Television

In a deal unveiled at Mipcom, Movistar Plus+ International, the prominent Spanish pay TV/SVOD platform’s sales division, announced at Mipcom a key sale to HBO Latin America of series “La Mesías,” hailed as the buzziest title at the San Sebastian Film Festival in September. The series is written, directed and produced by Javier Ambrossi and

Lara Parker, known for her role as the witch Angelique in the ABC gothic soap opera “Dark Shadows,” died in her sleep on Oct. 12 at her home in the Topanga Canyon neighborhood of Los Angeles, her daughter confirmed. She was 84.  From 1967 to 1971, the Memphis native starred in “Dark Shadows” as the

Thousands of demonstrators gathered outside the BBC‘s London headquarters on Monday evening to protest the broadcaster’s coverage of the terrorist attacks that took place in Israel last week. The BBC has found itself mired in controversy after refusing to describe Palestinian group Hamas, who organized the butchering and abduction of almost 2,000 citizens, including grandmothers

“Gargoyles” could finally be returning to television, with a live-action reboot series currently in the works at Disney+. Variety has confirmed that the Disney streaming service is working with writer Gary Dauberman and James Wan‘s Atomic Monster to develop a live-action version of the beloved animated show. Dauberman would serve as writer and executive producer

Warwick Davis is the face of the “Willow” franchise, which kicked off in 1988 with Ron Howard’s fantasy film and continued with the short-lived Disney+ sequel series in 2022. Disney canceled the television series after only one eight-episode season, and then it pulled the show off of Disney+ entirely for cost-cutting measures. Davis is now

Canal+ Group chairman and CEO Maxime Saada, who was honored at Mipcom with the Variety Vanguard Award Monday, underscored how the experience of the past informs the company’s future strategy, which includes an emphasis on aggregation and a ramping up of in-house production. He also explained why he believes his company “owes so much to

Minutes before “Saturday Night Live” was set to kick off Season 49 inside Studio 8H at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, the show’s production team — led, of course, by executive producer Lorne Michaels — received word that two special guests were on their way. According to a source, that was when they learned that Taylor Swift

Brian Doherty, a veteran of the CW‘s ad-sales department who was instrumental in developing ties between Madison Avenue and series such as “Arrow” and “Gossip Girl,” is leaving — the latest in a parade of TV sales veterans to exit as the industry consolidates and new owners take control of various properties. Doherty, who has

Season 7 of “Rick and Morty” is the first volume of the Adult Swim animated sitcom, a “Back to the Future” riff tracking the adventures of a mad scientist and his bumbling grandson, not to star co-creator Justin Roiland as the voice of both title characters. The network fired Roiland in January after the actor was

JFK ASSASSINATION DOC GOES TO U.K. Espresso Media Intl. has closed a deal with the U.K.’s Channel 4 for the new documentary “JFK: 24 Hours that Changed the World.” Produced by Coleman Television, the film marks the 60th anniversary of the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy this November.  In addition to Channel 4’s

Gigi Hadid was called out by the State of Israel Instagram page for a post she shared related to the Israel-Hamas war. The supermodel shared a graphic to her Instagram story that read: “There is nothing Jewish about the Israeli government’s treatment of Palestinians. Condemning the Israeli government is not antisemitic and supporting Palestinians is

Andrea Riseborough takes on the pleasure and pain of love in Channel 4 series “Alice & Jack,” created by Victor Levin. “This frustration of really appreciating someone and also not being able to understand them or be understood, that’s such a common connection we have in life,” she tells Variety ahead of the show’s MipCom premiere. She

Netflix has revealed the first-look images for Part 1 of the sixth and final season of “The Crown,” which premieres on Nov. 16. Part 2 premieres on Dec. 14. With each season of “The Crown” following a new era of the Royal Family in chronological order, Season 6 brings viewers up to the late 1990s.

Trey Yingst’s home has become his office. Yingst, a foreign correspondent who calls Israel his home when he isn’t traveling the globe for Fox News Channel, was in his apartment a little over a week ago when he got word of horrible things happening near the country’s border with Gaza. Many people would likely move

The ATX TV Festival has opened submissions for its annual “The Pitch Competition Presented by Canva,” offering undiscovered TV writers the chance to have their original concepts and scripts considered by acclaimed writers, producers and executives in television. The early bird submission deadline is Dec. 1, the regular submission deadline is Jan. 12 and the

Drew Barrymore’s talk show returned for its fourth season Oct. 16 without its previous writing staff — with its writers from last season having been offered, but declining, the opportunity to return. And it proved that it’s possible to run a show like this without any writers with experience on the show — just so

