Jennifer Maas Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Advertisers plan to increase spend on in-video-game advertising by 40% this year, according to a new study, with total ad spend set to reach $8.5 billion in 2024 and increase to $11.5 billion by 2027. In IAB‘s “Changing the Game: How Games Advertising Powers Performance” report, which was revealed Tuesday, 86% of advertisers surveyed said gaming ad spend is “brand safe” and 85% are confident in their ability to measure the reach of games advertising.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer “Dancing With the Stars” and “America’s Funniest Home Videos” staple Alfonso Ribeiro will host new wildlife series “Jack Hanna’s Passport” from Hearst Media Production Group (HMPG). The show will not star or feature wildlife expert “Jungle Jack” Hanna himself, but rather “take a fresh look at the most compelling stories from Hanna’s legendary career and his greatest past adventures across the globe.” “Jack Hanna’s Passport” will air weekend mornings starting April 6 on ABC owned and affiliated stations across the U.S.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Emily Henry fans had a field day last week when the author shared a St. Patrick’s day selfie of “The Bear” star Ayo Edebiri and “Normal People’s” Paul Mescal. While Edebiri posted the original image to her Instagram, it was reposts from Henry and screenwriter Yulin Kuang that made fans start to assume that the actors may have been cast in one of the films being adapted from Henry’s romance books: “People We Meet on Vacation,” for which Kuang is writing the screenplay; “Beach Read,” with Kuang writing and directing; or “Book Lovers,” being developed by the company that produced Mescal’s “Aftersun.” The posts came just months after Mescal said in an interview that he hoped to star in a rom-com with Edebiri sometime in the next five years.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer A video game based on HBO’s dark teen drama “Euphoria” is a key suggestion from this year’s edition of Fandom‘s Inside Entertainment study, which highlights the “entertainment and gaming tug of war.” Per the user-contented-centric entertainment platform’s 2024 survey, which was released Monday, drama is potentially the top “untapped” genre for gaming companies, as drama fans who play video games prefer these genres: role-playing (RPG): 73%, adventure: 72%, simulation: 62%, sandbox/open world: 62%, puzzle: 60%. “What do we know about ‘Euphoria’ and why was it such a big hit? Obviously, you have an amazing cast, storyline — but what is the story? And it was a really interesting take on the genre at the time, because if you think about the other shows that were coming out, they are a lot more positive than ‘Euphoria,'” Fandom’s director of sales research and insights Ally Saraniti told Variety.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer “Sesame Street” parent company Sesame Workshop has named Dannette “Danni” Hill its first-ever chief people officer. In this newly created role, Hill will oversee human resources, leading a division that supports “innovative best practices and organizational excellence” for Sesame Workshop, per the global impact nonprofit.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer “We Were Dangerous” is a surprisingly funny film for a movie that’s central conflict is the sterilization of a group of young women on the fringes of society in 1950s New Zealand. Knowing the project, which debuted at SXSW in Austin March 8, is executive-produced by from Taika Waititi and Carthew Neal’s Piki Films certainly informs how the film approaches its troubling topic — much like the production company’s Holocaust-set “Jojo Rabbit” — with such levity, the majority of the credit for the heartfelt tone goes to a trio of women: writer Maddie Dai, director Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu and producer Morgan Waru.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer What does the future hold for Paramount Global? The odds of a seismic M&A event seem to be increasing: Private-equity firm Apollo Global has reportedly offered $11 billion for Paramount’s Hollywood studios. Short of carving up the “mountain of entertainment,” as the Paramount+ tagline boasts, analysts say the overture could drive up bidding for the entirety of Paramount Global — which is what Shari Redstone, who owns a controlling stake in the media conglomerate, is understood to prefer. Given that backdrop, let’s consider what Paramount Global comprises — and the potential effect of selling it off in its entirety or in pieces.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer “The Barefoot Contessa” Ina Garten has set her invitation list for the fourth season of her Food Network series, “Be My Guest With Ina Garten,” including actress Jennifer Garner. Premiering April 21 at 12 p.m.