By Patrick Frater Chinese film and tech group, Alibaba Pictures managed to slash its losses during the COVID-affected financial year to March 2021. It pointed to strength and scale of its content as the differentiator between this and previous years. Revenue was little changed at RMB2.85 billion ($445 million). Losses attributable to owners …read more
By becroll After launching their first volley at SXSW this past spring, U.K.-based outfit Fat Red Bird are set to expand its “(Hi)Story of a Painting” franchise, partnering with the National Gallery in London for the series’ four subsequent installments. Directed by Gaëlle Mourre and Quentin Darras, and produced by Charlotte Mikkelborg …read more
By becroll When producer Chloé Jarry launched the Paris-based XR studio Lucid Realities, she wanted to open an immersive experience production company structured with a distribution component as well. “If we want to continue producing, we have to be able to distribute,” Jarry tells Variety. “Festivals are obviously extremely important, but they …read more
By varietybrentlang It was an unusual pitch. Amber Sealey, the director of “No Man of God,” couldn’t shake the feeling that Luke Kirby, best known for playing Lenny Bruce on “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” was the perfect person to embody a very different historical figure: None other than Ted Bundy, one of …read more
By tomilaffly Everything starts and ends with tradition in “India Sweets and Spices,” an inviting intergenerational dramedy of comforting flavors, both witty and familiar. Packing a conventional coming-of-age tale into its pleasantly paced running time, Geeta Malik’s sophomore feature — about old-fashioned multicultural families with storied roots and their modern, independently minded …read more
By Chris Willman Record Store Day is back to put the drop on vinyl hounds and their long-suffering debit cards. At least, a modified version of it is. As happened last year, pandemic conditions caused the traditional RSD April event to be delayed and broken up into two theoretically crowd-suppressing halves, with the …read more
By Peter Debruge “Wish Dragon” is well aware that “Aladdin” got there first. Making his spirited feature debut, dream-big animation director Chris Appelhans pretty much assumes you’ll be thinking of Disney’s blue genie when his humble Hong Kong hero rubs a jade teapot and produces a fluorescent flamingo-pink dragon, ready to grant his …read more
By Antonio Ferme Variety’s Virtual TV Fest ran from June 8 to 10, bringing together the entertainment industry’s premier content creators and stars for a number of panels about the very best in television. Keynotes and conversations spanned the examination of content development, writing, casting, marketing and distribution. The virtual event assembled the …read more
By Owen Gleiberman Why did he do it? That’s the question that anyone who’s ever been touched by the hungry, life-force spirit of Anthony Bourdain will have at the top of his or her head going into “Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain.” Directed by the award-winning Morgan Neville (“20 Feet from Stardom,” …read more
By tomilaffly Stylish and insidery, “Poser” is enthralled by Columbus, Ohio, particularly its burgeoning independent arts and music scene. It’s a sophisticated, if not cold-to-the-touch psychodrama of elegant visuals and innovative tunes, which debuting co-directors Ori Segev and Noah Dixon (who also scripted) beguilingly steer as a cheeky yet gradually darkening ode …read more