CHANGING TRACKS
YG Leisure, the agency behind Ok-pop sensation Blackpink, has appointed Yang Min-seok as its new, sole CEO. The youthful brother of firm founder Yang Hyun-sun, he was beforehand joint CEO with Hwang Bo-kyun.
The announcement was made shortly after YG’s annual shareholder assembly that closed the books on a yr through which revenues climbed 65% to $430 million.
The agency, which not too long ago denied that it had paid $30 million to retain its position with Blackpink (however noticed the lady group’s particular person members sign personal representation contracts with other agencies) is busily launching BabyMonster, one other all-female act that’s seen in some circles as a successor to Blackpink.
BabyMonster, which was fashioned late final yr via actuality TV present “Final Analysis 2023,” is a seven half group with members from Korea, Thailand and Japan. The group launched singles final yr and in February. However YG is now describing mini-album and new single “Sheesh,” launched on April 1, because the group’s official debut.
Watch trailer for “Sheesh” right here:
With a powerful reception to the brand new tracks, BabyMonster is already booked for a five-territory fan assembly tour to Singapore, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia.
CRUZ CONTROL ENDING
Tirso S. Cruz III, the previous main actor who was appointed as chairman of the Film Development Council of the Philippines in July 2022, has resigned. In a press release posted to the FDCP web site Cruz stated: “This isn’t the top. I could not be the chairperson, however I’ll at all times be part of the FDCP. I’ll proceed to help the Philippine Movie Trade as an actor and as a personal citizen.” He gave no clarification for his exit after solely 19 months, however thanked the nation’s President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., for entrusting him.
DOCUMENTARY GRANTS
Bitchitra Collective: Indian Girls in Documentary, a community of Indian and diasporic ladies and non-binary filmmakers, have unveiled their 2024 grants, the place every filmmaker is paired with a mentor, receiving help for a yr. The $4,000 inaugural Sriyanka Ray Grant in partnership with Brown Ladies Doc Mafia, in reminiscence of the late community-based artist, goes to Moupia Mukherjee for “Murshida.”
Beneath the collective’s documentary movie and media fellowship, six Indian heritage filmmakers based mostly in India and U.S. will obtain a grant of $2000 every, funded by Coloration Congress, to progress their ongoing brief or lengthy kind documentary tasks. They’re: Rajani Mani for “Earlier than the Feast,” mentored by Farida Pacha; Nazia Khan for “Oh Believers,” mentored by Miriam Chandy Menacherry; Trisha Bhattacharya for “Alongside the Rain Bushes,” mentored by Sinali Gulati; Zainab Sultan for “Stand Up for Madinah,” mentored by Chithra Jayaram; Poorva Bhat for “What’s the Movie About,” mentored by Shuchi Talati; and Geetanjali Gurlhosur for “The place Do We Go From Right here?,” mentored by Mamta Trivedi.
SOUTH ASIAN SUCCESS
The second version of South Asian Home at SXSW attracted the best variety of South Asian expertise and crowds within the competition’s 38-year historical past, the organizers stated. The occasion additionally noticed the announcement of the Tasveer Movie Market to be held from Oct. 8-13 in Seattle as a part of the one South Asian Oscar-qualifying competition – nineteenth Tasveer Movie Pageant. The U.S.-based RASA Movie Group movie collective, which was launched at Sundance, exploring tasks that includes robust feminine protagonists, narratives centered round social justice and tales that painting Muslim characters in constructive and empowering roles, has acquired its first funding and can take part on the Tasveer market, it was revealed on the occasion.
SHORT ACQUISITION
France’s Canal+ has acquired Rahul Roye‘s Hindi-language brief “A Lullaby for Yellow Roses,” which has participated within the Brussels Brief Movie Pageant, the Oscar-qualifying Flickerfest Worldwide Brief Movie Pageant and Kaohsiung Movie Pageant amongst others. The India, Kuwait, Pakistan, Italy co-production is produced by Abdullah Al Kandari, Tushar Tyagi and Abid Aziz Service provider, with Sayonara Movies dealing with gross sales and distribution.
SONG AND DANCE
Bhansali Music has launched one other observe from the label’s maiden album “Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar,” Indian auteur Sanjay Leela Bhansali‘s magnum opus Netflix sequence, directed and composed by him. The “Tilasmi Bahein” quantity is sung by Sharmistha Chatterjee, from lyrics by A.M. Turaz. It options Sonakshi Sinha and is and choreographed by Kruti Mahesh.
