Berlin-based sales company M-Appeal will be handling eight films by Academy Award winner Ryûsuke Hamaguchi made between 2008-2016. The deal follows M-Appeal’s previous collaboration with Hamaguchi and producer Satoshi Takata, of NEOPA Inc., in 2021 on the film “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy,” which premiered in Berlinale Competition and won the Silver Bear Grand Jury…

Sling TV, the internet-streaming division of Dish Network, is doubling down on free, ad-supported streaming television (FAST) and free, ad-supported VOD — looking to beef up its offering for consumers who balk at paying a monthly subscription fee. The redubbed Sling Freestream is launching with 210 free channels and 41,000-plus on-demand titles. It’s a rebranding…

Children’s book “Dark Lord: The Teenage Years” is getting a stage adaptation from Kevin Murphy (pictured above) and Laurence O’Keefe, the creators of “Heathers the Musical.” The stage musical adaptation will be produced by Buccaneer (“The Doll Factory”) and Halfire Entertainment (“Alias Grace”), who have acquired the rights to the book, which is written by…

Now streaming on Vizio TVs: Your top vacation moments — or any personal pics or videos from your camera roll. Vizio, a value-priced leader in the U.S. TV market, is launching a public beta version of VizioGram, a feature that allows you to share photos and videos via its mobile app to select internet-connected Vizio…

The Aniverse and Visual Arts Foundation (AVAF) in partnership with Annecy Festival, France, is launching AniMela, India’s first-ever international festival for animation, VFX, XR, gaming and comics. The three-day festival is set to take place in Mumbai in November 2023 and will provide a platform for Indian talent in the animation, visual effects, gaming and…

HYBE America has entered into an agreement to merge and acquire Quality Control (QC Media Holdings, Inc.), the Atlanta-based entertainment company covering music (Lil Baby, Lil Yachty, City Girls and Migos are among its signings), sports, film and television founded by CEO Pierre “P” Thomas and COO Kevin “Coach K” Lee. The deal, valued at…

Jeff Tweedy will release his third book, “World Within a Song: Music That Changed My Life and Life That Changed My Music” on Nov. 7 via Dutton. It follows two previous bestsellers, “Letʼs Go (So We Can Get Back)” and “How to Write One Song” and details more than 50 songs that shaped Tweedy’s life….

Bob Iger returned to the throne that he had only briefly vacated in dramatic fashion on Wednesday, presiding over his first quarterly earnings report since coming back as Disney’s CEO. But the once and present chief made it clear to analysts, during a conference call on the company’s fiscal first quarter earnings, that he was…

E! Network earned a solid ratings win over the weekend with its Grammys coverage. Overall, the network’s “Live from E!” offerings from the awards show managed to deliver 171 million cross-platform video minutes — a 15% increase from last year. Hosted by Laverne Cox and Bobby Bones, this year’s telecast brought in an audience of…

Willie Nelson’s world is a nice place to visit… and, yes, you probably do want to live there. That’s one good reason that “Willie Nelson & Family,” a documentary series that premiered at the recent Sundance Film Festival, plays out over five laid-back but thoroughly absorbing hours instead of having been deemed sufficient at theatrical…