Latest news with #ContendersTelevision
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
David Blaine Says The Magic Of ‘Do Not Attempt' Is In People Doing 'The Invisible Work' To Astonish – Contenders TV: Docs, Unscripted & Variety
Ever since David Blaine was a kid, he was obsessed with a guy who was nicknamed the human fire hydrant. Since there was no YouTube, Blaine would spend hours at a broadcasting museum to watch old clips of the infamous trickster who could drink kerosene, spit it out and ignite an 'enormous fire like a human dragon.' No matter how many glasses of liquid he consumed, however, Blaine couldn't quite figure out how the human fire hydrant performed his feat of magic. So in 2013, Blaine decided to go to the source and learn firsthand how to perform the fiery trick. That successful quest — yep, Blaine can spit flames with the best of 'em now — was the basis for David Blaine Do Not Attempt, a six-part documentary series for Nat Geo that explores the world through the lens of magic. More from Deadline Deadline's Contenders Television: Documentary, Unscripted & Variety Ready For Liftoff Deadline's Contenders Television Streaming Site Launches 'The Traitors' EP On What Makes Format Dynamic & The Possibility Of A Non-Celebrity Season - Contenders TV: Documentary, Unscripted & Variety Blaine traveled the world to find ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Along the way, he learns a few tricks for himself — like how to charm a King cobra, or what it's like to swim with an anaconda, or stuff a serrated knife down his nose. RELATED: 'This pursuit of doing things with your body, pushing as hard as you can, and then going even further to develop one skill that takes thousands and thousands of hours to learn … these are the incredible people that we see,' Blaine said during a conversation at Deadline's Contenders Television: Documentary, Unscripted & Variety event of his visits to Brazil, India, South Africa and more. 'It's like the invisible work they put in to create that one fleeting moment of astonishment. To me, that's the real magic, and that's what I find beautiful. This was a search for that.' 'Along the way we discovered all the things that led to what they do, their driving forces,' Blaine continues. 'They use the extreme cold, they do things that should not be possible under five feet of ice where they're walking upside down and holding their breath. They use their extreme environments to create the closest thing to magic that I consider possible.' That includes planting a big buss on the head of a King cobra. To pull off the ultimate trick, Blaine relied on a veritable snake charmer named Fitz whom he met in Indonesia. 'He's been actually working with King cobras and snakes for 20 years now,' recalls Blaine. 'He showed me his lifestyle, and he started to teach me how to feel comfortable around venomous snakes. He is a master at what he does. So I was very tuned into everything that he had told me and I processed it and I did it at my speed. So it was baby steps, but he shared everything with me and made me very comfortable. It was probably the most unpredictable and scariest moment in my career because in my mind if anything went wrong, that would probably lead to at best a very long hospital visit.' Check out the panel video above. { pmcCnx({ settings: { plugins: { pmcAtlasMG: { iabPlcmt: 1, }, pmcCnx: { singleAutoPlay: 'auto' } } }, playerId: "32fe25c4-79aa-406a-af44-69b41e969e71", mediaId: "38372851-1237-4456-94ca-bb48637d991b", }).render("connatix_player_38372851-1237-4456-94ca-bb48637d991b_15"); }); Best of Deadline Francis Ford Coppola's Career In Photos, From 'Apocalypse Now' To 'The Godfather' Everything We Know About The 'Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping' Movie So Far Everything We Know About Netflix's 'The Thursday Murder Club' So Far
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Deadline Launches Streaming Site For Sound & Screen Television
Deadline on Monday launched the streaming site for 2025's Sound & Screen Television, its annual TV music showcase that took place May 7 at UCLA's Royce Hall. The event featured the composers from 11 buzzy awards-season series discussing their music and then playing it with the help of a 60-piece orchestra. This year's participants ran the gamut with shows based on video games, graphic novels, comics and iconic novels, as well as genres ranging from thrillers and mysteries to sci-fi, comedies and dramas. The list of composer panelists is equally diverse, with Oscar winners including Gustavo Santaolalla and Volker Bertelmann and Emmy winners like Bear McCreary and Siddhartha Khosla the mix. More from Deadline Deadline's Contenders Television Streaming Site Launches Deadline Launches Contenders Television: Documentary, Unscripted & Variety Streaming Site Emmy Winner Siddhartha Khosla On The Creation Of The 'Paradise' Theme: "A Lot Of The Loops Are Sounds Taken From My Voice" - Sound & Screen TV The complete lineup featured music from Apple TV+'s Severance and Shrinking, HBO | Max's The Last of Us and The Penguin, Hulu's Paradise, Netflix's Squid Game, Peacock's The Day of the Jackal, Prime Video's The Boys and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Riot Games and Netflix's Arcane, and Sony Pictures Television and Peacock's Long Bright River. Sound & Screen Television is the latest Deadline event to turn the spotlight on the TV awards season, following the two-day Contenders Television and the virtual Contenders Television: Documentary, Unscripted & Variety. Best of Deadline 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery 2025 TV Cancellations: Photo Gallery 2025-26 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Tonys, Emmys, Oscars & More
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
