News

BBC Gives First Peak At ‘Walking With Dinosaurs’ Revival

Here’s a first look at Walking with Dinosaurs, as the BBC brings back the hit natural history show after a 25-year hiatus. Check out pic above as the corporation recreates the Triceratops, Pachyrhinosaurus and Young Albertosaurus using cutting edge techniques. The new series will air later this year on the BBC, PBS and France Télévisions. Walking with Dinosaurs tells the dramatic story of an individual dinosaur per ep whose remains are currently being unearthed by world-leading dinosaur hunters. The 1999 original was hailed as ground-breaking, and is still considered one of the biggest production triumphs in natural history programming history. The news comes on the same day we revealed Sreya Biswas, the BBC’s head of natural history commissioning, is moving over to production with a newly-created role at BBC Studios Natural History Unit.

Chris Oliver-Taylor Exiting The ABC

The ABC’s Chief Content Officer,...

Hugh Marks has been named as Managing Director of the ABC in Australia.

The seasoned executive has been unanimously appointed to the role by the ABC board following an “extensive and international search.” This also makes him Editor-in-Chief, ultimately responsible for the broadcaster’s output.

Marks replaces David Anderson, who resigned in August, a year into his second five-year term. He will begin his term on March 10, 2025 after what ABC Chair Kim Williams told staff would be an “extended” handover period.

Marks joins from Dreamcatcher, the next-gen studio he launched with Carl Fennessy in 2021. He is known as one of Australia’s top media execs, having previously led Southern Star Entertainment (now Endemol Shine Australia) and Nine Network, which has been embroiled in allegations of a bullying culture, sexual harassment and incidents of discrimination and several top-tier management exits in recent years. The fallout continues following the publication of a damning report.

ABC Managing Director David Anderson is stepping down from his role at the Australian pubcaster.

He has notified the ABC board of his intention to exit and will leave following a recruitment process for his successor.

He will stay on until a new Managing Director has been appointed, which will keep him in post until early 2025.

Anderson has officially been in post since May 2019, after holding the role in an acting capacity from September 2018. Before that he had worked in various roles for the ABC over a 30-year career. No word on his next move.

In a note to all ABC staff today, Anderson wrote: “I am still very much committed to the importance of the ABC to the nation,” he said. “I believe it is the right moment for leadership renewal for the next stage of the ABC’s continued evolution.

“To have the opportunity to serve the Australian...

Exclusive: Amid allegations of financial impropriety and corporate skullduggery, the collapse of the relationship between UTA and MediaLink founder Michael Kassan now sees the parties battling it out with competing legal actions and lots of finger pointing – even by Hollywood standards.

Having resigned on March 6 from the agency that bought his strategic company just over two years ago, Kassan took UTA to court first at the start of business Tuesday with a $25 million action demanding arbitration. The filing in LA Superior Court this morning from NYC-based attorney Sanford Michelman on Kassan’s behalf not only names UTA as a defendant, but also points the finger of responsibility directly at UTA CEO Jeremy Zimmer, who is named as a defendant too.

“This case is a result of Kassan resigning from MediaLink due to Zimmer’s breach of contract and repeated broken promises, and Kassan electing to waive his nearly $10,000,000 severance payment...

United Talent Agency has been accused of breach of contract and fraud in relation to its 2021 acquisition of the consultancy firm MediaLink.

MediaLink founder and UTA partner Michael Kassan, whose exit from the company nearly a week ago has not yet been reported, claims that UTA CEO Jeremy Zimmer and two other top executives engaged in bad faith in the absorption and management of his company, according to documents filed with mediation service Jams which Variety reviewed. This led Kassan to resign last week, the filing says. Through a spokesperson, UTA said it had fired Kassan for cause following an “an exhaustive third-party investigation into misappropriation of company funds.” The agency filed a lawsuit against Kassan, accusing him of misappropriating company funds as well as other claims.

MediaLink is a prominent but not easily defined agency that sits at the intersection of tech, entertainment and media. They’re known for...

UTA is expanding its marketing division, acquiring Juv Consulting, a company that specializes in connecting brands with Gen Z and youth culture.

Juv Consulting and its more than a dozen employees will join UTA’s Entertainment Marketing division, reporting to co-heads David Anderson and Julian Jacobs from offices in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Juv’s clients include Google, Unilever, Converse, E.L.F. Beauty, Lionsgate. UTA, meanwhile, has been pushing further into the marketing and consulting sectors ever since it acquired MediaLink for $125 million in 2021.

