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Questions about the free ad-supported streaming TV services (Fast) model and concerns about AI will take the foreground at the many conference panel sessions and keynotes organized for this year’s MipTV.

If both are familiar subjects at the audiovisual market – as last year’s MipTV held a standing-room only Fast summit while the Mipcom “Unlocking AI” summit drew similar attention this past October – the interest they provoke reflects their topicality.

Held on Monday, this year’s Global Fast & AVOD Summit will accent the “Global” to explore ad-supported models from a more international perspective. Whereas 2023’s inaugural version focused primarily on the U.S. market, the returning focus now looks further afield with a focus on growth sectors overseas.

Tvrev analyst (and coiner of the Fast acronym) Alan Wolk will moderate a cosmopolitan panel bringing together David Salmon (Tubi), Kasia Kieli (Warner Bros. Discovery Poland and Tvn), Natalie Gabathuler-Scully (Vevo...

The three films included on the Criterion Collection’s Tod Browning’s Sideshow Shockers collectively suggest a miniature narrative of Browning’s evolution as a filmmaker. Though this two-disc set offers but a dip of the toe into Browning’s work, it’s governed by a persuasive through line. Here we get a film, 1925’s The Mystic, that’s rich in promise and less personal than the other two, one a perverse masterwork, 1927’s The Unknown, that’s criminally underseen by contemporary audiences, and the other a cult classic, 1932’s Freaks, that’s too often discussed in terms of its notoriety. Watching these films together offers a sketch of an artist’s sensibility reaching fruition, as a fine-grained empathy rises to the fore.

Browning’s affinity for outcasts has been well-documented and is discussed at length in the supplements included with this set, particularly in a new interview with author...

Former Curtis Brown CEO Ben Hall has joined Troika as executive chairman, Variety can reveal.

Hall, who stepped down from Curtis Brown and parent company Original Talent Group in April 2019, will operate alongside Troika’s existing leadership, spearheading the agency’s development and growth in the U.K. and U.S. as it becomes further integrated into owners Ymu Group.

Hall was among a group of five agents — including Jonny Geller, Jonathan Lloyd, Peter Robinson and Nick Marston — who bought the 121-year-old Curtis Brown from existing management in 2002 and began growing the company into a powerhouse literary and talent agency alongside agents Sarah Spear and Jacquie Drew. The firm, whose clients include Robert Pattinson, Florence Pugh and Paul Mescal, also expanded into production in 2008 with the formation of “McMafia” producer Cuba Pictures.

Hall ran Curtis Brown as CEO from 2012 until 2018. He served as joint CEO of Original Talent following its...

  "Welcome To Britannia. Together We Stand Alone." Written & Directed by Varun Raman & Tom Hancock Production Company: Parallel Madness Cast: James Hyland, Michael Shon, Kelby Keenan Dop: Thomas Shawcroft Editor: Darrin Brading Television Sequence: Gaia Borretti, Rosie Carmichael & Daisy Mann-Peet Production Design: Alec Walker Costume Design: Layan Nourouz Colourist: Toby Tomkins Score: Nick Sutton Sound Design: Seb Bruen Sound Mix: Harry Platford Titles: Morgan Beringer VFX: Will Evans, Chris Keller, Sami Cheikh Executive Producers: Tom Hancock, Varun Raman, Thomas Shawcroft, Dominique Unsworth Producer: Peter Robinson Associate Producers: Ian Pons Jewell, Layan Nourouz, Tim Harrison Shot in the UK on Fuji and Kodak 35mm film stock Official Selection: International Premiere At Fantasia International Film Festival, 21st Edition, 2017 Flickers' Rhode Island International Film...

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