Jen Hollingsworth Joins AI Company Flawless as Chief Commercial Officer

EXCLUSIVE: More changes at Paramount+: Tanya Giles, the streaming platform’s chief programming officer, is leaving after a combined 28 years at Paramount Global and its various iterations. A rep for Paramount+ confirmed Giles’ departure to Deadline, declining further comment. There is no immediate replacement, and Giles’ decision to step down is not part of a restructuring, sources said.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Tanya Giles is stepping down as chief programming officer for streaming at Paramount Global. Giles was promoted in June 2021 to help oversee all streaming content programming efforts for the media conglomerate that has invested heavily in its Paramount+ streaming platform. News of Giles’ departure was first reported by Deadline. The move comes as Paramount Global has been taking steps to further streamline its content, production and network operations under an increasingly smaller number of leaders. In late January, the company unveiled the plan to consolidate its stalwart pay TV cabler Showtime with the Paramount+ platform.

made Paramount+ competitive with longtime streaming giants like Netflix.The reason for Giles’ exit has not been disclosed.But Paramount has been beset by big changes in 2023 as the company seeks to streamline its streaming strategy.

 musical movie continues to add A-list actors to its cast! Based on the Tony-nominated Broadway musical, Paramount Pictures' new  film will see the return of some familiar faces and a host of new ones too. With Jon Hamm stepping into the role of Coach Carr, Busy Philipps confirmed in the role of Regina George's mom, and Jenna Fischer set to star as Cady Heron's mom, ET is taking a look at the cast — from newcomers like Reneé Rapp to the OG of the  squad, Tina Fey.The  star will play Coach Carr, who appears in the movie — as a sexual predator exposed in the Burn Book -- but was not featured in the original Broadway musical. This is far from Hamm's first collaboration with Fey, however. The actor received Emmy nominations for his guest appearances on and Philipps will step into Amy Poehler's shoes, playing Mrs.

The “Mean Girls” musical has cast “Mad Men” star Jon Hamm as Coach Carr. The Emmy-winning actor and star of “Confess, Fletch” and “Beirut” will play the school’s gym teacher and sex-ed instructor.

Addie Morfoot Contributor Three projects pitched at CPH:FORUM – the industry program of CPH:DOX, the Copenhagen-based documentary festival – have been awarded cash prizes. They are Robin Petré’s “Only on Earth,” Iryna Tsilyk’s “Red Zone” and Yegor Troyanovsky’s “Cuba & Alaska.” The filmmakers were awarded at a ceremony in the Danish capital on Thursday. Petré’s “Only on Earth” garnered the Eurimages Co-Production Development Award worth €20,000 for best pitch. The docu, produced by Signe Skov Thomsen, and Malene Flindt Pedersen, depicts a journey deep into one of Europe’s hottest fire zones, Galicia, where wild horses roam the mountains under the watch of local cowboys. These horses are excellent at fire prevention, but now they are vanishing in the clash between humans and nature.

EXCLUSIVE: Josh Gordon and Will Speck have signed a first look deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment to develop and produce feature films. The news comes in the wake of their feature take of children’s book Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile grossing over $104M WW.

EXCLUSIVE: Cranked Up Films has acquired North American rights to the comedy The Country Club starring John Higgins of SNL trio Please Don’t Destroy, with Archstone Entertainment taking foreign rights. The film marking the directorial debut of Fiona Robert, who also stars, is set for release in June. 

Naman Ramachandran Writer, producer and script editor Cassandra Johnson-Bekoe has joined U.K. independent production company DARE Pictures in the newly created position of head of scripted development. Johnson-Bekoe was previously senior development executive at Daniel Kaluuya’s production outfit 59%, overseeing the company’s slate and generating new IP across international and regional markets. Prior to this she worked in scripted development and her credits include “Ted Lasso” season 2 (WarnerBros/Apple+), “Riches” (Greenacre Films for ITV), “Secret Invasion” (Marvel Studios) and “The Chemistry of Death” (Cuba Pictures Ltd, for Paramount+). Reporting into DARE CEO Derren Lawford, Johnson-Bekoe will focus on developing the company’s scripted slate, as well bringing with her an original slate of IP and working on new drama and film projects with a view to taking them from pitch to commission with a particular emphasis on the U.S. and African markets. She will identify and develop relationships with emerging and established storytelling talent.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor In a move that signals the unexpected strength of the vinyl market, Metallica has acquired a majority interest in one of the largest vinyl pressing companies in the U.S. —  Furnace Record Pressing, a leading provider of high-quality vinyl records and related services. The acquisition formalizes a long-standing relationship between the band and the company, which has produced more than five million pieces of Metallica vinyl since 2014. The projects include the deluxe boxed-set editions of Metallica’s “Kill ‘Em All,” “Ride the Lightning,” “Master of Puppets,” “…And Justice for All,” “S&M2” and self-titled albums.

