Tag: Entertainment – Variety

Elvis Duran, one of terrestrial radio’s biggest talk-show hosts, has formed a new partnership to develop, produce and monetize creators’ video podcasts — providing what he claims are Hollywood-level production facilities in New York City.

Duran already oversees a slate of more than a dozen podcasts under the Elvis Duran Podcast Network, which is operated by iHeartMedia. The company is home to “Elvis Duran and the Morning Show,” which has aired on iHeart’s Z100 station for more than three decades and is syndicated nationwide.

But Duran says the time is ripe for a new approach to producing podcasts and vodcasts. “We are seeing the need for a different level of production quality for new video podcasts,” he told Variety.

Duran is one of the partners behind Podrophenia, touted as a “next-generation podcast, vodcast and creator development company.” The venture brings together the Elvis Duran Group; Looking4Larry, a creative marketing agency co-founded by WWE personality Paul Heyman and producer Mitchell Stuart; and production company MCM Studios, headed by Michael Canzoniero.

“We felt there had to be a place to take our talent for these shows,” Duran said. “You need more than a microphone and booth” to make a breakthrough podcast show today.

Podrophenia’s inaugural flagship series is “Hello Randy,” hosted by Randy Fenoli, longtime host of TLC’s “Say Yes to the Dress.” Fenoli’s show is expected to premiere later this year through iHeartMedia and the Elvis Duran Podcast Network; details about the podcast are being kept under wraps for now. Additional original programming announcements are expected throughout 2026, according to the company. Duran said he’ll use his daily radio show to promote the Podrophenia shows and podcasts.

In its deals with creators, Podrophenia will provide upfront compensation as well as profit-sharing terms. Some of the shows will be distributed via iHeart, but Podrophenia also is eyeing other platforms, according to Duran.

The partners behind Podrophenia say their key differentiator is that they can provide an array of services, spanning show development, premium production, post-production, audience growth strategy, marketing support, sponsorship opportunities and strategic distribution.

“In looking at today’s landscape, we’ve seen so many studios that are turnkey and therefore built on the premise of minimal alterations” to their sets, said Heyman, who performs for WWE as a villainous wrestling manager. “Podrophenia is the first studio specifically customized to the host’s personality and also the concept. We’re not just building a content hub for creators — we’re building a creator hub for the content.”

Podrophenia’s partners are looking at all kinds of creators for potential shows, Heyman said. “It’s a matter of, Is there an audience for this? Is there a lure for advertisers and sponsors to come on board? The lens I’m scouting for is ‘uninhibited’ — if a hot dog vendor on Lexington Avenue has a compelling story to tell, I want that person in Podrophenia’s studios.”

Podrophenia will operate from MCM Studios’ production facility located in Chelsea, which features sound-controlled studios, customizable sets, broadcast-quality audio infrastructure, cinematic lighting systems, creator green rooms, post-production capabilities and collaborative production spaces. MCM Studios has hosted productions including those associated with Steven Bartlett’s “The Diary of a CEO,” wing-eating talk show “Hot Ones,” Keke Palmer and more.

Stuart, of Looking4Larry, said that podcasting has “evolved far beyond simply recording conversations.” Podrophenia’s ambitions are to build creator-led content brands that extend beyond podcasts, into films, merchandise and more, he said. “We are going to look at people who, yes, have a big fanbase. But it’s not the Instagram version of them,” he said. “We’re looking at authentic storytelling.”

Meanwhile, Duran said he’s interested in hosting his own show for Podrophenia at some point. On his daily radio show, he typically sits alongside three co-hosts. “I would like to go to a place of doing one-on-one interviews,” Duran said. Heyman also said he’s been “toying with the idea of a podcast” since 2011: “When the time is right, and the marketplace is ready, I’ll come out of the gates blasting.”

The Podrophenia name is a play on “Quadrophenia,” The Who’s classic double album released in 1973. More info is available on the Podrophenia website.

Fandango Sales has boarded Sergio Castro-San Martín’s “The Chilean” ahead of its world premiere at Locarno.  

Set in 1976, the film follows Chilean miner Aldo Marín as he flees Chile’s regime for Turin, where he meets Luciana, a doctor who performs illegal abortions. But his attempt to rebuild his life is threatened by a talent that is also his curse: building bombs.

“The 1970s were a defining decade for both Italy and Chile. Although the outcomes were very different, the motivations behind the social and political movements in both countries shared important similarities,” Sergio Castro-San Martín told Variety. 

