In today’s Global Bulletin, WarnerMedia shakes up its EMEA leadership teams; MBC Group launches a new talent development initiative; See-Saw Films promotes Samantha Joly to head of marketing; Twenty Twenty hires James O´Reilly as creative director; a raft of unscripted series sell globally; and the British Academy Scotland Awards announce this year’s winners. RESTRUCTURING New
Television
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched the Dec. 8 episode of “The Bachelorette.” Tuesday’s episode of “The Bachelorette” picked up with the continued feud between contestants Noah Erb and Bennett Jordan. The two were scheduled for an impromptu two-on-one date with Bachelorette Tayshia Adams, where at least one constant would be
ABC has ordered the single-camera comedy “Home Economics” to series. The series will air on the broadcast network in Spring 2021. The show was originally developed as part of the 2020 pilot season. Following the production shutdown caused by the pandemic, ABC announced in June that it planned to film a number of its pilots
There will be no second great escape for “One Day at a Time.” After the series was canceled for a second time two weeks ago, co-creators Gloria Calderon Kellett and Mike Royce have confirmed that it will not be revived. Series producer Sony Pictures Television planned to shop the series to other outlets yet again
In today’s TV news roundup, CBS released the premiere date and teaser for its long-awaited drama “Clarice,” and OWN announced the recurring cast and directors for Season 2 of “David Makes Man.” CASTING OWN announced Tony Plana, Brittany S. Hall, Erica Luttrell, Zsané Jhé, Bobbi Baker, Patrice Arenas, Trinity Cidel, Brandi Huzzie, Rodney Gardiner and Janmarco
“Saturday Night Live” player Chloe Fineman spent most of the pandemic in Los Angeles, but returned to New York City when NBC late-night sketch show came back on air in October. In addition to getting rave reviews and crazy social media love for her impressions of Reese Witherspoon, Drew Barrymore and Nicole Kidman (did you
Adult animated comedy “Hoops” has been canceled at Netflix after just one season, Variety has learned exclusively. The show premiered on the streamer on Aug. 21. Per an individual with knowledge of the decision to end the series, Netflix looks at a show’s viewership versus its cost and decided not to proceed with Season 2. Jake
Fox Corporation is currently the only NFL media partner to carry two different football franchises. Depending on the future costs of those games, Fox may be content to carry just one. The chief financial officer of the company said Tuesday that if forced to make a decision about whether to carry just Sunday-afternoon football games
“CBS This Morning” could get a new sunrise perch. CBS is contemplating a move that could harness a cavernous studio facility in the New York headquarters of its corporate parent, ViacomCBS, for use by CBS News — in particular its A.M. program. The studio offers panoramic views of Times Square, was once used as a
On-location film permits for the Los Angeles area slowed by 7.6% from October to November as production activity eased amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the FilmLA agency reported Tuesday. The industry, which was mostly shuttered from March to June, has received approximately 3,552 film permit applications spanning 2,514 unique projects over the past 20 weeks
The HBO Max comedy pilot “Minx” is rounding out its cast. Idara Victor, Oscar Montoya, Jessica Lowe, Lennon Parham, and Michael Angarano have all been cast in series regular roles, with Jake Johnson attached to guest star. The group joins previously announced series lead Ophelia Lovebond. “Minx” is set in 1970s Los Angeles and centers
In a competitive situation, Skydance Television has acquired the rights to P. Djéli Clark’s fantasy historical novella “Ring Shout” with plans to develop it as a television series. KiKi Layne is attached to star in the project, with Kasi Lemmons attached to write, direct, and serve as showrunner. Both Lemmons and Layne will executive produce
In entertainment as well as everything else 2020, has been a year like no other. The COVID-19 pandemic shuttered movie theaters worldwide and gave streaming fare an unprecedented level of popularity. Film critics Peter Debruge and Owen Gleiberman point out that “As crippling as the pandemic has been to movie studios and film festivals, this
On January 1, I made an ambitious resolution to keep track of every single television show I watched in 2020: new series, old reruns, sports, news, everything. At the time, it felt like a fun and maybe slightly masochistic experiment in understanding exactly how much TV I watch by cataloguing it all in a cheery color-coded spreadsheet that might make me feel
When the coronavirus pandemic lifts, NBCUniversal expects to aim its movies at two very different groups of audience. Jeff Shell, the CEO of the large Comcast unit, expects a chunk of consumers to rNBeturn to movie theaters, emboldened, perhaps, by the chance to attend communal events outside their homes once again. But he also believes
