Former NDF Chief Eric Welbers Launches Bravado Media (EXCLUSIVE)

EXCLUSIVE: Tony Award-winning director Anna D.Shapiro (August: Osage County), Oscar-nominated producer Leelai Demoz (On Tip-Toe), Tony-nominated actor/writer Ian Barford (Linda Vista) and entrepreneur Brad Keywell (Groupon, WNDR Museum) have teamed up to create multimedia venture Highwire Media, an artist-first production company that is developing and producing projects across film, theater, and television.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Global Screen has sold “Munich ’72,” an Israeli documentary series about the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, has sold to Poland’s Canal+, Italian broadcaster La 7, Spain’s Filmin and Slovenia’s RTV. The co-producers, Sipur (formerly Tadmor Entertainment) and Israel’s Channel 8, also announced the executive producing team behind the documentary: Russ McCarroll, Michael Schmidt, Emilio Schenker and Gideon Tadmor for SIPUR; Telepool’s Jan Frouman, Julia Weber and Ulrike Schroder; and HOT Channel 8’s Dari Shay, Rinat Klein and Dorit Hessel. “We saw strong sales momentum for ‘Munich ’72’ heading into Mipcom, and are in advanced negotiations with a number of other buyers that we will be meeting with in Cannes,” Weber, Global Screen’s head of international sales and acquisitions, said. “We expect those deals to be announced very soon.”

Marta Balaga Fifth Season has acquired international distribution rights to Elisa Viihde original series “The Man Who Died.” The company, formerly known as Endeavor Content, is behind “The Lost Daughter” or “Cha Cha Real Smooth.” It also handles global distribution for such hit shows as “Killing Eve,” “The Morning Show” or “Normal People.”  Based on the bestselling book by Antti Tuomainen, the six-episode series is led by Jussi Vatanen, who will next be seen in Aki Kaurismäki’s upcoming feature “Dead Leaves.” Saara Kotkaniemi and Sara Soulié, his co-star in Solar Films’ drama “Forest Giant,” also star.   

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Ziad Doueiri, the French-Lebanese filmmaker of the Oscar-nominated movie “The Insult” who made his TV debut with the hit series “Baron Noir,” will next direct “Fièvre” (“Fever”). “Fièvre” was penned by “Baron Noir” screenwriter Eric Benzekri and has been co-developed by French pay TV group Canal+’s Creation Originale label. The show is being produced by Quad, the Paris-based company behind Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache’s “Intouchables” and the series “The Bonfire of Destiny.” “Fievre” is headlined by two female characters played by Nina Meurisse, who notably starred in Celine Sciamma’s Berlinale competition film “Petite Maman,” and Julia Piaton, from Emmanuel Mouret’s “Love Affair(s)” which was part of Cannes 2020’s official selection.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Limonero Films, an independent boutique distributor of factual programming and documentaries, is launching a selection of documentaries and factual entertainment series at the Mipcom TV market. The titles are “Women Behind the Wheel,” produced by Dartmouth Films in the U.K., the wildlife titles “Wild Icons of Iberia” and “Heroines of the Savannah,” both by Azor Productions in Spain, “The Baby Makers,” from Mediacorp in Singapore, and “Shepherds of the Earth,” by Guerrilla Films in Finland. In “Women Behind the Wheel,” two 22 year-olds drive 3,500 miles along the Pamir highway to meet the women of Central Asia coping with the changes in their society since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

José Lopez from Puerto Rico was crowned Mr Gay World 2022 at the Artscape Opera House in Cape Town on Saturday night.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor A fairy-winged Vanessa Hudgens wants to lure unsuspecting trick-or-treaters into the “ultimate haunted house” in a new virtual-reality experience created by horror wizard Eli Roth exclusively for Meta. “Eli Roth’s Haunted House: Trick-VR-Treat,” from his Crypt TV banner, will take viewers on a Halloween adventure that goes horrifically awry — culminating in a frighteningly immersive haunted house. Written and directed by Roth, the 30-minute, 180-degree VR experience will premiere in Meta’s Horizon Worlds and Meta Quest TV on Friday, Oct. 21, at 6 p.m. PT. If you don’t have a Meta Quest 2 VR headset, the experience also will be available to watch on Crypt TV’s Facebook and Instagram pages. (Watch the trailer below.)

