Roybal Film & Television Production Magnet Fund: Amazon, Disney, Fox, NBCUni, Paramount & WBD Commit $4M+ To School

Jenelle Riley Deputy Awards, Features Editor The Newport Beach Film Festival has announced it’s 2022 Festival Honors, which includes Oscar winners Ron Howard and Eddie Redmayne and actors from Jonathan Majors and Patton Oswalt to Keke Palmer and Colson Baker (aka Machine Gun Kelly.) The artists will be honored at a brunch in conjunction with Variety’s 10 Actors to Watch taking place on Oct. 16 at Balboa Bay Resort. Howard is receiving the Variety Legends and Groundbreakers Award for his creative leadership. After starting as an actor in such classics as “The Andy Griffith Show” and “Happy Days,” Howard became an Oscar-winning filmmaker whose movies as director include “A Beautiful Mind” and “Apollo 13.” Most recently he directed “Thirteen Lives,” the true story of the rescue of a soccer team and their coach from a cave in Thailand. “Thirteen Lives” is available on Amazon Prime.

Lucy Fallon has shared a gorgeous video showing some of the biggest moments from her pregnancy so far after announcing she is expecting her first child. The former Coronation Street star revealed on Monday (September 26) that she's pregnant with footballer boyfriend Ryan Ledson.

EXCLUSIVE: There is a change at the helm of Fox’s comedy department. Julia Franz is stepping down as SVP and head of comedy for Fox Entertainment after three years. She will be succeeded in the role by former 20th Television head of comedy development Cheryl Dolins who will be based in Los Angeles, reporting to Fox Entertainment President Michael Thorn. The changeover had been in the works for awhile and is not related to Fox Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier’s surprise exit on Thursday to join Roku.

EXCLUSIVE: Production has officially wrapped on the upcoming action thriller Hellfire under the seasoned Isaac Florentine directing with a cast that includes Stephen Lang (Avatar, Don’t Breathe 1 & 2), Harvey Keitel (Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction), and Dolph Lundgren (Expendables, Rocky franchise). Hellfire also stars Scottie Thompson, Johnny Bosch, Michael Sirow, Chris Mullinax, Maurice Compte, Levon Panek, and local actress Natalie Canerday amongst others.

Tennis great Roger Federer, who recently announced his retirement from the game, will go out with a longtime friend and rival by his side: Rafael Nadal will partner with Federer tomorrow night for London’s Laver Cup.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent After “Midnight in Paris,” Woody Allen will return to the French capital for his 50th movie which he’s described as a “poisonous romantic thriller” with a pair of French stars, Valerie Lemercier (“Aline”) and Niels Schneider (“Love Affair(s))”. The untitled film, the plot of which is being kept under wraps, will start filming next month and will be entirely in French with a budget in the $10-million range. Allen has described the film to be similar to “Match Point,” in that it would be “exciting, dramatic and also very sinister.”  Allen sparked headlines earlier this week after Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia ran a story reporting that the New York-based filmmaker had told them he was planning on retiring. Allen’s representative then issued a statement saying that the director had “no intention of retiring.”

EXCLUSIVE: Barack & Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground media company has signed with CAA for film and television deals.

Even big Hollywood productions run into permit issues.

K.J. Yossman Fox Entertainment has launched Los Angeles-based Fox Entertainment Global, tapping Fernando Szew as its new CEO. Fox Entertainment Global will act as a centralized content sales division, Fox Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier revealed today. It will oversee the international distribution of Fox Entertainment content as well as managing content sales on behalf of MarVista Entertainment and looking after global content partnerships. The company will make its debut at Cannes television market Mipcom next month, where it will unveil its slate of content to buyers. Among the shows on offer will be animated series “Krapopolis” (pictured above), created by Dan Harmon, and Jon Hamm’s “Grimsburg” (both produced by Fox Entertainment’s Bento Box Entertainment) and live-action comedy “Animal Control.”

EXCLUSIVE: Joy Gorman Wettels is launching her own production venture and has struck a deal with Fifth Season.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The ongoing overhaul of Rome’s Cinecittà Studios is getting traction thanks to booming demand from international productions just as the number of sound stages increase, prompting realistic prospects of turning a profit by end of 2022, which is a year earlier than planned. Cinecittà has been undergoing a radical revamp devised by managing director Nicola Maccanico since June 2021, when European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Italian premier Mario Draghi (pictured above at Cinecittà) jointly visited the iconic studio lot and held a press conference in its vast Studio 5 — known as the late, great filmmaker Federico Fellini’s second home — to announce a €300 million ($300 million) investment to meet the growing international demand for studio space,

George Clooney speaks on stage at the official opening of Roybal School of Film and Television Production Magnet in Los Angeles on Wednesday (September 14).

George Clooney is adamant about creating more opportunities for teens in film and television. ET's Cassie DiLaura spoke with Clooney Wednesday at the Roybal School of Film and Television Production Magnet, downtown Los Angeles' newest magnet high school, about why it was so important for him to spearhead the school's opening.Housed within the Edward R.

EJ Panaligan editor Disney, Amazon Studios, Fox Corp., Warner Bros. Discovery and other major Hollywood players are pledging support for the Roybal Film and Television Production Magnet, a major educational outreach initiative championed last year by George Clooney and others. Paramount and NBCUniversal/Telemundo Enterprises are also signing on to become founding partners of the Los Angeles Unified School District magnet facility. These companies join previously announced founding partners History Channel/A+E Networks, Netflix and Sony Pictures Entertainment. The group has committed to providing more than $4 million in funding for the school, which opened in August with 150 students at the Edward G. Roybal Learning Complex in downtown Los Angeles.

The trailer for Netflix’s highly anticipated The School for Good and Evil has finally arrived!

Do you ever wonder where every great fairytale begins? Coming this fall, the new Netflix film “The School For Good & Evil” from director Paul Feig (“Bridesmaids”) and based on the string of novels by author Soman Chainani tries to answer those questions. READ MORE: ‘The Sandman’ Trailer: Tom Sturridge Plays Neil Gaiman’s Master Of Dreams In Netflix’s New Series The supernatural adventure pic boasts a rather impressive cast with Charlize Theron, Michelle Yeoh, Kerry Washington, Laurence Fishburne, Sophia Anne Caruso, Sofia Wylie, Kit Young, Peter Serafinowicz, Ben Kingsley, Rachel Bloom, Rob Delaney, Patti LuPone, and Cate Blanchette will lend her voice as the film’s narrator.

The cast of RuPaul’s Drag Race is stepping out for the 2022 Emmy Awards.