Sota Nakajima's _2nd Shashinshuu "THE SELF"_ enters at No. 2.

Plus: Arashi places multiple titles on the chart again this week, with three in the top 10.

Muramatsu, chairman and representative director of Sony Music Entertainment (Japan), was selected for the first time on the list.

Chinese director Zhong Kaifeng presented his debut feature “Atlantic Rhapsody” at the Shanghai International Film Festival’s main competition press conference and post-screening Q&A, joined by producers Wang Tianxiao and Zhengjing and cast members Li Xueqin, Wang Yitong, Yin Fang and Huang Miyi. The film is set in a declining industrial city in Northeast China and […]

“My Own Last Supper,” an Indonesian film about the Chinese diaspora, is eyeing a Chinese theatrical release after its world premiere in competition at the Shanghai International Film Festival. Producer Lyza Anggraheni said the production team is actively seeking Chinese distribution partners, with the film designed from the outset to reach mainland audiences. “We knew […]

Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid says he was “astonished” by the wave of support he received from Natalie Portman, Justine Triet, Jacques Audiard and hundreds of other film figures after the boycott campaign that led him to withdraw from Marseille’s FID Festival, where he had been invited as a juror. He was even more surprised to […]

Billboard JAPAN interviewed Shimizu in recognition of his first selection on the list.

Warner Music Japan’s President & CEO was chosen for Billboard's Global Power Players list for the first time.

Bendita Film Sales has picked up international sales rights for “3 Weeks After,” by writer-director Miroslav Terzić, which is world premiering in the Crystal Globe Competition at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival. The film, which is inspired by true events, explores violence among children as a reflection of a society where cruelty is increasingly witnessed […]

“Models vs. Werewolves,” the new horror film from Charles Band and vertical production banner FMA – Full Moon Artists, has landed at microdrama platform ReelShort for its vertical premiere. The film follows five models who retreat to a remote Airbnb during a rare full moon event that occurs once every 500 years, only to find […]

BAFTA-winning British actress Molly Windsor has signed with Anonymous Content. The rising star currently leads Netflix’s psychological thriller series “Unchosen” as a woman living in a strict, isolated religious cult. The 6-part series debuted in April at the top spot on Netflix both in the U.S. and globally, amassing more than 10.4 million views in […]

Panjaya.ai and Shortical have struck a strategic partnership to bring AI-powered localization to mobile-first microdrama content, the companies revealed Thursday at the APOS conference in Bali. Under the deal, Shortical’s serialized drama output is being localized into Spanish, Portuguese, French and German, with Japanese and Russian to follow. The collaboration targets an addressable audience of…

With more than 11 films in competition and six additional titles featured in out‑of‑competition sections and special programs, Canada stands out once again at France’s Annecy Animation Film Festival and its lakeside market, MIFA. A confirmation of the push powered by Canada’s key cultural institutions last year, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and […]

On Thursday June 25, Annecy Animation Film Festival will wake up under the flying colors of the Maple Leaf Flag, as Telefilm Canada, Canada Media Fund (CMF) and its partners invite MIFA attendees and animation professionals from all the world to join what is shaping up as an engaging animated series pitching session. As part […]

Richard Linklater will be honored at this year’s Zurich Film Festival with the Career Achievement Award for his life’s work, receiving the Golden Eye. The American filmmaker will accept the award in person on Sept. 28 at the Filmpodium Zürich. The festival paid tribute to Linklater as “one of the most influential auteur filmmakers of […]

Rising Turkish filmmaker Belkis Bayrak is prepping her sophomore feature, “A Brighter Word Than Bright,” which she’s presenting this week in the Transilvania Pitch Stop co-production forum of the Transilvania Intl. Film Festival. The director’s debut feature, “Gülizar,” world premiered in Toronto’s Discovery strand and played San Sebastian’s New Directors Competition. A portrait of grief and…

Jakarta Vice Governor Rano Karno used an appearance at the APOS conference in Bali on Thursday to lay out a six-point initiative to transform Indonesia’s capital into a leading production destination, while separately holding talks with senior Netflix executives on expanding the streamer’s output in the city. The centerpiece of the package is a tax […]

