Creative Gate Opens Estonian Biz to the World
The platform brings the names of more than 200 Estonian professionals and companies-financiers, producers, public bodies, casting agencies, crew and more to users' fingertips
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The free-of-charge service, is aimed at facilitating co-production and filming opportunities in the smallest Baltic state, which housed shoots of Christopher Nolan's 'Tenet,' Paramount+/Showtime's series 'The Agency' and Sundance feature 'Bubble & Squeak.'
Project manager Egle Loor says the brain behind the on-line platform is Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival honcho Tiina Lokk who thought about new ways to re-boost Estonia's film industry post-COVID. So far, the service offers information exclusively on Estonia, but it is poised to expand across the entire Baltic region and hopefully the Nordics. 'We have invented Creative Gate, so why limit ourselves,'says Loor who feels the tool could further strengthen the natural cooperation between the Baltics and the Nordics.
To evaluate Creative Gate's appeal to other partners, including potential co-financiers, a team from the Festival has attended a startup incubation program at the Baltics' largest science park, Tehnopol, in eastern Estonia. 'We're fine-tuning our product to boost its efficiency, sustainability and creativity, and in Cannes, we will present it to international professionals,' said Loor.
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USA Today
25 minutes ago
- USA Today
When do new episodes of ‘South Park' come out? See Season 27 schedule
Season 27 of 'South Park' started off with a bang this week after creating a firestorm of discussion and controversy involving no less than Satan and President Donald Trump. 'South Park' tore into Trump in its season premiere, at one point depicting him getting into bed naked with Satan. The episode also referenced the president's settlement agreement with Paramount (the show's boss), the '60 Minutes' saga, and the surprise cancellation of CBS's "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert." Show creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone came out with an 'apology' the day after, slyly saying, 'we're terribly sorry,' at Comedy Central's Comic-Con animation panel on July 24. The events came shortly after Paramount and the show's creators agreed on a 50-episode streaming deal on Paramount+. Following its blazing start, here is what to know about Season 27 of 'South Park." What is the 'South Park' Season 27 episode schedule? The new deal between "South Park" creators and Paramount included an agreement for the show to produce 10 episodes per year, multiple media outlets including Los Angeles Times and The Hollywood Reporter reported. Under that episode cadence, here is what the Season 27 episode schedule looks like: How to watch 'South Park' Season 27 New episodes of 'South Park' Season 27 are set to air on Comedy Central on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT. Episodes will be available to stream on Paramount+, but the season premiere did not hit the streaming platform until the day after, according to Paramount. Paramount+ offers two subscription plans. Paramount+ Essential is just $7.99 per month and gives you access to thousands of episodes, movies and live NFL on CBS (with limited ads). Paramount+ Premium is $12.99 per month and includes everything in the Essential plan plus Showtime originals, blockbuster movies and live TV with fewer ads. USA TODAY's Brian Truitt contributed to this report. Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.


Forbes
an hour ago
- Forbes
What We Know About David Ellison—Paramount's New Post-Merger CEO
David Ellison's nepo-baby start helped launch him out of the shadow of his world's second-richest-person father to become one of Hollywood's biggest players after Paramount's merger with his own Skydance. Film producer David Ellison is Paramount's soon-to-be CEO after its merger with Skydance. (Photo by ... More CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP) (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images Ellison, 42, is set to become the chairman and CEO of Paramount once its merger with Skydance, approved on Thursday by the Trump administration's Federal Communications Commission, is complete, setting him in charge of brands including CBS, MTV and Paramount Pictures. Ellison is the son of Larry Ellison, the Oracle co-founder worth $290 billion as of Friday, making him the second-richest person in the world, according to Forbes estimates. A University of Southern California film school drop-out, Ellison pursued a brief acting career before becoming a big-time producer of blockbusters like 'Top Gun: Maverick,' which notched him an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. Ellison made an offer to buy Paramount in 2024, and the companies finally agreed to merge in July of 2024—though the deal was not greenlit by the FCC until Thursday after a year of political tumult, including a pressure campaign by President Donald Trump that appears to have influenced CBS to settle a lawsuit with with the president for millions, and possibly impacted the decision to cancel Stephen Colbert's 'Late Show.' Ellison's father Larry Ellison, 80, is a titan of Silicon Valley who co-founded Oracle in 1977. David Ellison grew up in Woodside, California, in the Bay Area, where he was raised by his mother. His sister Megan, 39, is a film producer who founded Annapurna Pictures and backed the Oscar-nominated films 'Zero Dark Thirty,' 'Her,' 'American Hustle' and 'Phantom Thread.' His mother raised him to love movies, and the family would gather in their living room and watch the same films over and over: 'all three 'Star Wars' movies, back