Fremantle has deepened its relationship with Artists, Writers & Artisans, Inc. (AWA) by making a minority investment in the company. Fremantle had struck a strategic development deal with AWA Studios, the film and television division of AWA, last year. AWA is backed by James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems, SISTER, and Lightspeed Venture Partners. In 2021, the…

Tom Luddy, who co-founded and served as artistic director for the Telluride Film Festival and produced films including “The Secret Garden” and “Barfly,” died Feb. 13 in Berkeley, Calif., after battling a long illness. He was 79. Luddy co-founded Telluride in 1974 along with Bill Pence, Stella Pence and James Card. Luddy served as co-director,…

Ben McKenzie has been cast in the lead role in the ABC drama pilot “The Hurt Unit,” Variety has learned. The project was first ordered to pilot at ABC back in December. Per the official logline, the show is “a cutting-edge medical drama about a highly skilled team of trauma surgeons and nurses who race…

The “Bass Reeves” series from Taylor Sheridan starring David Oyleowo has added two new series regulars, Variety has learned exclusively. Forrest Goodluck and Lauren E. Banks are both set to star in the show alongside series lead Oyelowo and previously announced cast member Dennis Quaid. The series is based on the true story of the…

Don’t even think about calling HBO’s “The Last of Us” a zombie show. Eben Bolter, the cinematographer who shot four episodes of the video game adaptation’s 10-episode first season, recently told The Credits that referring to the series as a zombie show or using the word zombie to refer to the undead characters was strictly…

Sony Pictures Television’s nonfiction group is expanding. Eli Holzman, Sony’s President of Nonfiction Entertainment and co-president Aaron Saidman have revealed Gena McCarthy’s Unconventional Entertainment has signed an overall deal with SPT. As part of the agreement, Unconventional will develop, sell, and produce original formats in core genres including relationships, home, food, survival, Americana, competition, and…

Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson and Fox have entered into a non-exclusive broadcast direct deal to develop scripted dramas, live-action comedies and animated series through his production company G-Unit Film & Television, Michael Thorn, Fox Entertainment’s president of scripted programming announced on Tuesday. Projects created as part of the agreement will be owned by Fox Entertainment…

Univision has announced another wave of performers for the 35th edition of Premio Lo Nuestro, the longest-running awards show in Spanish-language television. Ozuna, Pepe Aguilar, Carin León, Fuerza Regida, Gente De Zona, Mau y Ricky and Grupo Frontera, have joined the jam-packed list of diverse entertainers set to take the stage on Feb. 23. Known…

What began for a pair of New York Times reporters as an investigation into managerial malfeasance ended up turning into a family drama. While it was the actions of Viacom founder Sumner Redstone and CBS Corp. CEO Leslie Moonves that first attracted James B. Stewart and Rachel Abrams to what became their new book, “Unscripted:…