As Sean Combs Faces Trial, ‘The Fall Of Diddy' Uncovers Alleged Shocking Pattern Of Abuse – Contenders TV: Documentary, Unscripted & Variety
Fifteen years to life. That's the sentence Sean 'Diddy' Combs could receive if he is convicted at his upcoming trial on federal charges of sex trafficking and racketeering. It's been a stunning descent for Combs, who became a billionaire after building a business empire that encompassed a record label and media properties, a clothing line, restaurants and liquor brands. The four-part Investigation Discovery series The Fall of Diddy looks into the making and unmaking of the producer-performer-entrepreneur, revealing a history of alleged abusive and destructive behavior by Combs that dates to the late 1980s. More from Deadline Sean 'Diddy' Combs: An Updated Timeline Of Charges, Allegations & Consequences The Rap Mogul Faces Deadline's Contenders Television Streaming Site Launches 'The Traitors' EP On What Makes Format Dynamic & The Possibility Of A Non-Celebrity Season - Contenders TV: Documentary, Unscripted & Variety 'It shows the pattern that we've seen all through the years,' said director and executive producer Yoruba Richen, who took part in a panel discussion for Deadline's Contenders Television: Documentary, Unscripted & Variety event. Richen and her fellow director/executive producer Emma Schwartz interviewed more than two dozen people for the series including journalists, investigative reporters, a Combs childhood friend and others who crossed paths with him over the decades. The former editor-in-chief of Vibe magazine recounts an alleged incident in which Combs threatened to kill her after he became enraged over a magazine cover shoot. Combs' former driver, Wardel Fenderson, says his boss offered him a bribe to lie about the circumstances of a shooting at a nightclub in 1999 in which Combs was arrested on weapons charges. More damningly, music producer Rodney 'Lil Rod' Jones accuses Combs of assaulting and drugging him on multiple occasions in 2023 while they were collaborating on an album. And in Episode 4 of the series, Kat Pasion, a former Combs girlfriend, accuses the entertainment mogul of forcing her to engage in a nonconsensual sex act. RELATED: 'She alleges that she was raped by him, in effect,' Schwartz commented. 'It sort of raises a lot of questions about … how long has this alleged behavior gone on for — both in the past and up to the present? Certainly, federal prosecutors allege that this kind of behavior has continued until really very, very recently.' Perhaps the single most disturbing sequence in The Fall of Diddy is surveillance camera video from 2016 that shows Combs assaulting his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in a California hotel. RELATED: 'It's some of the most shocking, upsetting footage I've ever seen,' commented Richen. 'We have a moment in the series where people react to that, and it was really powerful. And seeing someone, another human being, treated that way is just incredible.' Combs released an apology video after that footage was broadcast last year. But as to the charges and lawsuits he now faces, his legal team insists he will be vindicated. 'Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted or sex trafficked anyone — man or woman, adult or minor,' his legal reps told People magazine. 'Fortunately, a fair and impartial judicial process exists to find the truth, and Mr. Combs is confident he will prevail in court.' RELATED: Combs' trial is set to begin May 5. The Fall of Diddy gives followers of the case and of Combs' career some important context, notes Schwartz. 'Our documentary [is] not the trial of Sean Combs,' Schwartz said. 'It's looking at his history and how we got to this point. So some of it is understanding the potent impact he's had on culture. Some of it is understanding other moments in his history and behavior that we can learn from that are not necessarily subject to what we're all going to be watching [in court] in the coming months. But hopefully it gives you a grounding in who he is and how we've gotten to this point.' Check out the panel video above. RELATED: { pmcCnx({ settings: { plugins: { pmcAtlasMG: { iabPlcmt: 1, }, pmcCnx: { singleAutoPlay: 'auto' } } }, playerId: "32fe25c4-79aa-406a-af44-69b41e969e71", mediaId: "90693230-9658-480c-b850-2e13d1fd501f", }).render("connatix_player_90693230-9658-480c-b850-2e13d1fd501f_13"); }); Best of Deadline Streamer Subscription Prices And Tiers – Everything To Know As Prices Increase And Ads Abound 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery 2025-26 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Tonys, Emmys, Oscars & More
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Love Island USA's Ariana Madix Recalls Double-Dumping Episode Being 'Crazy To Witness' — Contenders TV: Documentary, Unscripted & Variety
Love Island USA had its most successful season last year, when a mix of casting, drama, game twists and new host Ariana Madix came together to spice up the villa. The Peacock dating series had many viral moments during Season 6, but it was the double dumping at the hands of the Islanders that shocked the villa to its core. More from Deadline Deadline's Contenders Television Streaming Site Launches 'Love Island USA' Reunion Recap: Biggest Moments and Highlights 'SNL' Stars Say 50th Anniversary Was Like "Building Up To A Wedding" - Contenders TV: Documentary, Unscripted & Variety Following a public vote for their favorite Islanders, six of them were left vulnerable and at risk of being dumped from the show. The remaining Islanders made the ultimate decision, and the outcome was reality TV gold. 'It was crazy. It was crazy to witness, to be honest, and watching them deliberate,' Madix said at Deadline's Contenders Television: Documentary, Unscripted & Variety event. 