English Entertainment
Voot Select and Vh1 India kick-off the first major award event since the pandemic – 2020 Video Music Awards
MUMBAI: Excitement around the world is palpable, as the 2020 Video Music Awards becomes the first major event in these unprecedented times. All eyes will be set on the grand stage as the iconic award show will be exclusively available on Voot Select and on Vh1 India on Monday August 31, starting with the red-carpet special at 5:30pm, followed by the main show at 7pm.
Bringing the first major event to viewers, Viacom18 Voot Select, Youth, Music and English Entertainment head Ferzad Palia said, “We’re living in extraordinary times during which music has kept up spirits and been one of the primary sources of entertainment for most of us. At Vh1 India, we continue to ply viewers with the best and latest of lifestyle, music & music-related content including the biggest award shows and events. Along with Vh1 India, showcasing the 2020 VMA on Voot Select is yet another step in satiating the entertainment and content needs of viewers by letting them choose their preferred mode and platform of consumption. We’re constantly scaling the reach of our offerings for viewers, thus keeping them perpetually entertained.”
Hosted by the quintessential Keke Palmer, this year’s awards will take viewers around the magnificent city of New York with stellar artists such as Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, The Weeknd, Miley Cyrus, Black Eyed Peas and many more coming together for the first time since the global pandemic. Adding to the evening filled with star-studded and glamorous performances, BTS will be performing their latest record-breaking single.
With nine nods each, Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga lead the nominations, followed by Billie Eilish and The Weeknd with six each and 17-year old Tate McRae bagging her first nomination in the ‘Push Best New Artist’ category. The 2020 edition will also see the introduction of two new categories – ‘Best Music Video From Home’ and ‘Best Quarantine Performance’ to recognize and toast the artists that didn’t let the pandemic stop the music.
English Entertainment
Ellison takes his Paramount-Warner Bros case straight to theater owners
The Skydance chief goes to CinemaCon with promises and a skeptical crowd waiting
CALIFORNIA: David Ellison strode into a room packed with thousands of cinema owners and executives at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Thursday and did something rather bold: he looked them in the eye and asked them to trust him.
The chief executive of Paramount Skydance vowed that his company would release a minimum of 30 films a year if regulators greenlight its proposed $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, a deal that has made theater owners deeply, and loudly, nervous.
“I wanted to look every single one of you in the eye and give you my word,” Ellison told the crowd. “Once we combine with Warner Bros, we are going to make a minimum of 30 films annually across both studios.”
It was a confident pitch. Whether it landed is another matter. Cinema operators have already called on regulators to block the deal, and scepticism in the room was hardly concealed.
Ellison pushed back by pointing to recent form. Paramount, born from the merger of Paramount Global and Skydance Media last August, plans to release 15 films this year, nearly double the eight it put out in 2025. Progress, he argued, was already underway.
He also threw theater owners a bone they have long been chasing: all films, he pledged, would run exclusively in cinemas for a minimum of 45 days, drawing applause from a crowd that has spent years fighting for exactly that commitment across the industry.
“People can speculate all they want,” Ellison said, “but I am standing here today telling you personally that you can count on our complete commitment. And we’ll show you we mean it.”
Fine words. The regulators, however, will have the last one.