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Epic Games‘ “Fortnite” will now allow creators to build their own Lego Islands in the game using Lego templates, props, consumables and items. There are four different templates currently available to get players started using Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN) and Fortnite Creative. “Fortnite” creators who choose to publish their own Lego Islands and are signed up for the Fortnite Island Creator Program will be eligible for payouts.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer A Marvel video game, “1943: Rise of Hydra,” is set for 2025 release. The title, which hails from Skydance New Media and Marvel Games, will focus on characters Captain America and Black Panther (who at that time was King T’Chanda, also known as Azzuri) in World War II.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer This year’s “Candy Crush All Stars” tournament is set to be the “world’s largest casual mobile gaming tournament in history” with a $1 million prize pot. Per “Candy Crush” maker King, “The stakes are higher than ever in this year’s All Stars tournament, with the prize pot quadrupling to $1M from last year.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Former Activision Blizzard executive Chris Paulson has been named Skybound Games‘ executive vice president and general manager of games publishing. In his new role, Paulson will lead commercial strategy and go-to-market efforts for Skybound’s ambitious slate of games, including a new “secret project” Skybound revealed in connection with Paulson’s hiring announcement Monday.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer When this year’s Game Developers Conference (GDC) kicks off Monday at the Moscone Center in San Fransisco, one topic is sure to be hanging over those in attendance at the five-day event: who has a job and who doesn’t — and who might still lose theirs soon. Rather than sweep the uncomfortable subject of the thousands of layoffs that have hit the video game industry recently under the rug, GDC leadership has specifically tailored GDC 2024’s programming lineup to address the issue head on and offer assistance to the out-of-work attendees looking to make the most out of participating in the 38th annual conference while unemployed.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer A new independent gaming studio led by vets of “Doom” developer id Software has launched with initial seed funding from Sisu Game Ventures. Named emptyvessel, the gaming studio will focus on developing AAA video games.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer New Drake-produced doscuseries “Magic City: An American Fantasy” debuted at SXSW Monday night to a roaring crowd packed with friends, patrons and fans of the project’s titular iconic Atlanta strip club, Magic City. After the first episode of the three-part doc, which does not yet have a distributor or platform attached, was screened, producer Cole Brown and director Charles Todd fielded a few questions from the audience, including “Was there anything too explicit to put in the documentary?” “We wanted to walk a fine line with nudity, in particular, where you can’t make a documentary about a strip club and not have any nudity, it just isn’t true to form, and you’re trying to tell the true story,” Brown said. “At the same time, we didn’t want it to be salacious, gratuitous.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Despite the popularity of Disney’s “Star Wars” franchise, Daisy Ridley says her career stalled when she finished her run leading the film trilogy with 2019’s “The Rise of Skywalker.” “There weren’t that many offers coming in,” Ridley said during a Sunday panel at SXSW in Austin. “It’s not that there wasn’t any… I remember finishing and thinking, ‘Oh, it’s quiet and strange.'” According to Ridley, she didn’t feel fully comfortable leading the latest “Star Wars” trilogy until she had reached the final movie, “The Rise of Skywalker.” “It took, honestly, making the third film till I felt like ‘OK, I’m good.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer When “My Dead Friend Zoe” filmmaker Kyle Hausmann-Stokes set out to adapt his own experiences as an Army vet onto the big screen, he made two very big changes: gender-flipping the main characters and two women of color in the roles. Starring Sonequa Martin-Green and Natalie Morales, “My Dead Friend Zoe” is a dark dramedy that follows Merit (Martin-Green), a U.S. Army Afghanistan veteran who is at odds with her family thanks to the presence of Zoe (Morales), her dead best friend from the Army.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Sony Pictures Entertainment is upping its head of television Ravi Ahuja to president and chief operating officer of the entire studio. While not explicitly stated by SPE chairman and CEO Tony Vinciquerra in his internal memo regarding Ahuja’s appointment to the No.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer “Fixer Upper” stars Chip and Joanna Gaines will mark the 10-year anniversary of the HGTV show that rocketed them to home-reno fame with the debut of a new season, “Fixer Upper: The Lakehouse,” in June. Per its official description, this new edition of “Fixer Upper” follows Chip and Joanna as they take on a unique mid-century modern lakehouse flip near Lake Waco, a new neighborhood for the home renovation duo based in Waco, Texas.