“Bullets,” a Finnish, German and Belgian co-production from creator-producer Minna Virtanen and Antti Pesonen, held its market premiere screening on Monday at Berlin’s Drama Series Days, the TV component of the European Film Market. In the series, ex-terrorist Madina Taburova, presumed to be dead, emerges in Helsinki looking for political asylum. Intelligence agent Mari Saari
Television
Based on Thomas Engström’s best-selling series of books, Swedish-German series “West of Liberty” hopes to impress at this year’s Berlinale Drama Series Days. Directed by Barbara Eder, the series was co-created by Sara Heldt and Gunnar Carlsson, with Heldt co-writing alongside Donna Sharpe. Sold by ITV Studios Global Entertainment, the series’ six episodes turn on
Chile will be one of the two countries in focus at Spain’s 3rd Conecta Fiction, a highly popular co-production and networking meeting, and pioneer in building bridges between the European and American TV drama industries. Officially announced Tuesday at the European Film Market in Berlin, Chile’s choice highlights the growing relevance of Chilean TV, which
BERLIN — When news breaks that an asteroid is on a collision course with Earth, a Berlin family is among the many taking flight. In the next eight days, their struggle for survival will probe deeper questions about what binds them, and what might tear them apart. Created by Rafael Parente and Peter Kocyla, “8
BERLIN — Netflix is set to unveil three new genre-spanning original series in Berlin on Wednesday. The U.S. streaming giant’s latest slate includes showrunner-director Christian Ditter’s fast-paced German thriller “Biohackers” and Norwegian horror series “Bloodride,” from writer-director Kjetil Indregard (“Maniac”). Netflix will also officially announce “Unorthodox,” from “Deutschland 83” showrunner Anna Winger, which Variety reported
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Songbird Road Part Two,” the 12th episode of the third season of “This Is Us.” The tragic story of Nicky Pearson came to a dramatic but open-ended close on the 13th episode of the third season of “This Is Us,” in an episode entitled “Songbird
The third week of the Television Critics Assn. press tour continued Tuesday with presentations from Discovery, Inc. that featured talent across HGTV, Animal Planet, Travel Channel, Food Network and Discovery Channel, while Acorn TV and Starz also brought some new spring series, including the former’s “Manhunt” and “Queens of Mystery” and the latter’s “Now Apocalypse,”
Almost two years and showrunner changes since the first season of “American Gods” wrapped up on Starz, the second season is set to debut in a way that is a “really great way back to the book,” according to series star Ian McShane. “We needed to get back to the line in the book,” he
Sarah Wayne Callies has been cast in a lead role of the NBC drama pilot “Council of Dads,” Variety has learned. In addition, Michele Weaver, Blue Chapman, and J. August Richards have been cast in the pilot in series regular roles. Based on Bruce Feiler’s memoir of the same name, the show follows Scott Perry and his
February 12, 2019 3:53PM PT Both “Family Guy” and “Bob’s Burgers” have been renewed at Fox for the 2019-2020 season, Variety has confirmed. “Family Guy” was created by Seth MacFarlane and will now return for its 18th season at the broadcaster. MacFarlane is currently under an overall deal at 20th Century Fox Television. 20th TV also produces his
In Tuesday’s roundup, Amy Schumer’s Netflix comedy special sets a release date, and Miley Cyrus joins the “RuPaul’s Drag Race” judges. DATES Amy Schumer’s second Netflix comedy special, “Amy Schumer Growing,” will launch globally on March 19. In the special, filmed in Chicago, the comedian will speak frankly on marriage, pregnancy, womanhood, sex, and more. The fourth and final
Welcome to “Weird City,” the futuristic metropolis where citizens either live “above” or “below” the line, dating apps dictate your total happiness, and Levar Burton is a seemingly all-knowing being. The YouTube sci-fi series, which hails from co-creators Jordan Peele and Charlie Sanders, kicks off its original six-episode run on Feb. 13 to put a
“Better Things” star and showrunner Pamela Adlon has done scores of TV guest shots over the years, but one gig in particular made a big impression on her just as she was about to enter the world of parenthood. Adlon was a guest player in a 1996 episode of Tracey Ullman’s HBO sketch comedy series
BERLIN — The international boom in prestige TV has put a spotlight on the industry’s top writing talents, yet many screenwriters still struggle to break out of the writers’ room and into the business. At a packed afternoon session on day two of the Berlinale’s Drama Series Days, Adi Hasak (“Shades of Blue,” “Eyewitness”) and
In a much-anticipated move, giant streaming service Netflix has confirmed the launch of a Mexico City office this year. Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos was in Mexico City at a Netflix forum to also announce that the company had more than 50 projects in different stages of production in Mexico, some original content, others co-productions. “The