“To speak about that period means, in many ways, revisiting the beginning of the massive waves of migration in Chile and Latin America triggered by forced exile. Today, that same feeling seems to be resurfacing. Not necessarily through demonstrations in the streets, but in the digital sphere.”

The greatest challenge of “The Chilean” was to make a period film that felt “deeply rooted in the present,” he noted. 

“When you make films set in the past – especially in such a politically charged era – it’s very easy to fall into propaganda or didactic political discourse. That’s precisely what ‘The Chilean’ tries to avoid.”

Camilo Arancibia stars as Aldo alongside Sara Serraiocco, Gaetano Bruno, Andrew Bargsted and Lorenzo Richelmy. “The Chilean” is produced by Dispàrte, Equeco and Cinédokké in association with Redibis Film.

While inspired by Juan Cristóbal Guarello’s book “Aldo Marín, Carne de Cañón,” the film is its own beast. 

“[In the book], the protagonist dreams of returning to Chile to assassinate Pinochet. In ‘The Chilean,’ Aldo’s dream is much simpler and, I believe, more universal: he wants to reunite with his wife and son. To do that, he must earn enough money.” 

He added: “By shifting the focus in this way, the story transcends ideological boundaries and becomes a profoundly human. In that sense, exile naturally leads us to one of today’s most pressing social issues: immigration. This is a theme that permeates every layer of the film.”

Recreating a historical period requires an “understanding of the society that inhabited that world and the people who gave it life.” 

“I wanted the language of ‘The Chilean’ to be inherently dual. Chileans speak Italian and Italians speak Spanish. Police officers and militants are both forced to learn each other’s language – a fundamental principle of guerrilla warfare is to know your enemy as well as you know yourself.”

Aldo’s “heart remains in Chile while his body is in Italy.” But he’s not the only orphan in the story, as Luciana is also scarred by a painful past. 

“Together, they embody a militant left, driven by revolutionary ideals, that ultimately found itself orphaned. Abandoned by its parties and leaders, and eventually by its own utopias. The characters drift through the streets alone, like ghosts, unable to come together, defeated and forced to reinvent themselves.” 

Today, many of our political concepts have been turned upside down, he argued. 

“Words that once belonged to the language of the left have been appropriated by the right, and we now live in a landscape where ideological meanings have become blurred.” 

However, Aldo’s struggle is not only political: “It is deeply personal.” 

“That’s why ‘The Chilean’ brings the idea of the revolutionary back into the domestic sphere. ‘I don’t plant the bombs. I only build them.’ This line defines Aldo as someone who sees himself as an active observer of both his own life and the world around him. His burden is one of accumulation: accumulated anger, accumulated grief over exile, accumulated betrayal. It is within this shared anger – reflected also in Luciana – that he ultimately breaks the promise he made to himself.” 

Aldo Marín Piñones is a “ticking time bomb,” said Castro-San Martín. And so is his film.

“Every scene moves quietly towards an inevitable explosion, like a spark slowly traveling along a fuse. Everything is on the verge of detonation. We know something is going to happen – we just don’t know when or how.”

Icelandic producer Glassriver is teaming with ZDF Studios-owned Network Movie on “Áróra,” a crime drama series based on Lilja Sigurðardóttir’s internationally bestselling “An Áróra Investigation” novels.

Network Movie has optioned all five books in the series — “Cold as Hell,” “Red as Blood,” “White as Snow,” “Dark as Night” and “Deep as Death” — and is developing the adaptation with Glassriver.

The partnership brings together one of Iceland’s most active scripted producers and a German company with extensive experience in crime drama, literary adaptations and international co-productions.

Network Movie’s credits include the long-running procedural franchises “Murder Up North,” “In Other Circumstances,” “Helen Dorn” and “The Trace,” as well as the pan-European crime series “The Team” and the feature adaptation “The German Lesson.”

Set across Iceland and London, the series follows Áróra, a tough fraud investigator with Icelandic roots who returns home to search for her missing sister. What begins as a family mission soon expands into a wider criminal investigation as she teams with Daniel, an Icelandic police detective and potential love interest, exposing corruption, betrayal and violence beneath Iceland’s rugged landscape.

“We’re delighted to be partnering with Network Movie to bring ‘Áróra’ from the page to screen,” said Glassriver CEO Andri Ómarsson. “This series is truly an international project, with a story that unfolds across Iceland and the U.K. while bringing together the best talent from across Europe.”

Ómarsson said Sigurðardóttir’s ability to combine “compelling characters, suspense and a strong sense of place” gives “Áróra” “unique international appeal.”