Paula Reid, has been named CNN‘s chief legal affairs correspondent, a vote of confidence in the reporter who joined the Warner Bros. Discovery-backed outlet in 2021. Reid has been highly visible on CNN in recent months, covering federal and state investigations into former President Trump as well as a Special Counsel probe into President Biden’s

Millie Bobby Brown told Glamour magazine (in an interview conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strike began) that she will not mourn the end of “Stranger Things,” which is set to film its fifth and final season once the strike is resolved. “When you’re ready, you’re like, ‘All right, let’s do this. Let’s tackle this last senior

Viaplay Content Distribution has partnered up with German broadcaster ARD Degeto to co-produce “Ronja the Robber’s Daughter,” an epic adventure series. ARD Degeto will join the series’ existing co-production partners, Filmlance International, Film i Väst and Ahil Films. Along with co-producing, ARD Degeto will also premiere “Ronja” in Germany — in addition to other Viaplay

Mipcom Cannes, the international TV conference, opened on a solemn note with market director Lucy Smith paying tribute to the “innocent victims in Israel and Gaza.” Smith addressed the reverberations of the Israel-Hamas conflict at the market and within the industry. Out of the 70 Israeli industry executives who had registered for Mipcom, only a

Warner Bros. Discovery will be launching its streaming service Max in France, one of its top European markets, next summer, Variety has learned. The launch in France and in Belgium will follow a rollout in 22 countries across the Nordics, Iberia, Spain, the Netherlands and Central Eastern Europe in the spring. The European plan was

‘ELSBETH’ FLIES TO FRANCE Paramount Global Content Distribution has licensed the highly anticipated CBS Studios series “Elsbeth” to TF1 in France. Starring Emmy Award winner Carrie Preston, “Elsbeth” is based on the popular character of Elsbeth Tascioni, the astute but unconventional attorney featured in “The Good Wife” and “The Good Fight.” “The series has been

Hitman dramedy “Knok,” pandemic-thriller “LT-21,” and dystopian sendup “Rictus” will head off Have A Good One’s (HAGO) Mipcom slate, as the Paris-based TV development and sales company has boarded two additional series currently in production.    Produced by Mifa Pictures (Groupe StoryPlus) and N22 Productions for 13ème Rue France, and created by Guillaume Duhesme, Bastien

“Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent” announced the cast for its initial season at MIPCOM on Monday, confirming six full-time leads for the Canadian iteration of the longest-running scripted drama brand in TV history. The all-Canadian cast includes Aden Young (“Rectify”) as Det. Sgt. Henry Graff, Kathleen Munroe (“City on Fire”) as Det. Sgt. Frankie

Distributor All3Media Intl. has sold “The Long Shadow,” written by “Lupin” creator George Kay, to Sundance Now, which has taken exclusive rights in the U.S. and Canada. All3Media Intl. has also secured deals for the show across Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. In Germany, MagentaTV has acquired the seven-part drama, which will launch on the

Spain’s TV market saw 82 new fiction series commissions over September 2022 to August 2023, 61% of them aimed at exclusive online release, compared to 52% the year before, according to TV research firm The Wit. A few years ago, online was an afterthought. Now, to various degrees and in different ways, it is replacing

Spain’s TV fiction industry is exercising some caution after high-end Spanish-language series lifted off in 2018. “We all wanted to launch so many projects, so many new platforms arrived that there was no time for analysis,” says Bambú co-founder Ramón Campos. As streamers scale back on originals and sales cycles slow, the industry has time

Set in a pre-#metoo era, Oz girl-band drama “Paper Dolls” has been realized by an all female filmmaker team shedding light on this darker era for women in the music industry. Former MTV Australia chief Mark Fennessy executive produced the 8-part scripted drama for Paramount + through his two-year-old banner Helium. eOne is launching international

Audiovisual from Spain, an umbrella brand created to support Spanish content producers and distributors, is organizing the first Brand New Spanish Content Breakfast, an invitation-only sales event for international buyers, It’s unclear what’s being served but if it’s a typical Spanish breakfast, then expect some pinchos de tortilla, café con leche and some bollos (buns), at least.

European powerhouse Studiocanal, part of Vivendi’s Canal+ Group, has rolled out robust sales on Xavier Dolan’s Sundance-selected psychological thriller “The Night Logan Woke Up,” Spanish period drama “The Vow” and a bevy of first documentaries. The deals underscore the continuing upside for Studiocanal of illustrious cinema talent exploring premium TV direction, as well as the