The Baeren (Bears) awards are lined up during the award ceremony for the 2020 Berlinale Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, on Feb. 29, 2020. Organizers say the annual Berlin International Film Festival is being put off this year due to the coronavirus pandemic and split into two parts later in 2021. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, File)
BERLIN (AP) --
The annual Berlin International Film Festival is being put off this year due to the coronavirus pandemic and split into two parts later in 2021, organizers said Friday.
The "Berlinale" had been scheduled for February in the German capital but cannot go ahead due to the likelihood that coronavirus restrictions on large gatherings will continue, organizers said.
To give the film industry a venue to market their products in the first quarter, however, a virtual Berlinale will be held online in March. Then in June, organizers are scheduling a summer event with numerous film screenings for the public in theaters and the open air.
"The division makes it possible to maintain the two supporting pillars: film market and festival," organizers said.
Television producer Mark Burnett, left, looks on as President Donald Trump arrives for the National Prayer Breakfast, Feb. 2, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
Mark Burnett, the power producer who helped reintroduce Donald Trump to a national television audience with "The Apprentice," is being tapped by the president-elect as special envoy to the United Kingdom in his upcoming administration.
"With a distinguished career in television production and business, Mark brings a unique blend of diplomatic acumen and international recognition to this important role," Trump announced Saturday.
Burnett, who was born in London, helped produce hits like "Survivor" and "The Voice," but is perhaps best known for teaming up with Trump for "The Apprentice," which first aired on NBC in 2004.
Trump had been well-known in real estate and pop culture circles for decades. But the show helped again make him a household name — though Trump severed ties with NBC in 2015, the same year he launched his first White House run.
The selection of Burnett continues Trump's trend of filling out his incoming administration with people who have high-profile backgrounds in television or politics, or both — including his choice to be defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, a former co-host of "Fox & Friends Weekend," and ex-television doctor and unsuccessful Senate candidate in Pennsylvania, Mehmet Oz.
Trump's first campaign in 2016 was rocked by allegations about his conduct on "The Apprentice" and other appearances during his association with NBC, notably in footage in which he said he could sexually assault women and get away with it because he was a "star."
Almost a decade after he left his reality TV role, Trump's television career remains central to his biography and political rise. The show presented Trump Tower to tens of millions of people as a symbol of power and success before Trump launched his first... Read More
