Independent entertainment rights company Ovation Rights has entered into a long-term partnership with Grammy-winning artist and producer Alicia Keys to acquire the the economic interests previously held by the original Broadway production company of her bio-musical Hell’s Kitchen, a deal both sides say will effectively provide the production’s investors “with an immediate capital return rather than waiting for future distributions over many years.”

Noting that they “believe enormously in Hell’s Kitchen and its long-term future,” Ovation founders Jamie Hendry and Philip Green said in a statement that the transaction with Keyes “demonstrates something we think could be important for Broadway. Investors have historically had limited opportunities to realize the value of their investment other than waiting for distributions over many years.”

They continued, “We hope Ovation Rights can provide another route to liquidity by allowing investors to realize value and potentially recycle that capital directly into new productions.”

Specific dollar amounts of the deal were not disclosed, nor was a timeline on payouts to investors.

Hell’s Kitchen, created and inspired by Keys, ended a nearly two-year Broadway run last February 22, with the production then expected to return about 60% of its $22 million capitalization to investors. Additional returns were expected to come from touring and international productions.

The investment establishes Ovation Rights as a long-term partner in Hell’s Kitchen while, the company says, demonstrating a model that could have broader significance for Broadway by “providing investors with another way to realize the value of successful theatrical investments, while introducing patient, long-term capital to established productions.”

Traditionally, investors in Broadway productions often receive distributions on their investments for many years beyond original runs, through touring, international productions and other subsidiary rights. Ovation says it believes there is an opportunity “to develop a more active secondary market for theatrical investment: providing liquidity to existing investors while taking a long-term position in the future economics of proven theatrical properties.”

Ideally, the model would provide the potential to help capital circulate more freely “through the Broadway ecosystem, giving investors greater flexibility and the opportunity to reinvest in new work while introducing long-term capital to established productions.”

Keys said in a statement, “Dreaming big has always been at the heart of Hell’s Kitchen – not only in the story we tell, but in creating space on Broadway and beyond for new faces, new voices and people who may have never imagined themselves as part of this community. This partnership with Ovation Rights not only rewards the original investors who took a chance on a new, original musical, but creates exciting new possibilities for better supporting the people who take that same leap of faith on new work, new artists and new members of the Broadway community. I’m excited and inspired by what this partnership represents and by the doors it can open.”

In a separate statement, Aaron Lustbader, Executive Producer of Hell’s Kitchen, said, “As Broadway faces new challenges, the industry needs innovative ideas and new pathways for serving our investors’ collective best interests, while accelerating their return from what could otherwise be measured in decades to a much shorter timeframe.”

Lustbader said the Ovation-Hell’s Kitchen partnership, could set a new precedent for how Broadway capitalization “can blossom into meaningful returns on a faster timeline.” The approach, he adds, represents “a truly modern approach to the current issues theatrical finance faces and will, in turn, represent a threshold moment for the industry at a crucial time.”

Hell’s Kitchen features music and lyrics by Keys and a book by Kristoffer Diaz, opening to strong reviews on Broadway at the Shubert Theatre in April 2024 following its world-premiere engagement at The Public Theater. It won two Tony Awards (of 13 nominations). The musical currently is on a North American tour with “additional opportunities for the musical’s future development anticipated.”

EXCLUSIVE: A few weeks ago it emerged that conservative news site Daily Wire had made a starry under-the-radar film by Czech director Vaclav Marhoul, whose hard-hitting 2019 Holocaust film The Painted Bird got tongues wagging on the festival circuit. Today we can reveal a bunch more details about the project.

The Daily Wire’s most recent couple of films, Jonathan Majors starrer Run Hide Fight: Infidels and Danny Trejo’s in-production Pawn Shop, have both attracted opprobrium for their subject matters and both faced temporary shut downs. And yet, despite long being a magnet for controversy, the site-turned-film-and-TV-producer has managed to attract its starriest movie cast to date with Marhoul’s Confession.

Penned by site co-founder Ben Shapiro, their new film stars Rob Lowe (The West Wing), James Franco (127 Hours), Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight), Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Power of the Dog), Nick Nolte (The Prince of Tides), Richard Brake (Batman Begins), Emile Hirsch (Into the Wild), Brad Dourif (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest), and Dean Norris (Breaking Bad). Above is a first teaser and below is a first look image.