What better way to start the week than with an hourlong meditation session? Well, that may not be the case when interrupted by the voices of the anxious gang from Netflix’s “Big Mouth,” like Maury the hormone monster, Lola and Coach Steve. Monday afternoon’s virtual “‘Big Mouth’ Misguided Meditation” kicked off with soothing tunes from
The BBC, like most major media organizations in 2020, is betting big on digital, with new plans afoot to energize the growth of the U.K. public broadcaster’s primary digital hub and catch-up service, iPlayer. Chief content officer Charlotte Moore is restructuring the Beeb’s television division accordingly around a new iPlayer-focused strategy, which is coupled with
U.K. media regulator Ofcom has issued a stark warning to public service broadcasters (PSBs) BBC, ITV, STV, Channel 4, S4C and Channel 5, that unless they radically overhaul existing practices, they are in danger of losing further ground to streaming and online services. Ofcom’s “Small Screen: Big Debate,” the org’s ongoing review of U.K. public
Nielsen, best known for delivering TV ratings, is getting ready for a future when it gauges a lot more than what people are watching on TV. The media-measurement giant plans to launch a new system that examines how many impressions a show or commercial makes across a broader panoply of video windows that might include
Canadian production house Frantic Films has scored several sales deals on factual series “High Maintenance” and “Killer In Plain Sight,” via deals brokered by U.K.-based distributor Abacus Media Rights. Hulu has taken U.S. rights to true crime series “Killer in Plain Sight,” originally commissioned by Investigation Discovery. The series has been sold to Crime +
As a growing clutch of earlier events postpone to later in the year, major French TV festival Canneseries is holding firm, returning to its traditional mid-April dates — in this case April 9-14 — for its fourth edition in 2021, which will be a hybrid affair. The third Cannes Intl. Series Festival ran Oct. 9-14
Mark O’Brien, a longtime syndication sales executive for Warner Bros. and founder of Mighty Oak Entertainment, has died. He was 63. O’Brien died Nov. 9 at his home in Newport Beach, Calif., after battling health problems. For the past 15 years, O’Brien headed Mighty Oak Entertainment, a production and distribution company that produced comedy and
In today’s TV news roundup, Hallmark Channel released its January programming slate, and the National Hispanic Media Coalition announced the graduates of its 2020 Series Scriptwriters Program. DATES Hallmark Channel’s newly rebranded January programming event, “New Year New Movies!,” announced five movie premieres: “Taking a Shot at Love,” “A New Year’s Resolution,” “Two for the Win,” “Love in
Producers Stephen Robert Morse and Max Peltz are joining forces to launch a new production entity, Lone Wolf Studios. The full-service production, sales and financing film and television company will have offices in London, New York and Los Angeles. Morse, whose producing work on the Netflix documentary “Amanda Knox” earned an Emmy nomination in 2017,
“Blindspot” creator Martin Gero is looking to set up his next project at NBC. Gero is teaming with “The 100” writer Drew Lindo to develop “No Stone Unturned,” a forensic drama which has received a script sale commitment at NBC. Inspired by the book of the same name by Steve Jackson, “No Stone Unturned” centers
Rashida Jones, an up-and-coming news executive at NBCUniversal, will take the reins at the company’s MSNBC cable-news outlet in February, setting her up to be the first Black executive to run one of the nation’s big cable-news outlets at time when that business is of growing importance to the nation’s large media conglomerates. Phil Griffin,
“Game of Thrones” and “Lord of the Rings” writer-producer Bryan Cogman has struck a multiyear overall deal with Entertainment One, which follows his most recent overall at Amazon Studios. Under the terms of the agreement, he is set to develop scripted television and new media projects for eOne. First up on his slate is a
Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine has acquired Sara Rea’s SKR Productions, the company behind Amazon Studio’s “Making the Cut,” and is installing Rea as its head of unscripted television, marking an expansion into the unscripted space. Rea is most recently known for her work as showrunner on the Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn-hosted “Making the Cut,”
Actor Natalie Desselle-Reid, known for her roles in “Madea’s Big Happy Family,” “Eve” and “B*A*P*S*,” died Monday at the age of 53. Desselle-Reid’s manager, Dolores Robinson, confirmed the news on Twitter. “Natalie Desselle the beautiful talented actress passed away this morning,” Robinson wrote. “Natalie was a bright light. She was an amazing actress and comedienne
Hunter Schafer is stepping into a new role on “Euphoria.” HBO has revealed the premiere date for the second “Euphoria” special episode, which Schafer co-wrote and co-executive produced in addition to leading on screen. The episode, premiering Sunday, Jan. 24 on HBO, is called “F*ck Anyone Who’s Not A Sea Blob” and follows Jules (Schafer)