Month: January 2022

XYZ Films has struck a first-look production deal with Toronto- and Los Angeles-based producer Lee Kim, who produced Sundance sci-fi title “Dual” and oversees Resolute Films and Entertainment. Under the deal, XYZ and Resolute will jointly produce a number of titles per year, with a focus on films helmed by diverse directors and international co-productions,
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Boutique sales agency Patra Spanou Film has acquired the international sales rights of Roberto Doveris’ “Proyecto Fantasma” (“Ghost Project”), an indie comedy with dramatic and spooky moments. The Chilean film will world premiere next week in the Tiger Competition at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. It is Doveris’ second film after the youth drama ”Las
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Discovery Plus is launching a “Black Voices” hub that will feature programming spotlighting the African American community, including two new originals: docuseries “Profiled: The Black Man,” featuring commentary from celebrities like Billy Porter and Tina Knowles-Lawson, and “Uprooted,” a true-crime doc about the hanging of Black teen Keith Warren in 1986. Per the Discovery, Inc.-owned
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Disney Plus has ordered the drama series “The Crossover,” based on the book of the same name by Kwame Alexander. The project was first ordered to pilot at the streamer in March 2021. Production on the series will begin in February. The show introduces teen brothers Josh and JB Bell, widely considered basketball phenomenon. Through his
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Olivier Bibas is to join the French pay TV giant Canal Plus as head of its fiction label Création Originale. As such, Bibas will be responsible for Canal Plus’ French drama and international co-productions. He starts on Feb. 14. Bibas will report to Gérald-Brice Viret, managing director, French TV Channels and Programs at Canal Plus
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Robert Costa, a Washington Post reporter who has become increasingly visible on TV news networks in the past two election cycles, will join CBS News as its chief election and campaign correspondent, a move that shows the often insular ViacomCBS news division luring new talent under its umbrella. Costa, who was a co-author with Robert
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Egyptian producer, director, writer and mentor Marianne Khoury is being honored with the Legion of Honor, France’s highest prize. Khoury, who is the niece of late great Egyptian director Youssef Chahine, is a managing partner in prominent Cairo-based Misr International Films, which Chahine founded. She has directed several documentaries, most recently “Let’s Talk,” which premiered
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Take Two Studios, the recently launched Finnish production banner, has enlisted industry veteran Sara Norberg as partner and COO. The company was created last October by three of Finland’s top media executives, Eero Hietala, Lasse Koskinen and Ilkka Hynninen. Hietala and Hynninen previously co-founded Aito Media, where they produced the series “Almost True” and “Pirjo,”
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HanWay Films have picked up comedy drama “Sweet Sue” from newcomer Leo Leigh with sales set to commence at the European Film Market in Berlin. Buyers will also be treated to footage at the market. A first look image of “White Line’s” Maggie O’Neill, who plays the starring role of Sue, is above. In “Sweet
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Recognizing that international productions would often shoot a handful of sequences in France before moving post-production responsibilities abroad, the French government passed a series of reforms to the country’s tax rebate scheme in early 2020 meant to spur on and encourage foreign investment. Since April 2020, France’s Tax Rebate for International Production (TRIP) scheme now
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Though local theatrical exhibitors have yet to find their pre-pandemic footing, the myriad technicians making up Paris’ 160,000-strong production workforce have never had so much to do. Buoyed by the local industry and sent to the stratosphere by the demand of international streamers, audiovisual production has soared in Paris and its surrounding region. As film
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London-headquartered super-indie All3Media is backing sport production outfit 3 Rock. Founded by presenter and producer Craig Doyle and Brian O’Driscoll, Ireland’s most-capped rugby player, the deal will see All3Media-owned production company North One become the exclusive live rugby co-production partner for 3 Rock. Meanwhile, All3Media’s digital agency Little Dot Studios — which last week launched a
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We’ve come a long way in terms of fairy tales centered on a handsome prince from a far-off land rescuing a beautiful, distressed damsel from a life of destitution. It’s widely welcomed that women can rescue themselves and concurrently complement the male arc. With Netflix delivering progressive modernizations of these fantasies in their stable of
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Space Entertainment Enterprise (S.E.E), the company co-producing Tom Cruise’s upcoming space movie, plan to launch a sports arena and production studio in zero gravity. S.E.E. has unveiled plans to build a space station module that contains a sports and entertainment arena as well as a content studio by December 2024. (An artist’s rendering is pictured
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During his 1980s and ’90s heyday as a frightfully prolific star of blood-and-thunder direct-to-video fare, Wings Hauser once aptly described his target audience as “the microwave-burrito guys at 2 a.m. with a beer in their hands” — and, presumably, a VCR remote switch nearby. Nowadays, that audience can digitally stream their B-movies of choice. But
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Oscar, BAFTA and Grammy winning composer A.R. Rahman (“Slumdog Millionaire”) and revered “Elizabeth” and “Bandit Queen” filmmaker Shekhar Kapur have teamed to create Expo 2020 Dubai commission “Why? The Musical.” The musical follows the journey of a curious girl who goes on a journey with her grandfather to search for the true meaning of existence.
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