Amazon Studios’ director of European originals Georgia Brown has outlined the company’s rapidly growing commissioning structure across the continent and reiterated that the streamer doesn’t want to “gobble up all rights.” Amazon Studios has been focusing its attention on setting up offices across Europe over the past six months, with its “first phase” of appointing […]
European pay TV operator Sky is adding two new channels to its entertainment portfolio and has commissioned a drama starring Billie Piper. Sky Crime and Sky Comedy channels will be available to all Sky customers at no extra charge, and will be offered as part of the Now TV Entertainment pass for Now TV customers. […]
Viacom-owned UK broadcaster Channel 5 has unveiled a raft of original dramas in the latest phase of a scripted strategy initiated last year by director of programmes Ben Frow. Psychological thriller Penance (3 x 60 minutes), from All3Media-backed West Road Pictures, has been written and created by Kate O’Riordan (Mr Selfridge), and inspired by her […]
Asylum Entertainment Group (AEG) has appointed former ITV Studios Global Entertainment (ITVSGE) exec Ronan Hand to head up its newly launched UK office in London. Hand becomes senior VP of global content and is in charge of presenting IP from within the AEG family of companies to the international marketplace. He will also lead AEG’s […]
Yellowbird UK has optioned screen rights to the behind-the-scenes story of music service Spotify. The Banijay Group-owned prodco is to dramatise Sven Carlsson and Jonas Leijonhufvud’s non-fiction book Spotify Untold (Spotify Inifrån) for a limited series. The project, which is currently in development, will examine how a secretive start-up managed to win over record companies […]
Apple could be rolling out its premium streaming service for $9.99 per month starting in November. According to a report in Bloomberg, the company wants Apple TV+ to be a part of its drive to reach $50bn in service sales by 2020 with a launch globally in over 150 countries. The pricing puts the service in between […]
ZDFE partners for Great Inventions ZDF Enterprises has partnered with World Media Rights, Off The Fence, doc.station and k22film for a new series about the world’s greatest inventions. Great Inventions will explain what lies behind inventions such as batteries, the fridge, satellites, rockets and submarines, and is designed to be a long-running series. The show […]
BBC Studios (BBCS) has appointed two executives to oversee branded programming for Africa, and Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), as part of its recent restructuring in the regions. Former M-Net and Kwesé exec Pierre Cloete and BBCS Poland’s Zbigniew Pruski have been named as commercial directors for branded services for Sub-Saharan Africa and CEE, respectively. […]
Ben Wheatley scores first TV project with Channel 4 Film director Ben Wheatley (High-Rise; Happy New Year, Colin Burstead) has partnered with The Forge on a six-part zombie comedy drama that will be his first foray into TV. The 6 x 60-minute Generation Z finds a group of teenagers battling against a wave of pensioners who […]
DRG scores first sales for Khoo’s ‘Swedish Kitchen’ Japan’s NHK, Germany’s RTL and Australia’s SBS are among the broadcasters that have swooped for DRG’s Rachel Khoo: My Swedish Kitchen. The 8 x 30-minute cookery series – which will debut on Food Network UK on 22 August – has also been picked up by New Zealand’s […]
