Legendary Entertainment has named Josh Grode as its new CEO almost a year after the exit of its former chief and founder Thomas Tull. Grode was formerly at the law firm Irell & Manella, where he advised Legendary for years as well as other media businesses such as Lionsgate and Marvel. He inherits the group […]
US best of British SVOD service Acorn has become the US partner on Love, Lies & Records, the upcoming drama from Kay Mellor. Acorn will run the show as an original in the US on its subscription service. It has been ramping up originals on the platform, with three last year and five already in […]
France Télévisions has acquired teen novella series Love, Divina. The French pubcaster will air the show on its repositioned France 4 channel. Pol-ka Producciones makes the series, following on from its success with Patito Feo, with the kids division of Federation Entertainment. Federation sells the show in Europe (and Televisa throughout the rest of the […]
Thomas Tull has resigned from US studio Legendary Entertainment a year after selling to Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group (Dalian Wanda). Effective immediately, he will step down as CEO and chairman, though he does assume a heritage position as founding chairman of the LA operation. Jack Gao, senior VP of Wanda Group and CEO of international […]
Rise Films has hired two new factual execs and is looking to bolster its team further. The UK indie, which makes ITV comedy Plebs, has brought in Kate Morey as head of popular factual and Steve Condie as exec producer, factual. Morey joins from Discovery-owned factual prodco Betty, where she was an exec producer. She […]
Live-action kids series Love, Divina has been sold to De Agostini’s Super! in Italy. The novella-esque series hails from Televisa, Pol-ka Pro Producciones and the kids division of Federation Entertainment. The 60x45mins series has Patito Feo star Laura Esquivel as a teenager who takes homeless kids under her wing. Massimo Bruno, head of TV channels […]
Netflix users tend to burn through The Walking Dead and Orange is the New Black, but take their time on House of Cards and Bloodline, according to new data from the SVOD service. Netflix has revealed ‘The Binge Scale’, which it claims shows how customers in more than 190 countries consume more than 100 serialised […]
Former Sony TV sales boss Michael Grindon tells Jesse Whittock how Legendary Television’s emerging international sales division can offer an alternative to the Hollywood studios. Despite being the LA production studio behind The Hangover movie franchise, Legendary Entertainment’s push into television has been anything but lethargic. Less than a year since former Sony Pictures Television […]
Streaming service Netflix has bagged exclusive international rights to Pee-wee Herman’s Big Holiday, an upcoming comedy film from director Judd Apatow. This is the latest feature Netflix has acquired exclusive rights to as the US-based company sticks to its aggressive movie buying strategy. Netflix takes rights in all territories it operates in, under terms of […]
Streaming service Netflix has handed a two-season order to a relationships-themed comedy from gross-out movie guru Judd Apatow. Love will debut in 2016 with a 10-episode run, and star Paul Rust (I Love You, Inglorious Basterds) and Gillian Jacobs (Community) as a couple that experiences the humiliations of intimacy, commitment and “other things they were […]
