Former ABC News president James Goldston is joining Candle Media, founded and led by ex-Disney execs Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs, to head a new division focused on TV shows and movies based on true stories.
Goldston will serve as president of the new division, which will produce scripted and nonscripted features and series “inspired by true stories,” according to Candle.
Goldston spent 18 years at ABC News, including seven years as president, before exiting in 2021. After leaving ABC News, he founded Aquitania Films, creating documentary series for the U.S., U.K. and global market. With his move to Candle Media, Aquitania’s development slate will join Goldston and his team at Candle. Last year, the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol tapped Goldston to produce the hearings in Washington, D.C.
“Kevin and Tom have built a best-in-class team of storytellers at Candle Media,...
Goldston will serve as president of the new division, which will produce scripted and nonscripted features and series “inspired by true stories,” according to Candle.
Goldston spent 18 years at ABC News, including seven years as president, before exiting in 2021. After leaving ABC News, he founded Aquitania Films, creating documentary series for the U.S., U.K. and global market. With his move to Candle Media, Aquitania’s development slate will join Goldston and his team at Candle. Last year, the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol tapped Goldston to produce the hearings in Washington, D.C.
“Kevin and Tom have built a best-in-class team of storytellers at Candle Media,...
- 2/21/2023
- by Todd Spangler
- Variety Film + TV
Former ABC News Chief James Goldston has joined Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs’ Candle Media to head up a new division focused on scripted and non-scripted features and series inspired by true stories. Goldston will serve as President of the new group.
Mayer and Staggs held senior executive posts at Disney during Goldston’s tenure at ABC. They launched Candle in 2021 with backing from private equity firm Blackstone. Initial investments have included the acquisition of Moonbug Entertainment and a significant stake in Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine.
Goldston spent 18 years at ABC News, including seven years as President, overseeing all aspects of the news division. Along with daily news programming, he oversaw podcast and documentary projects for Hulu and Disney+. That roster included The Dropout, produced by Rebecca Jarvis and her team, which became a breakout podcast, documentary and Emmy-winning scripted series for Hulu; and John’s Ridley’s Let it Fall,...
Mayer and Staggs held senior executive posts at Disney during Goldston’s tenure at ABC. They launched Candle in 2021 with backing from private equity firm Blackstone. Initial investments have included the acquisition of Moonbug Entertainment and a significant stake in Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine.
Goldston spent 18 years at ABC News, including seven years as President, overseeing all aspects of the news division. Along with daily news programming, he oversaw podcast and documentary projects for Hulu and Disney+. That roster included The Dropout, produced by Rebecca Jarvis and her team, which became a breakout podcast, documentary and Emmy-winning scripted series for Hulu; and John’s Ridley’s Let it Fall,...
- 2/21/2023
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
NBC’s “World of Dance” waltzed its way to one of the highest ratings, as NBC comfortably won Tuesday night.
The dance competition series scored a 0.9 rating (up from a 0.8 last time around) among adults 18-49 and drew 4.4 million total viewers. It was topped only by its “America’s Got Talent” lead-in which delivered a 1.3 rating and 8.4 million viewers. That’s the same rating as the last two episodes for the singing show, but a small 3% down tick in audience.
On a night with few other original offerings, a new episode of ABC’s “Genetic Detective” came in even at a 0.4 rating and 2.7 million viewers. Prior to that, the Disney-owned network aired an encore presentation of “Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992,” John Ridley’s acclaimed feature-length doc about the 1992 uprising in Los Angeles, to a 0.5 rating and 2.6 million pairs of eyeballs.
Over on the CW, “Stargirl” aired a new episode...
The dance competition series scored a 0.9 rating (up from a 0.8 last time around) among adults 18-49 and drew 4.4 million total viewers. It was topped only by its “America’s Got Talent” lead-in which delivered a 1.3 rating and 8.4 million viewers. That’s the same rating as the last two episodes for the singing show, but a small 3% down tick in audience.
