News

Willie Nelson in a scene from ‘Willie Nelson and Family’ (Photo Courtesy of Sundance Institute)

The 2023 Sundance Film Festival’s lineup will include 64 Short Films and four Indie Episodic projects. More than 10,000 short film submissions were received, and the 64 selected represent work from 23 countries. 519 Indie Episodic submissions were submitted and the four selected represent five countries.

The 2023 Festival will take place in person from January 19–29. Select films will be available online beginning January 24th.

“Short films and episodic projects are an integral aspect of the overall mission of the Sundance Institute — to empower artists who are taking risks, bringing new perspectives to the forefront, and creating work that entertains and provokes conversation,” stated Kim Yutani, Sundance Film Festival Director of Programming. “These platforms provide artists with the ability to expand beyond the boundaries of traditional cinema, while also motivating a unique creativity through an ever expanding format.”

Indie Episodic

Chanshi...

Sundance revealed the lineup for its Shorts and Indie Episodic programs today, featuring new work from filmmakers like Paul Feig and Ken Marino, “Roma” star Yalitza Aparicio Martinez, and Henry Winkler.

Sixty-four films were selected for the Shorts program from a record-high pool of 10,981 submissions. Spanning fiction, non-fiction, and animated works from artists in the U.S. and around the world, the program features both new and returning filmmakers. Aparicio Martinez will headline Mexico’s “Sweatshop Girl,” from writer-director Selma Cervantes, playing a seamstress who must hide her pregnancy to avoid getting fired. The Feig-produced “Help Me Understand” stars “The Office” actress Kate Flannery and Ken Marino among its ensemble cast. Angela Trimbur wrote and co-stars in “Mirror Girl,” while Sarafyan appears in the sci-fi short “Power Signal.”

The Indie Episodic lineup spotlights rising creators of independently produced content for episodic platforms. Four projects were chosen this year, including “Willie Nelson and Family,...

The 2023 Sundance Film Festival officially announced the Shorts and Indie Episodic programs.

Notable artists and talent in the shorts program include Paul Feig, Angela Sarafyan, Kate Flannery, Yalitza Aparicio Martinez, Angela Trimbur, Ken Marino, Bi Gan, and Shannon Plumb. Selections range from more than 23 countries, including Iran and Ukraine.

The Sundance Institute will offer in-person premieres for the Indie Episodic works, with Shorts screened in curated programs. Beginning January 24, all Indie Episodic projects and selected Shorts will also be available to stream online through the end of the festival. The 2023 festival will take place January 19 through 29, 2023, in person in Park City, Salt Lake City, and the Sundance Resort, along with a selection of films available online across the country January 24–29.

This upcoming year’s Short Film program includes work from 23 countries, and the Indie Episodic represents works from five countries. Forty-six percent of the filmmakers identify as women, and filmmakers...

Hearst Television began an experiment last year to see if there was a market for hyper-local streaming content closely tied to the markets served by its 26 TV stations.

The answer, they soon discovered, is yes. Andrew Fitzgerald, senior VP of streaming services for Hearst Television, details the company’s decision to expand the original content featured on the Very Local free streaming platform on the latest episode of Variety‘s weekly podcast “Strictly Business.”

Very Local has had an encouraging start thanks to the rising tide of viewership for Fast channels, or free ad-supported streaming television, and the growing numbers of broadband-only U.S. homes that don’t have access to local broadcast TV stations. That amounts to a looming existential crisis for local broadcast TV stations, which explains why Hearst is tapping its considerable resources to experiment with reaching local viewers in new ways.

Very Local serves as a...

Hearst Television is officially launching its bouquet of “Very Local” over-the-top streaming TV channels, spanning all 26 U.S. media markets it operates in — another bid by a legacy media company looking to reach younger viewers who aren’t watching TV the way Americans used to.

The debut of Very Local comes after several months of Hearst TV quietly piloting the free, ad-supported service. The channels — which include a national version, as well as those for local TV markets — are centered on newscasts from its stations (available on-demand within 90 minutes after they air).

In addition, Very Local mixes in content from Hearst Magazines, including Esquire, Delish and Runner’s World, as well as content from Hearst Television’s Stitch brand and shows like the long-running “Chronicle” newsmagazine series and its issues program “Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien.” Very Local also will serve as a platform for new, original series and specials,...

Watching the viral buzz surrounding Netflix’s hilarious new series “I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson” spread to every corner of the internet was a delight. Released April 23, the sketch show headlined by the aforementioned “Saturday Night Live” writer slowly picked up speed on Twitter, with users chattering about how Bart Harvey Jarvis is a terrible baby and how Paul has no good car ideas, mystifying anyone not wise to the delightfully bizarro mind of Robinson.

The central theme of each sketch appearing in the six episodes of the show’s first season — Netflix picked up “Itysl” for a second season on June 19 — is that each one is too much. They’re each too loud, too obnoxious, too extreme, too uncomfortable, and ultimately, way too funny. But Robinson isn’t an idiot. He understands that comedy is a delicate balance and to walk that line, you need to know when to pull back.

Continuing to make sure that October remains the scariest month of the year, the Spooky Movie International Horror Movie Festival returns for its ninth annual edition on Oct. 9-18 at the AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Opening Night: It’s a double slam bang on Oct. 9 with two exciting new entries in insanely popular horror franchises. First up is V/H/S Viral, where the gruesome series goes online with startling Internet videos directed by Todd Lincoln, Nacho Vigalondo and more. Then, that’s followed by The Dead 2: India, another tale of international zombie madness once again directed by Howard J. Ford and Jon Ford.

Closing Night: It’s retro massacre time on Oct. 18 when local horror legend Count Gore De Vol hosts a special screening of Wes Craven’s classic mutant thriller The Hills Have Eyes. This special screening will be presented just like Count...

Rowan Atkinson's appearance during the London 2012 Opening Ceremony caused the biggest spike in Twitter conversation of the night. The character appeared in a Mr Bean-esque role, playing the keyboard and starring in a pre-recorded video homage to Chariots of Fire. Writing on the official Twitter blog, Andrew Fitzgerald, manager of editorial programming, said: "The biggest spike in Twitter conversation during the Opening Ceremony? "When Rowan Atkinson, aka Mr Bean, appeared in a hilariously memorable homage to the Olympians of Chariots of Fire." He added: "Only the world's (more)...

Pippa Middleton’s bum is so popular, it even has its own Facebook page! Here’s how to get your own derriere in tip-top shape!

Pippa Middleton has skyrocketed to popularity following her sister’s wedding to Prince William. While Kate looked gorgeous in her Sarah Burton wedding gown, Pippa was also turning quite a few heads of her own. And many of those eyes staring at Pippa were looking, er, downwards. Pippa’s bum has its own Facebook page and over 170,000 people have “liked” the “Ass Appreciation Society.” Her bum even has its own t-shirt line. Want to get your gluteus maximus to look just like Kate’s sister’s? Here’s how!

HollywoodLife.com spoke to three different fitness trainers to find various ways to sculpt your own Pippa-like bum. No matter how you like to work out, we have an exercise for you!

Goldie Karpel, Celebrity Yoga Trainer,...