The logline reads: “In Stalin’s 1938 Moscow, a disillusioned former literature professor, Alexei (Lowe), is arrested and brought to the infamous Lubyanka Prison, charged with conspiring with his dissident priest. There, Alexei faces interrogation by his brilliant and brutal former student, Vladimir (Franco). Forced to the ultimate test of betrayal or conscience, and confronted with his past sins, Alexei finds redemption through truth, sacrificing himself to save others in a haunting tale of morality and resistance.”

The movie is set to world premiere at the Warsaw Film Festival on October 15. Following its premiere at the fest, the plan is for it to open in 100 theaters stateside for one night on November 11, the same day it debuts on The Daily Wire’s streaming platform.

Pic is produced by Dallas Sonnier (Bone Tomahawk) for Bonfire Legend, Travis Mills (Frontier Crucible), Shapiro and Sean Calvano (The Musical). David Guglielmo (The Last Stop in Yuma County), Amanda Presmyk (Dragged Across Concrete), Lillian Campbell (The Pendragon Cycle) also produced.

Behind the camera, cinematography is by Hollywood vet Peter Menzies Jr., production design by Vincent Reynaud, and makeup and prosthetics by Oscar-winner Jeff Dawn. Guglielmo also served as the casting director on the movie.

The project was shot entirely on 35mm film, with production based at Santa Clarita Studios just north of LA.

“This is an incredible story of the human spirit and its survival against those who would crush it,” said Lowe today.

“From a director’s perspective, this film was a truly great challenge for me,” Marhoul commented. “I ventured into a genre I hadn’t explored before: an intimate, dialogue-driven psychological drama set in a single location. Together with cinematographer Peter Menzies, I sought the most sensitive approach to directing and visual style—one that matched the story and characters. A wonderful crew and cast helped me meet that challenge.”

Shapiro added: “It was a true honor to be able to work with a cast featuring Oscar, Emmy, and Golden Globe nominees, as well as one of the world’s great directors, to make Confession, an extraordinarily beautiful and honest film deeply rooted in faith, morality, virtue, hardship, and most of all, what it means to be a free and decent human being. I couldn’t be more proud of this project and can’t wait for the audience to see it.”

Lowe is repped by WME, Brillstein, and Latham & Watkins; Franco by CAA, Anonymous Content, and Sloane, Offer; Nolte by CAA, Tavistock Wood Management and Jackoway Austin; Leigh by CAA and Untitled Entertainment; Smit-McPhee by Black Bear and Felker McGinnis & Ryan LLP; Brake by Markham, Froggatt and Irwin, and Untitled Entertainment; Hirsch by UTA and Stride Management; Dourif by Innovative Artists; and Marhoul by CAA.

Confession, credit: Daily Wire

Katie Zacharia made her debut as Donald Trump‘s new White House press secretary on Tuesday with a very short briefing that nevertheless offered a bit of breaking news as well as a lot of praise and thanks for her new boss.

“I have wanted to work for him for a very long time,” she told reporters, crunched into the tight briefing room space of the West Wing.

The briefing lasted less than 15 minutes, as she took only a handful of questions before noting that the president would soon be speaking to reporters as he departed for three-day midterm campaign swing. But there were some laughs of surprise among reporters, caught off guard at the abrupt end to the briefing.

As short as it was, she did breaking some news. Asked about the fate of Kimberly Guilfoyle, the former fiance of Donald Trump Jr. who is now the U.S. ambassador to Greece. Zacharia said, “We have asked Ambassador Guilfoyle to resign.” In a bombshell story last week, The Wall Street Journal reported on a message that Guilfoyle sent to a Trump donor, asking him to wire $100,000 directly to American Express to pay off her bill. The donor had been seeking her help accessing administration officials. Her attorney has challenged the authenticity of the messages, per the Journal.

Zacharia was not as well known to the press corps as were other candidates floated following the departure of Karoline Leavitt in August. Under Trump, the job has become much more about playing to an audience of one, which was apparent as she started her briefing by referring to his rally in Youngstown, OH, on Monday night.

“The arena was overflowing with enthusiasm as thousands came out to support President Trump, as well as special guests Jake Paul and football legend John Gruden,” she told reporters, perhaps as a way to counter social media posts of rows of empty seats at the event. At his first appearance as Trump’s first press secretary in 2017, Sean Spicer called in reporters to insist that the new president’s inaugural crowd size was record setting.

She also made clear that, at least for the next few weeks, her job will be to tout, defend and amplify Trump’s record, as she ran through a list of accomplishments amid the president’s sagging approval numbers. At one point, she compared average annual earnings under Trump to that of Biden, reflecting White House efforts to point to economic data while polls show the president way underwater on issues like inflation.