Network Movie managing director Bernd von Fehrn and executive producer Moritz Mihm described the character of Áróra as an “irresistible heroine” and praised the novels for “interweaving intricate criminal cases with the complex private lines of the protagonist and her family.”

“The novels are ripe material for adaptation,” they added. “We are delighted to have found the ideal partner for this very special project in the Glassriver team.”

Sigurðardóttir is also working with Glassriver on an adaptation of her “Reykjavik Noir” trilogy and previously co-wrote episodes of Netflix’s Icelandic supernatural drama “Katla.”

According to the producers, the “An Áróra Investigation” novels have sold more than 800,000 copies and have secured publishing deals across English-, French-, German- and Arabic-language markets as well as Sweden, Finland and Estonia.

“Áróra” joins Glassriver’s expanding slate of literary crime adaptations, which also includes “Elma,” based on Eva Björg Ægisdóttir’s novels, and “Konrad,” drawn from Arnaldur Indriðason’s detective series. Its development lineup also features “Manifesto” and “Reykjavik Noir.”

Linnea Berthelsen, best known for playing Kali Prasad/008 in the second and final season of Netflix’s smash hit “Stranger Things,” is to make her U.K. stage debut in the “Darkling” at London’s Bush Theatre.

The solo play is presented by Actors Touring Company and co-produced with the Bush Theatre. Described as “an epic story of a life ravaged by ecological disaster,” it was written by Titas Halder and directed by the Actors Touring Company’s Olivier-award-winning artistic director Matthew Xia.

“Darkling” exposes the human impact of the 1984 Bhopal gas leak disaster. The production weaves memory and trauma into a visceral narrative that aims to serve as a powerful indictment of corporate malpractice. As per the description, “This human story confronts the systemic impact of industrialisation on poorer nations, raising urgent questions about environmental exploitation and the fight for justice in the global South.”

“Matthew is someone I’ve admired and have hoped to collaborate with for many years,” said Berthelsen. “And after seeing and falling in love with Titas’ work on ‘Foal,’ I knew that joining Darkling would be a special opportunity. Titas’ script is incredibly nuanced, human and very alive. I’m thrilled to be working with this exceptional creative team.”

“Darkling” opens at Bush Theatre on Sep. 5 before touring to Birmingham Rep, Oxford’s The North Wall Arts Centre, and HOME, Manchester until Nov. 14.

“It is a privilege to collaborate with Linnea, who will bring a magnetic intensity to the role,” said Xia, artistic director of Actors Touring Company. “Titas has written an extraordinarily beautiful and poetic text, and working with a performer of Linnea’s calibre gives us the chance to make something epic, intimate and unmistakably theatrical. We are proud that “Darkling” sits at the very core of ATC’s mission: to champion globally minded contemporary theatre and bring these vital narratives to audiences across the U.K.”

Added Halder: “I’m thrilled that Linnea will be performing in ‘Darkling.’ When I wrote the piece; a human story about how an ecological disaster rips through one family, I could have never imagined that we would one day be making this play with such an extraordinary team, led by the brilliant Matthew Xia, and anchored by such a truly mesmeric actor as Linnea. I know she will bring a special and profound emotional depth to this solo play, a portrait of an entire life.”

“Darkling” is made possible with the support of Arts Council England, Cockayne Grants for the Arts, Royal Victoria Hall Foundation, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, John Ellerman Foundation and the Wates Foundation. ATC is an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation.

California and 11 other states have filed for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction to prevent the Paramount-Warner Bros. deal from closing while the states pursue an antitrust lawsuit.

In a motion filed on Monday evening, the states asked a federal judge to act by July 22. Paramount has previously informed the states that it will not close the transaction before that date.

“The Transaction will eliminate competition between Paramount and Warner Bros. and enable the combined entity to raise prices and reduce output,” the motion states. “Plaintiff States have an interest in enforcing antitrust laws and their citizens face the risk of profound and irreversible injury in the absence of an injunction.”

The states filed a lawsuit earlier in the day, alleging that the $111 billion transaction violates federal antitrust law in three markets: wide-release theatrical distribution, blockbuster film distribution, and basic cable TV distribution. The states argued that the deal would hurt consumers as well as theater owners and cable and satellite companies.

Paramount Skydance quickly responded, saying the states had a “fundamentally flawed” understanding of the facts and the law.

“Delaying this transaction will only harm entertainment workers who have already suffered over recent years as technology has disrupted their livelihood and cost California tens of thousands of entertainment jobs,” the company said.

