NYPAA News

“Demon Slayer The Movie: Mugen Train,” a Japanese action/adventure anime, was the best performing film in the world this weekend.

Given an unusual Friday release, on 403 screens, by distributors Aniplex and Toho, the film earned $12 million on its opening day. Over the three-day period it totaled $44 million, from 3.42 million admissions.

This compares with the three-day take of $30 million for “Frozen 2,” which went on to finish with $121 million in Japan in 2019, and the $15.6 million for “Weathering with You,” the Shinkai Makoto anime that made $134 million.

This three-day figure also exceeds the $36 million made by “Confidence Man JP: Princess,” the third-highest earning Japanese film of 2020, in its entire run.

The score comes despite pandemic safety measures. These include spaced seating that limits admissions to about half of normal capacity.

Produced by Aniplex, Shueisha and Ufotable, the film has been boosted locally by its source material, a Gotoge Koyoharu comic about a boy who turns demon slayer after his family is killed and his sister kidnapped by demons. First appearing in February 2016, the comic currently has nearly 100 million copies circulating in paperback editions and digital formats.

The comic also inspired a TV anime that ran from April to September 2019.  Aniplex, which is wholly owned by Sony Music Entertainment Japan, has been distributing this series on the Netflix, Amazon and Hulu platforms.

“Demon Slayer” is set for a North American release in early 2021, with Aniplex of America and Funimation distributing. Among overseas territories, however, Taiwan will get the film first, on Oct. 30, with others to follow.

https://variety.com/2020/film/asia/demon-slayer-slays-huge-opening-weekend-at-japan-box-office-1234809183/

BBC Studios and Chinese online entertainment platform Bilibili have announced a strategic cooperation agreement that expands on their past cooperation efforts. It includes a project featuring Liu Cixin, the sci-fi novelist whose “Three Body Problem” adaptation at Netflix has raised questions from U.S. senators.

The two companies say that they plan to increase commissioning of new content and to jointly develop BBC Studios or Bilibili IP for the Chinese market. It covers documentary and science content and potentially an animation project.

They are exploring the potential for BBC Studios to invest in Bilibili-produced content and for the BBC to bring the Chinese content experience to the global stage.

Factual programs that feature segments about Chinese culture will be at the forefront. Several documentaries inspired by the long history of Chinese civilization, Chinese culture, and including Chinese voices are currently in preparation, they say.

The enhanced framework will also see Bilibili become a co-production partner in China for new BBC Studios factual titles, including forthcoming BBC Studios series “The Green Planet” and “Mating Game.”

The partnership will also give Bilibili greater access to BBC Studios drama and comedy titles. Bilibili will have the exclusive VOD rights in China to BBC Studios’ new scripted fantasy show “The Watch,” and older scripted content “Top Gear” and “Doctor Who.”

The BBC Studios Science Unit will work with Bilibili to produce a newly commissioned science series, “Odyssey into the Future,” featuring Liu.

“This more advanced strategic partnership with Bilibili is a significant breakthrough, as it will help us to further explore the potential of China’s content industry,” said Jon Penn, executive VP BBC Studios Asia Pacific (APAC). “China is one of the fastest-changing and most dynamic media markets in the world. This long-term partnership with Bilibili which will see BBC Studios deepen its participation in China.”

“BBC Studios not only brings valuable production expertise to the table, but also has a strong brand recognition and influence around the world. Looking forward, we are committed to leveraging the strengths of both parties to explore more diverse content together. We will collaborate to create high-quality productions while bringing more Chinese original content to overseas markets,” said Li Ni, Bilibili vice chairwoman and COO.

Bilibili’s existing content library already contains more than 3,000 documentaries, including titles it produced and others it co-produced.

https://variety.com/2020/tv/asia/bbc-china-bilibili-strike-framework-agreement-1234809166/

The Los Angeles-adjacent seaside community of Manhattan Beach is known for its chic boutiques, charming eateries, and for its expensive mansions, which are particularly popular with both powerful financiers and well-compensated athletes alike. Maria Sharapova has been a community resident for many years, and she custom-built her striking modern home, featured last year in Architectural Digest. But when things get too crowded in the tightly-packed beach neighborhood, the retired tennis pro can whizz up the coast to a scenic retreat in the Santa Barbara foothills.

Property records reveal Sharapova volleyed an impressive $8.6 million for her new ranch, which spans nearly five contiguous acres of shelter magazine-worthy grounds. And from its hilltop perch, the entire estate enjoys includes surreal panoramic of the whitewater coastline and Santa Ynez mountains.

Located in Summerland, a quaint beach town tucked between its arguably more famous Carpinteria and Montecito cousins, the scenic compound includes rolling gardens landscaped with lavender, roses, and jasmine. There are open lawns, towering fir trees, and a dense bamboo forest that’s more akin to a tropical jungle than what one might expect to find in Southern California.

Three separate structures comprise the compound, each one with a single bedroom and each “its own private oasis,” per the listing. The main house is a Balinese-inspired affair with exposed wood ceilings, loft-like living spaces, and a beautiful oceanview stone terrace set beneath palm trees. Just off the main house, practically hidden by a dense cover of lush foliage, is a wee detached studio with mustard-colored walls and space for a private office or artist’s retreat.

The second structure is a whimsical guesthouse with a Dutch-style two-piece front door, salmon-colored walls, and a back door that opens to a spacious stone patio and rolling lawns that spill down the mountain, out of sight toward the beach.

