Tag Archives: Stranger Things

Christina Aguilera Wins First-Ever Webby Award for “Beautiful (2022 Version)”

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Christina Aguilera is celebrating a beautiful win…

The International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences (IADAS) has revealed the winners of the 27th Annual Webby Awards, with the 42-year-old half-Ecuadorian among the honorees.

Christina AguileraAguilera won the Webby Award for Music Video, General Video (Video) category for the new music video for her hit single “Beautiful.” “Beautiful (2022 Version)” was released to celebrate the 20-year-old anniversary of her Stripped album.

It’s Aguilera’s first-ever Webby Awards win.

 

Other winners include SZA as Artist of the Year, Tracee Ellis Ross with a Special Achievement Award and Sharon Horgan as Best Actress.

Barack Obama, Lizzo, Doja Cat, Blackpink, Hugh Jackman, Jimmy Kimmel, Hoda Kotb, Trixie Mattel, Serena Williams, the cast of Stranger Things and the cast of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever were also among the award recipients.

“This year’s Webby Winners speak to the incredible potential of the Internet and the people who shape it,” Claire Graves, president of The Webby Awards, said in a statement. “They have set the benchmark for excellence in their respective category and are an inspiration for us all to continue striving towards a more connected and creative digital world.”

Roy Wood Jr. will host the Webby Awards ceremony set to take place on Monday, May 15 at the Cipriani Wall Street in New York City.

Special Achievement Winners

Webby Lifetime Achievement Award: Shigetaka Kurita, the creator of the emoji, for his significant contribution to the worldwide cultural zeitgeist and impact on the way we communicate.

Webby Breakout of The Year Award: ChatGPT, the game-changing, generative AI writing tool that created a digital phenomenon that’s changing the way we work and create.

Webby Artist of The Year: SZA for the instant classic SOS, the true intention and consideration she injects into her work, and for her ingenious use of the Internet to share unique, brilliantly honest art.

Webby Special Achievement Award: Tracee Ellis Ross for her ingenious use of the Internet to share multidimensional stories of belonging, increase Black representation in the beauty industry, and serve as a constant, positive force.

Webby Podcast of The Year: SmartLess, honoring Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett for bringing nostalgia and laughter to listeners on their podcast SmartLess.

Webby Best Actress: Sharon Horgan for capturing the Internet’s attention with her acclaimed Apple TV+ show Bad Sisters, which she created, executive produced and stars in, as well as for her incredible career in comedy as a voice of radical self-awareness and razor-sharp wit.

Webby Special Achievement Award: Tobe Nwigwe for his innovative use of the Internet to create art that is imaginative and poignant as seen in his album moMINTS and his role as ‘Nick’ in the Netflix series Mo.

Webby Special Achievement Award: Under the Desk News for making the news accessible and understandable to young people through their candid, hard-hitting and synoptic reporting, all done in bite-sized pieces on Tik Tok.

