CEO Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

Disney+ is making some big changes.

The National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) Executive Board of Directors has elected B&B Theatres President & CEO Bob Bagby as the new NATO Executive Board Chair. He’ll be taking over for previous chair, Rolando B. Rodriguez, who is exiting; his retirement as the top executive at Marcus Theatres announced last year.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Most people don’t get a text from Bono in the middle of the night. But Jon Kamen, the CEO, chairman and co-founder of RadicalMedia, found himself fighting off jet lag on a recent business trip to Japan as he fielded messages from the U2 frontman. That pair had worked together on the One campaign, the musician’s push to eradicate AIDS and poverty in Africa, and this time Bono needed help launching ticketing for the band’s upcoming residency at Las Vegas’ newly launched venue, the Sphere.

‘Poor Things’ to Screen at Chicago International Film Festival With Costume Designer Holly Waddington Accepting Tour de Force Award Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Things” had been added to the lineup of the 59th Chicago International Film Festival, which will run from Oct. 11-22. Costume designer Holly Waddington will appear to receive the festival’s Tour de Force Award.

Caroline Brew editor The National Association of Theatre Owners executive board of directors has elected Bob Bagby as the new NATO chair and Mike Bowers as NATO vice-chair. Additionally, Tim Handren was elected chair of the Cinema Foundation, and Tori A. Baker was re-elected as vice chair.

Marco Chimenz, Co-CEO of Italy’s Cattleya the prominent ITV-owned outfit behind “Gomorrah” and “ZeroZeroZero,” will be leaving the company in January to join pan-European powerhouse Federation Studios. At Federation Chimenz will serve as group co-managing director of the expanding production and distribution studio that currently comprises 35 production companies, working closely with founder and CEO Pascal Breton and Federation co-director Lionel Uzan.

The former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch is under fire after some serious allegations have been made against him! Mike Jeffries and his partner

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor MoffettNathanson, a leading Wall Street research outfit covering the media and communications sectors, is once again an independent entity. In December 2021, SVB Financial Group acquired New York-based MoffettNathanson, which was founded in 2013 by analysts Craig Moffett and Michael Nathanson. In March of this year, Silicon Valley Bank — part of SVB Financial Group — collapsed after a run on its assets, leading the parent company to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Spotify is making a major push into the audiobook sector, adding more than 150,000 titles to its premium subscription plans.

The Prince and Princess of Wales brought the royal flair to Black History Month as they paint Cardiff with a vibrant celebration, connecting with the Afro-Caribbean and African communities.

for her recent pantsuit looks as for her penchant for royal rewears, so it was only a matter of time before we started seeing her power suits make repeat appearances. I just didn't expect to see the same suit twice in a single week.This particular suit isn't your basic black businesswear, either. This is a dark blue pinstriped suit from Holland Cooper with a double-breasted blazer and wide-legged trousers embellished with gold buttons, giving it an Al Capone-joins-the-navy feel.

Prince William and Kate Middleton often hold their important meetings behind closed doors but lucky fans have been given a rare insight into the inner workings of the Prince and Princess of Wales after photos emerged of one special get-together.

Ben Croll Clad in his familiar accessories of dark suspenders and tortoise-shell glasses, Canal+ Group CEO Maxime Saada cuts a decorous and professorial figure, though the two framed posters of “Scarface” and “The Godfather” that decorate his office walls offer a slightly better insight into the chairman’s inner passions. “[I follow] a logic of intensity,” Saada tells Variety. “As a payTV player, our main objective is not to broadcast content to the widest possible audience in order to lure to advertizers, nor to aim for consensus. We want to inspire passion and fervor, because reactions of ‘not bad’ do not encourage subscriptions.” Saada is being honored at Mipcom with the Variety Vanguard Award.

One down, and more to come.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Actors union SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP concluded a full day of negotiations on Monday, the first time negotiators have been in a room together since the union declared a strike on July 14. While little details were shared about the talks, both sides plan to meet again this week. “SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP met for a full day bargaining session and have concluded.