The third and final residential building functions as a caretaker’s guest cottage attached to the 5-stall horse barn and accessory equestrian facilities, which include a horse corral. That house is painted a deep forest green and fully renovated on the inside, with a large fireplace, redone kitchen, and its own set of picturesque ocean views.

Santa Barbara and the nearby communities have long been plagued by drought, so Sharapova will no doubt appreciate the private water well with 15,000 gallons of storage that transferred as part of the $8.6 million property.

Some of Sharapova’s nearest neighbors within sugar-borrowing distance include Kinko’s heiress Natalie Orfalea, private equity guru Philip Bilden, and billionaire Riley Bechtel, whose $63 million Rancho San Carlos estate is just a proverbial stone’s throw up the hill.

Cristal Clarke of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices held the listing.

https://variety.com/2020/dirt/athletes/maria-sharapova-nets-pastoral-santa-barbara-ranch-1234809160/

In first-time director Kelly Oxford’s snappy, super-saturated account of her personal battle with anxiety disorder, “Pink Skies Ahead,” the main character is named Winona, but it’s her best friend Stephanie who does all the shoplifting. It’s like a compulsion: Every time they go to the convenience store, Winona distracts the awkward, androgynous-looking clerk behind the counter while Stephanie roams the candy aisle, filling her pockets. Then they both buy Slurpees (only, the movie calls them “Freezers”) to cover their tracks.

This is behavior that would be right at home in high school — or a high school movie, like “Ghost World,” which might explain Winona’s Slurpee-blue dye job — when young people are testing the boundaries of what they can get away with and still largely oblivious to how their actions impact others. But Winona is a 20-year-old college dropout, embodied by “End of the F—ing World” star Jessica Barden, who’s a few years older still, even though she looks barely old enough to drive.

The fact Barden looks younger is fitting, since Winona still hasn’t managed to pass her driving test, and freaking out behind the wheel of her car will become one of the movie’s running motifs. It’s also an apt metaphor for Winona’s recurring failure to accomplish the basic responsibilities of adulthood — which is surprisingly relatable, whether you’re Oxford’s age (early 40s) or a member of what “Can’t Even” author Anne Helen Petersen has dubbed the “burnout generation.”

The Los Angeles-set “Pink Skies Ahead” takes place in 1998, but the pressures Oxford describes have only become more acute in the two decades since. (Something else that’s happened in the intervening time is the rise of social-media stars, and Oxford’s own rise follows in the footsteps of writers such as Diablo Cody and Marti Noxon, who make her high-attitude voice seem almost tame by comparison.) In the opening scene, Winona loses patience with herself after motormouthing her way through a stop sign, yelling, “How come everyone else in the world can talk and drive, and I can’t? What is wrong with me?!”

“Wrong” is probably the wrong word. Winona goes through the entire film pingponging between learning to accept what makes her abnormal and refusing to admit there’s anything the matter with her, and while that sounds like a very unstable mindset to be juggling, it amounts to an incredibly refreshing take on the coming-of-age movie (adapted from the most personal essay, “No Real Danger,” found in Oxford’s book “When You Find Out the World Is Against You”). After all, what is adolescence but a time when no one feels normal, and we’re all trying to decide whether that’s even something we want for ourselves?

With her radioactive coif and precocious repartee, Winona couldn’t care less about fitting in. She quit her college writing program not because she couldn’t hack it, but because the whole thing felt like a waste of time to her, a hustle to achieve someone else’s idea of success. Now she’s living back at home with her folks, positive thinker Pamela (Marcia Gay Harden) and nearly catatonic dad Richard (Michael McKean), who’ve decided to downsize to a smaller apartment, meaning that Winona will need to find her own place.

No wonder her doctor (Henry Winkler) worries that Winona might have an anxiety disorder. In “No Real Danger,” Oxford explains that she’d been seeing the same (female) doctor about three times a week for nearly her entire life, but the reinvention of Dr. Cotton as a bemused older dude — a nonjudgmental pediatrician who humors her unwillingness to see an adult doc — is one of Oxford’s most inspired choices. Generally speaking, she’s not overly precious in adapting her essay, and for all we know, there’s actually more of the author in this stylized retelling.

Vibe-wise, the movie has the sugar-bomb look and cracked-out energy of a children’s breakfast cereal commercial. The period setting feels awfully pastichey, blending design influences from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s (though the music seems era-appropriate), while Winona exudes a near manic level of energy, which Barden channels into the character’s constantly animated facial expressions. Contrast this performance with the relatively blank-faced one she gives in “Holler,” and the difference is night and day. (Both films were supposed to debut in competition at SXSW, and are better than “S—house,” the film that won, but audiences can now see what a super-talent Barden is.)

It’s perhaps not the biggest surprise that Winona is dealing with a mental health situation — not that either the actor or her film fall back on any of the tired “crazy person” movie tropes. “Pink Skies Ahead” aims to destigmatize Winona’s diagnosis, while giving audiences living with anxiety issues a positive point of reference. When her panic attack does come, it’s nothing like we’ve seen on-screen before, and for those who’ve been in Winona’s shoes, watching such a portrayal amounts to feeling seen, maybe for the first time. Even though Oxford doesn’t follow a standard plot, the anecdotal film’s lived-in details ought to do for 2020 audiences what “Garden State” did a generation earlier — when the world’s solution to such feelings was to over-medicate. Now it’s more about acceptance.