2023 Winner Highlights

  • Rihanna’s Savage x Fenty Show Vol. 4 won the Webby People’s Voice Award for Fashion, Beauty & Lifestyle, Branded Entertainment (Video)
  • The Daily Show with Trevor Noah– “America’s Door Problem” won the Webby Award for Comedy, General Video (Video)
  • Recess Therapy’s “It’s Corn” won the Webby People’s Voice Award for Video Remixes/Mashups, General Video (Video)
  • Trixie Mattel Transforms Into Dr. Manhattan won the Webby People’s Voice Award for Fashion, Beauty & Lifestyle, General Video (Video)
  • Christina Aguilera – Beautiful (2022 Version) won the Webby Award for Music Video, General Video (Video)
  • Discord won the Webby Award for Community, General Websites and Mobile Sites, (Websites and Mobile Sites)
  • Spotify’s 2022 Wrapped won the Webby Award for Best Mobile Visual Design – Aesthetic, Mobile Specific Features & Design (Websites and Mobile Sites)
  • Google Store won the Webby Award for Best Mobile User Experience, Mobile Specific Features & Design (Websites and Mobile Sites)
  • Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez won the Webby Award for Fashion & Beauty, General Social (Social)
  • Doja Cat x Taco Bell: A “Contractual” Partnership won the Webby Award for Best Influencer or Creator Endorsement, Features (Social)
  • My BTS Story won the Webby Award for Best Community Engagement, Features (Social)
  • LIZZO’S BIG GIRLS | Womxn’s History Month | Animated Social Video won the Webby Award for Arts & Entertainment, Social Video (Social)
  • Disney’s TikTok won the Webby Award for Entertainment, General Social (Social)
  • HBO Max’s “Negroni Sbagliato” won the Webby Award for Best Use of Video, Features (Social)
  • PinkVenomChallenge – YouTube Shorts x BLACKPINK won the Webby People’s Voice Award for Best Partnership or Collaboration, Features (Social)
  • Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever won the Webby Award for TV, Film & Entertainment, Social Content Series (Social)
  • Pod Save America: Obama’s Advice For Democrats won the Webby Award for Featured Guest, Individual Episodes (Podcasts)
  • ESPN’s 30 for 30 Podcasts won the Webby Award for Sports, General Series (Podcasts)
  • FIFA 23 x TED LASSO won the Webby Award for In-Game Integration, Individual (Advertising, Media & PR)
  • Netflix Stranger Things Global Rift Takeover won the Webby Award for Experience Marketing, Individual (Advertising, Media & PR)
  • The Coors Light featuring Patrick Mahomes won the Webby Award for Best Partnership or Collaboration, Advertising Campaigns (Advertising, Media & PR)
  • Steak-umm Beef Sheets featuring Jimmy Kimmel won the Webby Award for Digital Campaign, Advertising Campaigns (Advertising, Media & PR)
  • The Apple TV app won the Webby Award for Best Streaming or OTT Service, App Features (Apps, dApps and Software)
  • Never Done Evolving featuring Serena Williams won the Webby Award for Technical Achievement, Virtual Video Features (Metaverse, Immersive & Virtual)

For the complete list of winners check the website here.

Webby Winners are selected by the IADAS. Members include Questlove, DJ and Producer; Tan France, Fashion Designer, Television Personality & Author; Natalie Guzman, Co-President & CMO, Savage X Fenty; Werner Vogels CTO, Amazon; Roxanne Gay, Host, The Roxanne Gay Agenda; Quinta Brunson, Writer, Director and Actor; Ziwe Fumudoh, Comedian and Writer; Reshma Saujani, Founder, Girls Who Code; LeVar Burton, Actor, Podcaster and TV Host; Takashi Murakami, Artist; Samantha Bee, Comedian; and Tracy Chou, Founder & CEO, Block Party.

Netflix Renews Jenna Ortega’s Hit Series “Wednesday” for Second Season

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Jenna Ortega’s Wednesdays are officially booked for another season…

Netflix has ordered a second season of its hit series Wednesday, starring the 20-year-old Mexican and Puerto Rican actress.

Jenna Ortega, Wednesday

From MGM Television, Wednesday crossed the 1B hours viewed mark – only the third show to do that on Netflix – in less than a month and overtook Dahmer to become the second most-watched U.S. show behind season four of Stranger Things.

Wednesday offers a new take on The Addams Family — the classic cartoon strip that was created by Charles Addams which ultimately became a ’60s sitcom and a ’90s feature film.

Wednesday ranks No. 2 on the most popular (English) TV list with 1.237 billion hours viewed within its first 28 days.

What’s most unique about the series is how one of Netflix’s biggest rivals, Amazon, is responsible for the series after it closed a $8.5B deal to buy MGM.

MGM Television has since been restructured into Amazon Studios under Jen Salke.

Wednesday debuted in November. The coming-of-age comedy is from Smallville creators Al Gough and Miles Millar and directed/executive-produced by Tim Burton.