EXCLUSIVE: In a major shakeup at Miramax, CEO Bill Block will exit the company this week, a move that will come as soon as Tuesday when his contract expires. It does not look like there was much if any negotiation on a new deal for Block, which raises questions of exactly which areas the multi-faceted company will lean into.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Bill Block is out as CEO of Miramax. The executive and film producer was hired in 2017. Block’s contract expired this week and was not renewed, sources said.

BBC has confirmed Abercrombie & Fitch ex-CEO Mike Jeffries and his partner Matthew Smith are the subject of a Panorama special.The network announced an hour-long episode would air Monday October 2 last week, with no details on what the documentary would cover.The special, which is now available on BBC iPlayer, is titled The Abercrombie Guys: The Dark Side Of Cool and investigates various allegations of exploitation and abuse from men against the fashion mogul.In the documentary, it’s claimed Jeffries and Smith used a “middleman” named James Jacobson and other “recruiters” to find young men for sex events they hosted around the world between 2009 and 2015.Eight men discussed their alleged recruitment for the events in the documentary, with the majority claiming Jacobson sexually “auditioned” them by requesting or performing oral sex before being introduced to Jeffries or Smith.Half the alleged victims claimed they were initially misled about the nature of the events or not told sex was involved. Others said they knew the events would be sexual, but were allegedly unaware of what was expected of them.

Bethenny Frankel is clarifying her stance against Bravo!

Addie Morfoot Contributor Independent cinema is in trouble.That’s according to Bob Berney, CEO of Picturehouse, John Sloss, founder and CEO of Cinetic Media, and Eugene Hernandez, director of the Sundance Film Festival and head of public programming. During an Oct.

UPDATED with deal closing: CAA and Artémis on Monday said that its deal for Artemis to acquire a majority stake in CAA has officially closed.

Back at the bargaining table Monday for the first time in more than two and a half months, SAG-AFTRA and the Hollywood studios and streamers have a long way to go to make a deal – even with the momentum gained by the end of the writers’ strike.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director With Mattel Films off to the races thanks to the blockbuster success of “Barbie,” the studio is moving full steam ahead on its upcoming Barney movie produced by Daniel Kaluuya. The project became a subject of fascination for cinephiles after Mattel Films executive Kevin McKeon told The New Yorker in July that the script was similar to an A24 movie and the “surrealistic” films from Charlie Kaufman and Spike Jonze.

Naman Ramachandran The U.K.’s National Film and Television School (NFTS) has partnered with “The Crown” producer Left Bank Pictures on the NFTS Diverse Writers Development Program that kicks off in March 2024. It will select six emerging U.K. screenwriters from under-represented backgrounds to contribute their voices to the entertainment landscape and inject fresh perspectives into scripted drama.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Jeff Zucker‘s RedBird IMI investment company has bought a minority ownership stake in Front Office Sports, a media startup covering sports business. Front Office Sports claims that it has, on a monthly basis, “more than 150 million social impressions, 35 million newsletter opens, 10 million video views and 2 million page views” The company says it has more than 15 partners, which distribute its content on screens in more than 50,000 buildings and venues across North America. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Ed Meza @edmezavar Fred Kogel, CEO of leading German film and TV group Leonine Studios, which distributes the “Expendables” and “John Wick” movies in Germany, made the case for a new generation of action stars during the Zurich Summit over the weekend, where he was presented with Zurich Film Festival’s Game Changer Award. He noted that many of today’s action stars are the same ones he watched on the big screen back in the 1980s, among them Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Harrison Ford and Tom Cruise.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Paris Hilton is getting her X on. The influencer and entrepreneur — who has 16.6 million followers on X, formerly known as Twitter — announced a deal with the social platform owned by Elon Musk for an array of content and commerce initiatives.

DC co-Chairmen and CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran have been making decisions and announcements about their biggest stars in the past few months.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent “Million Dollar Listing UAE,” the first adaptation outside the U.S. of Bravo’s long-running luxury real estate reality franchise, is going through the roof in the Middle East. The bilingual show, featuring five United Arab Emirates brokers wheeling and dealing lavish properties in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, has been breaking all previous viewership records “across originals as well as licensed shows” since its Sept.

Tesco has announced plans to introduce a major change to hundreds of Express stores and petrol station kiosks.