to back, 'Jurassic Park,' the original 'Terminator,' 'Back to the Future,'' journalist and novelist Taffy Brodesser-Akner wrote in a GQ profile. Who Is Ellison's Wife? In 2011, Ellison married actress and singer-songwriter Sandra Lynn Modic, with whom he has two children. She releases country music under the name Sandra Lynn and has released multiple EPs, including 'Sandra Lynn' in 2014 and 'Fight' in 2018. Her most popular music video, for her song 'Lose the War,' has garnered 1.1 million views on YouTube. Billboard premiered the video for her song, 'I Think of You,' in 2019, describing Lynn's song as a 'stirring' and 'vulnerable' ballad. She has not released music since 2019, according to her Spotify and YouTube profiles. Ellison briefly worked as an actor during the 2000s, with his first starring role in the 2006 war drama 'Flyboys' alongside James Franco. 'Flyboys,' bombed at the box office, grossing less than $18 million against its $60 million budget—which was reportedly financed by Ellison and his father. He then starred in the 2010 comedy 'Hole in One' alongside 'American Pie' actor Steve Talley, which largely flew under the radar. How Steve Jobs Influenced Ellison—and Skydance Backed by his father's money, Ellison founded Skydance in 2006 and told Kara Swisher in The New York Times in 2022 that Steve Jobs, who was one of his father's best friends, was an important mentor to him. He said Jobs initially told him it wouldn't work. 'I want you to come back up here and talk about how you guys are going to aspire to make movies and tell stories better than anybody else, because that's what we did at Pixar,' he says Jobs told him. In 2009, Ellison raised $350 million, some from his father, to finance a five-year agreement with Paramount to co-produce movies. Brodesser-Akner described him in GQ as someone who 'bought his way into Hollywood because he was rich and stayed there because he was good.' He notched his first big hit with The Coen brothers' Oscar-nominated 'True Grit,' the second movie produced under Skydance, which grossed more than $250 million worldwide on a $38 million budget. But he then began producing big-budget movies and veered toward well-known franchises. His third movie with Skydance was 'Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol,' which grossed nearly $700 million on a $145 million budget and was the first of five 'Mission Impossible' movies Skydance backed. Collectively, Skydance's 'Mission Impossible' movies grossed more than $3.3 billion worldwide. Skydance produced two Oscar-nominated 'Star Trek' movies—'Star Trek Into Darkness' (2013), which grossed $467 million on a $185 million budget, and 'Star Trek Beyond' (2016), which made $343 million on a $185 million budget—and backed two Terminator movies, the financially successful 'Terminator Genisys' in 2015 and the box-office bomb 'Terminator: Dark Fate' in 2019, which reportedly lost Paramount and Skydance more than $120 million. 'Top Gun: Maverick' is the studio's biggest hit and the 14th-highest-grossing movie of all time. Skydance's merger agreement with Paramount valued Skydance at $4.75 billion. What Do We Know About Ellison's Political Views—and Relationship With Trump? In 2024, Ellison donated nearly $1 million to former President Joe Biden's re-election campaign, before he dropped out of the race. But since negotiating the Paramount-Skydance merger, Ellison was spotted sitting near Trump at a UFC event earlier this year, and Trump has praised Ellison's takeover of Paramount. 'Ellison's great, he'll do a great job with it,' Trump told reporters in June. Ellison's Skydance has promised the Trump administration it would gut diversity, equity and inclusion policies and install an ombudsman to field complaints of ideological bias in CBS news coverage, in apparent attempts to appeal to Trump's FCC to secure approval for the merger. Ellison's father, Larry Ellison, is a longtime Republican donor and supporter of Trump. In 2020, Larry Ellison told Forbes he had never donated to Trump but once let him use a property he owned for a fundraiser. 'I don't think he's the devil—I support him and want him to do well,' Larry Ellison told Forbes. Larry Ellison joined Trump at the White House in January alongside other tech CEOs to discuss investment in artificial intelligence. What Does Ellison Want To Do As Paramount Chief? Ellison has said he wants to transform Paramount into a 'tech hybrid' company, using artificial intelligence to 'turbocharge content creation capabilities' and cut costs. Ellison said in a presentation to investors last year he envisions building a 'studio in the cloud' in partnership with Oracle to streamline production processes, using AI and cloud computing to speed up film production and animation. He also said he wanted to improve streaming service Paramount+'s algorithms to reduce cancelations and increase the amount of time subscribers use the platform. Ellison also reportedly told federal regulators he would push CBS News to embrace 'unbiased' and 'American storytelling,' following Trump's '60 Minutes' lawsuit and Paramount settlement. Ellison has reportedly held talks with Bari Weiss, the self-described 'left-leaning centrist' and often divisive journalist, to acquire her media company The Free Press, and potentially fuse it in some with CBS News. Ellison's possible embrace of Weiss comes as Skydance's general counsel Kyoko McKinnon promised the FCC in a letter the new Paramount leadership will 'ensure that the company's array of news and entertainment programming embodies a diversity of viewpoints across the political and ideological spectrum.' Weiss, a critic of diversity, equity and inclusion and 'woke' culture, started The Free Press after quitting the Times over what she called its 'illiberal