Featuristic Films has unveiled an exclusive first look at the feature documentary 'Afghanistan.' It follows filmmaker James Glancy, a former British Royal Marine Commando who was decorated in 2012 for his actions in combat, as he returns to Afghanistan with a small, handpicked team to help him answer the question that has haunted him over the past decade: Was it worth it? Dramatically, mid-way through the shoot, President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. would be pulling troops out by 9/11, starting a Taliban offensive that has led to the dramatic fall this week of the Afghan government, amidst chaotic evacuation scenes in Kabul as American forces withdraw.

https://variety.com/2021/film/global/afghanistan-james-glancy-featuristic-films-1235042807/

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Baz Halpin, the music touring creative director who founded Silent House 11 years ago, announced an ambitious expansion Tuesday, with his brainchild to now be known as Silent House Group and expanded into three separate companies Silent House Studiios, Silent House Events and Silent House ...

https://variety.com/2021/music/news/baz-halpin-silent-house-group-expands-1234966128/

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Kym Whitley and Danny Garcia have been cast in recurring roles in the Amazon YA pilot Hot Pink,Variety has learned exclusively. The pair joins previously announced stars Sarah Michelle Gellar,Nina Bloomgarden, David Iacono, Mimi Davila, Dana Donnelly, and Myra Molloy, as well as fellow...

https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/kym-whitley-danny-garcia-amazon-hot-pink-1234966331/

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NBCUniversal has instituted a production assistant training program in New Mexico aimed at residents who are interested in pursuing a career in film and television production. The two-day training program, scheduled for May 22 and 23, will be free to accepted applicants and will cover everything ...

https://variety.com/2021/film/news/nbcuniversal-production-assistant-new-mexico-1234966570/

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Oscars producer Steven Soderbergh has opened up about the decisions made to change the show order of the 2021 ceremony and whether he regrets not allowing Zoom acceptance speeches. In an interview published today by the Los Angeles Times, Soderbergh, who served as producer alongside Stacey Sher and ...

https://variety.com/2021/awards/news/steven-soderbergh-oscars-show-order-1234966659/

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Global streaming sports platform DAZN and Brazilian soccer legend Ronaldo have closed a multi-project development deal kicking off with El Presidente, a docu-series chronicling the former strikers tenure as part owner of Spanish club Valladolid FC, which will launch globally on May 20. Best known ...

https://variety.com/2021/streaming/news/ronaldo-dazn-el-presidente-la-guerra-1234966481/

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While the theater industry is currently reeling from being on lockdown for the past 14 months, the curtains are about to rise again. After Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that Broadway theaters will reopen at full capacity on Sept. 14, theater productions have started to declare their intended return ...

https://variety.com/2021/theater/news/broadway-show-tickets-where-to-buy-1234970196/

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BTS has set the television performance debut of the groups forthcoming single, Butter, for the Billboard Music Awards May 23. The vocal group will perform remotely from Korea on the show, to be broadcast on NBC live across time zones in the U.S. at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. Butter, ...

https://variety.com/2021/music/news/bts-butter-billboard-music-awards-performance-premiere-1234970665/

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Paramount Television Studios and Anonymous Content are getting ready to relocate the filming of ambitious Apple TV Plus series Shantaram to Thailand in July, Variety can reveal. The 10-part series is based on Gregory David Roberts tome about a man on the run from prison in Australia, who flees to ...

https://variety.com/2021/streaming/asia/shantaram-apple-thailand-charlie-hunnam-1234973197/

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Fox News Channel has defied its many critics for a quarter century, surviving shocking internal scandals and weathering myriad controversies with its primetime hosts to become a profit-generating juggernaut for Rupert Murdoch. But there is no question that its traditional linear revenue base is ...

https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/fox-news-cord-cutting-murdoch-subscribers-1234972698/

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Gary Foster has worked in Hollywood for more than three decades producing hit films like Sleepless in Seattle and watercooler shows like Community. Its a life on setthats allowed him to observe the best and often the worst ofhumanbehavior, from star tantrums todirector meltdowns. For too long, ...

https://variety.com/2021/biz/news/humanity-on-set-hollywood-toxic-workplaces-1234971948/

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Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Friday that the California will add $30 million to the states film and TV tax incentive program this year, as the state doles out a $75 billion surplus. The $30 million is on top of the $330 million that the state provides annually to subsidize TV and film ...

https://variety.com/2021/politics/news/gavin-newsom-30-million-state-film-credit-program-1234973701/

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Director Robert Eggers The Northman will release in theaters on April 8, 2022, Focus Features announced on Friday. Universal Pictures International will premiere the film internationally on the same day. Starring Alexander Skarsgard, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicole Kidman, Ethan Hawke, ...

https://variety.com/2021/film/news/the-northman-release-date-robert-eggers-1234973788/

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Cherry Jones has joined the cast of the upcoming Apple drama series Five Days at Memorial,Variety has learned. The series is based on the Sheri Fink novel of the same name. It chronicles the first five days in a New Orleans, LA, hospital after Hurricane Katrina made landfall. When the ...

https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/cherry-jones-apple-hurricane-katrina-series-five-days-at-memorial-1234972543/