Actor Cuba Gooding Jr.'s criminal record has been wiped clean. After completing the terms of his no-jail plea deal in his Manhattan sex abuse case, the "Jerry Maguire" star had his charge downgraded Thursday to second-degree harassment for kissing a woman against her will at a nightclub in 2018. Prosecutor Coleen Balbert said Thursday Gooding had completed six months of alcohol and behavior modification counseling, allowing him to withdraw his misdemeanor plea and plead guilty to a harassment violation.  Balbert said she has received "positive reports for the last six months" from Gooding’s therapist.

EXCLUSIVE: After 15 years at Charles Roven’s Atlas Entertainment, where he served as Executive Vice President, producer Andy Horwitz has moved on to launch Big Swell Entertainment, a producing collective that aims to be a home for the next generation of young, hands-on producers and storytellers.

3RD UPDATE: Cuba Gooding Jr. will receive no jail time in his forcible touching case after pleading guilty to a lesser charge today in Manhattan Criminal Court and complying with the terms of a conditional plea agreement reached in April. Gooding replaced his misdemeanor plea with a plea to a noncriminal harassment violation and faces no additional penalties.

Cuba Gooding Jr. is avoiding prison.

EJ Panaligan editor Cuba Gooding Jr. will receive no jail time for his forcible touching case, after it was resolved Thursday in New York City, according to the Associated Press. He previously pleaded guilty to one count of forcible touching in April in a criminal case that placed accusations upon him for violating three different women in Manhattan nightclubs between 2018 and 2019. The actor has complied with the terms of a conditional plea agreement that was reached earlier in the year, with prosecutor Coleen Balbert indicating that Gooding has remained out of trouble and completed six months of alcohol and behavior modification counseling. Fulfilling these terms allowed him to withdraw his misdemeanor plea, and instead plead guilty to a harassment violation. He will not have a criminal record as a result.

Cuba Gooding, Jr. will not face jail time for the forcible touching case against him in New York City after pleading guilty to a lesser charge. Prosecutors say Gooding completed six months of alcohol and behavioral counseling, allowing them to change his previous misdemeanor plea to a noncriminal violation. The 54-year-old star pleaded guilty back in April to the misdemeanor charge for forcibly kissing a nightclub worker back in 2018. It's just one of dozens of accusations against the Oscar winner that came to light in the #MeToo era.  Claudia Oshry Details Alleged Cuba Gooding Jr.

Associated Press). The actor is continuing with therapy as per the terms of his agreement.

Cuba Gooding Jr. will avoid prison.

Michelle Obama announced an exciting opportunity for aspiring publishing writers. The author of “Becoming” took to social media to share a literary honor under the name Michelle Obama Award for Memoir.The Obama prize will award a $10,000 college scholarship to a high school senior studying in a public school for their autobiographical English-language composition.“I know firsthand how nerve-wracking it can be to share the most intimate stories from your life with the world,” Obama said in a statement released by Penguin Random House.“But after publishing my memoir ‘Becoming,’ I’ve learned that writing your own story can be a powerful tool.

EXCLUSIVE: Oliver de la Hoz has been hired as Chief Financial Officer of Allen Media Digital, a division of Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group (AMG).

Delegates from around the world have started arriving in Cape Town as they prepare to compete for the coveted Mr Gay World 2022 title.

As told to Beauty influencer started her professional makeup artistry career at just 14 years old before becoming an overnight YouTube sensation. For Hispanic Heritage Month, Diaz opens up about her experience as a Cuban immigrant, learning English through makeup tutorial videos, and how her parents helped inspire her Cuban pride and work ethic. I moved to the United States with my mom, dad, and sister when I was five years old. I didn't speak any English at the time. We immigrated from Cuba through asylum. Moving to a new country is really difficult as is, but especially so with a language barrier.