Fourward Ups Christopher Burbidge To Head Of Talent Biz, Boosts Music Management

Fourward, the management, production, and investment company launched last year by Will Ward and 13 others who exited Roar, has promoted Christopher Burbidge to head its expanding Talent division. The company also promoted Brooke Blann to manager in the company’s Music division. Both are based in Fourward’s Los Angeles office and will continue to report to Ward.

Burbidge, who was at William Morris and WME before joining Ward’s previous company, works closely on day-to-day management of some of Fourward’s key clients. That list includes Chris Hemsworth, Cobie Smulders, Liam Hemsworth, Jacob Elordi, Alice Braga, Aisha Tyler, Luke Hemsworth and Luke Bracey.

Blann, aboard since Fourward’s launch, counts Elliphant, Abby Anderson and Emma Zander among her clients. She will work with the division in Los Angeles and Nashville offices.

“I am excited for Chris to run the day-to-day operations of the Talent Division at Fourward,” Ward said in a release Monday announcing the promotions. “He is a gifted and experienced manager with outstanding intuition and leadership skills. Brooke’s incredible ear and impressive tenacity won me and our clients over; I look forward to watching her grow as a music manager and continuing to bring her innate understanding of music to the division.”

Broadway’s LBJ Play ‘The Great Society’ Finds Its J. Edgar Hoover & Bobby Kennedy

Gordon Clapp (NYPD Blue), Bryce Pinkham (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder) and Frank Wood (Side Man) have joined the cast of Broadway’s upcoming The Great Society, playwright Robert Schenkkan’s follow-up to his Tony-winning All The Way play about President Lyndon B. Johnson.

The new cast announcements follow last week’s news that The Great Society will begin performances Friday, September 6 at Broadway’s Vivian Beaumont Theater for a 12-week limited engagement. Brian Cox will play the 36th President of the United States.

Clapp will play J. Edgar Hoover, Pinkham will be Robert F. Kennedy and Wood has been cast as Senator Everett Dirksen.

The Great Society is the second of Schenkkan’s two-play LBJ project. Bill Rauch will direct, as he did with All The Way. The latter play won the 2014 Tony Award for Best Play and Bryan Cranston took the Tony for his lead role as LBJ.

Today’s casting announcement was made by producers Jeffrey Richards and Louise Gund.

Streaming Platform Iflix, Rival To Netflix In Emerging Markets, Raises $50M+ Ahead Of Potential IPO

Video streaming platform Iflix, which competes with Netflix in Southeast Asia and other emerging markets, says it has raised more than $50M in its latest funding round.

The funding round was led by management investment outfit Fidelity International, with participation from returning investors Catcha Group, Hearst, Sky and EMC. The Malaysia-based company did not disclose the total amount raised, but said it is “well in excess of $50M” and will be used for growth ahead of a “prospective” IPO.

Among the new media company investors in the company during this round were MNC, Yoshimoto Kogyo and JTBC, from Indonesia, Japan and South Korea, respectively.

The company says it has 17M active users, up from 9M six months ago. In a press release, co-founder and chairman Patrick Grove said, “These investments are a clear affirmation of IFlix’s business model and growth prospects, and strengthens our ties to some of the region’s largest providers of local content.

The platform revealed seven months ago that it was selling its shares in its Africa business, Kwesé Iflix, to focus attention on its markets in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

Iflix hosts TV shows, movies, local originals, live sports and news.

Trump: 'We will have to find out' about Huawei's relationship with North Korea

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Asked about a media report that said Huawei Technologies Co Ltd [HWT.UL] had secretly built and maintained North Korea’s commercial wireless network, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday, “We will have to find out.”

Klöckner Cuts FY EBITDA Guidance

Klöckner & Co (KCO) said that it lowered its full year EBITDA guidance, citing negative impact on demand, particularly in the European automotive and machinery sector, as well as unexpected high negative price effects in the United States.

The company expects operating income or EBITDA before material special effects for the second-quarter to be 51 million euros, which is the lower end of the previously published guidance range.

The company projects EBITDA before material special effects to be between 140 million euros and 160 million euros for the full year.

The company will publish its final results for the second quarter 2019 on July 31, 2019.

Lindsay man arrested in public park charged with indecent exposure

A Lindsay man is accused of performing an indecent act at a park on Saturday afternoon.

Around 12:45 p.m., City of Kawartha Lakes Police were called to an unnamed soccer field after a family reported a man standing in a group of trees allegedly performing an indecent act.

Officers located a suspect and arrested him.

Daniel Robert Bean, 60, of Lindsay, was charged with indecent exhibition and mischief to property.

He was released and will appear in court in Lindsay on Aug. 29.

U.S. Consumer Sentiment Shows Slight Improvement In July

Reflecting an uptick in expectations, the University of Michigan released a report on Friday showing a slight improvement in U.S. consumer sentiment in the month of July.

The preliminary report showed the consumer sentiment index inched up to 98.4 in July from the final June reading of 98.2. Economists had expected the index to edge up to 98.5.

“Consumer sentiment remained largely unchanged in early July from June, remaining at quite favorable levels since the start of 2017,” said Surveys of Consumers chief economist Richard Curtin.

He added, “Moreover, the variations in Sentiment Index have been remarkably small, ranging from 91.2 to 101.4 in the past 30 months.”

The uptick by the headline index came as the index of consumer expectations crept up to 90.1 in July from 89.3 in June.

On the other hand, the report said the current economic conditions index dipped to 111.1 in July from 111.9 in June.

“Perhaps the most interesting change in the July survey was in inflation expectations, with the year-ahead rate slightly lower and the longer term rate moving to the top of the narrow range it has traveled in the past few years,” Curtin said.

The report said one-year inflation expectations slipped to 2.6 percent from 2.7 percent, while five-year inflation expectations jumped to 2.6 percent from 2.3 percent.