environment' and its 'new McCarthyism.' Ben Affleck praised Ellison at a CNBC panel last year, stating he is 'not management class' and will approach Paramount 'in a very different way as somebody who's invested as an owner.' Billionaire filmmaker Tyler Perry, who has signed development deals with Paramount-owned BET, referred to Ellison by saying it would be beneficial to have 'someone who loves this business at the helm of one of the most storied studios.' Jane Fonda, who starred in the Skydance-produced Netflix series 'Grace & Frankie,' said the merger 'ensures that I get to continue the collaboration with an incredibly talented and enthusiastic film family.' Ellison told CNBC his frequent collaborator Tom Cruise is 'supportive' of the merger. News Peg The FCC commissioners voted 2-1 on Thursday to approve the Paramount-Skydance merger. The lone dissenting vote was from Anna Gomez, the only Democrat on the commission, who accused Paramount of 'cowardly capitulation to this Administration,' referencing the president's lawsuit settlement. Trump has claimed he received $16 million as part of the Paramount settlement and would be entitled to '$20 Million Dollars more from the new Owners, in Advertising, PSAs, or similar Programming.' After approving the merger, FCC Chair Brendan Carr said he welcomes 'Skydance's commitment to make significant changes at the once storied CBS broadcast network,' stating 'Americans no longer trust the legacy national news media to report fully, accurately, and fairly. It is time for a change.' Further Reading FCC Greenlights $8 Billion Paramount-Skydance Merger After Skydance Vows To End DEI Programs (Forbes) How Will David Ellison Tackle the Big Problems at Paramount? (New York Times)
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Dissenting FCC Commissioner: Paramount Chose 'Capitulation Over Courage' In Dealing With Trump
Though the Federal Communications Commission approved the Skydance-Paramount merger Thursday, one commissioner is speaking out against what she says has been an 'erosion of our First Amendment protections.' 'After months of cowardly capitulation to this Administration, Paramount finally got what it wanted. Unfortunately, it is the American public who will ultimately pay the price for its actions,' commissioner Anna M. Gomez said. More from The Hollywood Reporter Paramount Co-CEO Chris McCarthy Set to Exit After Skydance Merger Paramount-Skydance Merger Approved by FCC, Clearing Way for $8 Billion Deal Close 'South Park' Lives: Paramount Inks New Deal With Creators, Library Moving to Paramount+ Gomez notes that the transfer of Paramount's broadcast licenses to Skydance was approved by a vote of 2-1 at the FCC, which is led by Brendan Carr, and that she had dissented. She pointed to the 'unprecedented' moves taken by the FCC to help broker the deal, which she notes include the elimination of DEI programs and putting controls on newsroom decisions at CBS, including agreeing to appoint an ombudsman that will report directly to the president of CBS News and 'who will receive and evaluate any complaints of bias or other concerns.' On July 1, Paramount agreed to a $16 million deal to resolve a lawsuit filed by President Trump against 60 Minutes over an interview conducted with Kamala Harris. The settlement was largely seen as paving the way for the merger with Skydance. Trump has also said that he anticipates receiving at least $20 million in advertising, public service announcements or similar programming from Skydance as part of a settlement. 'In an unprecedented move, this once-independent FCC used its vast power to pressure Paramount to broker a private legal settlement and further erode press freedom. Once again, this agency is undermining legitimate efforts to combat discrimination and expand opportunity by overstepping its authority and intervening in employment matters reserved for other government entities with proper jurisdiction on these issues. Even more alarming, it is now imposing never-before-seen controls over newsroom decisions and editorial judgment, in direct violation of the First Amendment and the law,' Gomez wrote. 'After the FCC buried the outcome of backroom negotiations with other regulated entities, like Verizon and T-Mobile, I urged for us to bring the Paramount proceeding into the light. I've long believed the public has a right to know how Paramount's capitulation evidences an erosion of our First Amendment protections, and I'm pleased that FCC leadership ultimately agreed to my call for every Commissioner to vote on this transaction. Granting approval behind closed doors, under the cover of bureaucratic process, would have been an inappropriate way to shield this Administration's coordinated campaign to censor speech, control narratives, and silence dissent,' she continued. 'Despite this regrettable outcome, this Administration is not done with its assault on the First Amendment. In fact, it may only be beginning. The Paramount payout and this reckless approval have emboldened those who believe the government can—and should—abuse its power to extract financial and ideological concessions, demand favored treatment, and secure positive media coverage. It is a dark chapter in a long and growing record of abuse that threatens press freedom in this country. But such violations endure only when institutions choose capitulation over courage. It is time for companies, journalists, and citizens alike to stand up and speak out, because unchecked and unquestioned power has no rightful place in America,' Gomez wrote. Best of The Hollywood Reporter How the Warner Brothers Got Their Film Business Started Meet the World Builders: Hollywood's Top Physical Production Executives of 2023 Men in Blazers, Hollywood's Favorite Soccer Podcast, Aims for a Global Empire