True to the genre, over the course of 90-odd minutes, Winona’s goal is to grow up just enough. Lately, she’s been whiling away her days working for her dad, then spending her evenings at the bar with partners-in-crime Stephanie (Odeya Rush) and Addie (Rosa Salazar), dating dudes with neck tattoos. During the movie, she tries going out with a more “normal” guy in Ben (Lewis Pullman), a sweet but boring Ph.D. candidate, and starts to look for a more engaging job. But there’s no pressure on Winona to fix everything in her life, and the movie doesn’t hold her to mainstream notions of success. The idea is simply to show progress. The catchy title’s a clever way of saying “It gets better,” and in the end, that feels as true for Winona as it does for the high-potential writer-director who created her.

https://variety.com/2020/film/reviews/pink-skies-ahead-review-jessica-barden-1234809155/

The theatrical cinema market in South Korea is just about strong enough to sustain a trickle of new release titles, but its continuing weakness points to growing problems in store. Ticket prices are set to be raised to help ease operators’ losses.

New-release crime drama, “Voice of Silence” topped the Korean box office with a quiet $1.47 million score over the weekend, according to data from the Korean Film Council’s KOBIS system. With that lowly score, “Silence” accounted for 45% of the $3.04 million nationwide weekend aggregate.

Released by NEW on Thursday, for a cumulative total is $1.73 million, the film features two men whose job is to clean up crime scenes. The story develops a growing friendship between one of the men who cannot speak and a kidnapped girl who is left in their charge.

“Voice” eased aside “Pawn” which had topped the chart for the two previous weekends, including the busy Chuseok (Korean thanksgiving) weekend. “Pawn, a drama in which a young girl is used as loan collateral, ” grossed $896,000 in its third weekend and now has a cumulative of $11.0 million, making it the eleventh best performing film of the year in Korea.

In third place, but a long way back, “Tenet” collected $179,000 over the weekend. That lifts its total to $15.4 million. Its endurance makes it the fifth best performing film of the year in Korean movie theaters, and one of only two Hollywood films to appear in the year-to-date top ten. The other, “Dolittle” ranks eighth with a $11.8 total.

The 70% slump in box office this year is increasing pressure on exhibitors. Over the weekend, the country’s leading cinema chain CJ-CGV said that it will be introducing ticket price increases from Oct. 26. It will hike prices by KRW1,000-2,000 ($0.87-$1.74), making popular weekend seats cost as much as KRW13,000 ($11.4).

“Price increases are inevitable as spending on rent, management and hiring is growing each year, while suffering a significant drop in revenue and spending additional money on COVID-19 related disinfection efforts,” a spokesman CGV said.

The country reported 76 new coronavirus on Monday, lifting the total to date to 25,275. The virus alert status has been reduced to the lowest level after the Chuseok holidays failed to set off another wave of infections. South Korea has suffered 444 deaths in total.

https://variety.com/2020/biz/asia/cinema-ticket-prices-rise-korean-box-office-remains-weak-1234809143/

“Wildflowers” may be the most aggressively beloved of Tom Petty’s albums among his most serious fans, and no one has been more passionate about it than Adria Petty, the elder of the late musician’s two daughters. (Her sister is Annakim Violette Petty.) Even as the career-encompassing “American Treasure” boxed set was coming out in 2018, Adria would readily admit that she had designs on devoting just as serious a job of archival love to “Wildflowers,” the 1994 Rick Rubin-produced album whose voluminous outtakes Tom himself had been planning to revisit and release before his death three years ago.

While her father had compiled an album of unreleased tracks, titled “All the Rest,” before his death, Petty’s estate and the Heartbreakers have gone the extra mile in folding that “Part 2” of an album into an extensive boxed set of never-before-released material from two years’ worth of demos, band sessions and subsequent live gigs. Variety is marking the release of “Wildflowers & All the Rest” with in-depth Q&As with Adria, Benmont Tench, the Heartbreakers’ keyboardist for 45 years, and Ryan Ulyate, the engineer/producer who is the keeper of the still-packed Petty vaults, all three of whom have significant insights into what the unearthed material says about the star. Following is an edited version of our conversation with Adria.

VARIETY: Is this something you would consider your favorite of your father’s albums? There are a lot of choices, so it’s okay if the answer is something else…

ADRIA PETTY: It’s so hard. It’s an outlier in his canon of work. I think it has a warm, special place in his musical journey, And in that sense, it’s my favorite because it feels the closest to who he really was.

It sounds like you did a lot of detective work to find any original sequences he did for what was planned as a “Wildflowers” double album. But in the end, you surely wanted to stay true to the intention he had in the mid-2000s to release “All the Rest” as a separate song sequence apart from the original album.

Yeah. And it became such an arm wrestle for us, because everybody was sort of bored with the double-album search. But I did find some more paperwork on it and some more notes. It gets to the point where it’s like, do you do what he wanted to do (in the mid-2000s)? Or do you do the double-album without him  — not knowing exactly what the sequencing was? I think Benmont’s words were, “You know, I just don’t feel like I’m sure enough that this is the sequence he would be good with.” We never found a good enough double-album to release it. But we may release it as a playlist or something — some of the notes that we found. But it’s a tough one; I just didn’t find that definitive list from him.

He took some time with Ryan on “All the Rest” and loved the way that it was laid out. The sequencing does really speak to you. I think you come in through “It feels like something could happen” and this trepidatious version of “Climb That Hill.” And then after “Somewhere Under Heaven,” it’s like, he’s going to get it done. He was bold because he was willing to put two versions of the same song [following with a different version of “Climb That Hill”]. I think he was playing with some stuff that was interesting to him later in life in how “All the Rest” is sequenced; it’s very specific to his voice.

