Alex Ritman Joins Variety as London Bureau Chief
Variety is expanding its international coverage with the appointment of well-respected trade correspondent Alex Ritman as its London Bureau Chief.
Ritman, who is based in London, was U.K. correspondent at The Hollywood Reporter for nine years. During that time, he was nominated for several National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards, co-winning in 2017 for a feature about Leonardo DiCaprio and a major international corruption scandal. He was most recently nominated for a profile of Daniel Radcliffe. Prior to joining THR, Ritman wrote for publications including The Guardian, Time Out, The Sunday Times, Esquire, The Daily Beast, The Los Angeles Times and Little White Lies. He spent several years in the Middle East as the main film writer for The National newspaper.
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At Variety, Ritman will contribute to magazine features and web stories with an emphasis on U.K. film and media, production and financial news, as well as industry analysis, in-depth stories and interviews with talent, filmmakers and executives. He will also cover major international film festivals, including Cannes, Venice and Berlin, in addition to select events in the Middle East.
Ritman will report to Paris-based international editor Elsa Keslassy and will work closely with fellow London teammates including U.K. correspondents K.J. Yossman and Naman Ramachandran, digital editor Ellise Shafer and features editor Leo Barraclough, as well as Asia editor Patrick Frater and Nick Vivarelli, Italy and Middle East correspondent.
“Welcoming Alex Ritman into our award-winning international team makes me immensely proud and underscores Variety‘s ambition to continue being the leading trade covering the entertainment business around the world under the leadership of co-editor-in-chiefs Ramin Setoodeh and Cynthia Littleton,” Keslassy said. “Ritman is not only well-sourced and highly knowledgable — he’s also got a great sense of humor, which often comes out in his writing.”
Ritman said, “I’m extremely excited to be joining the team at Variety, whose work I’ve been admiring from afar for many years.”
He added, “I’ve been at The Hollywood Reporter for almost a decade and it’s been an incredible experience, from becoming the in-house ‘expert’ on topics such as ‘The Room’ and Jenny the donkey from ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’ to chasing billionaire fugitives around the world. It now feels like the right time to take on a new challenge, and I can’t wait to get started at Variety.”
Ritman will start his position at Variety on Jan. 2 and will be attending the Berlin Film Festival.
Variety‘s powerful international team covers nearly 100 global events and festivals every year, as well as delivers daily newsletters, breaking news and magazine features.
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