On a night with few other original offerings, a new episode of ABC’s “Genetic Detective” came in even at a 0.4 rating and 2.7 million viewers. Prior to that, the Disney-owned network aired an encore presentation of “Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992,” John Ridley’s acclaimed feature-length doc about the 1992 uprising in Los Angeles, to a 0.5 rating and 2.6 million pairs of eyeballs.
Over on the CW, “Stargirl” aired a new episode...
- 6/17/2020
- by Will Thorne
- Variety Film + TV
America's Got Talent and World of Dance once again carried NBC to the top of Tuesday's ratings, as the network led all three hours of primetime among total viewers, adults 18-49 and other key demographics. ABC also got decent returns from a reairing of John Ridley's documentary Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992, drawing a slightly larger audience than for its premiere in 2017.
America's Got Talent was steady in adults 18-49 with a 1.3 rating and averaged 8.44 million viewers, down a little from 8.7 million last week. It led primetime in both measures. World of ...
America's Got Talent was steady in adults 18-49 with a 1.3 rating and averaged 8.44 million viewers, down a little from 8.7 million last week. It led primetime in both measures. World of ...
- 6/17/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Exclusive: John Ridley and Blumhouse Productions have teamed on a movie adaptation of his comic book series The American Way: Those Above And Those Below. The Oscar-winning 12 Years A Slave writer and creator/exec producer of the ABC anthology series American Crime is writing to direct a film that uses superheroes to explore timely social issues including race and integration. Jason Blum will produce.
The comic was published as a six-issue monthly miniseries last year by DC Entertainment’s Vertigo label. Ridley wrote the story will illustrator George Jeanty, and it was a followup to their acclaimed 2007 graphic novel The American Way. The original dealt with the creation of a team of ’60s superheroes called The Civil Defense Corps, each with special powers but also a specific ethnic makeup designed to make segments of the American population feel safe and represented. There is also a group of supervillains pitted against the heroes,...
The comic was published as a six-issue monthly miniseries last year by DC Entertainment’s Vertigo label. Ridley wrote the story will illustrator George Jeanty, and it was a followup to their acclaimed 2007 graphic novel The American Way. The original dealt with the creation of a team of ’60s superheroes called The Civil Defense Corps, each with special powers but also a specific ethnic makeup designed to make segments of the American population feel safe and represented. There is also a group of supervillains pitted against the heroes,...
- 4/16/2018
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ documentary branch has advanced 15 films out of 170 submissions to vie for the final five Documentary Feature nominations.
As expected, Brett Morgan’s “Jane,” Agnes Varda and Jr’s “Faces Places,” two Syria non-fiction features, “Last Men in Aleppo” and “City of Ghosts,” two social action environmental documentaries, “An Inconvenient Sequel” and “Chasing Coral,” and timely Russian doping expose “Icarus” made the shortlist.
Read More:2018 Oscar Predictions: Best Documentary Feature
Netflix landed four films, including “Chasing Coral,” “Icarus,” “One of Us” and transgender filmmaker’s Yance Ford’s black lives matter documentary “Strong Island.” Amazon delivered Grateful Dead movie “Long Strange Trip,” which qualified even at four hours long, as well as “City of Ghosts” and Ai Weiwei’s immigration feature “Human Flow,” which was backed by Participant Media along with Paramount’s “An Inconvenient Sequel.”
Four features were directed or co-directed by women,...
As expected, Brett Morgan’s “Jane,” Agnes Varda and Jr’s “Faces Places,” two Syria non-fiction features, “Last Men in Aleppo” and “City of Ghosts,” two social action environmental documentaries, “An Inconvenient Sequel” and “Chasing Coral,” and timely Russian doping expose “Icarus” made the shortlist.