You said recently that back in the ‘90s, when he was still looking at making “Wildflowers” a double album, you had a song sequence burned onto disc that had “Girl on LSD” as the final track. If that was ever really his intent, it’s probably not one he stuck with for long, since that song is so goofy it didn’t end up on either the original album or “All the Rest.”

[Laughs.] I know. It was a good ending, though! [That comic track, which came out as a B-side, does appear in both live and studio versions in the most expansive version of the boxed set.]

When there was a lot of legal stuff happening last year, the status of this “Wildflowers” actually came up in the court papers. It was clear you had a real passion about it and ideas for it. Was it always important to you that this come out as a multiple-disc boxed set and not just the “All the Rest” album on its own?

I think that it just required going into the archive and really being able to sift through all the material that they made in two years and know what was there and be able to preserve it. For me, the real delay was about how this record is so important, it shouldn’t be done at a time of grief or strife. Everyone had waited 25 years. Why not do it when it’s fun to do it, and we can do it right? But I mean, at the same time, there is an urgency for me with this. Half of this record has never been released and it’s frontline, perfectly produced, top material that my dad had in his vault for decades. … You’re kind of like, “Well, who’s going to do this 10 years from now? We should probably do this now!” In terms of the five-disc (version), to me, that’s the gold we sifted down, and that we felt he would have been really happy represented that period of time and that body of work.

Do you have favorite tracks from the set?

Let me open my hot-off-the-presses new nine-LP. Let’s see… From “All the Rest,” I love “Hope You Never,” because it’s so intense and so specific. And there’s like no other song like “Hung Up and Overdue” in all of the Heartbreakers’ canon. It’s like an homage to the Beach Boys’ “Holland” or something like that — this big, lush, Big Sur sound, and to me, that’s a super incredible vibe to live in.If you had come over to listen to (the unreleased material), “Something Could Happen” would have been the song I would be excited to play for you, because that was so completely unreleased and unknown to all of us for so long, it was really special to us.

“Something Could Happen” opens with the lines: “I’m not easy to know. My mind can change, my moods come and go.” Somehow, in him having chosen that for the opening song of “All the Rest,” you could take that as him being autobiographical, a little bit.

He’s an untrustworthy narrator, right? Right off the beginning. [Laughs.]

A statement-of-purpose song about being uncertain of purpose.

Rick (Rubin) was saying something to me about how it’s a very qualified lyric, because the song is basically saying “I feel like something could happen.” It’s not like, “I’ll meet you for lunch.” It’s like, maybe… somewhere… something! [Laughs.] But it’s such a special song to me, because it really does feel like him.

David Fricke in his liner notes called “Wildflowers” his most acutely confessional record. Maybe that’s sort of relative for your dad, because he could be sort of elliptical even when he’s being autobiographical. But there is that sense that people have around the record, generally. And you’ve said that it feels to you like a “divorce album,” in some ways. Even though the Heartbreakers have said they had no idea what was going on with him, emotionally, and didn’t really think about any of the lyrical content until years later.

I mean, it didn’t happen until years after this record. I almost feel like it’s the ramp-up album more than it’s the divorce album. It’s sort of the ramp-up to independence, you know? And y dad was a really principled human being. He was a bohemian; he was undisciplined in certain things. But he had a lot of principles. And I think a lot of the things that he’s contemplating in this record sort of reflect on being the householder or the breadwinner or being in certain constructive relationships in life and trying to figure out how to navigate them. And I think it really resonates with a lot of people who have that same sort of feeling. They’re principled, and they want to do the right thing, but they need to be wild and free, too. So how do you do that?

He had talked late in his life about doing a theater tour celebrating “Wildflowers.” Having a full disc of concert material in the boxed set does show that he could’ve done a completely satisfying tour using nothing but the material right from this period, even if he probably wouldn’t have taken it that far. Was having the live disc important for you?

I think it’s really important to have a live album on this, because this is when (Steve) Ferrone joined the band. That’s significant because it’s kicking off what the Heartbreakers were going to be for the next two decades. And I think in terms of my favorite songs from (the live disc) I would say that “Walls” from 2017 is a really cool version that we kind of slipped in there, because (the song is from) that era covered by “She’s the One” and “All the Rest.” And I really love the version of “Drivin’ Down to Georgia” that Ryan put in there, too.

What do you think changed when Ferrone joined the band after playing on “Wildflowers”?

I think Ferrone changed the band because instead of the person on the drum riser being someone with a really strong opinion that they all respected and wrestled with for years and grew up with (Stan Lynch), there was someone who they had a lot of respect for musically who had beat out pretty much everyone else in the world coming in to drum on “Wildflowers”… There was such a foundation of musical respect between Ferrone and the band. You know, he still lovingly calls himself “the new guy,” because they (the other Heartbreakers) were so damn close before he got in the band that you could never have that relationship with them. You’d have to develop your own. But it’s a different sound. They’re both so accomplished as drummers, Stan and Ferrone. I think Steve is just a presence of sanity and reliability and what my dad would call the locomotive — this thing that was driving everything with a lot of power, but very subtle and very crafted and practiced.

Do you have any thoughts about future projects and where you go from here with the archives? “American Treasure” was great, and a lot of people will consider the “Wildflowers” box the jewel of the crown of what you could ever put out. But in talking to Benmont, he’ll always say there are different versions of albums like “Echo” or “Mojo” that would be fascinating to hear — and then he’ll add the caveat that he hasn’t actually talked with you or Mike or anyone about these; it’s just the stuff that’s in the back of his mind as a “what if.”

