Todd Spangler Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorQuinta Brunson channels her inner talk-show host to portray Oprah Winfrey in Roku’s “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story,” starring Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe, as the frizzy-haired musical parodist.The movie is billed as “the unexaggerated true story about the greatest musician of our time.” “Weird,” which has a runtime of 108 minutes, is slated to premiere on the free, ad-supported Roku Channel this fall.Brunson is the latest cast member announced for “Weird,” which in addition to Radcliffe stars Evan Rachel Wood as Madonna; Rainn Wilson as radio broadcaster Dr. Demento; and Julianne Nicholson and Toby Huss as Yankovic’s parents, Mary and Nick.Brunson recently made Primetime Emmy Awards history with three nominations — for comedy series, lead actress in a comedy and writing for a comedy series — for ABC’s “Abbott Elementary,” which she created, executive produces and stars in.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorTrailblazing trans actor Hari Nef will headline “Lina’s Song,” a new scripted podcast from executive producer Mark Duplass, set in the ’80s punk scene of East Berlin.“Lina’s Song” is set to premiere on Spotify and Apple Podcasts on Aug. 19.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorStudio71 has dramatically stepped up Facebook video distribution efforts — with the digital content studio and network claiming its efforts have already produced more than 1 billion views on the platform.In addition, the company announced that it has signed several top creators to its roster, including Whitney Port; Epic Meal Time, the cooking show hosted by Harley Morenstein; and drag queen Trixie Mattel.Historically focused on YouTube, Studio71 last year formed a dedicated Facebook division. The company says it’s been publishing more than 1,000 videos per month on its creators’ Facebook pages, which have amassed over 50 million followers.Whitney Port, a vlogger, fashion designer, entrepreneur and an alum of MTV’s “The Hills,” has a bigger following on Facebook (430,000-plus followers) than on YouTube (178,000 subscribers).

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorNetflix has tapped longtime finance executive Ken Barker in a new role as principal accounting officer, assuming the duties from CFO Spencer Neumann.Netflix revealed the hiring of Barker in an SEC filing Monday. Barker starts at Netflix on June 27, reporting to Neumann, who continues to serve as the company’s chief financial officer and principal financial officer.Barker, 55, comes from games company Electronic Arts, most recently as senior VP finance since August 2021, and as SVP and chief accounting officer from June 2003 to August 2021.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorElon Musk is getting a little help from billionaire friends for his $44 billion Twitter takeover.According to an SEC filing Thursday, Musk has secured $7.14 billion in new financing commitments for the Twitter bid, including $1 billion from Larry Ellison. Ellison, co-founder and CTO of software giant Oracle, also sits on the board of Tesla, which Musk heads as CEO.In addition, Prince al-Waleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia committed to retain the equity he owns in Twitter — his 35 million shares are worth $1.9 billion at Musk’s buyout offer — instead of receiving a cash payout, per the filing.Musk “will continue to have… discussions with certain existing holders” of Twitter stock, including ex-CEO Jack Dorsey, to contribute their shares toward his bid, according to the filing.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorRoku is super-sizing its cooking entertainment lineup.The streaming platform announced co-production deals with Marquee Brands and Milk Street Studios to develop seven original series starring lifestyle and culinary personalities Martha Stewart, Emeril Lagasse and Christopher Kimball.The new programming was unveiled as part of Roku’s 2022 NewFronts presentation for marketers. The shows, to premiere exclusively on the Roku Channel, are “Martha Cooks,” “Martha Holidays” (working title), and “Martha Gardens” from Martha Stewart; “Emeril Cooks,” “Emeril Tailgates” from Lagasse: and “Milk Street’s Cooking School” and “Milk Street’s My Family Recipe” from Christopher Kimball.In addition to the all-new original series, the deals will bring complete past seasons of Martha Stewart, Emeril Lagasse and Christopher Kimball series to the Roku Channel — comprising more than 3,000 episodes from the vault for free.

