimming” as well as in the scripted realm, “Guts,” from Finnish “Money Shot” creator Jemina Jokisalo, about self-sacrifice in competitive cross-country skiing.  

    Four of Canneseries’ nine long-form main competition titles are from Scandinavia, two more from Spain’s Movistar Plus+. “We’ve always been strong in Scandinavia. It is the most inventive of global territories and for me Movistar Plus+ is the local HBO of Europe,” Lewi said. 

    Panels take in Palestine’s Tawfik Abu Wael and Israel’s Hagai Levi discussing making together 2019 HBO-Keshet Studios series “Our Boys,” and a talk from producer David Bernad about how “The White Lotus” ended up shooting in France.   

    A closer look at the just announced titles: 

    “Half Man,” (Richard Gadd, U.K.)

    Gadd’s follow-up to “Baby Reindeer,” a HBO-BBC production from Banijay’s Mam Tor and one of the year’s most anticipated series. Gadd and Jamie Bell (“Rocket Man”) play Ruben and Niall, thick as thieves when kids and now life-defining enemies. An examination of entrenched masculinity, capturing the wild energy of a changing city – “a changing world,” its makers say. “‘Baby Reindeer’ was such a good shock. I’m very impressed that, after auto-fiction, Gadd is tackling fiction so quickly,” said Lewi.

    “Paris Police 1910,” (Fabien Nury, France)

    The third and final season of the high-end, crafted Canal+, Sky and Studiocanal banner crime franchise bowed by “Paris Police 1900,” Belle Epoque Noir reverberating down to the modern day in its bracing violence, gritty street settings, torrid racism and women’s subjugation. Here, Inspector Jouin (Jérémie Laheurte) investigates the real-life Meg Steinheil case where the socialite was accused of murdering her husband and mother. “I’ve rarely seen historical reconstruction at this level. It has fans over the world. I’ve talked to very high-level showrunners in the U.S. who love the series,” Lewi commented.  

    “Prisoner,” (Matt Charman, U.K.)

    A Canal+ and Sky crime action thriller from Matt Charman, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of Steven Spielberg’s “Bridge of Spies,” and directed by “Peaky Blinders”helmer Otto Bathurst. “Boiling Point’s” Izuka Hoyle plays a prison officer escorting – and handcuffed to – a trained killer high-value prisoner (Tahar Rahim, “A Prophet”) to court to testify against his elite crime syndicate, which suddenly ambushes the duo. Co-starring Eddie Marsan and Catherine McCormack. Release scheduled for late April. An international premiere. “A crowd-pleasing very efficient action series,” said Lewi. 

    “Star City,” (Ben Nedivi, Matt Wolpert and Ronald D. Moore, U.S.)

    “House of the Dragon” star Rhys Ifans fronts the Apple TV+ “For All Mankind” spinoff, produced by Sony Picture Television, playing the driving force behind the Soviet Union’s space program. An alt-history take on the space race, like “For All Mankind,” just renewed for a sixth and final season, “Star City,” which debuts May 29, imagines the Soviet Union putting the first man on the moon. “It’s a series that talks about how the Soviet Union manipulated even its best talent,” Lewi commented A world premiere.

    “The Terror: Devil in Silver,”(Chris Cantwell, U.S)

    Produced by AMC+ and Shudder, a third iteration in horror anthology “The Terror,” produced again by Scott Free. After “The Terror” (2018) chronicling Sir John Franklin’s doomed Arctic expedition and “Infamy,” charting the devastation of WWII Japanese-American internment, in “Devil in Silver,” adapting  Victor LaValle’s novel, Dan Stevens plays Pepper, wrongfully committed to a psychiatric hospital, contending with patients, doctors and maybe the Devil. A world premiere.  

    “California Avenue,” (Hugo Blick, U.K.)

    Starring Bill Nighy (“About Time”), Helena Bonham Carter (“The Crown”) and reuniting Blick, Mediawan’s Drama Republic, Eight Rooks and the BBC following “The English,” “The Honourable Woman” and “Black Earth Rising.” A ‘70s-set family saga, Lela and her daughter, seeking a fresh start, join a canal-side caravan community, but the life she escaped begins to hunt her down. A French premiere.

    Long-Form Competition

    “Alice and Steve,”(Sophie Goodhart, U.K. )

    A Disney+ title from“Sex Education” writer-director Goodhart in her first role as a creator and “Baby Reindeer” producer Clerkenwell Films, owned by BBC Studios. Jermaine Clement (“What We Do in the Shadows”) and Nicola Walker (“The Split”) play a pair of platonic middle-aged friends whose relationship is tested when he begins dating her 26-year-old daughter. “I couldn’t have dreamed of a better cast,” Lewi commented. World premiere.