Yeah, there are things that people say about recording sessions having a lot of other material… You know, I’m curious to see if there’s another version of “Let Me Up, I’ve Had Enough.” That to me is interesting, because that was not the strongest album. It might have other cool stuff, because at the time everything was synth-pop, and they were trying to aim for something that was more like the sound that was on the radio at that time. But I don’t know. I’ve got to go through the archives.

To me, it’s just one thing at a time and do it as thoroughly and dutifully as possible, and right now, it’s “Wildflowers.” I know that Mike and Ben are pretty burnt out, too, from all these (projects). It’s only been three years, but we have put three boxed sets out, and they’ve had to consult on them. And I want everyone to enjoy doing this. That’s the most important thing. Because my dad loved his job, and he never felt like he was working a day in his life. And for everybody to enjoy doing this, I think we kind of have to find something that inspires us and has a big body of work underneath it, and then sort of go through that discovery process in the archive. We definitely have lots of cool stuff to put out in the future, so this is not the end of the road. But it is the jewel, because it’s “Wildflowers.”

With it having been three years now, is that time enough that you can listen to all the archival material with some distance and not get as emotional as you might have in a more immediate aftermath?

Definitely, it’s easier than the immediate aftermath. But “Wildflowers” is a pretty uplifting, soulful album. Doing something like “American Treasure,” that just is such download of our entire life with him. And I think that for me and Ben Mike to do that while that was really fresh, and while we were feeling all those feelings, yielded a really unique record. I don’t know if we could have made that record any other way but under that duress with Ryan. Because we were all just so raw, we were able to see really clearly like, “Yes, this one; no, not that one. Hey, this one has to make it in there.” Now, I think we would be deliberating more, with more rationales.

It’s a pretty big embarrassment of riches he left us. It’s very difficult sometimes to make these choices, there is so much good work. They pretty much only did good work, and that includes Mike and Ben. I’m just so proud of them and so proud of him. I’m so grateful to be an ambassador to this work because I really do care about it. And I care about fans having really cool stuff. I have one of these things right in front of me and it’s just beautiful and cool and full of rad stuff — I can’t wait to have everybody have one in front of them and be able to hear what they think about it.

(For Variety‘s review of “Wildflowers & All the Rest,” read here.)

https://variety.com/2020/music/news/adria-petty-tom-wildflowers-all-rest-interview-heartbreakers-1234809101/

“The Vow” finale hinted at several big interviews gearing up for the second installment on HBO. Any additional details on what we can expect for season two will have to wait until 2021 (when next set of episodes is scheduled to drop). Until then, here’s an update on all the major players in the docuseries that exposes the practices of the self improvement organization and cult known as NXIVM. What’s next for NXIVM founder Keith Raniere, Nancy Salzman and whistleblowers Mark Vicente, Bonnie Piesse and Sarah Edmondson?

Do not read if you haven’t watched the season one finale of “The Vow” — spoilers ahead.

What do we know about the future? In September, filmmakers Karim Amer and Jehane Noujaim revealed their plans to interview all parties involved in NXIVM to Variety “We reached out to everybody involved — many people, on all sides of the story — and we are continuing to film.” Looks like they made good on that promise as the last episode strongly implies the duo landed interviews with both Raniere and Salzman. But where are they now?

Keith Raniere

The finale replayed Raniere’s arrest in 2018. Over a year later, he would be convicted on racketeering and sex trafficking charges in June of 2019. Raniere currently awaits sentencing in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center and faces a possible life sentence. Despite what has been revealed about NXIVM, Raniere still has loyalists fighting for him.

According to the Albany Times Union, a small group of supporters delivered a petition to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Brooklyn in September of 2020. The petition sought to hold the prosecutors and judges overseeing the case accountable with claims of witness and evidence tampering. This paper was also signed by Amanda Knox, the American who was convicted of a murder in Italy but later exonerated. Neil Glazer, who represents victims of NXIVM, called the attempt “absurd” and a publicity stunt.

The series creators have confirmed that “The Vow Part Two” will be set against the backdrop of the 2019 federal trial, which lasted for six weeks and included testimony from several of the women involved. Raniere’s sentencing will take place on Oct. 27.

Allison Mack

Mack pleaded guilty in a Brooklyn federal court to her involvement in the NXIVM sex cult case. She was indicted in April, 2018 on charges of sex trafficking, sex trafficking conspiracy, and conspiracy to commit forced labor. She faces 15 years to life in prison if convicted. Variety reported that Mack was previously in negotiations for a plea deal with authorities. There is currently no date for her sentencing, which was postponed due to the pandemic.

Mack allegedly helped run the secret, women-only sect of NXIVM called DOS where, according to “The Vow,” members were asked to provide information and pictures as “collateral” to their leaders who were called “masters.” In an explosive New York Times, article the FBI revealed that the collateral Mack gave Raniere was the deed to her home, the promise that any unborn children birthed by her would also be his and a letter to social services alleging abuse to her nephews. Meanwhile the article (and docuseries) both alleged that a percentage of the collateral Mack was collecting (including nude photos) for the women’s only group was also given to Raniere. As for the branding, “The Vow” shows that it appears to include a combination of Mack and Raniere’s initials. Mack took responsibility for the idea in the New York Times article.