Jon Kamen has built RadicalMedia into a stalwart of the New York independent production scene since the early 1990s, although the company’s roots in documentary and unscripted production extend back to the 1970s. Key to maintaining a vibrant operation is the “community-based” approach that Kamen and his partners have adopted at the company’s Greenwich Village
February 12, 2019 12:00PM PT Freeform is developing a drama series based on the book “Make Your Home Among Strangers” by Jennine Capó Crucet, Variety has learned exclusively. The project is described as a cross-generational drama that follows both a Cuban American girl who struggles her freshman year at an elite New England college and the chaotic
February 12, 2019 11:40AM PT NBC late-night series “Last Call with Carson Daly” is coming to an end. Daly is stepping away from the series but will continue on as the host of the Orange Room on “Today” as well as the host and producer of “The Voice” for NBC. “Last Call” first launched in
Agnieszka Holland, at the Berlinale with competition entry “Mr. Jones,” shifted her focus to TV on Wednesday to clue potential partners into the vision for her epic eight-part drama series-in-the-making, “Napoleon.” Holland is one of Europe’s top filmmakers and also has high-end TV credits including HBO Europe’s “Burning Bush” as well as HBO’s U.S. series
During a stand-up set in New York City on Monday, Aziz Ansari mentioned that the sexual misconduct allegation against him made him feel “humiliated,” but that he hopes the situation made him “become a better person,” according to Vulture. In 2018, an article on Babe.net gave the account of a woman who went on a
February 12, 2019 10:50AM PT David Schalko’s post-war drama “Big Bones” is headed to Series Mania after coming out on top at the Berlin Co Pro Series pitching event. Schalko’s gangster series in-the-making had already fared well in Berlin, landing an international distributor, and it is now headed to France after being selected by the
What if Earth were just an accident, created by someone who never had any idea what the hell they were doing? So goes the wild, existentially startling premise for “Miracle Workers,” TBS’ new limited comedy series based on Simon Rich’s book “What in God’s Name.” The show is sharp, absurd and empathetic when you least expect it (a combination
February 12, 2019 6:30AM PT Pamela Adlon is one of the busiest voiceover performers working in animation. She’s lent her distinctive pipes to dozens of shows since the early 1990s. Here she lists her favorite cartoon characters she’s played over the years. Bobby HillKing of the Hill (1997-2010)FoxAdlon won an Emmy in 2002 for her
She almost gave it all up. After decades as a working actor rolling through short-lived sitcoms, pilots, voiceover gigs and smallish movie roles, Pamela Adlon finally realized her dream of landing her own series, FX’s “Better Things,” in 2016. The autobiographical show was well-received by critics and yielded two consecutive Emmy nominations for lead comedy
Tom Hanks, Octavia Spencer, George Clooney and more than 40 other high-profile actors are backing SAG-AFTRA’s five-month-old strike against ad agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty. In a “We Stand United” ad unveiled Tuesday in Variety, signers of the statement of support included Jennifer Aniston, Alec Baldwin, Rachel Brosnahan, Sterling K. Brown, Steve Carrell, Bryan Cranston, Tina
BERLIN — Attendees of Berlinale’s Drama Series Days followed a busy and wide-ranging program on Monday with a packed opening reception, supported by Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, and the Norwegian Film Institute, and with Variety as a media partner. After a lively day of panel discussions and sessions focused on the future of television, guests partied at
The team behind hit drama series “The Missing” have expanded the universe, and Tcheky Karyo’s Julien Baptise is back in action. This time the French detective is helping a man (Tom Hollander) find his niece, a sex worker who has disappeared in Amsterdam. As with the earlier show, BAFTA-winning writers Harry Williams and Jack Williams
When “Brecht” launched at the Berlinale, with a premiere attended by Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the president of Germany, it was the fruition of long-gestating project for German director Heinrich Breloer. He had met the associates of the German playwright decades earlier, but only now has used his trademark drama-meets-documentary approach to filmmaking to make a biopic of
February 11, 2019 10:00PM PT As Berlin’s TV coproduction event gets underway, Beta Film has boarded one of the prestige projects being pitched. It has snagged rights to “Big Bones,” the gritty post-war crime series set in Vienna, Austria, and will take the series to market. The deal reunites Beta and writer-director David Schalko. Beta
While some had argued that the third season of a series might not be fit to screen at the Berlinale’s Drama Series Days, the major departures in narrative and setting executed in the third and final season of DR’s “Follow the Money” justify its inclusion. The first two seasons of the hyper-popular Danish crime series