    “Guts,” (Jemina Jokisalo, Finland, Slovenia) 

    From Jokisalo, behind feminist porn tale “Money Shot,” a mystery drama thriller, “Guts” turns on cross-country skiing top athlete Anna who gets one more chance to become a world champion, despite her nemesis, natural-born skiing sensation Maria. Commissioned by Finnish pubcaster Yle and sold by About Premium Content, which bills it “‘Black Swan’ in snow.” An international premiere.

    “Snake Killer,” (Anders Ølholm)

    Starring Pilou Asbæk, Kasper Juul in “Borgen” and Euron Greyjoy in “Games of Thrones,” here playing a corrupt cop in Amazon MGM Studios’ first Danish Original. Inspired by real events, it depicts Copenhagen’s infamous Uropatruljen police unit battling to face down the local mafia, by any means necessary. From Anders Ølholm whose movie “Shorta,” a Venice Festival premiere, was picked up by Magnolia for North America. “It channels the energy of Nicolas Wending Refn’s ‘Pusher’ trilogy. Few cops are so charismatic and horrific as Asbæk’s character. It’s like ‘Dirty Harry’ but dirtier,” said Lewi.  World premiere.

    “Harvest,” (Martin Zandvliet,” Denmark)

    Produced by DR Drama, an original series written and directed by Oscar-nominated Zandvliet (“Land of Mine”) and produced by Rikke Tørholm Kofoed (“Prisoner”). In a modern Danish farming family, the patriarch Gorm unexpectedly chooses to pass the family farm to his youngest daughter, Astrid, causing a deep rift. Supported by broadcaster New8 in its just-announced third slate of series. World premiere.

    “I Always Sometimes,” (“Yo siempre a veces,” Marta Bassols, Marta Loza, Spain)

    The latest from “Veneno” and “La Mesías” creators Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo as producers and Movistar Plus+, a realistic coming of age tale depicting the travails of a single mother, pregnant, and then with a toddler son, in Barcelona. Directed by Ginesta Guindal (“Perfect Life”), Claudia Costafreda (“Cardo”) and Loza. Bowing at Barcelona’s D/A fest, an international premiere. “A young auteur series,” Lewi told Variety.

    “Many People Need to Die,” (Victoria Martín, Spain)

    “Pure comedy with big punchlines that will make everybody laugh,” said Lewi. The series is also a second play for younger audiences by Movistar Plus+ adapting a novel from Victoria Martín, one of Spain’s most prominent YouTube and podcast comedians. Created by Martín and directed with Sandra Romero (“The New Years”), an archly ironic vision of early thirties female friendship and crises drive by a top-notch Spanish cast led by Anna Castillo (“Nowhere”) and Macarena Gómez (“30 Coins”). World premiere.

    “Summer of 1985,” (Bjorn Stein, Sweden, U.S.)

    An SVT adaptation of “Let The Right One In” author John Ajvide Lindqvist‘s latest novel created by “The Bridge” co-creator and “Whiskey on the Rocks” director Björn Stein. Described as “a psychological coming-of-age thriller,” it turns on a group of young friends who discover a strange creature on the mythical island of Svärtan.  Sold by Fifth Element after a recent deal with producer Media Res Studio (“Pachinko”) in L.A. World premiere.  

    “The Red and the Black,” (Ida Panahandeh, Iran)

    In mid-19th century Iran, painter Nowruz falls for a fearlessly defiant Roma fortune teller, sparking their desperate flight and a tragic saga echoing down generations, the synopsis runs. Directed and co-written by Panahandeh whose film “Nahid” won a Prix de l’Avenir special prize at Cannes 2015 Un Certain Regard. Set for release on Iranian SVOD service Filimo and produced and sold by HA International.

    Short Form Competition 

    “Avant qu’on m’oublié,” (Olivier Aubé, Quebec, Canada)

    A nostalgic, dramedic return to 2008 and the dawn of social media, with Alex persuading his friends to webcam pranks. But the project sours. Supported by TV5’s Creators in Series program. 

    “Boho,” (Abbie Boutkabout, Netherlands)

    A millennial female-led dramedy directed by Olympia Allaert and set in the vibrant neighborhood of Borgerhout in Antwerp boasts intricately choreographed dance and music to tell the intertwined stories of three young friends. From Banijay’s leading Flemish production house jonnydepony whose “The Big Fuck-Up” was a highlight of Canneseries 2025. 

