Cynthia Littleton Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Lowell Peterson‘s tenure as executive director of the Writers Guild of America East was destined to be bookended by strikes. After 15 years at the helm, Peterson will step down from his post as of Nov. 15 when his current three-year contract expires.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor AI, streaming residuals and minimum rate hikes will be among the key issues on the table when SAG-AFTRA and Hollywood’s largest employers sit down Monday for the first formal bargaining talks since the performers union went on strike July 14. SAG-AFTRA and negotiators for the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers are expected to meet around midday at the union’s Miracle Mile headquarters at SAG-AFTRA Plaza. The talks follow the settlement the AMPTP reached last week with the Writers Guild of America after a 148-day strike.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor 1957 was a big year for David McCallum, the respected Glasgow-born actor known for “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.,” “The Great Escape” and his 20-year run on “NCIS” as quirky pathologist Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard. The actor, who died Sept.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor SAG-AFTRA has ended its scheduled negotiations with video game producers for a new Interactive Media contract without reaching an agreement. The union has a strike authorization vote in its back pocket, but a joint statement from SAG-AFTRA and the game producers issued late Thursday signaled the sides are still hoping to avoid a second major work stoppage. SAG-AFTRA has been on strike against Hollywood’s largest employers in TV and film since July 14.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor David Goodman, Chris Keyser and Meredith Stiehm have spent this year in warrior mode on behalf of their fellow 11,500 members of the Writers Guild of America. Goodman and Keyser, both past presidents of the WGA West, were co-chairs of the WGA’s 25-member negotiating committee. Stiehm was re-elected earlier this month to her second two-year term as WGA West president.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor The WGA emerges from the long slog of a strike and difficult contract talks with a deal that is far richer and more comprehensive than most industry observers would have predicted last spring when the fitful negotiations began. In short, the scribe tribe’s sacrifice of mounting a 148-day work stoppage — coupled with the extra pressure heaped on when SAG-AFTRA went out on strike July 14 — gave the WGA the leverage it needed to power through its agenda. Here’s a rundown of the key issues that have been settled in the tentative agreement that the Writers Guild of America reached Sept.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor The WGA West will extend health care benefits through year’s end to members who were facing an Oct. 1 expiration of coverage because of the strike. The extension was worked out as a part of the tentative contract agreement reached Sunday with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which will bring an end the nearly five-month strike.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large The Creative Coalition’s annual Humanitarian Awards takes place the week of the Primetime Emmys — but even though the big show was pushed to January, the benefit luncheon still took place on Thursday, Sept. 14 at the La Peer Hotel rooftop in West Hollywood, attracting a wide range of honorees and presenters. The Humanitarian Awards recognizes talent who donate their time, resources and their celebrity to promote worthy social causes.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Max fans who don’t relish the idea of coughing up $9.99 per month more to access the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned streamer’s upcoming live sports tier might not realize that they’ve been making out like bandits with seemingly “free” sports content on other platforms for years, according to WBD global streaming chief JB Perrette.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Mo Abudu is an entrepreneur on a mission to make her native Nigeria a bigger player in global media. The CEO of Lagos-based EbonyLife Media is tapping into wave of interest from streamers in content from outside the U.S. and Europe to generate a flurry of deals for her production banner, known for producing the detective drama series “Blood Sisters” for Netflix.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor After an 11-week blackout, Nexstar and DirecTV agreed to restore more than 150 Nexstar-owned local TV stations to the satcaster’s lineup amid progress in contract negotiations. Nexstar and DirecTV released a joint statement early Sunday to disclose that the stations would begin returning to DirecTV’s channel menu, with a focus on NFL-heavy markets where Nexstar has CBS, NBC and Fox affiliates.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor After more than four months on strike, many showrunners are getting restless. Writers Guild of America leaders are fielding a stepped-up volume of inquiries from prominent members who are frustrated with the duration of the work stoppage and looking to understand the guild’s strategy in engaging with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. In response to this heightened activity, multiple sources say several guild leaders are set to meet in person with a group of showrunners on Friday at WGA West headquarters.

Variety Staff Follow Us on Twitter Maxime Saada, the chair and CEO of Canal+ Group, will receive the Variety Vanguard Award at the Mipcom international content sales conference set for Oct. 16-19 in Cannes. The award recognizes television industry leaders who have made a significant contribution to the global business of entertainment.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Nah Yung Suk, one of South Korea’s most successful TV producers, says the content marketplace in his home country has been divided into two distinct eras: “Before Netflix” and “After Netflix.” On the latest episode of Variety podcast “Strictly Business,” Nah Yung Suk offers his observations on the rise of Korean popular culture throughout the world. The producer’s latest series reflects the incredible global growth of content imports and exports: “Jinny’s Kitchen,” an unscripted series for Amazon Prime Video, revolves around the opening of Korean street food restaurant in a small town in southeastern Mexico.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Loretta Swit remembers well the night she won her first Emmy Award. On Sept. 7, 1980, the “MASH” star sat in her agent’s living room in Beverly Hills, watching the ceremony on TV when she heard her name called out and saw her picture flash on the screen.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Dylan Mulvaney, the social medial influencer who faced a transphobic backlash after setting a partnership with Bud Light, was saluted Sunday night at the Streamy Awards honoring social media creators. Mulvaney won the award for breakout creator at the ceremony hosted at the Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Bob Barker was a pillar of television’s greatest generation. Barker, the enduring host of “The Price Is Right” who died Aug. 26 at the age of 99, was a World War II veteran who trained as a Navy fighter pilot.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor As SAG-AFTRA clocked its 40th day on strike, the union’s chief negotiator has called for leaders of Hollywood’s major studios and streamers to step in to bring the sides to a new deal and get the industry back to work. Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA’s national executive secretary and its chief negotiator, said the union has had outreach from industry insiders who aim to help with basic communication between SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