Read More:2018 Oscar Predictions: Best Documentary Feature
Netflix landed four films, including “Chasing Coral,” “Icarus,” “One of Us” and transgender filmmaker’s Yance Ford’s black lives matter documentary “Strong Island.” Amazon delivered Grateful Dead movie “Long Strange Trip,” which qualified even at four hours long, as well as “City of Ghosts” and Ai Weiwei’s immigration feature “Human Flow,” which was backed by Participant Media along with Paramount’s “An Inconvenient Sequel.”
Four features were directed or co-directed by women,...
- 12/8/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ documentary branch has advanced 15 films out of 170 submissions to vie for the final five Documentary Feature nominations.
As expected, Brett Morgan’s “Jane,” Agnes Varda and Jr’s “Faces Places,” two Syria non-fiction features, “Last Men in Aleppo” and “City of Ghosts,” two social action environmental documentaries, “An Inconvenient Sequel” and “Chasing Coral,” and timely Russian doping expose “Icarus” made the shortlist.
Read More:2018 Oscar Predictions: Best Documentary Feature
Netflix landed four films, including “Chasing Coral,” “Icarus,” “One of Us” and transgender filmmaker’s Yance Ford’s black lives matter documentary “Strong Island.” Amazon delivered Grateful Dead movie “Long Strange Trip,” which qualified even at four hours long, as well as “City of Ghosts” and Ai Weiwei’s immigration feature “Human Flow,” which was backed by Participant Media along with Paramount’s “An Inconvenient Sequel.”
Four features were directed or co-directed by women,...
As expected, Brett Morgan’s “Jane,” Agnes Varda and Jr’s “Faces Places,” two Syria non-fiction features, “Last Men in Aleppo” and “City of Ghosts,” two social action environmental documentaries, “An Inconvenient Sequel” and “Chasing Coral,” and timely Russian doping expose “Icarus” made the shortlist.
Read More:2018 Oscar Predictions: Best Documentary Feature
Netflix landed four films, including “Chasing Coral,” “Icarus,” “One of Us” and transgender filmmaker’s Yance Ford’s black lives matter documentary “Strong Island.” Amazon delivered Grateful Dead movie “Long Strange Trip,” which qualified even at four hours long, as well as “City of Ghosts” and Ai Weiwei’s immigration feature “Human Flow,” which was backed by Participant Media along with Paramount’s “An Inconvenient Sequel.”
Four features were directed or co-directed by women,...
- 12/8/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
by Glenn Dunks
It’s not surprising that the spectre of the Los Angeles riots of 1992 has loomed large over documentary filmmaking this year. Emerging out from shadow of O.J. Simpson, whose story was everywhere in 2016, the 25th anniversary of this monumental moment in American history has been the focus of not just (by my count) five feature documentaries, but has also felt like an integral part of more contemporary films like Sabaah Folayan and Damon Davis’ Whose Streets, Yance Ford’s Strong Island, and Peter Nicks’ The Force.
It would make sense then that these films, which largely pull from many of the same archival footage sources, might be in danger of working against one another. Dampening their urgency and their power simply by being too numerous.
However, at least in the case of Dan Lindsay and Tj Miller’s La 92 and John Ridley’s Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992,...
It’s not surprising that the spectre of the Los Angeles riots of 1992 has loomed large over documentary filmmaking this year. Emerging out from shadow of O.J. Simpson, whose story was everywhere in 2016, the 25th anniversary of this monumental moment in American history has been the focus of not just (by my count) five feature documentaries, but has also felt like an integral part of more contemporary films like Sabaah Folayan and Damon Davis’ Whose Streets, Yance Ford’s Strong Island, and Peter Nicks’ The Force.
It would make sense then that these films, which largely pull from many of the same archival footage sources, might be in danger of working against one another. Dampening their urgency and their power simply by being too numerous.
However, at least in the case of Dan Lindsay and Tj Miller’s La 92 and John Ridley’s Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992,...
