DDA Hires BAFTA Deputy Chair Julie La’Bassiere As Chief Strategy Officer

Sony’s SVP of Corporate Communications for the Motion Picture Group, Tahra Grant, has been upped to EVP, Chief Communcations Officer for Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Sam Faiers has given fans an insight into her messy kitchen before getting professional declutterers in to help her organise.The former The Only Way is Essex star, 33, moved into her £2.25 million home in Surrey with her partner, Paul Knightley, and their three children in 2022 and ever since, the Revive Collagen brand owner has enjoyed heeping her 2.5 million fans updated with her latest home projects and renovations. In March, the star contacted professional organisers Hayley Harrison and Gemma Abraham to help clear up her kitchen. The two women, known online as Organise-d, have a reputation for helping A-listers reorganise and clear out their homes.

Former eOne and Pathé UK marketing executive Chris Besseling has joined True Brit Entertainment, the UK distribution company run by Zygi Kamasa. 

Adam Scott is set to make his directorial debut!

Another day, another buzzy project to hit the Cannes Market. Deadline reports that Adam Scott will have a package for his feature directorial debut for sale on the Croisette next month: “Double Booked,” a revenge thriller set to star Sterling K.

EXCLUSIVE: Here’s a nice one. Emmy nominee Adam Scott (Severance) is set to star in and direct his first feature, Double Booked, alongside Oscar nominee Sterling K. Brown (American Fiction), Zazie Beetz (Atlanta), and Alexandra Daddario (The White Lotus).

EXCLUSIVE: London-based Alliance Media Partners (AMP) has hired Anthony Buckner as Head of Sales, Acquisitions and Distribution in the run up to the Cannes market.

Podcast giant Wondery has hired Spotify‘s Chris Baughen, as it launches the paid-for Wondery+ service in the UK.

The news last weekthat Participant Media would be shutting down shocked the entertainment industry, but it hit the documentary community with particular force. 

Rebecca Rubin Senior Film and Media Reporter Alamo Drafthouse Cinema has promoted Chaya Rosenthal to chief marketing officer. She’s worked at the company since 2017 and previously served as VP of marketing. Rosenthal has 20 years of marketing experience, including stops at Fandango and its parent company NBCUniversal before joining Drafthouse.

Anna Marie de la Fuente NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises Chairman Luis Fernandez is spearheading an executive shuffle and a restructuring of Telemundo Studios in a bid to amp up the company’s scripted content for both linear and streaming platforms. “At a time when Telemundo is the most-watched network in prime time, we are super-charging our scripted content production under one strong brand: Telemundo Studios,” said Fernandez who returned in December to Telemundo where he was previously head of the news division for six years before taking a hiatus.

NASCAR has hired John Dahl as its new SVP Content, bolstering the sanctioning body’s efforts to further connect with current and new fans across the globe over a range of content platforms.

Michaela Zee Jessica Alba is stepping down as chief creative officer of The Honest Company. Alba, who co-founded the baby products and personal care business in 2012, shared the news on Instagram Tuesday.

EXCLUSIVE: Jeremy Leiner has been promoted to Partner and Senior Talent Agent at Nicolosi & Co., the talent agency celebrating 22 years in New York, with Barrett Bischoff joining as a Senior Talent Agent following six years as talent agent at KMR.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Video platform provider Vimeo named Philip Moyer, a senior exec at Google Cloud overseeing AI applied engineering and business development, as CEO and member of its board. Moyer’s appointment is effective April 8, 2024.

EXCLUSIVE: The WME division that reps the likes of Gary Lineker’s Goalhanger and Alice Levine has signed up a digital agent.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Spotify announced the appointment of Christian Luiga, a senior executive at European defense and security company Saab AB, as its next CFO. Luiga is expected to start in the third quarter of 2024. Ben Kung, Spotify’s VP of financial planning and analysis, will serve as interim CFO until Luiga’s start date.

Even though Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow once vowed to push forward with more “Matrix” projects with or without the involvement of The Wachowskis, we honestly thought the studios were done with “The Matrix” franchise following the only mildly-received “The Matrix Resurrections.” However, a surprising report from Deadline has announced that filmmaker Drew Goddard (“Cabin In The Woods”) is attached to write and direct a fifth “Matrix” film, which will continue the action-packed cyberpunk story.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Warner Bros. is going back to the Matrix. The studio announced that a fifth “Matrix” movie is in development.

The Martian Adapted Screenplay nominee and The Cabin in the Woods filmmaker Drew Goddard has been set to write and direct a new Matrix movie at Warner Bros. with the franchise’s original co-scribe and co-director Lana Wachowski executive producing.