Known for its award-winning comedy commercials, World War Seven has diversified with the formation of WW7 Entertainment, led by producers Peter Kline and Alex Needles. The new venture has a full slate of films, episodic offerings, and podcasts set to debut this year, starting with its first feature film, Pavements, which rolls out this week at the 2024 Venice Film Festival.
Pavements, a prismatic doc-musical hybrid from director Alex Ross Perry, is a cinematic deep dive into the enigmatic world of the iconic ‘90s band Pavement and features a cast including Jason Schwartzman, Tim Heidecker, Joe Keery, Zoe Lister-Jones, Nat Wolff, and Fred Hechinger. Pavements was produced in collaboration with Vice Films, Rick Yorn, and Matador Records.
The new WW7 Entertainment shingle is emerging with a full slate of titles to be announced shortly, including a documentary on an iconic musician with Sony Pictures Classics, and a true crime podcast series with Wondery. In addition to the unscripted projects, WW7 Entertainment is actively developing a slate of scripted comedy projects, a natural evolution of the work WW7 has long been doing on the commercial side.
With the launch of WW7 Entertainment, the company is building on 14 years of producing captivating commercials, and Kline and Needles are well positioned to help translate this legacy into long-form. With backgrounds straddling features and advertising, Kline and Needles have the ability to bridge traditional entertainment with brand storytelling, which has led to successful partnerships with clients like Lyft, Pepsi, and Coinbase.
“This is a big moment for WW7, “ said David Shafei who’s partnered in the overall company with Josh Ferrazzano and Sloane Skala. “Peter and Alex are incredibly talented, and their experience in both branded work and entertainment is exactly what we wanted for this new venture. I’m eager to share what we’ve been working on, but we’ll let the work speak for itself–you’ll see. We’re all really excited about this new chapter.”
Kline said, “We feel very fortunate to be joining David, Josh, and Sloane who have built a really special company. We look forward to growing with them, making stories that break boundaries, and ask questions, which surprise, delight, amuse, and challenge. Our evolution into feature films and comedy projects is a natural extension of WW7’s exceptional commercial work. We have a lot to share in the coming year and beyond, and we can’t wait!”
Sean “Diddy” Combs Is Arrested In NY After Federal Indictment
Sean "Diddy" Combs, the hip-hop mogul who has faced a stream of allegations by women accusing him of sexual assault, was arrested late Monday in New York after he was indicted by a federal grand jury.
The indictment was sealed and details of the charges weren't immediately announced by prosecutors, but the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, Damian Williams, confirmed in a statement that federal agents had Combs in custody.
"We expect to move to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say at that time," Williams said in a statement.
Combs was arrested in a Manhattan hotel lobby, according to a person familiar with the arrest who spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
His lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, said Combs had been cooperating with the investigation and had relocated to New York last week in anticipation of charges being brought.
"We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the U.S. Attorney's Office," Agnifilo said, describing his client as a music icon and a "loving family man."
"He is an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal," Agnifilo said in a statement, adding "Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts. These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court."
The criminal charges are a major but not unexpected takedown of one of the most prominent producers and most famous names in the history of hip-hop.
The federal investigation of Combs, 58, was revealed when Homeland Security Investigations agents served simultaneous search warrants and raided Combs' mansions in Los Angeles and Miami... Read More