• by Tony Silber , April 7, 2022

Variety, the 117-year-old business-news brand for the entertainment industry, this week announced an exclusive editorial agreement with the news service Film New Europe to augment coverage of growing markets across Eastern and Central Europe.

Film New Europe, based in Warsaw, Poland, is a free news wire and networking organization in Central and Eastern Europe and the Baltic region.

This partnership gives Variety access to Film New Europe’s roster of journalists dedicated to reporting on the rapid expansion of media and entertainment in 18 countries, including Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Bulgaria and Croatia.

The move comes at a time when global markets have never been more vital to the business of Hollywood, and the alliance allows Variety to bring more essential news and analysis to its audience.

“It’s a continuation of Variety’s commitment to covering global show business which began, in essence, with our very first issue in 1905,” said Variety Executive Editor of Global Content Steven Gaydos, who spearheaded the deal. “If you study the history of Hollywood you see that the ties between Central and Eastern Europe and Hollywood date back more than a century, and the world today is even more interconnected. And because of the current Ukraine crisis, Variety’s readers will be able to access Film New Europe’s reporting at perhaps the most critical time in that long history.”

Anna Franklin, general director of Film New Europe, described the partnership as a major benefit to both brands and their readers. “FNE will be providing local, up-to-the-minute information from its network of world-class local correspondents on the ground in 18 countries, and Variety will be providing access to its global readership by top professionals in the film industry,” she said.

Film New Europe has been active since 2010.