Robert Trujillo & His Metallica Mates Debut at No. 1 on Hot Hard Rock Songs Chart with “Lux Æterna”

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Robert Trujillo is celebrating another chart-topper…

The 58-year-old half-Mexican American musician and his fellow Metallica mates have soared to No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Hard Rock Songs chart dated December 10 with “Lux Æterna.”

Robert Trujillo & MetallicaFollowing its November 28 premiere, the track debuts with 5.3 million in radio audience, 3.3 million official U.S. streams and 4,000 sold through December 1, according to Luminate.

“Lux Æterna” previews 72 Reasons, the band’s 11th studio album, due April 14, 2023.

Metallica previously topped Hot Hard Rock Songs (which began in 2020) for nine weeks starting in July with its 1986 classic “Master of Puppets,” sparked by its synch in Netflix’s Stranger Things.

“Lux Æterna” concurrently charges in at No. 2 on Mainstream Rock Airplay, the chart’s best debut since 2006, when Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Dani California” also began at No. 2.

Metallica ties its highest arrival on the list, matching 2003’s “St. Anger.” The band now boasts 25 top 10s on the tally, dating to its first — “Enter Sandman,” in 1991.

“Lux Æterna” also opens at No. 2 on Rock & Alternative Airplay and becomes the group’s first Alternative Airplay entry since 2009 at No. 35.

The track debuts at No. 1 on Hard Rock Digital Song Sales (marking Metallica’s fifth ruler since the chart began in 2007 and second this year following “Puppets” [seven weeks]) and at No. 7 on Hard Rock Streaming Songs.

72 Reasons is Metallica’s first studio album since Hardwired…to Self-Destruct, which debuted as the band’s sixth No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart in December 2016. The group first led with its self-titled set in August 1991; the album spends a 688th week on the Dec. 10-dated survey, the fourth-longest run in the tally’s history, dating to 1956.

Eugenio Derbez & His 3Pas Studios Sign First-Look Deal with Univision for Original Spanish Projects

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Eugenio Derbez is excited to bring new Spanish projects to Univision…

The 60-year-old Mexican actor, comedian and filmmaker and 3Pas Studios, run by Derbez and his producing partner Ben Odell, have inked a first-look deal with Univision to create original scripted and unscripted Spanish-language projects for Univision’s global streaming SVOD content slate set to launch in 2022.

Eugenio Derbez

Univision will have the first look at all Spanish-language television and theatrical motion picture projects controlled by 3Pas Studios and Derbez, including movies and series for SVOD or theatrical releases.

The multi-year agreement also includes the curation of the new “Derbez Channel” featuring family and comedy content available via the network’s free AVOD tier, and the release of titles starring Derbez that put him on the map.

A sampling of titles includes Al Derecho y al Derbez, La Familia P. Luche, and the hit film Instructions Not Included.

“I’m really glad to get back to producing in Spanish,” Derbez tells Deadline exclusively. “Although, I am proud to say my projects like [the Apple TV+ series] Acapulco and [the film] Overboard, and How to Be A Latin Lover always included some Spanish. I’m going to still do English projects but I’m very excited to connect again with my Spanish-language fans who have always supported me.”

Derbez teases the 3Pas team is “working on a lot of ideas” that could bring series similar to Acapulco to Univision. Odell shed some insight into what that could look like.

“We know our audience likes to sit with their families and watch content together,” Odell shares. “We teamed up with Univision because we share that sensibility—we want to reach a multigenerational audience. That takes wanting to be in dialogue with that audience—which Univision is—but now we want to make the premium version. What’s our Stranger Things look like?”

Derbez adds, “What Univision is doing with their streaming platform is the future. They’re giving us the freedom and the budget to try new things and take risks to make interesting and different programming. The idea of developing and producing world-class, Spanish-language content across different genres and catering to different age groups for Univision is very exciting.”

Eduardo Franco to Star on Season 4 of Netflix’s “Stranger Things”

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It’s a Stranger time for Eduardo Franco.

The 23-year-old Mexican–American comedic actor has joined the cast of Netflix’s mega hit series Stranger Things for the upcoming fourth season.

