‘Mutant Mayhem’s’ Jeff Rowe, Nora Twomey, Nickelodeon’s Latifa Ouaou to Debate Animation’s New Creativity at Variety Annecy Panel

Becky G and GONZA at Ardor, located in the prestigious West Hollywood EDITION, brought together A-list celebrities, industry titans, and influential trendsetters to commemorate the singer’s monumental appointment as GONZA’s Creative Director.The atmosphere was electric as guests stepped into a transformed space, where verdant foliage and blooming flowers transformed the venue into a tropical paradise. The scene was set for an unforgettable evening filled with style, luxury, and the unveiling of the debut collection.

aulo Dybala and Oriana Sabatini are very active figures on social media, and they love sharing fragments of their life. They currently reside in Italy, a place which has been their home since the 29-year-old soccer player began playing for the Roma team.

There are new reports about Jeffrey Epstein‘s suicide in jail.

How did this process happen? Did you pitch Lucasfilm? Did they reach out?Yeah. And well, it was funny because I’ve been a producer in the studio for a long time, since we started because I co-founded the studio with Tomm Moore and Nora Twomey. And it’s sometimes joke that it was I became the producer, just because I kind of was the first person sitting by the phone.

McKinley Franklin editor Anthony Anderson, Cynthia Bailey, Gina Rodriguez and Reggie Bush are of the announced celebrity clients set to be featured on Season 2 of Amazon Freevee’s “Hollywood Houselift with Jeff Lewis.” Jeff Lewis is back for a second season of his home renovation show that features some of Hollywood’s brightest stars. Lewis’ team is comprised of Megan Weaver, Tyler Meyerkorth, Andrew Coleman and Shane Douglas, with the season sporting an all-new slate of celebrity talent looking for a revamping of their homes. Aside from Anderson, Bailey, Rodriguez and Bush, stars Noah Beck, Kate Bosworth, Josh Duhamel, Sara Foster, Regina Hall and Christina Ricci will be featured in the season. 

Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Lauren Cohan team up for an unlikely duo in the latest spinoff. follows Maggie (Cohan) and Negan (Morgan) traveling into a post-apocalyptic Manhattan, long ago cut off from the mainland as they search for Maggie's missing teenage son, Hershel (Logan Kim).

Robert Gottlieb, the legendary editor at Simon & Schuster, Alfred A. Knopf and The New Yorker who helped shape the work of many of the world’s greatest writers over the past six decades, has died, according to Knopf and The New Yorker. He was 92.

Marta Balaga Studios shouldn’t rely just on IP-based content to make artistically bold choices, said director Jeff Rowe at Annecy. “Right now, things like ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Sperverse’ are this Trojan horse – they are taking a well-known IP and using that to break artistic boundaries and move the medium forward. My hope is that the studios will take these kinds of risks also with original ideas.” Rowe, now behind “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,” spoke out at Variety’s “Breaking the Borders of Animation” panel, moderated by its chief film critic Peter Debruge. 

Marta Balaga It’s time to finally “humanize” the workplace, argued Oscar-nominated director Nora Twomey at Annecy. And women are leading the way. “There was a point when I wanted to prove myself and would spend long hours immersed in animation. It took me until I had kids to start working smarter,” she said.   “Then I got sick in the middle of making ‘The Breadwinner’ and that also made me think about working in a way that could empower people around me. Now, I really don’t give a fuck anymore,” she added to thunderous applause. During her “fireside chat” with Ramsey Naito at the Women in Animation (WIA) World Summit, Twomey – co-founder and creative director at Ireland’s Cartoon Saloon – also underlined the importance of representation. 

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” doesn’t hit theaters until August, but the film made a splash on Monday at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival where it debuted to a rousing reception complete with a six-minute standing ovation. The crowd’s applause was so strong, in fact, that director Jeff Rowe was dragged back onstage to take it all in.“Being in the room and feeling all the reactions and hearing all the laughter was amazing, but what really stood out to me was to see our movie received and appreciated in that way by a lot of people who really love and care about animation,” Rowe told TheWrap in a statement.The cut screened at Annecy had just a few scenes of rough animation but was otherwise complete (including a score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross).

EXCLUSIVE: Ramsey Naito, President, Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation, has a big remit, overseeing all of the groups’ operations from development through release. The respected veteran also has big hopes for an upcoming slate of franchise installments as well as original features. 