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Before NBC Universals upfront presentation on Monday to advertisers, the company announced dozens of new shows for Bravo, E!, USA Network, Oxygen, and SYFY. In the press release, 33 new unscripted shows were announced along with 30 shows returning to the suite of channels. Among the ...

https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/below-deck-kandi-burruss-southern-charm-summer-house-nbcu-upfront-1234972584/

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Marvel Studios Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and 20th Centurys Free Guy will open in movie theaters exclusively, Disney CEO Bob Chapek announced during a Q2 earnings call on Thursday. But both films will only play in theaters for 45 days before ...

https://variety.com/2021/film/news/disney-shang-chi-free-guy-45-day-window-1234972782/

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Michael Jai White, whose work as an an actor, director and writer includes Arrow, The Dark Knight, Spawn and Mortal Kombat: Legacy, announced the launch of Jaigantic Studios, which will be Connecticuts first mini-major studio. White has ...

https://variety.com/2021/film/news/michael-jai-white-launch-jaigantic-studios-connecticut-1234972986/

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The Venice Film Festival is gearing up to take place as a full-fledged physical event in September with a back-to-normal atmosphere and what could be a high-profile selection of films. While the Toronto Film Festival, which runs Sept. 9-18, is sticking with a combination of digital and in-person ...

https://variety.com/2021/film/news/venice-film-festival-2021-dune-films-red-carpet-1234972195/

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Damon Weaver, the kid reporter who gained national attention for interviewing President Barack Obama at the White House, has died. He was 23. According to the Associated Press, Weavers family says he died of natural causes on May 1. His sister, Candace Hardy, confirmed his death to the Palm ...

https://variety.com/2021/politics/news/damon-weaver-dead-kid-reporter-obama-1234973918/

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As I pressed play on the first episode of Run the World, I wasnt intending to mainline the entire eight-episode season in one greedy gulp. But as a blessedly rare warm New York City breeze floated through my open window, Leigh Davenports lush new series about four friends having a vivid, game-...

https://variety.com/2021/tv/reviews/run-the-world-starz-review-andrea-bordeaux-harlem-1234973705/

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Kate McKinnon kicked off the penultimate episode of Saturday Night Lives 46th season by stepping back into Dr. Anthony Faucis shoes (and glasses and combover wig) to deliver a press conference about the CDCs announcement that fully-vaccinated people no longer need ...

https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/saturday-night-live-fauci-cdc-mask-rules-cold-open-1234974026/

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In a sketch spoofing The Muppets on Saturday Night Lives penultimate episode of Season 46, a couple of the actual classic puppets made appearances. Kermit the Frog kicked things off, of course, as the host of The Muppet Show, but Statler and Waldorf ...

https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/saturday-night-live-season-46-muppets-sketch-1234974031/

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ATT and Discovery are discussing the possibility of combining media assets to create a entertainment and lifestyle content giant with a global footprint to better compete in the streaming marketplace. Bloomberg first reported Sunday that talks are ongoing and a deal could be reached as early as...

https://variety.com/2021/biz/news/att-discovery-hbo-cnn-food-network-hgtv-1234974077/

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Clive Davis has a gig as musics own new Barbara Walters, if he wants it. For the second half of his two-part virtual Grammy gala this year, the music mogul doubled down in Saturday nights invitation-only webcast on interviews with the stars, including Elton John, DaBaby, ...

https://variety.com/2021/music/news/clive-davis-joni-mitchell-dababy-oprah-gala-conversations-1234974118/

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Richard Montaez is speaking out following claims by Frito-Lay that he did not invent Flamin Hot Cheetos. I was their greatest ambassador, Montaez tells Variety of Frito-Lay. But I will say this, youre going to love your company more than they will ever love you, ...

https://variety.com/2021/film/news/richard-montanez-flamin-hot-cheetos-responds-1234974227/

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The Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon at HBO has unveiled its first official images. House of the Dragon is set a few hundred years prior to the events of Game of Thrones and tells the story of House Targaryen and the Targaryen civil war that became known...

https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/game-of-thrones-prequel-house-of-the-dragon-hbo-first-look-photos-1234966978/

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Wednesdays are the new Fridays in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Loki star Tom Hiddleston made the announcement that his Disney Plus series is moving up its release date two days to Wednesday, June 9. The weekly episodes of Loki will release on Wednesdays instead of the ...

https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/loki-disney-plus-premiere-date-wednesdays-1234967122/

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Fox Corporation said profit in its third fiscal quarter rose owing to increases in value of some of its outside investments, even as overall revenue fell due to comparisons with 2020, which contained a Super Bowl and a red-hot news cycle focused on the Trump administration and the spread of the ...

https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/fox-corporation-q1-earnings-profit-1234967286/

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Travis Scott announced that his Astroworld Festival fully sold out today in under an hour, with over 100,000 people expected to attend the event. The event, taking place November 5-6 in Scotts hometown of Houston, sold through all its passes before a lineup has been announced, making ...

https://variety.com/2021/music/news/travis-scott-astroworld-festival-sells-out-under-an-hour-1234967354/

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Pop star Bebe Rexha has previously revealed that she considers her sexuality fluid, and in a new interview with Gay Times published Wednesday, she expanded on her views. What I believe about sexuality is this: its a scale, Rexha said. Have I gone out with ...

https://variety.com/2021/music/news/bebe-rexha-fluid-sexuality-1234967309/

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