As documentaries cutting through on SVODs begin to look glossier and more high-profile by the day, Manori Ravindran investigates who gets to build careers in documentary when the standards become unachievable Director Doug Block has made a number of films over the course of an almost 30-year career – virtually none of them featuring high-profile […]
UK media regulator Ofcom has provisionally given the BBC a green light for its planned changes to BBC iPlayer, subject to certain conditions and guidance. The regulator said that it accepts that the BBC needs to keep pace with changes in consumption habits. “We have provisionally found that the proposed changes to BBC iPlayer would […]
Blue Planet II production exec Katie Hall has departed the BBC’s Natural History Unit to join James Honeyborne’s Netflix-backed production outfit. TBI understands that Hall, who left the NHU last month, has joined the Blue Planet II creator’s fledgling production unit Freeborne Media as head of production. Hall will be based out of Bristol, where […]
Facebook Watch has struck a deal with German commercial broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 that will secure a raft of digital-first content for Facebook’s video service. Facebook Watch will work with ProSiebenSat.1 to bring digital content including pre-shows, after-shows, interviews and spin-offs of the German broadcaster’s content to Watch users. Facebook said that the deal would cover content […]
Disney-controlled streamer Hulu and cable channel FX have struck a two-year output deal with Lionsgate for films released in 2020 and 2021. The deal is understood to mark the first time an SVOD and cable channel have partnered on a theatrical output deal. The slate for 2020 includes such films as I Still Believe, a biopic […]
Netflix has set up a local outpost in Australia, with a small Sydney office slowly taking shape. The streamer – which has not had any on-the-ground staff in Australia since launching there in 2015 – has hired LinkedIn director of public policy for Asia Pacific and Japan Nick O’Donnell as its local director of public […]
WarnerMedia taps ‘Blade Runner 2049’ director for ‘Dune’ series adaptation WarnerMedia has tapped French-Canadian Blade Runner 2049 and Sicario director Denis Villeneuve to helm a sci-fi series for the business’s forthcoming streaming service. Dune: The Sisterhood is produced by Legendary Television, and will serve as a companion series to Warner Bros.’ film reboot of Dune, which Villeneuve is also directing […]
A+E Networks UK has launched SVOD service Crime+Investigation Play on Amazon Prime Video Channels. A+E is charging customers £3.99 ($3.14) for a monthly subscription to Crime+Investigation Play, with an initial 7-day free trial. The UK service carries true crime shows such as Robbie Coltrane’s Critical Evidence (Season 1), Homicide Hunter (Season 3) and The Jail: 60 Days […]
Netflix has hired a 20th Century Fox distribution exec as director of theatrical distribution. Spencer Klein, who most recently served as EVP and general sales manager for 20th Century Fox, will oversee the theatrical roll-out of the streamer’s awards contenders, such as Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman. He will report into Netflix’s head of film Scott […]
Jeffrey Katzenberg’s Quibi has partnered with MTV Studios to reboot Punk’d and Singled Out for the forthcoming short-form, mobile-first platform. The two formats will be reimagined for the service, with each receiving a 20 x 10-minute episode order. Producer-distributor STXtelevision is to produce Punk’d in association with MTV Studios, while Singled Out will be solely […]
