Pascal Breton’s Federation Entertainment, a leading player in international drama and kids’ entertainment, has acquired a stake in WeMake, a production company specializing in unscripted, scripted and digital formats. WeMake was launched a year ago by Bouchra Réjani, the former COO of Shine France. The Paris-based banner has so far developed a catalog of more
Television
ITV said Wednesday that it would not make a bid for Endemol Shine. Britain’s biggest commercial broadcaster had been rumored to be a front-runner in the race to buy the production and distribution giant. “In light of continued press speculation, ITV confirms that it has no current intention of making a bid for Endemol Shine Group,”
October 3, 2018 2:54AM PT Anna Friel will return for a third season of “Marcella” on Netflix and ITV, after a new season of the show got the green light. Friel won an international Emmy for playing the title character in the drama series, which goes out on free-to-air channel ITV in Britain and on
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “A Philadelphia Story,” the second episode of the third season of “This Is Us.” There was a lot to celebrate in the second episode of the third season of “This Is Us,” but true to Pearson family form, it of course came with a healthy
October 2, 2018 5:30PM PT Justin Noble is developing a new comedy series at NBC, Variety has learned. The untitled projects follows seven residents who live in a modern, communal living space modeled after college dorm. They come from all walks of life and all have personal reasons for choosing this alternative living situation. While they start
When “Criminal Minds” returns to CBS Wednesday night, it will do so with Greg St. Johns again aboard as director of photography. St. Johns has been a constant on the show, one of broadcast’s longest running current dramas, rising from A-camera operator when the ABC Studios series premiered in 2006 to his current position as
In today’s TV News Roundup, “Shut Up and Dribble” has a premiere date and stars partner with March for Our Lives for a voting initiative. FIRST LOOKS Variety has obtained an exclusive sneak peak of this week’s episode of “Empire,” which airs Wednesday, Oct. 3 at 8 p.m. on Fox. In the episode, Jamal (Jussie Smollett) and
October 2, 2018 3:16PM PT “Veep” star Reid Scott isn’t exactly jumping for joy that the HBO series is coming to an end with the upcoming seventh season. But he’s not exactly sad either. The cast and crew learned the fate of the political comedy not long after last year’s Emmys. “We won and it
October 2, 2018 2:45PM PT Giancarlo Esposito has joined the upcoming Epix series “Godfather of Harlem” in a series regular role, Variety has learned. The 10-episode series is inspired by the story of infamous Harlem crime boss Bumpy Johnson, who will be played by Forest Whitaker. Esposito will play Adam Clayton Powell, a Baptist minister, Harlem
October 2, 2018 2:21PM PT Missy Birns-Halperin has joined National Geographic Partners as exec VP of global talent. The hire is a sign of Nat Geo’s push to expand its profile in the talent community, as well efforts to engage directly with fans and pursue more elaborate marketing campaigns. Based in Los Angeles, Birns-Halperin will
October 2, 2018 1:20PM PT Tawny Newsome has been cast in a recurring role for the upcoming third season of “Brockmire” at IFC, Variety has learned exclusively. Newsome will play Gabby Taylor, described as a straightforward and hardworking NCAA Champion softball player and Brockmire’s newest partner in the announcing booth. A genuinely good person trying to make
October 2, 2018 11:00AM PT Tremendous! Entertainment announced today that Sarah Whalen has been appointed executive vice president of development. Whalen comes to TEI after 16 years at Original Productions, where, as executive vice president of programming and development, she developed and produced series like “Deadliest Catch,” “The Confession Tapes,” “Storage Wars,” and more. Based in
October 2, 2018 10:46AM PT Brad Kern is no longer a producer on the CBS series “NCIS: New Orleans,” Variety has confirmed. “We have ended Brad Kern’s role as consulting producer on ‘NCIS: New Orleans’ and his overall deal with the Studio,” a CBS Television Studios spokesperson said in a statement to Variety. Variety first reported in December that Kern
October 2, 2018 10:31AM PT HBO has given a series order to the Danny McBride comedy “The Righteous Gemstones,” about a family of televangelists. The series hails from McBride and his frequent collaborators Jody Hill and David Gordon Green. McBride wrote the script and serves as executive producer, director and co-star with John Goodman. Hill
Women in Film Los Angeles has partnered with Ghetto Film School to launch a filmmaker development program aimed at women of color. WIF will work with six Ghetto Film School participants for mentoring and master classes to be held as part of a yearlong development program dubbed Insight. At the end of the program, one
