Latest news with #TheBoldandTheBeautiful
CNBC
a day ago
- Entertainment
- CNBC
How China's $7 billion micro drama industry is taking on the U.S. entertainment industry
Micro dramas, known for wild plots and vertical, bite-sized videos, made headlines in China in 2024 as the industry surpassed the country's box-office revenue for the first time. The micro drama market exceeded 50 billion yuan, or about $6.9 billion, according to the China Netcasting Services Association, a state-controlled group that regulates China's online audiovisual content. "In the states, you have the soap opera 'The Bold and The Beautiful.' And it's 'The Bold and The Beautiful' on steroids, basically," said Anne Chan, founder and CEO of AR Asia Production. "You've got to have a cliffhanger at every minute versus every hour. So everything is sweet, short and sharp." Micro dramas, also known as in Chinese, typically consist of episodes ranging from 90 seconds to two minutes long. They initially gained popularity in China after capitalizing on the short-form video trend from other short-video apps in the country. "It all started with Douyin and also Kuaishou as they started pushing these vertical short dramas on their platforms," said Ashley Dudarenok, founder and managing director of Hong Kong-based consultant firm ChoZan. "Especially 2020, 2021, during the pandemic, dramas grew rapidly." Experts say micro dramas appeal to consumers with fast-paced, addictive storylines that deliver instant emotional payoff in just minutes. Their short, bingeable format caters to the attention spans of today's mobile-first audience, making them easy to watch anytime, anywhere. "They're tapping into the behavior of instant gratification," said Seema Shah, vice president of research and insights at market intelligence firm Sensor Tower. "The way that you immediately are satisfied by seeing this story is what is the hook. It's a little over the top, but it's over the top that is still entertaining." Micro dramas are also gaining popularity in the U.S. ReelShort, DramaBox and GoodShort were the top downloaded micro drama apps in the U.S., accounting for about 50% of downloads year to date in 2025, according to data shared with CNBC by Sensor Tower. "Many micro drama producers believe because America produced Hollywood and is probably the world's largest cultural export, if you can sell it to and make it appealing to the American public, you can then sell it and make it appealing to the rest of the world," said Dudarenok. Watch the video above to find out what is behind the popularity of China's micro dramas, and whether the nearly $7 billion industry can become China's next big cultural export to disrupt the U.S. entertainment industry.
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Returning The Bold and The Beautiful Actor Jack Wagner Weds
Returning The Bold and The Beautiful Actor Jack Wagner Weds originally appeared on Daytime Confidential. Returning The Bold and the Beautiful star Jack Wagner (Nick) is a married man! Per People, Wagner wed musician Michelle Wolf on Saturday, May 31. The site mentioned an Instagram post Wolf made featuring pictures of the happy day; Wolf's Instagram is currently private. People noted that Wagner's son Peter (whom he shares with ex-wife and former General Hospital co-star Kristina Wagner; the duo's other son, Harrison, passed away in 2022) and Wolf's daughter Ornella appeared to be at the wedding. Wolf and Wagner started dating in January of 2021. In addition to his roles on B&B as Nick and GH as Frisco, Wagner has gained legions of fans for starring as When Calls the Heart's Bill and Melrose Place's Peter, among other parts. This story was originally reported by Daytime Confidential on Jun 3, 2025, where it first appeared.