Mack’s spouse and NXIVM member Nicki Clyne recently gave an interview to CBS standing by some of NXIVM’s practices, including the brand. “We’re not denying that certain things took place,” she said. “There is evidence that certain things happened. How they happened, why they happened and how certain people chose them — that’s a whole other conversation.”

Mack’s current stance on NXIVM, however, is unclear although she did apologize to all the victims in her 2019 trial. “I’m very sorry for who I’ve hurt through my misguided adherence to Keith Raniere’s teachings,” she said, according to Vulture. And on a recent Michael Rosenbaum podcast whistleblower Edmondson alluded to a change. “I don’t want to bring anymore hurt on [Mack] and her family, I want her to be better,” Edmondson said. “I want her to wake up, and I heard by the way, that she has which is great.”

Nancy Salzman

Salzman, the co-founder of NXIVM with Raniere, was the first of high-ranking officials to plead guilty. She did so in March 2019, admitting to one count of racketeering. During her trial, she admitted to stealing the passwords of NXIVM’s enemies and altered video footage of herself teaching classes that was used in a lawsuit against cult expert Rick Ross. She was released on a $5 million bond and is currently awaiting her sentencing, which was originally set for July but has been pushed back due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Clare Bronfman

Seagram heiress Clare Bronfman was one of the major donors cutting checks to keep NXIVM afloat. Bronfman was charged with racketeering and identity theft in 2018 and sentenced to 81 months in September of 2020. The judge also imposed a $500,000 fine and a restitution of $96,605 paid to victim “Jane Doe 12.” The U.S. attorneys argued that Raniere couldn’t have committed his crimes without Bronfman’s financial support, while Bronfman’s lawyers denied that she had any knowledge of the accused sexual abuse or human trafficking.

Bonnie Piesse & Mark Vicente

Bonnie Piesse’s decision to defect from NXIVM was the beginning of the end of this group. Today the couple is still together but living in Portugal, according to a recent interview with The Los Angeles Times. Her decision ignited the fire that pushed her husband Mark Vicente out of the reach of Raniere.

“Whatever this process is, I am not through it,” Vicente told the L.A. Times. “I have spoken to people who have been in organizations for 30, 40 years. It can take decades to unravel everything.” Vincente hasn’t stopped creating and is currently working on several documentaries, a memoir and a mystery thriller starring Piesse.

Lauren Salzman

Nancy Salzman’s daughter, Lauren, was heavily involved in DOS, the group marketed as women’s empowerment that was later revealed to have been grooming women as sexual partners for Keith Raniere. In 2019, Lauren pled guilty to racketeering and racketeering conspiracy and was put under house arrest. During her trial, she admitted to harboring a woman locked in a room for two years. She is also awaiting her sentencing. 

In court, Salzman expressed regret for her actions at NXIVM, saying, “I’m very sorry for my poor decision-making and decisions that result in the harm to others and not the just victims in this case but to hundreds of members of our community and their friends and families as well,” according to the NY Post.

Sarah Edmondson & Anthony “Nippy” Ames

The head of Vancouver operations, Edmondson was the lynchpin in bringing down DOS. After blowing the lid off the branding with her own horror story and scars, Edmonson and her husband Anthony Ames plowed ahead trying to bring justice for all the people they brought into the fold. Since the finale, Edmondson has published her own story on her experience titled “Scarred,” and continues to work as a voiceover actress.

Edmonson and Ames are still married and, according to their Instagrams, are living in Vancouver, British Columbia. Sarah gave birth to a boy, Ace, in March 2019, making their older son, Troy, a big brother. Ames also has a few new acting credits, including the TV movies “Love Under the Rainbow” and “Genesis Code.”

Catherine Oxenberg

“Dynasty” actor Oxenberg’s emotional battle to break her daughter, India, out of NXIVM was thoroughly documented in the first season of HBO’s “The Vow.” However, Catherine Oxenberg chose to keep their reunion off-screen, and is expanding on her story in a new docuseries on Starz, “Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult,” which premieres Sunday (the same night as “The Vow’s” finale).

“To be honest, I was so focused on my goal that I don’t even remember the cameras being there, I don’t remember saying half the things I said,” Catherine Oxenberg told Variety about her experience filming “The Vow.”

India Oxenberg

India Oxenberg will join her mother, Catherine Oxenberg, to open up more about her experience in NXIVM in Starz’s docuseries. “I felt like it was my chance to take the story back into my own hands and say, ‘Hey, there’s a person here! Not just a branded, sex slave, cult girl — a human being,’” India told Variety.

India broke away from NXIVM in 2018 and reconnected with her mother. She did not face any criminal charges. Meanwhile on India’s verified Instagram account, she announced her engagement to chef Patrick D’Ignazio in October, 2019. 

Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia

Catherine Oxenberg’s mother — better known as Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia — has kept a low profile since appearing in “The Vow” several times. Princess Elizabeth told Radar Online in September 2018 that Catherine and India had reconciled and that India was “beginning to remember details that obviously were hidden in the subconscious.”

Frank Parlato

Frank Parlato’s website, The Frank Report, is still up and running, providing coverage of the various NXIVM sentencings. However, Parlato is now facing his own legal troubles. According to the Niagara Gazette, Parlato and his business partner Chitra Selvaraj are currently facing charges for conspiring to defraud the IRS. They have been charged with wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering and corrupt interference with the IRS. Their trial is currently set for June 8, 2021.

https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/the-vow-where-are-keith-raniere-allison-mack-1234808846/

HBO’s buzzy NXIVM sex cult docuseries “The Vow” has been criticized for dragging at times over the course of its nine-episode run. But the closing moments of Sunday’s season finale left no doubt about where the storyline is headed in season two, which HBO formally ordered last week.