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent ANNECY — Opening under the pall of Thursday’s knife attack, – which prompted a spirited show of solidarity and communal defiance at its opening ceremony on Sunday – this year’s Annecy Intl. Animation Film Festival has never been bigger. Creativity is exploding, from “Spider-Verse” and beyond.  Animation is flowering in India and Africa.  Yet studio work, much courtesy of streamer orders, may rebound, but never return to the halcyon levels of the last few years. Theatrical for most animation titles has yet to return, moreover – save for extraordinary mega-blockbusters such as “Across the Spider-Verse” and “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.” 10 takes on this year’s Annecy, the biggest animation festival on the world:  

Karen Idelson The Irish animation industry has become increasingly robust over the last 10 years, despite the pandemic and other challenges thrown at the entertainment business. It reflects an overall passion in the country for animation and storytelling as well as a commitment by the Irish government to support the business through economic incentives.  Much of those incentives have come through Enterprise Ireland. Established in 1998 by the Industrial Development Act, Enterprise Ireland is a state-sponsored economic development agency that works with Irish businesses to help them grow and develop. It’s been instrumental in working with the Irish animation industry, helping shops grow through a series of loans, grants and other initiatives.  

The New York Times.“I gave them a gun, and they shot me with it,” Zucker said, according to those sources.Zucker’s abrupt resignation in February 2022 put a spotlight on Gollust, his longtime lieutenant and the network’s chief marketing officer. Gollust, who had worked with Zucker for decades and rejoined CNN in 2013 as his “closest colleague,” had been identified as the woman with whom he had a “consensual relationship,” which he didn’t disclose to CNN owner at the time, AT&T, in apparent violation of company policies.Gollust resigned two weeks after Zucker’s ouster and following a WarnerMedia investigation into Chris Cuomo and his efforts to help his brother, former New York Gov.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor CNN chief Chris Licht told staffers Monday he wants to help them make the news rather than being a central figure in it. In the wake of a devastating profile of the CNN CEO published Friday by The Atlantic, Licht set about soothing frayed nerves Monday by telling employees on the news outlet’s regular morning call that “I should not be in the news unless it’s taking arrows for you. Your work is what should be written about,” according to two people familiar with the matter, The words are the first from Licht to be made public since the piece was unveiled. Thanks to a rich vein of unfettered access provided over months, the piece detailed the executive’s struggles — and some of his insecurities — during his first year on the job at the Warner Bros. Discovery-backed news outlet. David Zaslav, the CEO of the parent company, has articulated a strategy of eliminating some of the activist bent that resounded at CNN under its previous chief, Jeff Zucker. But Licht’s efforts to do so have been plagued by near-constant leaks and a restive staff, many of whom remain loyal to Licht’s predecessor, ousted after he admitted to a longstanding relationship with Allison Gollust, CNN’s former chief marketing officer.

McKinley Franklin editor A third “Hocus Pocus” film is officially in development, Walt Disney Pictures president Sean Bailey has confirmed. In a profile with The New York Times, Bailey stated that “Yes, ‘Hocus Pocus 3’ is happening” when discussing additional upcoming live-action projects in development at the company.  “Hocus Pocus 3” comes after the success of the 2022 sequel “Hocus Pocus 2,” which saw Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy reprise their children-hungry witching roles. The sequel broke records amongst the Nielson Top 10 streaming charts, taking home the largest opening weekend with 2.7 billion minutes viewed following its Sept. 30 premiere. The Disney+ movie also became the most watched original film for Disney+ over the frame of the first three days of release.

Ben Croll Academy-Award winner Vicky Jenson, Cartoon Saloon co-founder Nora Twomey, “Nimona” graphic novel creator N.D. Stevenson, Paramount Animation chief Ramsey Naito and acclaimed animator Anna Ginsburg will leave outdated paradigms in the dust at this year’s Women in Animation World Summit at the Annecy Intl. Animation Festival. Organized in collaboration with LGBTQ+ media advocacy organization GLAAD, the seventh annual WIA World Summit will run as a daylong symposium on Monday, June 12, heralding new leadership, calling for creative risk-taking and celebrating diversity – in terms of stories told and those who tell them – with a number of panels and conversations united under a shared banner called, ‘Break the Box: Redefining Gender and Leadership.’

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are back with Seth Rogen’s help.

Ever since 1990, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” have had a footprint on the big screen. While a new live-action film is years away, producer/co-writer Seth Rogen (“The Boys“) is behind a brand new take on the ‘Ninja Turtles’ franchise with the upcoming animated movie, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.” As the quirky new animated pic releases this summer, Paramount has released a brand new trailer.

Sophia Scorziello editor Seth Rogen’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” has released another trailer, previewing the new take on the classic comic book characters Donatello, Michelangelo, Leonardo and Raphael. The film is set to premiere Aug. 2, 2023. The reptilian brothers are voiced by Micah Abbey (Donatello), Shamon Brown Jr. (Michelangelo), Nicolas Cantu (Leonardo) and Brady Noon (Raphael). Supporting voices include Jackie Chan (Master Splinter), Ayo Edebiri (April O’Neil), Rogen (Bebop), John Cena (Rocksteady), Giancarlo Esposito (Baxter Stockman), Post Malone (Ray Fillet), Paul Rudd (Mondo Gecko), Maya Rudolph (Cynthia Utrom), Hannibal Buress (Genghis Frog), Rose Byrne (Leatherhead), Ice Cube (Superfly) and Natasia Demetriou (Wingnut).