'In my opinion, there is no show of 2024, scripted or unscripted, that had the year that Love Island USA Season 6 had, and I think that moment right there that you're talking about is one of the moments that made that a fact of life.' It's not just the viewers at home who enjoy the excitement of the drama unfolding before the cameras but also by everyone involved in production who make the show happen. RELATED: 'I think what is exciting about the format is, we are really playing along in real time' showrunner and executive producer Ben Thursby-Palmer said during the panel. 'The train leaves the station on Day 1, and we are literally throwing the tracks in front of the train. So when they made that decision, it could have been any of those girls, and then what would have happened? We don't know what's going to happen until it happens, so we're literally in the control room, Ariana is literally standing there waiting for the result, and we're like, 'Oh gosh, right now we're going this way, or now we're going that way.' It changes everything.' The Love Island USA Season 6 cast connected with viewers in a way they had not done in previous seasons, and Danielle Gervais, EVP Casting & Talent at ITV America, explained what they look for when meeting potential Islanders. 'I think we're always looking for unfiltered Islanders,' she said. 'If we don't, at the end of an interview, feel like we have a great chat with a friend and whether they're talking to us or they're talking to their friend or their sisters, they're the same, then that's where we go, 'Oh, I don't know if they're right.' We really just look for people who are comfortable and are themselves, and I think Season 6 … we just feel like we hit the jackpot with the cast, and they really just had the summer of their lives.' Check back Monday for the panel video. Best of Deadline Everything We Know About The 'Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping' Movie So Far Everything We Know About Netflix's 'The Thursday Murder Club' So Far TV Show Book Adaptations Arriving In 2025 So Far
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘The Traitors' EP On What Makes Format Dynamic & The Possibility Of A Non-Celebrity Season – Contenders TV: Documentary, Unscripted & Variety
The Traitors continues to raise the stakes with every season, and the Season 3 opener of the Peacock reality TV competition series featured a twist that tested the format like never before to show how dynamic it can be. During the premiere, the faithful were greeted with a decision as they arrived at Andross Castle. Survivor legend Boston Rob wanted in on the game, but only the faithful would decide if he would join them or be banished. More from Deadline Deadline's Contenders Television: Documentary, Unscripted & Variety Ready For Liftoff Deadline's Contenders Television Streaming Site Launches 'SNL' Stars Say 50th Anniversary Was Like "Building Up To A Wedding" - Contenders TV: Documentary, Unscripted & Variety Knowing the mastermind of a game player that Rob is, the faithful ultimately opted not to vote him in; however, he would later show up inside a cage and enter the game as a traitor. 'I think that's the thing about this show [that] there's such intricate planning that goes into all of this, and we've thought through every different scenario that could spread throughout it,' executive producer Rosy Franks said on a panel for Deadline's Contenders Television: Documentary, Unscripted & Variety event. 'What we really loved about it was this idea of cause and effect, and the idea that immediately any decision that any of the players made could affect the game. And it did, because they banished him, which then made him a traitor. Now that could have been someone else, but it so happened that it was Rob, and they sort of, in that way, sealed their own fate in that [decision].' Franks, who was joined on the Contenders panel by series director Ben Archard and DPs Siggi Rosen-Rawlings and Matt Wright, explained that whoever the faithful had swapped for Rob in the opening would have ultimately become a traitor and 'completely changed the game,' adding, 'Boston Rob being a traitor was the thing that then catapulted the whole turret into this kind of chaotic betrayal that they ended up in. So it would have been a completely different season. And I think that's what's so exciting for us.' The format of The Traitors is dynamic and changes depending on the moves the players make in the game. One of the exciting aspects of the show is the roundtable debates, where participants vote each other out in their quest to identify a traitor. Alternatively, if a traitor is feeling the heat, they have the opportunity to divert attention elsewhere. These deliberations go on for hours but are edited for their final presentation and producers don't think it would be a good idea to show extended cuts of these moments. 'We can't show everything that happens because we're filming like 12-hour days and we've got to get [the episode cut] down to an hour-ish, but I think [the roundtables] are very fairly represented,' Franks said. 'I also think that the cut really helps it. We built that in the edit, we score it … I don't know if that is something that would be interesting.' Peacock's The Traitors split the cast between civilians and celebrities for its first season but leaned into celebrities for the two subsequent seasons. With the popularity of the format and viewers wanting more, Franks was asked if there was a possibility of a civilian series being produced. 'I mean, who knows, maybe one day that would be great, wouldn't it?' Franks said. Check back Monday for the panel video. Best of Deadline Everything We Know About The 'Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping' Movie So Far Everything We Know About Netflix's 'The Thursday Murder Club' So Far TV Show Book Adaptations Arriving In 2025 So Far
