News

When California State University Northridge’s head of film production Nate Thomas came to visit one of his first students, Paul Hunter, on the set of the new David Oyelowo-starring Apple TV Plus series “Government Cheese,” the Northridge alum and show co-creator could be heard boasting about his time in the program.

After learning to tell stories at Csun, Hunter spun a renowned career directing music videos for Beyonce and U2, among others, into helming Bacardi spots with Michael B. Jordan and Cannes Golden Lion-winning campaigns for Nike. Much of that has been through PrettyBird, a Hollywood commercial house he co-founded and uses in part to help foster and launch the careers of other underrepresented voices. “It all started at Northridge,” Thomas says. “We do filmmaking not just for the privileged. We make it for all people who have a story to tell.”

Since 2016, the Hispanic-serving institution’s film...

This year’s 79th Annual Golden Globes awards ceremony wasn’t televised or livestreamed, and has never been seen by anyone other than those in attendance for the show on Jan. 9 at the Beverly Hilton. Until now.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has shared with Variety three excerpts from the 2022 ceremony, which opened with HFPA president Helen Hoehne and featured representatives from educational and philanthropic organizations — recepients of grants from the org — as presenters. Despite the lack of any at-home audiences, the show was still produced with the sheen of a full-fledged telecast, as directed by Patricia Lowry and produced by Neil Mandt, Michael Mandt and Matthew Brady.

The Mandt brothers, whose credits include “Jim Rome is Burning” and “Destination Truth,” spoke to the Golden Globes website about the show: “This is certainly a unique year,” Michael Mandt told the org. “We knew the challenges given the timing considering the world’s Covid situation,...

In today’s TV news roundup, Netflix has released the “Lucifer” Season 5 trailer, and HBO Max has acquired the rights to “Ravi Patel’s Pursuit of Happiness,” premiering Aug. 27.

Renewals

Umc has announced the renewal of four original series: “Craig Ross Jr.’s Monogamy,” “A House Divided,” “Stuck With You” and “Double Cross.” “Craig Ross Jr.’s Monogamy” and “A House Divided” will be returning for their third seasons, whereas “Stuck With You” and “Double Cross” have been renewed for second seasons. The renewals are due to the rapid growth of Umc, AMC Networks’ streaming service focusing on Black TV and film, which has seen a 200% increase in subscribers over the last year.

Dates

Logo has announced that “Canada’s Drag Race” will make its U.S. debut on July 27 at 8 p.m. The 10-episode series is the Canadian extension of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and is hosted by season 11 runner-up Brooke Lynn Hytes.

HBO Max has acquired “Ravi Patel’s Pursuit of Happiness,” a four-part original series from CNN.

The buddy comedy docuseries will now become an HBO Max Original. It follows actor, documentarian and philanthropist Ravi Patel (“Meet the Patels”) as he “travels the world seeking answers surrounding life’s universal questions,” according to the streaming service.

It is set to debut on August 27.

Here is the full synopsis:

“At each stop throughout this comedically heartfelt journey, Patel is joined by a friend or family member, with whom he shares a big conflict or question about life. He travels to Mexico with his parents to discuss retirement and aging; Japan with his wife to explore parenting and gender roles; Korea with his entrepreneur friend to confront their issues with work/life balance; Denmark with his Muslim friend to explore an immigration crisis not unlike ours here in America. Driven by an obsession to constantly learn and grow,...

HBO Max has acquired the CNN four-part original series Ravi Patel’s Pursuit of Happiness for a August 27 premiere on the WarnerMedia streaming service. The buddy comedy docuseries follows actor/documentarian/philanthropist Ravi Patel (Meet the Patels) as he travels the world seeking answers surrounding life’s universal questions.

Ravi Patel’s Pursuit of Happiness had been produced for WarnerMedia’s CNN and was one of the top highlights of the cable news network’s March upfront presentation for advertisers. It will now become an HBO Max original. The strategy has been used between sibling linear networks and streaming platforms, including Nat Geo’s docuseries The World According To Jeff Goldblum moving to Disney+.

At each stop throughout his journey on the show, Patel is joined by a friend or family member, with whom he shares a big conflict or question about life. He travels to Mexico with his parents...