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Netflix will launch a mobile game version of the indie hit “Hades” in March. Per Netflix’s description, “Hades” is “a rogue-like dungeon crawler in which you defy the god of the dead as you hack and slash your way out of the Underworld of Greek myth.” Pre-registration to play the streamer’s exclusive version of the game, which launches on iOS devices March 19, opens Tuesday at 9 a.m. PT.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer “House of the Dragon” Season 2 will debut on HBO in June. Warner Bros. Discovery streaming and gaming chief J.B.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Food Network is breaking new ground in the intense culinary competition genre with a series that features 24 chefs taking on 24 food challenges in, you guessed it, 24 consecutive hours. Hosted by Food Network stars and iconic chefs Michael Symon and Esther Choi, “24 in 24: Last Chef Standing” is described as the Warner Bros.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Kino Lorber’s MHz Choice and Topic will merge into one streaming service, parent company Kino Lorber announced Thursday. The combined product will become the exclusive U.S. streaming home of hit German series “Babylon Berlin” in April.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Electronic Arts is laying off 5% of its workforce, making it the latest video game company to enact staffing reductions in the first quarter of the year. In its most recent annual SEC filing, “The Sims” and “Madden” maker EA reported it employed 13,400 workers, meaning the layoffs will affect approximately 670 jobs.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Nexstar reported its fourth-quarter 2023 earnings Wednesday, revealing its TV ad sales were down 36% from Oct. 1- Dec. 31.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Comic book author Brian Michael Bendis has set a first-look deal with Amazon is already developing three TV series under the new pact based on his previous works: “Jinx,” “Murder Inc.” and “Pearl.” “Jinx” is a crime-ridden love story unfolding on a high stakes treasure hunt, per Amazon’s series description. Our players are: Jinx Alameda, a bounty hunter at the top of her game who’s tired of her grimy life; Goldfish, a charming con man and wanted felon who falls head over heels for Jinx; and Columbia, Goldfish’s loose-cannon partner, who has big criminal dreams.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer A new video game based on Paramount’s “Paranormal Activity” horror franchise is slated to release in 2026 from DreadXP, the publisher of hit horror video game “The Mortuary Assistant.” Per DreadXP and Paramount Global, the “Paranormal Activity” video game “will bring the franchise’s groundbreaking found-footage style to horror enthusiasts in surprising new ways, immersing them in a story that expands upon the lore and world of the films.” The title, which will be available across multiple platforms, will include an advanced version of the “Haunt System” that will “dynamically alter the types and intensity of scares players will encounter based on their actions.” DreadXP co-director and creative director Brian Clarke (DarkStone Digital), the main developer on “The Mortuary Assistant,” is leading the development of the “Paranormal Activity” video game. Beginning with the first “Paranormal Activity” film in 2007, the seven-film franchise from Blumhouse and Solana Films is credited with reimagining the “found footage” horror genre.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Sony‘s PlayStation has joined the long list of video game companies hit by layoffs in 2024. Approximately 900 Sony Interactive Entertainment employees, or 8% of PlayStation’s global workforce, will be impacted by the cuts, per outgoing-CEO Jim Ryan. Employees across the Americas, EMEA, Japan, and APAC regions will be affected and several studios, including PlayStation’s London studio, will shutter.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Two years after the hit Amazon Prime Video superhero series aired its Season 3 finale, “The Boys” will finally be back in town. The fourth season of Amazon’s Emmy-winning drama “The Boys” will debut with three episodes June 13. Comprised of eight episodes total, “The Boys” Season 4 will air with new installments dropping weekly through its season finale on July 18.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Sony Pictures Entertainment communications chief Robert Lawson has been promoted to head of all corporate communications for its Tokyo-based parent Sony. The choice to move Lawson, who joined Sony amid the infamous cyber attack and email leaks at the entertainment group in 2014, into the top corp comms role is indicative of Sony’s significant focus on its entertainment divisions within the company’s larger portfolio; movies, music and gaming accounts for more than half of Sony’s revenue and profit.