- 12/5/2017
- by Glenn Dunks
- FilmExperience
Every November, two New York awards groups — Independent Feature Project’s Gotham Awards and scholastic cinephile association The National Board of Review — put the spotlight on some lucky winners, boosting their Oscar chances. The ones left off aren’t hurt, necessarily; it only means they need to nab more attention down the pike.
Read More:National Board of Review 2017 Winners: ‘The Post’ Named Best Film, Greta Gerwig is Best Director Winners:
Best Film, Actor, and Actress went to Steven Spielberg’s late-breaking true thriller “The Post” (Fox, December 22), which balances a resonant valentine to analog journalism with a moving portrait of an heroic woman publisher who put free speech ahead of business.
Meryl Streep will continue to win accolades for this sensitive portrayal of The Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham, a socially prominent widow who inherited her husband’s newspaper and learned to navigate the nation’s corridors of power with...
Read More:National Board of Review 2017 Winners: ‘The Post’ Named Best Film, Greta Gerwig is Best Director Winners:
Best Film, Actor, and Actress went to Steven Spielberg’s late-breaking true thriller “The Post” (Fox, December 22), which balances a resonant valentine to analog journalism with a moving portrait of an heroic woman publisher who put free speech ahead of business.
Meryl Streep will continue to win accolades for this sensitive portrayal of The Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham, a socially prominent widow who inherited her husband’s newspaper and learned to navigate the nation’s corridors of power with...
- 11/28/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Every November, two New York awards groups — Independent Feature Project’s Gotham Awards and scholastic cinephile association The National Board of Review — put the spotlight on some lucky winners, boosting their Oscar chances. The ones left off aren’t hurt, necessarily; it only means they need to nab more attention down the pike.
Read More:National Board of Review 2017 Winners: ‘The Post’ Named Best Film, Greta Gerwig is Best Director Winners:
Best Film, Actor, and Actress went to Steven Spielberg’s late-breaking true thriller “The Post” (Fox, December 22), which balances a resonant valentine to analog journalism with a moving portrait of an heroic woman publisher who put free speech ahead of business.
Meryl Streep will continue to win accolades for this sensitive portrayal of The Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham, a socially prominent widow who inherited her husband’s newspaper and learned to navigate the nation’s corridors of power with...
Read More:National Board of Review 2017 Winners: ‘The Post’ Named Best Film, Greta Gerwig is Best Director Winners:
Best Film, Actor, and Actress went to Steven Spielberg’s late-breaking true thriller “The Post” (Fox, December 22), which balances a resonant valentine to analog journalism with a moving portrait of an heroic woman publisher who put free speech ahead of business.
Meryl Streep will continue to win accolades for this sensitive portrayal of The Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham, a socially prominent widow who inherited her husband’s newspaper and learned to navigate the nation’s corridors of power with...
- 11/28/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
In the seven months since John Ridley's documentary on the La Riots first hit theaters and then ABC, the nation has taken a turn, the director says—and not for the better. "I ask this as a rhetorical question—why have we regressed that much between April and November? It certainly seems that way," he tells Deadline. He cites two developments that followed the debut of Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992—the march by white nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia last…...
- 11/17/2017
- Deadline
America's most pressing social issues — racial friction, unequal justice, abuses of power, pressures on free speech — may be newly contentious in today's divided political landscape, but they have plagued the country for decades.
"These stories are timely and timeless," says John Ridley, who wrote and directed Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992, which saw an Oscar-qualifying theatrical release in April, one week ahead of airing on ABC. "These cycles of discord — of communities not being able to see themselves in other people, issues of citizenry and police — have not gone away."
Let It Fall examines the...
"These stories are timely and timeless," says John Ridley, who wrote and directed Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992, which saw an Oscar-qualifying theatrical release in April, one week ahead of airing on ABC. "These cycles of discord — of communities not being able to see themselves in other people, issues of citizenry and police — have not gone away."
Let It Fall examines the...