Eduardo Franco

Franco has been named a new series regular alongside Jamie Campbell Bower and Joseph Quinn.

Set to recur in Season 4 are  Tom Wlaschiha, Sherman Augustus, Mason Dye, Nikola Djuricko and Robert Englund.

The title of Season 4’s opening episode is The Hellfire Club. Earlier this month, Stranger Things’ Twitter account started teasing the club, raising speculations among fans about what kind of club it is. The description of Quinn’s character Eddie Munson provides an answer. Eddie is an audacious 80’s metalhead who runs The Hellfire Club, Hawkins High’s official D&D club. Hated by those who don’t understand him — and beloved by those who do — Eddie will find himself at the terrifying epicenter of this season’s mystery.

A psychiatric hospital will be a setting in Season 4 with two of the new characters tied to it.

Series regular Bower will play Peter Ballard, a caring man who works as an orderly at a psychiatric hospital. Tired of the brutality he witnesses day after day, will Peter finally take a stand?

Recurring player Englund will play Victor Creel, a disturbed and intimidating man who is imprisoned in a psychiatric hospital for a gruesome murder in the 1950s.

Season 4 will feature two new Russian characters, none of them played by Russians.

In the first Season 4 teaser, released in February, “The American” (aka Jim Hopper), was seen in a Russian labor camp in the snowy wasteland of Kamchatka, “where he will face dangers both human…and other,” per the series creators, the Duffer brothers.

German actor Wlaschiha will play Dmitri, a Russian prison guard who befriends Hopper. Dmitri is smart, cunning, and charming… but can he be trusted?

Serbian actor Djuricko will play Yuri, a seedy and unpredictable Russian smuggler who loves bad jokes, cold hard cash, and crunchy style peanut butter.

In other developments, Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) is getting a new best friend, Argyle (Franco), a fun-loving stoner who proudly delivers delicious pizza pies for Surfer Boy Pizza.

The remaining new characters, both recurring, are:

  • Lt. Colonel Sullivan, played by Augustus. An intelligent, no-nonsense man who believes he knows how to stop the evil in Hawkins once and for all….
  • Jason Carver (Dye). Jason seemingly has it all — he’s handsome, he’s rich, he’s a sports star, and he’s dating the most popular girl in school. But as a new evil threatens Hawkins, Jason’s perfect world begins to unravel…

Per the Duffers, in Season 4, “a new horror is beginning to surface, something long buried, something that connects everything.” The season will feature a fourth new series regular, Brett Gelman, who was promoted after recurring as Hopper’s conspiracy theorist friend Murray Bauman in seasons 2–3.

At the end of Season 3, following the explosion, aimed at destroying the Soviet lab to the Upside Down deep under the new Starcourt Mall, Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) is seen taking her sons (Charlie Heaton, Noah Schnapp) and Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) out of the Indiana town to start a new life. There is a jump in geography in the final scene, which takes place in the far Eastern end of the USSR where guards are feeding a prisoner to an imprisoned Demogorgon, but “not the American.”

Stranger Things was in the early stages of filming Season 4 when Netflix on March 13 suspended film and TV production in the face of the escalating coronavirus pandemic. The hugely popular supernatural drama resumed filming Sept. 28 in Georgia.

Netflix renewed Stranger Things for a fourth season in September 2019 when it also closed a major overall deal with the Duffer Brothers. The three-time Emmy nominee for Best Drama is one of Netflix’s most watched titles, with Season 3 alone amassing 40.7 million household accounts in its first four days — more than any other Netflix film or series in that timeframe — and 64 million member households in the first four weeks.

Created by Matt and Ross Duffer, Stranger Things is produced by Monkey Massacre Productions & 21 Laps Entertainment. The twin brothers serve as writers, directors, executive producers and showrunners on the series alongside executive producer/director Shawn Levy.

Zoe Saldana to Star in the Netflix Action-Adventure Film “The Adam Project”

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There’s a new Project in Zoe Saldana’s future…

The 42-year-old Puerto Rican and Dominican American actress and Guardians of the Galaxy star will star opposite Jennifer Garner and Ryan Reynolds in the Netflix action-adventure film The Adam Project.

