INVESTMENT
Ex-Skyscanner CEO Gareth Williams, former XIX Entertainment president James Clayton, Hollywood entertainment lawyer Kevin Yorn and multi F1 Grand Prix-winning motor racing driver Mark Webber are among an eclectic group of investors who have together invested £2 million ($2.7 million) in U.K. production and distribution company Noah Media Group.
Noah’s credits include Grierson award-nominated “Finding Jack Charlton” and Cannes selection “Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans” and the outfit has coming up “Arsène Wenger: Invincible,” a documentary on the soccer manager who changed the landscape of the English Premier League, which will debut on Canal Plus in France and a major streaming platform in the U.K. in 2022.
The funding raised will support the company’s growing ambitions in the filmed content space, under the founding team of chair Barry Smith, CEO and producer John McKenna and film and television directors Gabriel Clarke and Torquil Jones. It will also drive Noah’s self-distributing ambitions.
There are also plans to bring together a top technology team to build a data-driven evaluation engine, which will allow Noah greater scrutiny in their choice of films and series to produce; and a platform that will deliver greater transparency for the entire filmmaking process.
RELOCATION
BBC Studios is moving entrepreneurial talent show “Dragons Den” from Manchester to Scotland. The move will take place in 2022 beginning with season 20 (for that transitional season studio recordings will continue to be filmed in Manchester). It will join titles including “The Weakest Link” and “Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond The Lobby,” which relocated to Glasgow from London in 2019.
Adeline Ramage Rooney oversees BBC Studios’ factual entertainment team in Scotland.
Scotland is currently experiencing its own localized production boom, with “Good Omens,” “Anansi Boys” and “Outlander” among the productions currently filmed there.
The nineteenth season of “Dragons Den” returns to BBC One in 2022. – K.J. Yossman
Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television
SELECTION
The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television has revealed the six participants selected for the inaugural cohort of Women in Post, a program designed to address the barriers to entry and advancement for women in the post production industry.
The participants are Brittany Lewis (editing/VFX editing), Elian Mikkola (editing), Daniela Pinto (post production audio), Ariana Saadat (VFX supervision), Set Shuter (post production supervision) and Penelope Walcott (post production audio).
Women in Post is presented by Netflix and is supported by lead post house partner, Company 3, and supporting partners, Rocket Science VFX and Urban Prairie Post. Participants will have the opportunity to develop their technical, creative, and leadership skills through strategic learning modules led by industry experts, and a hands-on mentorship at a post production company in Canada that aligns with their area of expertise. They will also receive a CAD$2,500 ($2,003) honorarium; a complimentary one-year voting membership to the Canadian Academy; and invitations to attend Canadian Screen Week 2022 and the Canadian Cinema Editors’ EditCon 2022.