Sony Pictures Television (SPT) has taken an undisclosed stake in UK-based non-scripted and sports-skewing production outfit The Whisper Group. The company was co-founded by Sunil Patel, broadcaster Jake Humphrey and former F1 driver David Coulthard, and comprises live sports and non-scripted production company Whisper, Chapter 3 Graphics and East Media. The group produces sports entertainment […]
Amazon has hired Sony Pictures Television chairman and former Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins to oversee its video entertainment businesses — including Prime Video and its movie and television unit Amazon Studios. Hopkins is set to join Amazon on February 24 and will report directly to CEO Jeff Bezos. Hopkins joined Sony in 2017 after spending […]
Eleventh Hour picks up Chris Atkins’ rights Sony Pictures Television (SPT)-backed Eleventh Hour Films has optioned Chris Atkins’ prison diaries A Bit Of A Stretch for adaptation. The book, published by Atlantic Books, explores the documentary-maker’s experiences after he was sent to prison in 2016 after becoming embroiled in an illegal tax scheme to fund […]
Nordic Entertainment (NENT) Group has struck a co-development and co-production deal with Sony Pictures Television (SPT), as part of an expanded content partnership agreement. NENT will work with SPT to co-develop and co-produce up to six original scripted series for the Nordic company’s streamer Viaplay. Details of projects remain under wraps, but NENT said the […]
Netflix is to bring the curtain down on royal drama The Crown after a fifth and final season, which will star Imelda Staunton in the role of Queen Elizabeth II. The show, produced by Sony Pictures Television-owned Left Bank Pictures, launched its third run in November and is set to enter its fourth season later […]
AMC breaks away from Better Call Saul US network AMC is ending its Breaking Bad spin-off Better Call Saul, making a sixth and final 13-episode order. The show, which is also available around the world on services including Netflix, will go into production later this year and air in 2021. The renewal comes just ahead […]
UK’s C4 adds Batwoman for E4 Channel 4 in the UK has picked up Warner Bros. drama Batwoman for its E4 network. The show, which debuts on The CW in the US, is produced by Berlanti Productions in association with Warner Bros. and is based on the Ruby Rose character from the DC Comics. It […]
TBI speaks to leading execs from across the content business as they reflect on 2019 and discuss their predictions at the start of a new decade. Nina Lederman, EVP, global scripted development & programming, Sony Pictures Television How do you think the imminent launch of streamers such as HBO Max and Peacock will impact the […]
Leonardo creator Frank Spotnitz has said the formation of European commissioning club The Alliance is a sign that broadcasters understand the threat they face from streamers and has urged them to offer more freedom to creatives. Spotnitz, who co-created and exec produced Ransom for CBS, is behind The Alliance’s big budget drama Leonardo, which stars […]
Sony Pictures Television (SPT) is moving into kids TV production for the first time after striking a $195m deal to buy Octonauts and Peter Rabbit prodco Silvergate Media. SPT is buying the UK and New York-based company from its management team and Shamrock Capital, an LA-based investment firm that took a 51% star in the […]