Speaking during the APOS conference’s “India Streaming: The Product View” session, JioStar executives Bharath Ram and Vijay Seshadri outlined how JioHotstar is building its product and engineering roadmap around consumer behavior, artificial intelligence and connected television. For Bharath Ram, chief product officer of JioStar, product development begins with understanding India’s highly…

Women in Animation has announced its lineup for this year’s WIA World Summit at Annecy, themed “Frame by Frame: A Global Celebration of Women and Nonbinary Creators.” The summit will feature producer Bonnie Arnold, who will take part in a fireside chat. “As we celebrate 10 years of the summit, we’re also asking what comes […]

Banijay Kids & Family has secured distribution rights to Pyjama Films’ mockumentary-style adult animation “Belzebubs.” Currently in production, it’s already confirmed for YLE in Finland and TV3 in Catalonia, with presales also secured for RUV (Iceland) and Prima (Czechia). The black-and-white animated series is based on the globally popular webcomic created by JP Ahonen, which […]

As Indonesia’s entertainment industry gains greater international visibility, MD Entertainment, one of the country’s top studios, is increasingly looking beyond local success and toward global partnerships, franchise development and emerging content formats. During the “Indonesia At Scale” session at the APOS conference, MD Entertainment founder and CEO Manoj Punjabi outlined the company’s…

Joel and Ethan Coen will be honored at the 18th edition of the Lumière Festival, which runs from Oct. 10-18 in Lyon, France. The filmmaking brothers will receive the Lumière Award at the festival, which is focused on classic cinema and iconic filmmakers, and is headed by Cannes chief Thierry Fremaux. The Coens will receive […]

Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson has been cast as Teen Angel in Secret Cinema and TodayTix’s return staging of “Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical,” set to run at Evolution London in Battersea Park from July 22 to Sept. 13. Wilson joins a cast that includes Giórgios Michaelídes as Danny and Archangelo Ciulla as Kenickie, alongside […]

Barcelona-based Limonero Films has nabbed world rights to distribute “Bock Saga,” an original, four-part true crime series produced by Finnish group Parad Media. The cult-related series, which premieres on Finnish broadcaster YLE on July 27, has already pre-sold to NRK in Norway, Swedish broadcaster SVT and Denmark’s DR. The series examines the enigmatic story of the […]

Streaming platforms racing to acquire microdrama content are not simply chasing a trending format – they are buying a direct line into the fast-attention layer where Southeast Asian audiences spend the overwhelming majority of their digital leisure time, according to new research presented at the APOS conference in Bali by Dhivya T, head of insights […]

One of animation’s most enduring franchises is making its Indian theatrical debut. TV Asahi and PVR Inox Pictures will release “Doraemon the Movie: New Nobita and the Castle of the Undersea Devil” across cinemas throughout India on Oct. 2, the franchise’s first-ever big-screen outing in the country. The film, rooted in the original manga by […]

The upcoming Galway Film Fleadh has landed a world premiere of a very local story from arguably Ireland’s most renowned producers in Element Pictures and, in Liam Neeson, one of the country’s biggest stars. “The Lost Children of Tuam,” directed by Frank Berry (“Aisha,” “Michael Inside”) and written by Rebecca Lenkiewicz (“The Salt Path,” “She […]

Asia’s fast-growing vertical content sector is moving beyond short-form experimentation and into the franchise era, according to executives speaking at the APOS on Thursday. During the session “Building the Vertical Stack in Asia,” industry leaders shared that the next stage of growth for vertical entertainment will be driven not only by subscriber acquisition, but by […]

In the last two years, Spanish directors have had more films in Cannes Festival main competition – five – than any other country in the world. On June 17, Prime Video announced that Spain was its No. 1 non-English export force, recently scoring as many hits in its Non-English Global Top 10 films as the […]

Spanish literature could prove to be a boon for international film and TV adaptations, says Fernando Benzo, author and secretary general of the Spanish Federation of Publishers. “Books are a safe intellectual property – that’s the main concept for me,” Benzo told Variety. “When you work on a book, usually you already have the fan […]