UPI
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- UPI
Look: 'Bold and the Beautiful' star Jack Wagner marries Michelle Wolf
June 2 (UPI) -- Jack Wagner, an actor known for General Hospital, The Bold and the Beautiful and When Calls the Heart, has married singer-songwriter Michelle Wolf. Wolf shared the news Saturday on her private Instagram account, according to reports from People and Us Weekly Monday. "We did it!!!!!! MARRIED in front of our little family!! #MrAndMrs," Wolf captioned photos from the wedding. Wagner and Wolf have been together since 2021, People reported. Wagner and his ex-wife Kristina Wagner split in 2006. The pair had two children together -- Peter and Harrison, who died in 2022. Jack also has a daughter, Kerry. Wolf's daughter, Ornella, attended the nuptials, per Us Weekly. Wagner portrays Nick Marone on The Bold and The Beautiful and will reprise the role beginning June 13. The actor is also known for playing Frisco Jones on General Hospital, Dr. Peter Burns on Melrose Place and Bill Avery on When Calls the Heart. Longest celebrity relationships
Boston Globe
01-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Boston rock group the Remains, ‘America's Lost Band,' subject of new short film
Their son, Daniel Tashian, is a respected songwriter and producer in his own right. He recently served as a co-producer on Ringo Starr's latest album, a country record called 'Look Up.' According to Holly, when Daniel asked Ringo if he remembered the three weeks the Remains opened for the Beatles, the droll drummer replied, 'Nope. I don't remember anything.' Advertisement 'And that was that,' Holly said with a laugh in a recent phone interview with the Globe. Almost 60 years since their brush with mega-stardom, the Remains are back in the spotlight. 'America's Lost Band,' a tidy half-hour documentary based on one of the band's periodic reunions (this one around 2006), begins streaming April 8 through The short film is a reworked version of a feature documentary of the same name, which debuted at the Boston Film Festival in 2008. Licensing issues around the use of Beatles material and a guest spot by the Remains on 'The Ed Sullivan Show' prevented the film from distribution beyond its handful of festival appearances. Advertisement Producer Fred Cantor grew up in Connecticut enamored with the Remains. In 1998, a friend invited him to catch the group during one of its reunion tours. 'That was mind-blowing,' Cantor recalled recently by phone. 'I was immediately transported back to the age of 13, sitting in my bedroom listening to my portable record player.' Cantor quickly resolved to try to ensure that the band's legacy would last. First he wrote a stage musical about the group. Then he enlisted his friend Michael Stich, longtime director of the daytime soap opera 'The Bold and The Beautiful,' to make the documentary. Barry Tashian and Vern Miller of the Remains head out to the stage at Dodger Stadium. Ed Freeman Now, years later, Cantor and Stich have repurposed the reunion footage from their original film to make the new version. The band members — Tashian, keyboardist Bill Briggs, bassist Vern Miller, and drummer Chip Damiani — came together at Boston University in 1963. They honed their considerable chops playing the school's fraternity parties and at the Rat in Kenmore Square. In the documentary, one fan enthuses about how good the band still sounded: 'If you close your eyes and throw some beer on the floor, you're at the Rathskeller.' The Remains broke up after Damiani quit the band over the frustrations of touring. By then, Tashian was eager to explore other kinds of music. Miller went on to form other Boston bands (including Advertisement Jon Landau, the rock critic who went on to become Bruce Springsteen's longtime manager, helped immortalize the Remains when he 'People think there's some mystery around why the band broke up,' said Holly Tashian, who now lives in Nashville. Her husband was disappointed that Damiani chose to leave the group: 'Without him, it just wasn't the same. Barry also saw what it was like to be so famous, like the Beatles, and he just said, 'This is not a way to live.' It's totally understandable.' A few years ago, Holly noticed that Barry's memory was slipping. Tashian, who is 79, has since been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Holly recently made the difficult decision to put him in a memory care facility near their home in Nashville. 'It progressed to the point where I could not handle it at home anymore safely,' she said. 'He seems to be happy. I think we look at Alzheimer's and we're kind of afraid of it. Yet I also see that people all have their own paths. And this is part of Barry's path. 'And it's part of my path to go on without him and see what that's about.' They met while attending high school together in Westport, Conn. Tashian was actually dating Holly's best friend at the time. Several years later, after the Remains broke up, they bumped into each other on a Connecticut beach. 'I loved his music, always had,' she said. 'I decided I would learn guitar and play with him, and he was patient enough to let me do that.' Advertisement Other than Tashian, Miller is the only surviving member of the Remains. Damiani, who ran a home improvement company, Rewatching the footage of the new Remains documentary has been 'delightful,' said Holly Tashian. 'It's really evident what a great friendship they had together,' she said. 'That to me is part of the magic of that group.' James Sullivan can be reached at .
