Business

ViacomCBS CFO Naveen Chopra — asked Tuesday about Paramount’s management shakeup — said outgoing studio CEO Jim Gianopolus “leaves some very big shoes to fill. There is no doubt he has helped revitalize the studio both creatively and financially. But I think Brian [Robbins] is really the perfect person to take the reins from here.”

The energy watchdog has moved to reassure customers of two failed household suppliers as wholesale prices hit record levels, threatening a leap in bills in and after the winter months ahead. Ofgem said the demise of Utility Point – first reported by Sky News – and People’s Energy meant their respective customer bases, totalling more

Robin French, a talent agent who worked with legends including Marlon Brando and Elizabeth Taylor and later headed production at Paramount Pictures in the late 1970s, has died. His family said he had been in declining health for the past few months and died September 6 in Palm Desert, CA. “Dad left knowing that we

Two-thirds of travel sector employers with staff still on the furlough scheme are planning redundancies once the wage support is removed at the end of the month, the travel association ABTA has warned. The body said a survey of its membership showed that 69% of employers planned to let staff go after 30 September. It

EXCLUSIVE: Kyra Breslin, the granddaughter of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jimmy Breslin, is following in her grandfather’s footsteps, but in audio. She is launching Finding Lauren, a true-crime documentary podcast series that looks at the ongoing investigation of missing Indiana University student, Lauren Spierer. The series, which launches on September 20, explores the story of the

Primark has revealed it suffered a “pingdemic” sales slump over the summer – and is now facing supply chain delays for its autumn and winter stock. The cut-price fashion retailer’s UK like-for-like sales were down by 24% compared to last year over a four-week period from mid-June though they have partly recovered since self-isolation rules

Westbrook Studios, the Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith company behind Telluride Film Festival favorite King Richard and series Red Table Talk and Cobra Kai, has held exploratory talks with a number of potential buyers including the new venture led by Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs and backed by the Blackstone Group. Blackstone and Westbrook

Boris Johnson is being urged to “level up” Britain by backing pay rises for workers, scrapping his proposed cut in Universal Credit and tackling child poverty. The challenge comes from TUC leader Frances O’Grady in a call to the government to protect workers from further pandemics, climate change and the tech revolution. In her TUC

EXCLUSIVE: CAA has cooked up its latest podcast signing. The agency has signed Dan Pashman, host of food podcast The Sporkful. Pashman, who is also the creator and star of Cooking Channel’s You’re Eating It Wrong, will work with CAA on new opportunities for himself and The Sporkful in television, publishing and commercial endorsements. The James

One of Britain’s oldest bicycle manufacturers is being put up for sale amid a continuing surge in consumer interest in cycling. Sky News has learnt that the owners of Ribble, which was founded in 1897, have appointed advisers to prepare the company for an auction in the coming months. Stifel, the investment bank, has been

CAA has become the latest media and entertainment company to sue an insurance company for not covering losses suffered during the coronavirus shutdown. The Hollywood agency on Friday filed a civil suit in Los Angeles Superior Court against Affiliated FM, citing the insurance company’s “bad-faith refusal” to pay CAA claims “under broad ‘all-risk’ policies of

Up to 660,000 jobs – many in the UK’s industrial heartlands – are at risk unless Boris Johnson speeds up green investment and moving to “net zero” carbon dioxide emissions, according to a major study. Many of the areas where jobs are most under threat include the “red wall” constituencies won by the Conservatives from

Editor’s note: One in a series of stories tied to the 20th anniversary of 9/11. It seemed like a small thing, stopping for a yellow light. But it may have made all the difference for Jane Rosenthal on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. Her car was a block and half away from the Twin Towers when the

The former auditor of Patisserie Valerie is facing a multimillion pound fine nearly three years after the cafe chain collapsed in one of Britain’s biggest recent accounting scandals. Sky News has learnt that Grant Thornton is in advanced discussions with the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) about a settlement that could be finalised as soon as

In November 2018, Paramount Pictures boss Jim Gianopulos revealed a major new initiative for then-parent Viacom: a multi-picture deal with Netflix. “Our priority is to expand our role as a major global content supplier,” Gianopulos said. Priorities have changed. Gianopulos is now headed toward the exits, and a rising star in the ViacomCBS executive ranks,

Northern Ireland could see “instability, uncertainty and unpredictability” if there is an attempt to renegotiate the post-Brexit agreement, the European Commission’s vice president has warned. Maros Sefcovic said the Northern Ireland Protocol must be “properly implemented”, but admitted both sides would have to compromise. His warning came after DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said his

EXCLUSIVE: Village Roadshow Pictures has inked a multi-year first-look deal with David S. Goyer’s Phantom Four Films to source, develop and produce feature films with Phantom Four’s President of Production, Keith Levine, overseeing development. Levine also will produce alongside Goyer. As part of the deal, Phantom Four will produce a remake of the cult-classic 1975

HGV driving tests will be relaxed to allow 50,000 more to be taken in an attempt to tackle the shortage of lorry drivers ahead of Christmas, the transport secretary has announced. Grant Shapps said that following a consultation, three changes will happen to speed up the process after the suspension of tests during the pandemic

Liz McCann, a groundbreaking Broadway producer who, as one of the first and most successful women to achieve a prominent leadership role in the theater industry – a term she hated, preferring “theater community” — died Thursday of cancer at Calvary Hospital in the Bronx. She was 90. Her death was announced by her longtime

Tens of thousands of businesses across the UK have called on Parliament to tackle soaring card fees which amounted to £46 per household last year. The companies argue that British businesses and consumers should be protected from the mounting cost of anti-competitive practices in card payments, which are adding to the price of goods and