Element Pictures, the UK- and Ireland-based producer behind Oscar winning film The Favourite, has appointed a drama commissioning exec from Channel 4 to oversee development of its TV slate. Jonny Richards takes the newly created role of head of TV development and will oversee Element’s push into TV drama with a remit to expand its […]
Poland’s TVN returns to Big Brother Polish broadcaster TVN is to air another season of Big Brother (pictured) just three months after the show returned to screens following a 10-year break. The Endemol Shine Group format was produced by the production giant’s Polish division and debuted in March, running for 13 weeks and ending in […]
Meet The Patels director Ravi Patel and Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment are behind a slate of new Netflix originals out of India. The streaming giant has ordered Messy from creator Patel, following an aspiring stand-up comic struggling to balance family life with comedy. The show, in which Patel also stars, is co-written with […]
Amazon has landed rights to adapt the Jack Reacher novels for TV, with Scorpion creator Nick Santora attached to the project. Santora will serve as showrunner on the adaptation, which is in development and is set to be produced by Amazon Studios, Skydance Television and Paramount Television. He is also attached to exec produce alongside […]
Short-form streamer Quibi is adding to its growing roster of originals with a workplace comedy from The Odd Couple (pictured) star Thomas Lennon and two daily news shows targeting millennials from NBC. Winos has been created by Lennon, who is also attached to write, executive produce and star in the shortform show for Jeffrey Katzenberg […]
UK broadcaster ITV has ordered contemporary thriller Because The Night from Luther creator Neil Cross. Produced by Kate Harwood’s Hard Sun prodco Euston Films, the four-part drama is inspired by the novel Burial, which is also from Cross. The book, published in 2009, tells the story of two friends who become privy to the events that led to the murder of […]
BBC One in the UK has commissioned a true-life drama from Poldark producer Mammoth Screen that explores how an elusive murderer operating on the Hippie Trail was caught and brought to trial, with Netflix onboard as a co-production partner. The Serpent is set in the 1970s and is being written by Ripper Street duo Richard […]
Newen Group’s acquisition of Reel One Entertainment sees the TF1 Group-backed producer-distributor look to crack the English-speaking market and exploit European IP in the US, Canada and UK. The deal marks the French firm’s first concrete move into the English-speaking market, having previously acquired the likes of Denmark’s Nimbus, as well as Dutch formats firm […]
BBC Studios’ exec VP of Asia David Weiland (pictured) is stepping down from his position to take on a new globally-facing role focused on the company’s working culture. Weiland is returning to the UK to take up the newly created position of exec VP of engagement for BBC Studios, having spent five years overseeing operations […]
France’s Canal+ Group has struck a deal to acquire African studio and channel operator ROK as part of its strategy to bolster its operations across the continent. The deal with parent company IROKO comes six years after ROK was launched by producer/actor Mary Njoku. It has since produced more than 540 movies and 25 original […]