Variety Staff Follow Us on Twitter Daniel D’Addario is stepping into a new role at Variety. The journalist, who was brought on as chief television critic in 2018, has been named chief correspondent for the magazine, co-editors-in-chief Ramin Setoodeh and Cynthia Littleton announced.

William Earl Variety has promoted Elsa Keslassy to Executive Editor of International, according to an announcement from Variety‘s co-editors-in-chief Ramin Setoodeh and Cynthia Littleton. In her new role, Keslassy will lead the magazine’s global team of award-winning correspondents, while helping guide its reporting at the leading international film and television festivals and markets.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Henry Deas III, a longtime Variety advertising sales executive who specialized in film festivals and international markets, died Aug. 6 in Culver City. He was 75.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor It’s been a long and winding road so far for Hollywood during its summer of strikes, and the path forward is anything but clear. As the Writers Guild of America and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers reach the 100-day milestone of the work stoppage, here is a timeline of the key events, pivotal moments and snapshots of an industry in turmoil.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Endeavor swung to a big profit in the second quarter thanks to the sale of its IMG Academy business, which will help fuel a stock buyback program and a cash dividend payments at the end of the current quarter. The parent company of WME, IMG, UFC and other media and sports assets delivered revenue of $1.43 billion in the quarter, up about 8% from the year-ago quarter. Adjusted earnings before interest taxes, depreciation and amortization of $304.9 million, up slightly from the year-ago mark ($306.4 million).

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Lesli Linka Glatter has been elected to a second term as president of the Directors Guild of America. The veteran helmer known for her work on “Homeland,” “Mad Men” and numerous other TV series, was re-elected during the DGA’s biennial national convention held Saturday at the DGA Theatre in Los Angeles.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor About six years ago, Imagine Entertainment went on a diversification push to add top-shelf documentary and nonfiction content to the company’s roster, as well as kids and family entertainment and branded creative marketing, among other content-related businesses. The timing was spot-on. Imagine has been able to grow along with the boom in demand for original content from platforms, not just in the U.S.

William Earl Variety, the iconic entertainment publication, and iHeartPodcasts, the No. 1 podcast publisher globally according to Podtrac, announced Wednesday the co-production of an exciting new true crime podcast, “Variety Confidential.” The podcast dives into Variety’s archives exploring stories of sex, money and murder in the entertainment industry.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor The world of documentary, news and nonfiction content is as varied as the work done by Rachel Maddow, Dawn Porter and Roy Wood Jr. Those three are among the industry notables set to appear at Variety and Rolling Stone’s third annual Truth Seekers Summit, a daylong gathering for the nonfiction production sector to be held Aug. 2 at New York’s Second, an event location on 6th Avenue.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor SAG-AFTRA and Hollywood’s largest employers are wrestling over complicated contract proposals in a business turned inside-out by the transition from linear to streaming. But some of what’s on the table isn’t so complicated. Some of the discord between labor and management that led SAG-AFTRA to go on strike on July 13 is rooted in money and the hard reality of making minimum rates in Hollywood. SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher has vowed publicly that securing a hefty increase in minimum pay rates across the board is a deal-breaker issue for the union. Talk to any established working actor and it becomes clear why. Most of them say they’ve been dragged back to working for scale in a marketplace that has paid high-wattage stars record fees but put the squeeze on everyone else down the call sheet.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor A dominant 3-0 win by the U.S. Women’s National Team helped the Women’s World Cup get off to a strong start for Fox Sports and Telemundo on Friday night. Viewership of the USA-Vietnam match, which aired at 9 p.m. ET, came in just shy of the record set in 2019 by a comparable Group Stage match. The Fox broadcast network brought in 5.26 million viewers for its live 9 p.m.-11 p.m. ET coverage of the game, held at Eden Park stadium in Auckland, New Zealand. Telemundo, which has Spanish-language rights in the U.S., averaged 1 million viewers for the game across linear and digital platforms, including Peacock. The 2023 Women’s World Cup, hosted by Australia and New Zealand, is drawing heightened attention in the U.S. as Team USA pursues a historic third consecutive victory. The tournament runs through Aug. 20.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor There was a large crowd in the room when SAG-AFTRA and Hollywood’s major studios and streamers formally began contract bargaining negotiations on June 7. About 80 participants from both the labor and management sides gathered at the Sherman Oaks headquarters of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers for the first day of what everyone knew would be a difficult negotiation for the performers union, which has been on strike since July 13. One big presence in the negotiations process who was not there in person on Day One was Fran Drescher, president of SAG-AFTRA. But Drescher had no trouble making herself heard that day. She addressed the gathering via video conference call from Paris – and she definitely got management’s attention.