Jacobs, who was named to lead UTA’s New York office last year, is among the executives leading the charge into the advertising sector.

“Ziad Ahmed and the Juv team have become the clear leader in helping brands understand and engage with Gen Z and youth culture,” Jacobs says. “We are thrilled to have their unique expertise now part of UTA,...

Media and entertainment veteran Kim Williams is to be appointed the next chairperson of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the Australian federal prime minister Anthony Albanese’s office announced on Wednesday.

Williams takes over from the departing Ita Buttrose and will have a five-year mandate. He joins at a moment when the ABC is enduring a moment of editorial turbulence. The public broadcaster has recently been criticized for its coverage of the war in Palestine.

On Monday, union members passed a vote of no confidence in the ABC’s MD David Anderson “for failing to defend the integrity of the ABC and its staff from outside attacks.” The ABC’s Buttrose-headed board hit back on Tuesday with a unanimous vote of confidence in Anderson.

“Williams has extensive experience across the screen, music, sports and media industries, and has made eminent and substantial contributions to the cultural life of the nation. He...

Lauren Probyn Aouad has joined UTA as a marketing executive, marking the company’s first senior hire in its newly opened Atlanta division.

As an executive, Aouad will be responsible for growing the division’s presence within the community and developing new partnerships with brands at the intersection of entertainment and advertising. She will report to Julian Jacobs and David Anderson, UTA partners and co-heads of the entertainment and culture Marketing division. She will work closely with Steve Cohen, partner and co-head of UTA’s Atlanta office.

“We’re excited to welcome Lauren to our team,” said Anderson, “Our group has expanded substantially over the past few years, both domestically and globally, and we look forward to having her help us grow the business.”

Prior to UTA, Aouad served as VP of growth marketing at Fan Controlled Sports + Entertainment, where she spearheaded brand marketing, public relations and digital media strategy.

Shamier Anderson is known for going to inordinate lengths to prepare for his movie roles, from embedding himself in street gangs to sleeping in the desert.

“My preparation process is always rooted in anxiety and not wanting to f**k it up,” the Scarborough-born actor tells Et Canada. “It’s like studying for an exam, you know what I mean?”

For his new family drama “Bruiser”, he did everything he could to get into the mindset of his character Malcolm, a car-salesman stepdad caught in a complicated relationship with his 14-year-old son Darious, played by Jalyn Hall, and his biological father Porter, played by Trevante Rhodes.

Read More: The Next Generation Of Black Canadian Talent Celebrated At The First-Ever Legacy Awards

“I went to a car dealership every day and sold cars as Malcolm, as a car salesman,” Anderson shares. “I shaved my head bald because stress [causes] hair loss. I...

Kelsey Grammer as Chuck Smith in Jesus Revolution. Photo Credit: Dan Anderson In the based-on-a-true-story film Jesus Revolution, Joel Courtney plays a youth minister who is mentored by a pastor during the Jesus Movement of the 1960s and ’70s. The pastor is played by Kelsey Grammer, an actor who Courtney has long admired, and he talked to us about what it was like to work with one of his heroes.(Click on the media bar below to hear Joel Courtney) https://www.hollywoodoutbreak.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Joel_Coutney_Kely_Grammer_Jesues_.mp3 Jesus Revolution is now playing in theaters.

The post Working With Kelsey Grammer Was A Dream Come True For Joel Courtney appeared first on Hollywood Outbreak.

Joel Courtney as Greg Laurie and Anna Grace Barlow as Cathe in Jesus Revolution. Photo Credit: Dan Anderson The Jesus movement, which started on the West Coast in the late ’60s, was the movement that birthed the term “Jesus freaks.” Now, there’s a movie — based on the book co-written by one of the movement’s eventual leaders, Pastor Greg Laurie — about its rise throughout the ’70s. Joel Courtney plays Laurie in the film, and he talked to us about why the movement gained so much traction back in those days. (Click on the media bar below to hear Joel Courtney) https://www.hollywoodoutbreak.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Joel_Courtney_Jesus_movie_.mp3 Jesus Revolution opens in theaters on Friday.

The post New Film Recalls The Rise Of The ‘Jesus Revolution’ appeared first on Hollywood Outbreak.

The entire DC universe is better off for having Superman in it, he has undeniably improved the lives of just about every citizen and hero, but all of that heroism may've only been made possible due to the failures of The Plutonian, a Superman from another universe, who took a much darker path.