- 11/16/2017
- by Don Steinberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
America's most pressing social issues — racial friction, unequal justice, abuses of power, pressures on free speech — may be newly contentious in today's divided political landscape, but they have plagued the country for decades.
"These stories are timely and timeless," says John Ridley, who wrote and directed Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992, which saw an Oscar-qualifying theatrical release in April, one week ahead of airing on ABC. "These cycles of discord — of communities not being able to see themselves in other people, issues of citizenry and police — have not gone away."
Let It Fall examines the...
"These stories are timely and timeless," says John Ridley, who wrote and directed Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992, which saw an Oscar-qualifying theatrical release in April, one week ahead of airing on ABC. "These cycles of discord — of communities not being able to see themselves in other people, issues of citizenry and police — have not gone away."
Let It Fall examines the...
- 11/16/2017
- by Don Steinberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Getting out early can be an advantage in the documentary race, which is often front loaded at January’s Sundance Film Festival. While a raft of movies made their mark, the question is which ones can sustain support through the end of the year.
Among that festival’s breakouts were three Syria documentaries. Daring and timely “City of Ghosts” (July 14, A & E/Amazon Studios), which is Matthew Heineman’s follow-up to his Oscar-nominated border drug war thriller “Cartel Land,” will get a major push. Any footage from Syria came from the fearless Raqqa journalists he tracked through Turkey and Germany, where they discover that they are not necessarily safe — anywhere.
It remains to be seen if there will be room for more than one Syrian documentary. HBO Documentary Films is forgoing Emmy consideration for “Winter on Fire” nominee Evgeny Afineevsky’s harrowing “Cries From Syria” (March 10, HBO), planning an Oscar push this fall.
Among that festival’s breakouts were three Syria documentaries. Daring and timely “City of Ghosts” (July 14, A & E/Amazon Studios), which is Matthew Heineman’s follow-up to his Oscar-nominated border drug war thriller “Cartel Land,” will get a major push. Any footage from Syria came from the fearless Raqqa journalists he tracked through Turkey and Germany, where they discover that they are not necessarily safe — anywhere.
It remains to be seen if there will be room for more than one Syrian documentary. HBO Documentary Films is forgoing Emmy consideration for “Winter on Fire” nominee Evgeny Afineevsky’s harrowing “Cries From Syria” (March 10, HBO), planning an Oscar push this fall.
- 7/5/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Some networks wait a lifetime for a moment like this.
ABC has tried for nearly 20 years to launch a hit music competition series. Now, it has finally acquired one: “American Idol,” which ended its run last year on Fox, will relaunch next spring on the network. Details are slim, including new judges and who will host. (“Idol” veteran Ryan Seacrest, now firmly a part of the ABC family as co-host of “Live with Kelly and Ryan,” was not mentioned in the press release.) But the network and producers FremantleMedia North America and Core Media Group made the announcement Tuesday morning.
ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey called “American Idol” a “pop-culture staple that left the air too soon,” while Ben Sherwood, co-chairman, Disney Media Networks and president, Disney/ABC, said the show “is an entertainment icon, and now it will air where it belongs, in ABC’s lineup of addictive fan...
ABC has tried for nearly 20 years to launch a hit music competition series. Now, it has finally acquired one: “American Idol,” which ended its run last year on Fox, will relaunch next spring on the network. Details are slim, including new judges and who will host. (“Idol” veteran Ryan Seacrest, now firmly a part of the ABC family as co-host of “Live with Kelly and Ryan,” was not mentioned in the press release.) But the network and producers FremantleMedia North America and Core Media Group made the announcement Tuesday morning.
ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey called “American Idol” a “pop-culture staple that left the air too soon,” while Ben Sherwood, co-chairman, Disney Media Networks and president, Disney/ABC, said the show “is an entertainment icon, and now it will air where it belongs, in ABC’s lineup of addictive fan...
