Bound Entertainment Options Ann Liang’s YA Debut ‘If You Could See The Sun’; Will Develop As Series

Women and minority TV creators, writers, directors and cast members continue to make progress towards greater inclusion, both in front of and behind the camera, according to the latest Hollywood Diversity report from UCLA. “One of the strongest trends over the course of this report series is the steady increase in overall cast diversity,” the report found. Latinos, however, remain woefully underrepresented, and were the “only group to be severely underrepresented” across all three platforms – broadcast, cable and streaming.

EXCLUSIVE: Signature Entertainment has acquired UK and Irish rights to Chris Pine’s directorial debut Poolman from AGC Studios.

EXCLUSIVE: The award-winning production company and creative studio Riverside Entertainment has appointed Cynthia Graner as Head of Production and Brendon Nelson as Managing Director, as part of its continued expansion into scripted, unscripted and commercial content. 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Band of Brothers” writer Bruce McKenna is teaming with David Broyles (“Six”) and Nick Jones Jr. (“Yasuke”) to write and produce a limited TV series “Buffalo Rangers” about the 2nd Ranger Company, the only all-Black special operations combat unit in U.S. history. They were notable for their efforts in the Korean War. The series is being produced by South Korea-based Moving Pictures Company, which has a growing English-language slate. No broadcaster or streamer has been announced. Producing alongside Broyles, Jones and McKenna are Thomas Suh (through his production company Système D Entertainment), Paul Merryman (“The Outpost”), Debra Martin Chase (“Harriet,” CBS’s “The Equalizer”) and Jariko Denman (“The Outpost”), a retired master sergeant with 15 combat deployments.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Los Angeles-based real estate developer The Ratkovich Company, which brought the Hercules Campus in Playa Vista to life for Google and YouTube Studios, and a J.P. Morgan Global Alternatives investment group have acquired a three-acre property near Downtown Culver City with plans to develop it into a creative campus like others in the area occupied by Amazon, Apple, WarnerMedia, Sony, TikTok, Nike and Adobe, Variety has learned exclusively. Dubbed “The Bowcroft Collection,” the 73,035-square-foot group of connected buildings stretches from 5950-5978 Bowcroft Street, near the intersection of Jefferson and Obama Boulevards in Los Angeles.

Ten points for Slytherin! Tom Felton’s debut memoir, Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard, dives deep into every aspect of the actor’s personal and professional life, from his relationships with the main Harry Potter cast — Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint — to his own personal battles, including substance abuse issues and several run-ins with the law while filming the franchise.

Zoe Saldana and Reese Witherspoon have teamed up for a new limited series on Netflix!

An unknown side to the actor who played Draco Malfoy. “Harry Potter” star Tom Felton is opening up like never before in his new memoir, Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard.

 star Tom Felton is opening up like never before in his new memoir, . While the 35-year-old British actor certainly gives his readers what they want and presumably expect with plenty of tidbits and set secrets and lots of details on his more-than-friends relationship with co-star Emma Watson, Felton also makes some shocking revelations toward the end of his book. He speaks about moving to Los Angeles and getting overwhelmed by a more glamorous, movie-star lifestyle. In searching for a bit of normality reminiscent of his upbringing, Felton writes that in his mid-to-late twenties, he «spent more hours, more nights, than I care to remember» at a Los Angeles dive bar called Barney's Beanery. Felton writes that he wasn't much of a drinker until he started frequenting Barney's while «craving normality.» «I went from being not particularly interested to regularly having a few pints a day before the sun had even gone down, and a shot of whiskey to go with each of them,» he writes, adding that he was «drinking to escape a situation.» He says he had drinks on set and would show up «unprepared» for work. Tom Felton and Jade OliviaFelton goes on to reveal that his managers, agents, then-girlfriend, Jade Olivia, lawyer, and more staged an intervention for him, demanding he go to a rehab facility in Malibu, California, that cost $40,000 a month immediately or they would drop him as a client. He says that at the facility, the nurse checking him in offered to give him an alias.

New Fox Entertainment CEO Rob Wade has talked up the potential for TMZ to become a “huge entertainment studio,” setting out his stall at Mipcom Cannes for the first time since he replaced Charlie Collier.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Taiwan-based development and production operation Organic Media is teaming up with Los Angeles-based sales agency and content aggregator Shoreline Entertainment in a strategic pact that sees Shoreline take responsibility for much of Organic’s sales function. The pairing will make its debut at this week’s MIPCOM TV rights market in Cannes. It will follow that with an appearance at the American Film Market in Santa Monica in early November. Organic was co-founded in 2019 by veteran sales and production executive Steve Chicorel and Kelly Mi Li (“Bling Empire”) and now has operations in Taipei, Los Angeles, London, Riga and Brisbane. The operation, now headed by Chicorel and Shari Hamrick, is currently in post-production on two movies and the second season of “Cypher,” a series for Roku.

Emiliano De Pablos Three years ago, platforms were asking Spanish producers for full rights to their TV fiction projects for all territories.  Times have changed. As platforms’ revenues taper off or slow in growth, originals are less habitual. Co-production is increasingly becoming the name of the game. A first-phase boom was triggered by Netflix titles “Money Heist” and “Elite.” Now, Spain is maintaining its momentum, remaining a priority region for Netflix, HBO Max and Prime Video. Newcomers Disney+, Paramount+ and Lionsgate+ have unveiled their first original productions.

Katharine McPhee has the hots for husband David Foster!

FX’s Kindred, the new drama series based on Octavia E. Butler’s novel, will premiere Tuesday, December 13 exclusively on Hulu. The premiere will include all eight episodes. 

Nick Jonas has opened a new rooftop restaurant and bar!

Variety’s Entertainment Gaming Leaders report is an up-to-the-minute look at the key figures driving this dynamic intersection, where nothing less than a visual media revolution is taking place. Variety teams with Pixel United for first-ever Leaders in Gaming & Entertainment Breakfast Oct.

EJ Panaligan editor Focus Features has shared the trailer for upcoming biographical drama “Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies” from director Michael Showalter. The film stars Jim Parsons as Michael Ausiello, a real-life entertainment journalist who experiences the death of his partner, Kit Cowan (played by Ben Aldridge) over a prolonged 11-month period due to terminal cancer. The film’s story, which was penned by screenwriters David Marshall Grant and Dan Savage, is based on Ausiello’s 2017 book of the same name. In the book, Ausiello chronicled the last year of his partner’s life and their 13-year relationship before Cowan died of a rare form of neuroendocrine cancer in February 2015.

2000 best seller of the same title by Joyce Carol Oates, is being rolled out on big and small screens by Brad Pitt’s production company Plan B. “Blonde,” rated NC-17, opened in select theaters Friday. It’s slated for national release on Sept. 23, and will stream globally via Netflix on Sept.