Ed Meza @edmezavar Spanish filmmaker Félix Viscarret, known for tackling such heavy subject matter as the Basque conflict (“Patria”), crime in the Cuban capital Havana (“Four Seasons in Havana: Winds of Lent”) and psychological drama (“Staring at Strangers”), has made perhaps his most personal film yet with a touching and engrossing story of fatherhood and the pitfalls of success.      In “Not Such an Easy Life,” 40-year-old Isaías (Miki Esparbé), a once promising young architect, is struggling to balance career and family, wanting to raise his young children while desperate to achieve the fleeting professional success he once enjoyed as he strives against more ambitious rivals.  

The post-parade Cape Town Pride Mardi Gras was a colourful climax to the annual Cape Town Pride Festival with a spirited celebration of the rainbow community.

Rotten Tomatoes scores of 75% critics and 93% audience. The film also received an 87% positive rating on PostTrak, up from 78% for the last “Scream.” With a reported budget of $33 million, “Scream VI” will be another profitable mid-budget film for Paramount and, depending on how well it legs out with general audiences, could become one of four $100 million-plus domestic releases this month.

grossed $3.5 million at the Thursday box office in January 2022. It went on to make $81.6 million in the U.S. and $137.7 million worldwide against a $25 million budget.

The annual Cape Town Pride Parade took to the streets of the Mother City to celebrate the LGBTIQ+ community and the freedom to be our authentic selves.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor SoundCloud has named Eliah Seton chief executive officer, effective immediately. He succeeds Michael Weissman, who joined the streamer in 2017, has served as CEO since 2021 and is departing for a new opportunity. Seton joined SoundCloud in 2021 as president, overseeing the Creator and Roster operating divisions as well as strategy, M&A, content partnerships, business development, and distribution and artist partnerships. In that role, he has been instrumental in refocusing the business on deepening the relationship between its artists and fans through new economic models, products and tools. The company also announced that Fred Wilson, founder of Union Square Ventures and member of SoundCloud’s board since 2011, has been appointed as the new chairman of the board. Wilson succeeds SoundCloud Founder Alexander Ljung who served as CEO from 2007-2017 and chairman from 2017-2022. Ljung will assume a new role as chairman emeritus of the SoundCloud board, continue to serve as a board member and will also remain closely engaged and available to the company’s management team and employees going forward.

Jen Hollingsworth, a longtime entertainment executive most recently COO of Lionsgate’s Motion Picture Group, is the new chief commercial officer at Flawless, a growing firm specialized in generative AI technology for film and television.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Flawless, a VFX company specializing in generative AI dubbing technology for film, TV and commercials, hired 15-year Lionsgate veteran Jen Hollingsworth as chief commercial officer. Hollingsworth, who most recently served as COO of Lionsgate’s motion picture group, will oversee all commercial strategy at Flawless, which has offices in L.A. and London. She reports to Nick Lynes and Scott Mann, Flawless’s co-founders and co-CEOs. Flawless, founded in 2018, originally designed its TrueSync AI-based system to provide a better dubbing solution for films translated into other languages. TrueSync creates deepfake-style effects altering the mouth movements of actors to match the alternate dialogue being spoken (a process the startup calls “vubbing”).

EXCLUSIVE: Haylie Duff is the latest Napoleon Dynamite alumnus to join the cast of animated blockchain pilot Cyko KO.

Bruce Vaughn is returning as chief creative officer to co-lead Walt Disney Imagineering with Barbara Bouza, president of the storied division.