- 5/9/2017
- by Michael Schneider
- Indiewire
Writer-director John Ridley had long wanted to make a movie about the Los Angeles uprising of April 29, 1992. But even though he won an Oscar for his screenplay for “12 Years a Slave” and created the Emmy-winning ABC anthology series “American Crime” (now in its third season), the subject wasn’t exactly sexy to potential backers. So when ABC came to him with the idea of a documentary timed to the 25th anniversary, he jumped at it.
Read More: ‘Guerrilla’ Review: John Ridley’s ’70s London Black Power Drama Tries to Show All Sides of a Revolution
Ridley was already familiar with many of the key participants in the uprising and interviewed many of them himself for this in-depth look at the forces that led to the explosive anger, looting, rioting and mayhem after a Simi Valley jury acquitted the four L.A. police officers on trial for the vicious beating of motorist Rodney King.
Read More: ‘Guerrilla’ Review: John Ridley’s ’70s London Black Power Drama Tries to Show All Sides of a Revolution
Ridley was already familiar with many of the key participants in the uprising and interviewed many of them himself for this in-depth look at the forces that led to the explosive anger, looting, rioting and mayhem after a Simi Valley jury acquitted the four L.A. police officers on trial for the vicious beating of motorist Rodney King.
- 4/18/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Through a combinationof crazy prolificacy and an accident of timing, John Ridley's name is behind somany hours of television this month that he could program an entire network forthe better part of a day. As it stands, three different Ridley projects willoverlap by the end of April, each a testament to his interest in social justiceand upheaval, from contemporary labor and immigration problems in NorthCarolina to racial upheaval and violence in the early 1970s England and early 1990sLos Angeles. Though Ridley has been working steadily on TV and film for twodecades,...
- 4/14/2017
- Rollingstone.com
ABC has released a new trailer for its upcoming documentary “Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992.” The film is written and directed by John Ridley and will air on ABC April 28, following its theatrical release a week before, on Friday, April 21. The documentary marks ABC News’ first theatrical production and release.
Read More: One-Person Crew: The Pros and Cons of Making a Documentary By Yourself
The release of “Let It Fall” coincides with the 25th anniversary of the Los Angeles riots, which began in April 29, 1992 following the announcement of the “not guilty” verdict in the Rodney King case. The film takes viewers back 10 years before the riots to explore the events that led to the uprising, which left more than 60 people dead and over 2,000 injured.
The documentary features archival footage as well as exclusive interviews with eyewitnesses and people from different neighborhoods across Los Angeles who were directly involved in the events.
Read More: One-Person Crew: The Pros and Cons of Making a Documentary By Yourself
The release of “Let It Fall” coincides with the 25th anniversary of the Los Angeles riots, which began in April 29, 1992 following the announcement of the “not guilty” verdict in the Rodney King case. The film takes viewers back 10 years before the riots to explore the events that led to the uprising, which left more than 60 people dead and over 2,000 injured.
The documentary features archival footage as well as exclusive interviews with eyewitnesses and people from different neighborhoods across Los Angeles who were directly involved in the events.
- 3/28/2017
- by Yoselin Acevedo
- Indiewire
"You just disrespect us like this? Like our lives don't matter?" ABC has unveiled an official trailer for the documentary titled Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992, examining the events and the era before the infamous Los Angeles Riots in 1992. Directed by Academy Award-winning screenwriter John Ridley (of 12 Years a Slave), the film features brand-new interviews with the people who were a part of the civil unrest in Los Angeles; as well as archival news footage with the participation of ABC News. This powerful, incisive documentary looks like another strong entry alongside other important documentaries about race including Ava DuVernay's 13th and Raoul Peck's I Am Not Your Negro. From the incredible footage, to the music, to the poignant quotes, to the minimal title card, this is a stellar trailer that will make you want to see this doc. Here's the official trailer for John Ridley's documentary Let It Fall: L.A. 1982-1992,...
- 3/27/2017
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
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