To get an injunction, the states will have to persuade a judge that the case has a likelihood of success, and that they will suffer “irreparable harm” in the absence of an injunction. The states argue that if the deal is allowed to close — and subsequently ruled unlawful — it will impossible to “unscramble the egg” at that point.

The California attorney general’s office had said earlier on Monday that it would seek an injunction if Paramount did not agree to pause the merger while the case is pending. As expected, the company did not agree to that, prompting the filing.

“These titans of industry must not move to merge until a court properly evaluates our claims,” Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement Monday evening. “Today, alongside a coalition of attorneys general, I’ve filed an emergency motion asking the court to immediately stop this merger. I will not let Warner Bros. and Paramount merge without a fight.”

The injunction ruling will be an early test of the strength of the states’ case. In March, a similar coalition was able to obtain an order blocking the Nexstar-Tegna merger from taking effect. That ruling is now on appeal.

Anya Taylor-Joy was a strict “Harry Potter” fan as a child, but now, having been cast in “The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum,” she’s ready to dive into the world of J.R.R. Tolkien.

“I’m about to read the books now, actually,” Taylor-Joy told Variety at the Monday night premiere of Apple TV’s “Lucky.” “So as a child, I had a misguided idea that you could only be a ‘Harry Potter’ fan or a ‘Lord of the Rings’ fan. Nobody told me that. I just came up with that on my own. Luckily, throughout COVID, I then watched all of ‘Lord of the Rings,’ and turns out you can love both, and you should.”

When asked about her initial reaction to getting cast in “The Hunt for Gollum,” Taylor-Joy said, “It’s so fun. I mean, if my tombstone can say ‘Lethal Elf, I feel like I did a good job on this planet. So yeah, I’m excited.”

In June, it was revealed that Taylor-Joy was joining “The Hunt for Gollum” as Seren, a Sindar Elf of the Woodland Realm, who is described as “a trusted and lethal agent of King Thranduil.” She joins fellow “LOTR” newcomers Kate Winslet, Leo Woodall and Jamie Dornan. Dornan is taking over the role of Aragorn for Viggo Mortensen.

Directed by Andy Serkis, who will also reprise his role as Gollum, the film follows Aragorn during the time between “The Hobbit” and “The Fellowship of the Ring,” during which he searched for the ring-obsessed creature. Ian McKellen (Gandalf), Elijah Wood (Frodo) and Lee Pace (King Thranduil) are all set to return.

Despite being replaced by Dornan, Serkis recently told the “Happy, Sad, Confused” podcast that Mortensen is “thrilled” about the direction of the film.

“I really, really don’t want to go into it right now because I do want to save that for, you know, further down the line,” Serkis said. “I’m gonna save all discussion about casting. Other than that, we are thrilled that Jamie’s doing it. I mean, we’re, you know, we’re absolutely thrilled. And, by the way, so is Viggo.”

Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison has been quietly backing a bill to launch a federal film tax incentive, with lawmaker support on both sides of the aisle, multiple sources told Variety.

Ellison has spent at least six months in exploratory meetings for the proposed legislation, two sources added, and on Monday evening was present in Washington, D.C. to break bread with top Republican leadership, where the matter will be discussed.

Names of politicians from both parties involved in the bill were not immediately available. More than one source noted the irony of Ellison’s Monday night meeting occurring the same day that a group of state attorneys general filed suit to block the mogul’s acquisition of Warner Bros. (his general counsel, Makan Delrahim, is at his side in D.C.)

A federal film tax incentive would provide significant financial relief to content producers fleeing the U.S. for rebates around the world. A federal program would also sweeten the deal in Hollywood’s home state of California, whose AG Rob Bonta is leading the charge on the searing antitrust lawsuit waged today against Ellison over Warner Bros.

Hollywood’s labor unions — including the DGA, IATSE and SAG-AFTRA — have also taken up the mantle on a federal incentive. In its just-negotiated contract, the DGA stipulated that top studio execs must participate in lobbying for more favorable domestic filming incentives.

California has a TV and film tax credit worth $750 million, but no such program exists on the national level.

Bonta, along with a coalition of 12 other states, alleged in their antitrust suit that the $111 billion merger between the two legacy studios violates the Clayton Act by weakening competition in three markets: wide-release theatrical distribution, “top-grossing” theatrical distribution, and basic cable licensing. If Paramount and Warner Bros. merged, the suit argues, the combined company would control 27% of the wide-release theatrical distribution market, 30% of the submarket comprising “anticipated blockbuster films” and 27% of the basic cable bundle.

