In today’s Global Bulletin, Constantin extends its deal with German hitmaker Bora Dagtekin, San Sebastian finalizes its Perlak section, upstart training program Creative Producer Indaba share details, Endemol Shine sells “Deadwater Fell” in France, and Channel 5 commissions eight new historical programs.
CONTENT DEAL
Constantin Film has extended its exclusive deal with Bora Dagtekin, one of Germany’s most prolific local filmmakers, to 2025.
The writer-director is responsible for several local-language hits in German-speaking territories such as “Suck me Shakespeer” (pictured), $77.6 million worldwide; “The Perfect Secret,” last year’s biggest local draw in Germany, where it grossed $52.3 million; and “Turkish for Beginners,” almost $24 million in 2012. In total, his films have grossed a quarter-billion in Germany, selling nearly 30 million tickets.
Under the deal, Constantin will get Dagtekin’s next three features, each to be produced by his long-time production partner Lena Schömann.
FESTIVALS
San Sebastian announced that this year’s Perlak section, dedicated to the best films not yet released in Spain, which have received critical acclaim or awards at other international festivals, will open with Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s “Wife of a Spy.”
This year’s selection includes works from established filmmakers Maite Alberdi (“The Mole Agent”), Michel Franco (“New Order”), Eliza Hittman (“Never Rarely Sometimes Always”), Phyllida Lloyd (“Herself”), Maïwenn (“DNA”) and Susanna Nicchiarelli (“Miss Marx”), alongside newcomers Yoon Dan-bi (“Moving On”) and Florian Zeller (“The Father”).
The films will compete for the City of Donostia-San Sebastian Audience Awards, with prizes of €50,000 ($59,000) for best film and €20,000 ($23,500) for best European film.
Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s “Wife of a Spy”
©2020 NHK, NEP, Incline, C&I
TRAINING PROGRAM
Creative Producer Indaba, a professional training program designed to support emerging African producers and create a pan-African network of producing talent, has announced its speakers and mentors ahead of the first edition, which will begin Aug. 28. The initiative is a partnership between the Realness Institute, EAVE, the Intl. Film Festival Rotterdam’s IFFR Pro, and the Sundance Institute.
The program’s first edition will launch with a conversation on leadership moderated by African Group Leader and Realness Institute co-founder Mehret Mandefro (A51 Pictures), and including Sundance Film Festival director Tabitha Jackson; Cara Mertes, project director of Moving Image Strategies at the Ford Foundation; and NFVF CEO Makhosazana Khanyile.
Beginning Aug. 31, the first of two workshops will be held with a host of plenary sessions led by African and international film industry professionals, including Gamechanger CEO and producer Effie T. Brown (“Dear White People”), producer Rosa Attab (“You Were Never Really Here”), Netflix exec Christopher Mack, and IFFR’s Hubert Bals Fund manager Fay Breeman.
“We are thrilled for Indaba participants and hope they will pay it forward in being active builders of the African film industry,” said Realness Institute creative director and Indaba head of studies Elias Ribeiro, pointing to the goal of “establishing a network of producers all over the continent that is engaging their governments and policy-makers” to do more to support local film industries.
Creative Producer Indaba
Credit: Creative Producer Indaba
SERIES SALE
Endemol Shine Group has sold the psychological drama event miniseries “Deadwater Fell,” starring David Tennant (“Good Omens”) and Cush Jumo (“The Good Fight”), to French broadcaster TF1.
Following its Channel 4 debut on Jan. 10, the series received positive critical reviews in the U.K. It picks up after an outwardly perfect family is murdered by someone close to them, leaving their small Scottish community a hotbed of misinformation, mistrust and suspicion.
The series is produced by Endemol Shine company Kudos and was filmed on location in Scotland. Endemol Shine International sales director for French speaking EMEA Marion Vergnaud negotiated the deal.
“Deadwater Fell,” starring David Tennant and Cush Jumo
Credit: Endemol Shine Group
COMMISSIONS
U.K.’s Channel 5 has ordered a raft of eight factual history programs, five from Lion TV and three from ITN Productions.
Lion’s lineup will focus primarily on the Tudor period and include the programs “Anne Boleyn: Arrest, Trial, Execution,” “Thomas Cromwell,” “Kensington: The Secret Palace,” “Inside Hampton Court: The Ultimate Royal Retreat” and a third season of “Inside the Tower of London.”
For their part, ITN will produce three biographies of British historical figures titled “Nelson,” about the famed Battle of Trafalgar Admiral; “Lawrence of Arabia”; and “Brunel,” exploring engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s greatest creations.