WOWOW seeks ‘Traitor’ Japanese broadcaster WOWOW has acquired Estonian spy drama Traitor for its linear and on-demand service, following a deal with Indian distributor GoQuest Media. The 6 x 58-minute series is produced by multi service provider Elisa Estonia and Estonian public broadcaster ERR, written Martin Algus and directed by Ergo Kuld. Set in 2004 […]
UK-based production company Roughcut TV has hired Sophia Rashid and Aisling Kiely as drama development producers and promoted Marianna Abbotts to executive producer of drama following its move into drama production. Rashid joins Roughcut TV from her role as an executive producer for BBC Children’s in-house drama productions, where she worked across the entire drama […]
The BBC has given the nod to a second season of acclaimed comedy Jerk, the breakthrough series starring Tim Renkow and Lorraine Bracco (Sopranos), which explores the life of a man living with cerebral palsy. Jerk revolves around stand-up comedian Renkow, who plays a heightened version of himself as an art school dropout who uses […]
Amazon is adapting BBC Three comedy People Just Do Nothing. The global SVOD has ordered a pilot based on the mockumentary-style comedy, which has aired across four series in the UK and is set to end later this year with a fifth series. The half-hour program will be produced by Ash Atalla’s London-based prodco Roughcut […]
Comedy has not had the same uplift in budgets and ambition as straight-up scripted fare, but half hours that are as big on drama as laughs are in demand and, increasingly, on-demand. Just don’t call it ‘dramedy’. Stewart Clarke reports. For comedy writers and producers, recent proclamations from industry heavyweights are no laughing matter. “It […]
People Just do Nothing has been picked up by Vice’s TV channel in the US, and the prodco behind the show has told TBI it is working up an American version of the British comedy. Viceland, Vice’s linear cable net, picked up People Just Do Nothing for its 2017 line-up, marking the first time it has acquired […]
UK indie Roughcut TV has promoted Alex Smith to head of comedy. Smith has produced some of Roughcut’s longest-running sitcoms, Trollied, which plays on Sky 1 in the UK, and has worked on the firm’s newest comedy, Carters Get Rich. As comedy chief at Ash Atalla’s prodco, he will be responsible for overseeing an expanding […]
Sky has acquired a majority stake in the UK’s Blast! Films, marking the fourth time it has invested in an independent production company. Blast!, founded in 1994, is best known as producer of show such as The Supervet, The Route Masters and 999: What’s Your Emergency?. The firm will continue to operate independently, with founder […]
UK youth-skewed channel BBC Three has commissioned new presenter-led documentaries and factual series from a host of British indies. Reggie Yates: Extreme Russia (WT) from Sundog Pictures, Tyger Takes On from Roughcut TV, Extreme at 18 (WT) from Voltage TV, Stacey Dooley: No Place For a Girl from Watershed Productions and FA Cup’s 50 Greatest […]
BSkyB has acquired its second indie stake, this time investing in a transatlantic indie prodco launched this year by former Zodiak and Talpa Media bosses. Sky has taken an equity stake in Znak&Jones Productions, securing international distribution rights for sales arm Sky Vision in the process. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Former Zodiak […]