Warning, spoilers for the finale episode of “The Vow” ahead. 

Here comes the counterspin from now-convicted felons Keith Raniere and Nancy Salzman, co-founders of the self-help programs at the heart of the whole of shocking story that led to federal human trafficking, sex abuse and racketeering charges. “The Fall,” episode 9 of “The Vow,” ends with hints that the pair will go on camera, or at least on the record, with “Vow” directors/executive producers Jehane Noujaim and Karim Amer.

The closing sequence features what appears to be a glimpse of Salzman under house arrest, complete with a shot of her Apple Watch and her electronic ankle bracelet.

Meanwhile, Raniere’s familiar voice is heard in what is labeled a conversation from last month over a sketchy connection from his holding cell in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. The camera slowly focuses in on a window in the fortress-like facility as the silver-tongued multi-level marketing genius spews more nonsense about the docuseries being only the “top layer” of the truth.

Left with no other defense, Raniere appears to think he can talk his way out of trouble once again, at least in the court of public opinion if not the court of federal prosecutors, where he is set to be sentenced on Oct. 27. He was convicted in June 2019 of seven charges.

Raniere gets the last words on season one of “The Vow,” which might well be frustrating to many viewers. He taunts the filmmakers, and by association the audience. “So, talk to me,” he says.

“The Vow” is a high-profile entry in the cottage industry of Keith Raniere and NXIVM-related documentary projects spurred by the stranger-than-fiction story of the cult-like organization that began in the 1990s as a New Age-y executive improvement and personal growth executive improvement and personal growth self-help program that was run largely as a Ponzi scheme.

Over time, NXIVM adherents came to realize the programs were designed to exploit weaknesses and facilitate forms of blackmail, retaliation and financial crimes. Clare Bronfman, an heiress to the Seagrams spirits fortune, and former “Smallville” star Allison Mack are among those who have been convicted of crimes in connection with the group.

Tens of millions of dollars of gifts from Bronfman and her sister, Sara Bronfman, are known to have been a vital source of support for NXIVM over the years. Mack went from perky child star to sex cult leader involved with a group so deranged that women were persuaded to submit to receiving a brand near the vaginal area as a twisted bonding ritual.

Although there’s no shortage of reportage out there about the NXIVM saga, here are some lingering questions from “The Vow.”

What will Keith Raniere and Nancy Salzman have to say for themselves?

The fleeting glimpse of Salzman in the finale indicates she will discuss her break with Raniere and her decision to plead guilty to racketeering and to testify against him at trial last year. The shot shows her removing her ever-present yellow NXIVM sash with voice-over of an older recording of her opining on the pros and cons of extreme loyalty.

Raniere’s remarks indicate he is still working his familiar the turn-the-question-around strategy to manipulate the framing of the question in such a way as to make him look wise or reasonable or forward-thinking. After nine hours of “The Vow,” it’s hard to stomach more mumbo jumbo from him needling producers about “what you’re willing to present as the truth.”

What led Lauren Salzman to break with Raniere and testify against him at trial?

Nancy Salzman’s adult daughter Lauren is portrayed in “The Vow” as a zealous enforcer of bizarre and misogynistic rules conceived by Raniere in the effort to groom sex slaves via the “elite” womens group DOS, where the branding ritual takes place. Lauren Salzman was the “master” to “slave” Sarah Edmondson, the Canadian actress who is prominently featured in “Vow.” Lauren Salzman manipulated Edmondson into submitting to the branding ritual. She faces up to 20 years in prison but is expected to receive leniency for cooperating with prosecutors.

When is Catherine Oxenberg getting her own show? 

The former “Dynasty” star emerges as a clear hero of the quest to bring Raniere to justice. “The Vow” is at its best when it is documenting her unwavering drive to free her daughter India from the clutches of Raniere and his compound outside Albany, N.Y. Catherine Oxenberg’s refusal to give up against the face of closed doors and “there’s nothing we can do” answers from law enforcement is touching and inspiring.

Oxenberg proves to anything but a wealthy prima donna who can’t function outside the bubble of Malibu. She’s a devoted mother on a mission. She has earned undeniable street cred in the victims rights and human trafficking advocacy world. After demonstrating her savvy at commanding media coverage to prod law enforcement, it’d be a natural for her to segue into a larger platform for activism and research into human trafficking and cults. For starters, she is prominently featured in Starz’s “Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult” a four-part documentary about India’s harrowing experiences with Raniere and NXIVM.

Will Mark Vicente seek to resume his filmmaking career?

The South African filmmaker behind the well-received 2004 documentary “What the Bleep Do We Know?” let his early career momentum stall as he became fascinated with the “teachings” of Raniere and drawn into NXIVM. The final episode depicts Vicente’s struggle to come to grips with the damage that he inflicted as a following of Raniere and as a leader of NXIVM and its weird offshoot organization for men, Society of Protectors.

Vicente’s acknowledgement of his culpability on behalf of others is heartfelt, as is his work to put Raniere in handcuffs. But the notoriety from NXIVM might still make it an uphill climb in the endless money and financing hustle that is the burden of most documentarians these days.

Vicente is tearful in “The Fall” as he acknowledges what becomes clear over the course of the series: Raniere seems to enjoy inflicting pain on women. “And that was his joy,” Vicente says with a mix of disbelief and shame.

Why did it take law enforcement so long to act?