Claudia Eller Co-Editor-in-ChiefWhat a whacked-out couple of weeks this has been!When I began writing this editor’s letter about the onslaught of news, I wasn’t even planning to mention Elon Musk’s pursuit of Twitter because a deal looked dead in the water. Then we got whiplashed this past weekend when suddenly the acquisition appeared imminent.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorPeople has a new top editor: Liz Vaccariello, formerly editor in chief of Real Simple magazine, is taking over the reins of the entertainment and human interest title.Vaccariello takes over for Dan Wakeford, who is leaving after three years as EIC.The change at the top of People’s masthead comes after Meredith’s magazine group was acquired by IAC’s Dotdash in a $2.7 billion deal. Earlier this month, the resulting Dotdash Meredith shuttered print editions of six magazines, including InStyle and EW, and laid off about 200 employees.Dotdash Meredith also announced the promotion of Zoë Ruderman to VP and GM of People’s digital operations.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorMoonbug Entertainment is expanding its kid-vid footprint by snapping up Little Angel, a big producer of YouTube videos and songs for preschoolers.Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. The acquisition is Moonbug’s first since it was bought in a $3 billion deal by Candle Media, the next-generation media roll-up venture headed by former Disney execs Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs and backed by private-equity firm Blackstone.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorMeta, Facebook’s parent company, forecast slower growth in the first quarter of 2022, citing “headwinds to both impression and price growth” in its ad business, sending the stock into a nosedive.In addition, CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s high-stakes gambit to turn Facebook into a “metaverse” company — burning billions of dollars — led to a rare earnings miss for the company in Q4.Meta’s stock dropped more than 22% in after-hours trading.In the current quarter, “On the impressions side, we expect continued headwinds from both increased competition for people’s time and a shift of engagement within our apps towards video surfaces like Reels, which monetize at lower rates than Feed and Stories,” the company said in announcing Q4 2021 results. On the ad pricing side, growth will be hurt by several factors, including greater impact from Apple’s iOS privacy changes and “we anticipate modestly increasing ad targeting and measurement headwinds from platform and regulatory changes,” Meta said.Click here to sign up for Variety’s free Strictly Business newsletter covering earnings, financial news, and more.For the fourth quarter of 2021, Meta reported ad revenue of $32.64 for its core social apps, including Facebook and Instagram, an increase of 20%.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorA new podcast imagines what happens five years after the events of beloved musical “Annie.”“Tomorrow,” a scripted drama series featuring new music and new arrangements of the musical’s classic songs, premieres exclusively on Amazon Music and Wondery on Monday, Dec.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorDiscovery inked a development deal for a slate of new original series for Discovery Plus from Group Nine Media, the digital media company whose brands include NowThis, the Dodo, Thrillist and Seeker.Discovery is one of the founding investors in New York-based Group Nine and has already licensed some Group Nine programming for Discovery Plus.Under the pact, in addition to new shows in development, Discovery Plus has a first-look option on 30 additional original