Superman landed on Earth from the Planet Krypton, where he was found by Martha and Johnathan Kent who took care of him and raised him to be a good person. It was only because of his rearing, that instilled in him strong moral values, that he was able to go on to become one of the greatest heroes the world had ever seen. It was because of the stable love the Kents were able to give Clark that he grew up to be the hero that he is, but not everyone was so lucky. Dan Anderson was...

ABC staff have voted overwhelmingly to reject the proposed deferral of a 2 per cent pay rise which was was agreed on in last year’s three-year Enterprise Agreement.

Communications Minister Paul Fletcher wrote to ABC MD David Anderson in May asking ABC employees to accept the same six months wage rise pause imposed on the Australian Public Service in response to the Covid-19 crisis.

In an email to staff earlier this month, ABC chair Ita Buttrose said the board had decided to ask staff to vote on whether to accept the deferral, which would have delivered a one-off benefit of $5 million but would not help the broadcaster achieve the annual savings requirement of $41 million by fiscal 2022.

As she pointed out, the ABC Act guarantees the independence of the Corporation and the sole responsibility for setting the pay and conditions for staff rests with the ABC Board.

The Act also requires...

Ita Buttrose.

ABC staff will vote next week on whether or not to accept the Federal Government’s request to defer for six months a 2 per cent pay rise that is due to come into effect on October 1.

Communications Minister Paul Fletcher wrote to ABC MD David Anderson in May proposing that ABC employees accept the same wage rise pause imposed on the Australian Public Service in response to the Covid-19 crisis.

In an email to staff, ABC chair Ita Buttrose said the board has been considering this request and after exploring many options decided to ask ABC staff to vote on whether to accept the deferral.

“The decision is yours,” she said, noting a deferral would deliver a one-off benefit of $5 million but would not help the broadcaster achieve the annual savings requirement of $41 million by fiscal 2022.

“It will enable us, however, to make a significant investment in two...

Libbie Doherty.

The ABC has confirmed Libbie Doherty as head of children’s production after she served as acting head of children’s content for the past year.

She stepped up following the promotion of Michael Carrington to acting director of entertainment and specialist.

In the new position she will commission more than 350 hours of content annually across the ABC’s two children’s TV channels, which reach up to 94 per cent of Australians aged under 15.

She will oversee in-house development and production across ABC Kids, ABC Me, ABC Kids listen and on children’s digital products and third-party platforms and take the lead on commissioning external producers.

That’s the first major appointment since David Anderson was confirmed as the MD, suggesting there will be a high degree of continuity at the broadcaster.

Since joining ABC children’s as commissioning editor in 2015, she has been influential in the creation...

The touchups and blowouts are complete: Nominations are out for the sixth annual Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Awards. IATSE Local 706 will hand out its hardware February 16 during its ceremony at Novo in Los Angeles. Check out the full list below.

Among the awards-season glitterati scoring noms from the guild today are Black Panther, Crazy Rich Asians, A Star Is Born, Bohemian Rhapsody, Vice and BlackKklansman. The 21 categories also cover television, commercials, theater and music videos.

The guild announced Wednesday that Melissa McCarthy will receive the 2019 Distinguished Artisan Award. Lifetime Achievement Awards will be p0resented to Emmy-nominated make-up artist Susan Cabral-Ebert, the outgoing Local 706 president, and legendary Emmy-winning hair stylist Robert Louis Stevenson.

Here are the nominees for the sixth annual Muahs Guild Awards. There are ties in two categories, so those marked with an asterisk have six nominees each:

Feature-length Motion Picture – Best Contemporary Make-up*

A Star is Born

Ve Neill,...

Deborah Mailman and Rachel Griffiths lead the cast of ‘Black B*tch’.

Leading the ABC’s drama slate in 2019 is Blackfella Films’ Black B*tch, starring Deborah Mailman and Rachel Griffiths, with the broadcaster reconfirming its commitment to Australian stories and diversity at its upfronts today.

Other new drama/comedy series on the ABC’s slate for new year include the previously announced Frayed, a Mermaid Television production that stars Sarah Kendall, RevLover’s Diary of an Uber Driver, Synchronicity Films’ The Cry, and 30-episode serial The Heights, from Matchbox and For Pete’s Sake Productions.

Speaking at the content launch, ABC acting MD David Anderson put forward that the ABC is Australia’s “chief storyteller”. He cited statistics from the most recent Screen Australia drama report – that showed the ABC invested more in Australian drama content than any other single broadcaster in the last financial year, and that its...