One of the overwhelming takeaways from “The Vow” is how much effort had to be expended for law enforcement to take seriously the warnings from those who had fled the organization. Raniere’s history of intimidation through relentless litigation had the effect of casting doubt on the veracity of his accusers. One of the most powerful moments of the series is the sight of Edmondson realizing in October 2017 that the eruption of the #MeToo movement — sparked by the horrifying claims against now-convicted sex abuser Harvey Weinstein — would help their cause.

Can Sarah Edmondson ever find peace?

Edmondson mentions more than once during the first season that she was responsible for bringing more than 2,000 people into NXIVM through the Vancouver center. The weight of her past work hangs heavy on Edmondson throughout the series. Her willingness to go public in the face of uncertainty to the point of allowing photographs of her grotesque brand was a turning point in getting the story out.

Catherine Oxenberg’s determination is not the only uplifting element to “The Vow.” The series in some ways turns on the strength of two marriages at the heart of the story: Mark Vicente and actor-musician Bonnie Piesse and Edmondson and Anthony “Nippy” Ames.

Bonnie and Sarah were fortunate enough to leave NXIVM with relationships strong enough to weather the storm. That wasn’t the case for an earlier generation of Raniere girlfriend-victims featured in the series, notably longtime Raniere legal targets Barbara Bouchey and Toni Natalie.

Bonnie’s spontaneous jump for joy at learning the news of Raniere’s arrest on March 15, 2018, is one of the emotional highlights of the finale. It comes after we get an unvarnished look at the depth of Raniere’s sociopathic manipulation of a young woman. Bonnie and Mark’s return to the neighborhood they fled in Albany for the first time in two years is cut with a chilling audio recording of one of the many 3 a.m. walks that Bonnie eagerly joined Raniere on in the name of a deranged mentorship process.

After a few minutes of circular talk, an exasperated Raniere knows what buttons to push on Bonnie.

“Can you just, um, get over this? Please? Not that hard,” he tells her as Bonnie cries after suggesting she is ready to pursue plans outside of Albany. “You look terrible when you control. You look beautiful when you don’t.”

https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/vow-keith-raniere-nxivm-cult-hbo-1234809023/

CBS’ “The Late Show” host Stephen Colbert will hold another live election special this year on Showtime, Variety has confirmed.

Titled “Stephen Colbert’s Election Night 2020: Democracy’s Last Stand: Building Back America Great Again Better 2020,” the show will start at 11 p.m. ET on Election Day, Nov. 3. The special will allow Colbert to provide commercial-free commentary during election night while CBS airs their own news coverage of the presidential election.

The guests for the night include Charlamagne Tha God, Alex Wagner, John Heilemann and Mark McKinnon. Charlamagne Tha God is currently a co-host of “The Breakfast Club” and has his own talk show on Comedy Central that is said to be launching later this year. Wagner, Heilemann and McKinnon are the hosts of Showtime’s political docuseries, “The Circus.”

Colbert previously hosted a live election special on Showtime in 2016, called “Stephen Colbert’s Live Election Night Democracy’s Series Finale: Who’s Going to Clean Up This Sh–?”

Colbert has been vocal on social media this election season, supporting the Joe Biden and Kamala Harris ticket and encouraging his fans to get out and vote. On Oct. 19, Colbert is hosting a virtual reception with Harris in order to raise funds for their campaign.

This year’s special will air without a live audience due to COVID-19 protocols, with the show instead taking place in Colbert’s “virtual underground political bunker.” It is executive produced by the team behind Colbert’s “The Late Show” as well as Colbert, Chris Licht, Tom Purcell and former “The Daily Show” host Jon Stewart.

Deadline was the first to report the news.

https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/stephen-colbert-election-special-showtime-1234809043/

Pay TV platform Sky and NBCUniversal Global Distribution have announced a long-term partnership that will bring Sky customers in the U.K. and Ireland hundreds of hours of animated series from DreamWorks Animation. The pact follows deals with Discovery in June and Sony Pictures in July.

The DreamWorks Animation deal includes access to new spin-off series from film franchises such as “How to Train Your Dragon,” “Trolls” and “Madagascar.” The lineup will include premieres of “Madagascar: A Little Wild,” “TrollsTopia” and “Dragons Rescue Riders: Heroes of the Sky.”

Stephen van Rooyen, exec VP and CEO U.K. and Europe Sky, said: “Our new partnership with NBCUniversal brings an impressive range of family favorites from DreamWorks Animation to Sky and NOW TV customers. Adding DreamWorks’ loveable stories of dreams, journeys and heroes alongside our originals and our partner content means customers can access the content they love, all in one place – easy.”

“Families are spending more time at home than ever before – as kids and adults alike love DreamWorks characters, hopefully this will help them enjoy more moments together.”

Belinda Menendez, president and CRO, global distribution and international, NBCUniversal, said: “We are delighted to expand upon our long-standing relationship with Sky and NOW TV through this new deal that brings a vibrant, compelling slate of animated TV series to bolster the Sky Kids platforms. DreamWorks Animation has an outstanding pedigree in the realm of kids content and we look forward to partnering with Sky to bring these beloved characters and stories to homes across the U.K. and Ireland for families to enjoy.”

Sky already has over 5,000 episodes of on demand content from partners Viacom and Turner, and a host of Sky Kids Originals such as “Moominvalley” and “Morph.” Other shows include “Peppa Pig,” “Paw Patrol” and “SpongeBob Squarepants.”

https://variety.com/2020/tv/global/dreamworks-animation-sky-nbcu-1234808895/