Variety

This week's Variety cover story: After years of global touring and back-to-back album drops, Bad Bunny is launching a 30-night residency in San Juan — a career-defining celebration titled “No Me Quiero Ir de Aquí.” The first nine shows were reserved for locals only, selling over 80,000 tickets in hours.⁠ ⁠ The residency coincides with his new album, “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” a genre-spanning tribute to Puerto Rican culture that blends salsa, plena, jíbaro and reggaeton. Following the residency, he’ll embark on a 56-date stadium tour — skipping the U.S. entirely — and continue expanding into film with roles in “Caught Stealing” and “Happy Gilmore 2.⁠”⁠ ⁠ In his Variety cover story, Bad Bunny opens up about staying grounded, pushing creative boundaries, facing criticism at home, and why — despite fame and Escalades — he still prefers to walk. ⁠ ⁠ Read it now: https://lnkd.in/gQGGZ8us

Film producers from Variety’s 10 Producers to Watch List gathered at the Bentonville Film Festival for a panel to share how they tackle different challenges on set. “As producers, our whole job is to find new ways to get things done,” Stephen Love says. More here: https://lnkd.in/g6RsBEsi

Leaders in connected TV OS spoke to VIP+ about the state of ads in the space. https://lnkd.in/g6yjX6Qj

Zoë Worth, Jessica Choi, Jesse Hope, Stephen Love, Lizzie Shapiro, Trevor Wall, Zainab Azizi and Tony Yang from Variety’s 10 Producers to Watch List discuss their producer journeys at the Bentonville Film Festival. See more here: https://lnkd.in/g6RsBEsi

New Luminate survey data examines consumer perceptions toward generative AI use in film, TV and music. U.S. consumers remain skeptical. https://lnkd.in/gV83ncjX

California lawmakers have just approved Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to expand the state’s film and TV tax credit to $750 million a year, more than double the current $330 million program. https://lnkd.in/gzTbfXdY

On a panel at #CannesLions, Tubi’s chief marketing officer Nicole Parlapiano talks about prioritizing kindness and hope during extreme times of disruption. | Variety Innovation in TV Brunch presented by Google TV bit.ly/44fqVOq

“Too much personalization is also not necessarily a good thing.” Shalini Govil-Pai, vice president and general manager at Google TV, explains the importance of exposing users to content they may not be aware of. Watch the full conversation: https://lnkd.in/gUiyKnce

Michelle McGuire Christian, principal and chief commercial officer of Converge by Deloitte, and Ruba Borno, VP, global specialists and partners of Amazon Web Services (AWS), joined Variety’s Cynthia Littleton at Cannes Lions for a special live edition of the Strictly Business podcast. Learn how the two brands have worked, together and separately, on initiatives like Converge that harness AI to study insights on consumer behavior. Listen to the full episode now: bit.ly/44fM3Er

One ironic consequence of the streaming wars has become apparent over the last year or so: While the major media and tech companies were battling to win in the SVOD space, YouTube was solidifying its dominance of all TV viewing. https://lnkd.in/gPYY7Sr3