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorRené Rechtman, CEO and co-founder of Moonbug Entertainment, was gearing up to launch an IPO for his 3-year-old digital kids’ content company.But earlier this year, two of his former Disney colleagues — Tom Staggs and Kevin Mayer — came calling with an offer he couldn’t refuse.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorShares of Penn National Gaming fell more than 20% Thursday, after the publication of an article in which several women alleged that they had “violent and humiliating” sexual encounters with Dave Portnoy, president of Barstool Sports.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorRoku, in another opportunistic programming pickup, will bring comedy series “Children Ruin Everything” to U.S. audiences — streaming for free on the Roku Channel — in an exclusive pact with production company New Metric Media.The new half-hour comedy is created by Kurt Smeaton (“Schitt’s Creek,” “Kim’s Convenience”) and will air on Bell Media’s CTV network in Canada next spring.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorNBA coach and former player Steve Nash is executive producing “10 Days,” an upcoming Audible Original scripted drama podcast starring Glen Powell.Powell (“Top Gun: Maverick,” “Scream Queens”) plays a minor-league hoops player who gets a 10-day contract with the Philadelphia 76ers and tries to prove he belongs in the NBA.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorThe Ghoul Boys are back in town for one last hurrah, just in time for Halloween.The seventh and final season of “BuzzFeed Unsolved: Supernatural” with Shane Madej and Ryan Bergara — one of the digital media company’s most popular franchises — will premiere on the BuzzFeed Unsolved Network’s YouTube channel on Oct. 15 at 3 p.m.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorSnapchat’s entertainment business, including its original short-form series, is the area where the company faces the biggest battle to win consumers’ attention, CEO Evan Spiegel said.Spiegel, who spoke Wednesday at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia conference, was asked to identify Snap competitors. He responded that at a high level, Snapchat’s entertainment business competes with “everything in the umbrella of entertainment,” including games.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorViacomCBS is dangling a deal for its two premiere subscription services — offering up to 38% off for new customers who take both Paramount Plus and Showtime.In what the company says is a limited-time promo, it’s offering Showtime and the ad-supported Paramount Plus Essential plan together for $9.99/month. Showtime with the ad-free Paramount Plus Premium plan are available for a $12.99/month bundle.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorClubhouse, the live audio-chat startup, has hired 15-year NPR veteran Nina Gregory as head of news and media publishers.Gregory most recently was senior editor on NPR’s arts desk, where she has overseen coverage of film, TV, art, design, fashion, food and culture. In her new role at Clubhouse, Gregory will be working with media brands on engaging with the Clubhouse community.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorThis year’s NAB Show, the trade show run by the National Assn. of Broadcasters, has been canceled over safety concerns with the recent uptick in COVID cases related to the delta variant of the virus.The annual trade show had been scheduled to run Oct.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorBright, a startup that has recruited several hundred celebrities, artists and influencers to host ticketed live Zoom events, announced $15 million in funding from investors including several Hollywood celebs.Bright was founded by former YouTube exec Michael Powers and investor and music manager Guy Oseary, whose clients include Madonna and U2.The funding round was led by Sound Ventures — Oseary’s investment firm co-founded with Ashton Kutcher — RIT Capital and

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorCNN is bringing more of its big-name TV talent into the podcast arena.The news network’s fall podcast lineup includes new limited-series podcasts from CNN chief political correspondent Dana Bash, chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward, and senior political reporter/analyst Harry Enten, as well as a new companion podcast for HLN’s “Very Scary People” true-crime show and a series on Princess Diana from longtime podcaster Aminatou Sow.Ward’s “Tug of War”

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorDan Patrick has teamed up again with iHeartRadio for the second annual “Next Great Podcast” search — a contest that will award $1,000 to each of 10 finalists, one of which will get picked up by iHeartMedia as an original series.Beginning Tuesday, Aug. 24, and running through Sept.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorWarnerMedia is kicking up its investment in podcasts for HBO Max — announcing among other things that “Batman: The Audio Adventures” will be released exclusively on HBO Max in the fall.In partnership with Warner Bros.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorRandall Park will hoist a glass in his new talk show — brought to you by Maker’s Mark bourbon and Roku’s recently formed branded-content studio.The actor-comedian-writer, best known for his starring turn in ABC’s “Fresh Off the Boat,” is the host of “The Show Next Door,” a weekly talk show in which Park shoots the breeze with actors, athletes, musicians and other guests.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorQuibi is dead — long live Quibi!The Jeffrey Katzenberg-led mobile premium video service flamed out last year about six months after launching.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorLooking for way to make sure you don’t miss the most exciting moments in sports in real time?Startup Buzzer has an app for that — and it just banked $20 million from a roster of investors that includes a bevy of sports and entertainment industry heavyweights.Buzzer’s $20 million in Series A funding was led by existing investor Sapphire Sport and new investor Canaan Partners.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorCritical Role gave fans a first look at the character art for upcoming Amazon original animated series “The Legend of Vox Machina,” created by Emmy-winning artist, animator and designer Phil Bourassa.CR is producing “The Legend of Vox Machina,” based on the popular role-playing collective’s first campaign. In 2019 Amazon Prime Video ordered a total of 24 episodes across two seasons after the project broke Kickstarter records.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorSpotify has snapped up another player in the podcast space, announcing the acquisition of Podz, a startup that developed an auto-generated “audio newsfeed” for podcasts.Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.New York-based Podz raised $2.5 million in seed funding led by venture-capital firm M13 along with Canaan Partners, Charge Ventures and Humbition, as well as investments from Katie Couric, Paris Hilton, and journalist Mara Schiavocampo.