Strategy Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Kevin Hart‘s Hartbeat has appointed Jay Levine, who previously spent more than a decade at Warner Bros. and WarnerMedia, as CEO. Levine takes over the chief executive role from Thai Randolph, who exited Hartbeat last fall after seven years with the company.

Former Warner Bros. exec Jay Levine has joined Kevin Hart‘s Hartbeat as its new chief executive officer. Levine replaces ex-CEO Thai Randolph, who exited the company in November after nearly seven years at the helm.

Alex Ritman 42, the L.A.- and London-based management and production company behind titles including “The Silent Twins,” “The Girl Before” and “The Flatshare,” has appointed former Universal International Studios exec David O’Donoghue to the position of chief operating office with immediate effect. O’Donoghue will run the company’s operations and business development globally, in addition to having oversight of business affairs and production across the portfolio. He’ll work from 42’s London office.

Having told Newcastle United chiefs that he wants to join Manchester United, Magpies sporting director Dan Ashworth has been placed on gardening leave.

Anna Marie de la Fuente In an exclusive one-on-one interview with Variety, Fernando Medin, president and managing director of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) Latin America and U.S. Hispanic, drilled down onthe company’s programming and growth strategy for the region where it launches its rebranded streaming platform, Max, on Feb.

Disney+ has unveiled a slate of Korean originals, as the streaming platform opts for a more targeted strategy in Asia.

Manchester United might not need to get into the Champions League to spend a lot of money on new players this summer.

K.J. Yossman All3Media has finally been sold. Redbird IMI has snapped up the production-distribution giant behind “The Traitors” and Jamie Dornan-starrer “The Tourist” from owners Liberty Global and Warner Bros.

William Earl Variety has promoted Lindsey Elfenbein to VP of global summits and strategic partnerships. In her elevated role, Elfenbein will continue to oversee the brand’s global thought-leadership vertical and expand Variety’s portfolio of B2B and consumer clients across tech, financial, consultancy and pharmaceutical categories.

Callum McLennan Going into Berlin’s European Film Market, Spain’s biggest sales agents are under no illusion just how tough international markets have become. “Paradoxically, in one of the best moments for Spanish productions, we are finding that some of our top dramas are getting hard to sell unless selected in Cannes, Venice or Berlin,” says Latido Films CEO Antonio Saura. Also, “If American productions dominate at least 80% of markets, and local productions claim about half what remains.

Erik ten Hag has told his Manchester United squad to show they match the ambition of Ineos as the club's new minority owners continue to make their mark at Old Trafford.

A ‘funky’ new university library will be built in the shadow of Mancunian Way.

The Traitors has become a huge hit throughout it’s second season on Peacock, with tons of social media chatter!

in the winter? The “hair tuck” is here to help.This easy hack—hiding or folding your hair inside your winter coat while outside —may not be a household name, but you may have seen it on the street in the winter months.What started as an insider trend that championed back in 2010 in some photos for Vogue France—and then made it into one of the hallmarks of her runway shows for Céline—is now popular again, especially among Gen Z. That's because it has many benefits for hair health beyond the undeniable coolness of the gesture.Persuaded by all the street style photos of people doing the “hair tuck,” I decided to make it a habit.

The government has been warned by The Society of Radiographers that the NHS could face longer waiting lists and more staff leaving if it doesn't commit to fully-funded pay awards. They said there have been 15 years of underfunding and that the service is currently 'at breaking point'.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The New Zealand International Film Festival has appointed veteran programmer Paolo Bertolin as its new artistic director. The festival, which travels around the country, will return in July and August, but stop in just four places.

Caroline Brew editor Jimmy Fox has joined Fremantle as executive vice president of unscripted development and sales for the company’s U.S. operations, as Jayson Dinsmore shifts to a new role within Fremantle as consulting producer. Dinsmore, who had previously served as president, alternative programming and development for Fremantle in North America, will now oversee the “America’s Got Talent” brand, including the upcoming Season 19, which begins production next month.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Can Mondays do for the TV business what Thursdays and Sundays once did? Some of the medium’s best-known personalities are trying to figure this question out. When Jon Stewart re-emerges Monday night as a one-night-a-week host of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” he will join MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow and Jen Psaki in making bespoke Monday appearances for their network, part of what has become a low-key scheduling experiment that actually has high stakes: In a medium best known for offering viewers the same hosts in the same time slots five nights a week, can TV networks that thrive on news-and-talk programs generate new attention and advertising dollars by doling them out less frequently ? “Monday is really appealing,” says Stephanie Morales, vice president of media intelligence at Magna, the Interpublic Group media-research firm.

The Bear has been revealed.The highly-acclaimed FX show has just finished its second season with six Emmys and three Golden Globe awards, and is ready to return to screens this year.FX Chairman John Landgraf has now revealed The Bear will start its third season in June 2024, with all episodes available at the same time.Landgraf said the decision to make The Bear available to binge-watch was intentional since its debut season. “We all watched the first season, we talked about it, and it wasn’t lost on me or anyone else who worked on the show that it’s a little anxiety-inducing,” he said.“So we made a decision that we would drop the whole thing as a binge, because for those of you who saw it, it has a really beautiful, very uplifting ending.”Landgraf further revealed that he knew The Bear‘s binge-watch strategy worked “when I talked to a friend and colleague of the platform the day after we dropped it.

Channel 4 is merging several commissioning departments including TV drama and film and leaving its Horseferry Road premises as the network sets out its layoffs plan and five-year strategy.

Naman Ramachandran U.K. public service broadcaster Channel 4 has confirmed the 200 layoffs that were being planned earlier this month.

A crime crackdown plan in Rochdale has been approved.

Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift have got it down when it comes to dealing with the neverending spotlight!

The Traitors fans have asked Mollie the same question after a dramatic final saw Harry crowned winner of the BBC show.

Warner Bros. Discovery through the streaming wars.

Maria Kyriacou, Paramount Global‘s President, Broadcast & Studios, International Markets, is exiting the U.S. studio after four years, as it prepares to slim down its international originals offering.

Rafa Sales Ross Guest Contributor Tamara Tatishvili is going full steam into her first edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, which runs Jan. 25 – Feb. 4, following her appointment as the head of the festival’s funding arm, the Hubert Bals Fund.

Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish said today the company will continue to reduce its global workforce “to operate as a leaner company and spend less.” But there were no further details in a memo to staff obtained by Deadline following a “Bob Live” town hall today.  

McKinley Franklin editor Rapper Travis Scott stars in the first trailer for his and director Harmony Korine‘s indie film “Aggro Dr1ft,” which was shot entirely in infrared. The short trailer is bathed in the starkly contrasted colors of the infrared lens, and it follows an assassin on his journey. “Breaking away from the traditional parameters of cinema, ‘Aggro Dr1ft’ explores the onslaught of digital ephemera and interrogates modern life through the vernacular of video games.