Zoë Saldaña 

Directed by Shawn Levy, Jonathan Tropper penned the script, with David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Don Granger producing for Skydance.

Plot details are being kept under wraps other than it having a time-travel element. The Adam Project marks one of a handful of films Netflix landed this year as studios like Paramount were figuring out their future slate in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Netflix felt like the perfect home as Reynolds was in the midst of wrapping his second film, Red Notice, while Levy has made Netflix his home following the massive success of his series Stranger Things.

The film will be the first project for Reynolds’ The Group Effort Initiative, a self-financed diversity and inclusion program that aims to give people of color a chance to work and learn on the actor’s productions. The Group Effort Initiative is a joint effort between Maximum Effort and B for Effort.

Saldana is known for starring roles in two of three biggest blockbusters in movie history — Avatar and Avengers: Endgame. She next will be seen reprising her role of Neytiri in Avatar 2, 3 and 4. Saldana also will star in and executive produce the limited drama series From Scratch for Netflix.

Netflix to Premiere Gina Rodriguez’s Animated Series “Carmen Sandiego” in January

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Gina Rodriguez will be traveling the Worldsoon…

Netflix has announced a January premiere date for its upcoming reboot of the classic animated series Carmen Sandiego, featuring the voice of the 34-year-old Puerto Rican actress and Jane the Virgin star in the title role.

Gina Rodriguez

The new Carmen Sandiego features not only a new crop of international capers packed but will look into Carmen’s past to tell who she is and why she became a super thief. Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things) voices Player, Carmen’s chief accomplice and friend.

Carmen Sandiego

The character debuted in a 1980s computer game franchise Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? and probably is best known for the Greg Lee-hosted game show that aired on PBS from 1991-95. The animated series ran from 1994 to 1999 on Fox Kids.

Carmen Sandiego debuts Friday, January 18 on the internet TV network.

Netflix Renews Ignacio Serricchio’s “Lost In Space” for Second Season

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Ignacio Serricchio still finds himself Lost…

A month after Lost In Space‘s premiere, Netflic has renewed the sci-fi series, starring the 36-year-old Argentine actor, for a second season.

Ignacio Serricchio

The pickup comes after a strong launch for the show. According to data released by Nielsen, Lost In Space garnered 3.16 million viewers overall on its first day of release, Netflix’s third best premiere-day viewership in the past year behind Season 2 of Stranger Things and movie Bright. 

In addition to Serricchio, who portrays Don West, Lost In Space, from Legendary Television, also stars Toby Stephens, Molly Parker, Maxwell Jenkins, Mina Sundwall, Taylor Russell and Parker Posey.

A modern reimagining of the 1960s classic created by Irwin Allen, Lost in Space is set 30 years in the future where colonization in space has become a reality. The epic series follows the Robinson family, one of the families selected to make a new life for themselves in a better world. But when the new colonists find themselves abruptly torn off course en route to their new home they must forge new alliances and work together to survive in a dangerous alien environment, lightyears from their original destination.

Rodriguez to Voice Title Character in Netflix’s Animated Series “Carmen Sandiego”

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Where in the world is Gina Rodriguez? Well, you’ll soon find out…

Netflix is developing an animated reboot of the once-popular children’s series Carmen Sandiego, with the 32-year-old Puerto Rican actress and Jane the Virgin star voicing the title character.

Gina Rodriguez

Produced by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, the 20-episode Carmen Sandiego will feature a new crop of international capers, as well as a look into Carmen’s past to reveal who she is and why she became a super thief.

Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things) will voice Player, Carmen’s chief accomplice and friend.

The character debuted in a 1980s computer game franchise Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? and probably is best known for the Greg Lee-hosted game show that aired on PBS from 1991-95.

Before her breakout role on Jane the Virgin, Rodriguez, a Golden Globe winner for her performance on the CW series, previously appeared on television in Rizzoli & Isles, Longmire, The Bold and the Beautiful, The Mentalist and Happy Endings.