“The unlawful merger of these two entertainment behemoths would lead to higher prices, lower quality, and less content for film and television, harming movie theaters, basic cable distributors, and ultimately, audiences on every sofa and movie theater seat in the U.S.,” Bonta said in a statement on Monday.

Paramount, of course, fired back with a scathing statement after the suit was filed. The company said in the statement, “The lawsuit filed by the state attorneys general, in the most generous light, reflects a fundamentally flawed application of the antitrust laws and is wrong on both the facts and the law. Delaying this transaction will only harm entertainment workers who have already suffered over recent years as technology has disrupted their livelihood and cost California tens of thousands of entertainment jobs.”

The Department of Justice already approved the deal in March, essentially clearing the way for Ellison to complete his plans for a combined Paramount-Warner Bros. Hollywood unions and stars have not been keen on the transaction, and fear an already struggling Hollywood could be further pushed underwater by a historically ineffective tactic of mega-merging two media behemoths.

Politico’s Daniel Miller was the first to report Ellison’s interest in the federal film incentive.

The 53rd annual Daytime Emmy nominations announcement is underway. Among early nominees: Recently ended talkers “The Kelly Clarkson Show” (recognized for talk series and talk host) and “Sherri” (with a nod for talk host).

The Daytime Emmys, administered by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, recognize daytime dramas, talk series, entertainment news, culinary, adventure, instructional and legal/courtroom programming. This year’s Lifetime Achievement honoree, Gold & Silver Circle inductees, and ceremony host will be announced at a later date.

Formerly held in June, the Daytime Emmys moved to mid-fall last year; the 2026 event is scheduled to take place as a single ceremony on Friday, October 30, in Los Angeles.

“We’re proud to honor the extraordinary talent and creative teams whose work continues to define and elevate daytime television,” said NATAS president/CEO Adam Sharp. “As the Daytime landscape evolves and new forms of storytelling emerge, we remain committed to recognizing the innovation happening across the industry.” 

This year’s Daytime Emmys nominations come after serveral rule changes were announced this spring. Among the modifications: Submissions will now be episode-based, which it calls a “primetime format,” allowing programs to enter multiple submissions for different episodes and potentially receive several nominations.

Additionally, NATAS has opted to determine how many nominations a category will get based on a scale of how may submissions there were, much like what happens at the Primetime Emmys. The default number of nominations in a category are:

10 – 29 submissions: 5 nominations
30 – 59 submissions: 6 nominations
60 – 89 submissions: 7 nominations
90 – 119 submissions: 8 nominations
120 -149 submissions: 9 nominations
150 or more submissions: 10 nomination

If there are fewer than ten submissions in a category, the default number of nominations is 50% of the category’s submissions, rounded up to the nearest whole number. Categories with three or fewer submissions have no nominations, “though the National Awards Committee may proceed with an award based on a standard of excellence if the category is not otherwise merged or eliminated.”

Meanwhile, there’s a new threshold for when you’re eligible for guest actor in a daytime drama (“To be eligible for the guest category, you must be seen in a maximum of 19% of episodes aired/streamed for the first time during calendar year 2025. Otherwise, you must enter in categories eligible only in the Leading, Supporting, or Emerging Talent categories.”).

And the science and nature programming category has been eliminated in Daytime, as programs will now have to submit in Primetime, News & Doc or Children’s & Family, depending on eligibility.

Finally, daytime dramas and non-fiction programs will now enter alongside each other in categories except writing and directing. The categories will be split again if both the daytime drama and daytime non-fiction tracks have at least 10 submissions each.

NATAS Productions is behind the Daytime Emmys. Adam Sharp and Lara Gates are executive producers, and Leon Knoles is back as ceremony director for a fifth straight year. “Each year, the Daytime Emmy Awards celebrate the creativity, passion, and dedication that drive this vibrant community of storytellers,” said Daytime Emmy awards head Rachel Schwartz. “Congratulations to this year’s nominees, whose work continues to entertain, inspire and connect with audiences every day. We look forward to celebrating their remarkable achievements in Hollywood this October.” 

Here are this year’s nominations, starting with four categories that were revealed Monday night during the broadcasts of entertainment news magazines “Extra” and “Entertainment Tonight”:

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Outstanding Lead Performer in a Daytime Drama Series: Actress

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Outstanding Lead Performer in a Daytime Drama Series: Actor

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Outstanding Daytime Talk Series

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Outstanding Daytime Talk Series Host

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More to come as the remaining nominees are announced on Tuesday morning.