    “Ina,” (Rachel Maxine Anderson, Australia)

    Created, written and directed by Rachel Maxine Anderson a co writer-director on LGBT web series “Two Weeks” (2017) and doc “Bananas” another exploration of identity and roots by Maxine Anderson, here with driven TV producer Madeline is forced to cast her Asian mother as the guest star of her cooking show. A YouTube production. World premiere. 

    “Paradoxes,” (Maxime Donzel, Émilie Valentin, Pierre Zandrowicz, France, Greece)

    A depressive journalist discovers a forest area that seems to embody the fears of those which explore it, forcing him to confront his inner demons to save the world. 

    Set to air on Arte France and Greece’s Cosmote TV, and produced by VR specialist Atlas V with Byrd and Mediawan’s Imagissime. World premiere.    

    “Sheep,” (Alex Reinberg, Leni Gruber, Austria)

    Sheep believe they have domesticated humans, but it remains a delusion and “saving a blinded herd from certain death proves anything but easy,” says the synopsis. 

    Produced by Horse & Fruits Filmproduktion, to air on public broadcasters ZDF – Das kleine Fernsehspiel and ORF.World premiere. 

    “Sneakermania,” (Vilja Keskimäki, Jani Airiainen, Aleksi Aro-Heinilä, Finland)

    Ola, a 17-year-old sneakerhead chases social media cache in Helsinki but when former best-friend Jay steals the limelight at a high stakes raffle, Ola has to choose between friendship and fame. Backed by Helsinki-filmi Oy, aired by Yle. International premiere. 

    Docuseries

    “The Oligarch and the Art Dealer,” (Andreas Dalsgaard, France, Denmark, U.S. Switzerland, Netherlands)

    Co-created, written and directed by Dalsgaard and a Sundanc and CPH-Dox highlight, the $1 billion dispute between Swiss art dealer Yves Bouvier and Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev, and the currency of the ultra-rich: Investing in art. “Better than gold. Better than diamonds,” says Dalsgaard. An Arte series, repped by CAA for the U.S. and Dogwolf in international.

    “Colonna, Une Tragedie Corse,” (Ariane Chemin, Agnès Pizzini, France)

    60 years of latent war between Corsica and the French government, exposed in 2022 by the prison murder of Corsican activist Yvan Colonna—convicted of the assassination of Prefect Érignac. A French Télévisions three-part series.

    “Cruyff,” (Sam Blair, U.K.)

     A take on Johan Cruyff, soccer genius and inventor of modern soccer as seen by other greats such as Pep Guardiola, Marco van Basten and Ruud Gullit. San Blair (Ronnie O’Sullivan: The Edge of Everything,” “Maradona ’86”) directs and edits. 

    “A Woman Was Killed,” (Nahid Shaikh, Phara de Aguirre, Belgium)  

    Four cases of feminicide in Belgium, explores four lives through

    family testimonies, revealing missed red flags, repeated pleas for help and how police and justice failed. Aired on Flemish public broadcaster VRT. 

    “The Deal With Iran,” ( Lennart Stuyck, Maarten Stuyck, Belgium) 

    Another VRT doc miniseries. A bomb plot near Paris sparks a high-stakes investigation and a shadow war, exposing covert

    networks, political pressure and a deadly game of hostage diplomacy.  

    Canneseries Rendez-Vous

    Now one of its biggest of sections catering for French audiences, takes in a Mediawan’s “Platini,” Season 2, a portrait of the legendary French soccer player directed by Blue August and featuring Sam Claflin and Jeremy Irons. In the mix is M6 kidnapping thriller “Vigilantes” with Eric Cantona, and French classic novel adaptation “The Red and the Black,” both from France Télévisions, Disney+ prison workplace comedy “Minimum Security” and TF1 serial killer thriller “Zodiaque,” a sequel to the 2004 ratings buster of the same name, seen by 8 million viewers and adapted by RAI2 and Germany’s Sat.1. 

    Also set to unveil are candid HBO Max doc miniseries “I Hate Swimming” starring French Olympic gold medallist swimmer Florent Manaudou, France 2 and Slash social media show “Putain de Soirée,” about one last chance at romance, and Arte’s animated short form bromance series “The Broos,” adapting the French TikTok and Instagram sensation.

    The Rendez-Vous also features Season 1 of Belgium’s English-language 1930s whodunit “This Is Not a Murder Mystery,” featuring Salvador Dali and René Magritte, commissioned by VRT, backed by New8 and sold by Studiocanal. 

    A Korea Focus takes in “Sacred Jewel,” a 1258-set action melodrama set against Mongol invasions with stars Ahn Bo-hyun and Claudia Kim announced as attending Cannes, pianist drama “All the Things You Are” starring “Sky Castle’s” Kang Chan-hee and short form “Genfluencer,” about a facially scarred creator of an AI K-pop idol.