A pair of French production companies, Païva Films and Mirador Pictures, have boarded an untitled spy series created by Charlie Wachtel and David Rabinowitz, the co-writers of Spike Lee’s “BlacKkKlansman.” Starting with Fidel Castro’s victory in January 1959, the series will depict the secret war between Cuban intelligence, the KGB, the CIA and the mafia,
Amazon hit London for its show-and-tell Tuesday with a starry cast in tow: Julia Roberts, Jon Hamm, Rachel Brosnahan, John Krasinksi, Orlando Bloom and Matthew Weiner were all in town to talk about their Amazon projects. Mark Burnett and Neil Gaiman also made cameos, the latter fresh off the announcement of his new overall deal
The new CBS comedies “The Neighborhood” and “Happy Together” debuted on Monday night, with the former show putting up solid ratings numbers and the latter failing to find much of an audience. “The Neighborhood” kicked things off at 8 p.m. with a 1.3 rating in adults 18-49 and 8.1 million viewers. “Happy Together” followed at
Lachlan Murdoch unveiled Tuesday the executive team that will run a new, slimmed-down and live-TV-and-sports focused 21st Century Fox once the company sells a large chunk of its assets to Walt Disney Co., a mammoth $71.3 billion deal that is expected to close in 2019. Murdoch, who will become chairman and CEO of a spun-off
For his first act after the triumphant end of his landmark series “Mad Men,” Matthew Weiner is bringing his opulent vision to Amazon for an ambitious new drama that lets him roam as free as he likes. The connective thread of the sprawling new series is ostensibly, as the title promises, “The Romanoffs,” the Russian
October 2, 2018 4:22AM PT PBS CBS and HBO took home the most wins in the 39th Annual News and Documentary Emmy Award, awarded Monday night by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences at a ceremony at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York City. PBS took home seven
After launching in many regions across Europe, Africa and the Middle East, Viacom’s entertainment channel Comedy Central is set to expand its international footprint further with a roll-out in France this fall. Starting Thursday, Comedy Central will be distributed on all telecoms affiliate platforms, including Orange, Free, SFR, Numericable, Bouygues and Videofutur, reaching more than
Amazon Prime Video has greenlit a first season of “Bibi & Tina,” a live-action series adaptation of the popular German franchise, which already boasts a number of films and an animated show. The live-action family entertainment series, which will mark Amazon’s sixth German original series, follows the adventures of Bibi, a teenage witch, and her
Amazon Studios has ordered “The Wheel of Time,” an action fantasy series based on Robert Jordan’s bestselling fantasy novels, which have sold more than 90 million copies worldwide. Rafe Judkins (“Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”) adapted the material into a series and serves as showrunner. Amazon Studios and Sony Pictures Television are co-producing the series, which was
Neil Gaiman has signed an overall deal with Amazon Studios to work exclusively on new series for Amazon Prime Video, which will launch them globally. The deal comes as the streaming service prepares for the debut of “Good Omens,” based on the novel co-authored by Gaiman, and as work continues on a second season of
Amazon has nabbed its next big unscripted series, following up “The Grand Tour” with Bear Grylls hosting a new MGM-produced version of “Eco-Challenge.” Billed as the toughest global outdoor multi-sport endurance race on Earth, the series will follow teams as they compete in the round-the-clock endurance event. The show is expected to debut on Amazon Prime Video in
October 1, 2018 4:12PM PT Jenna Dewan is leaving “World of Dance.” Dewan, who has served as host and mentor on the NBC competition show for its first two seasons, made the announcement via Instagram on Monday. “I won’t be able to stay away for long, and plan to return to mentor contestants as much
Strike’s back. Tom Burke will return as private eye Cormoran Strike and Holliday Grainger as Robin Ellacott in “Lethal White,” the latest TV adaptation of the crime thriller novel series written by J.K. Rowling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. The “Lethal White” book has just been published in the U.K.; the television series will run
In today’s roundup, Ann-Margret joins “Happy!” and teasers for “Bill Maher Anniversary Special” and Hulu’s “Marvel’s Runaways” have been released. FIRST LOOKS A promo has been released for HBO’s “Bill Maher Anniversary Special.” The 15th anniversary show will take a look back at “Real Time With Bill Maher” through the years with commentary from former President
October 1, 2018 3:00PM PT CBS is developing a police drama series that boasts former CBS Entertainment head Glenn Geller as an executive producer, Variety has learned. The project is currently titled “Body Cam Cop.” In the series, a cop’s heroism inadvertently lands him celebrity status after an on-the-job incident goes viral. He and his new partner