AMC Networks Picks Up Spanish-Portuguese Series ‘Sequía’ for Latin America (EXCLUSIVE)

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Liu Jian’s “Art College 1994,” the critically acclaimed Chinese animated feature competing at this week’s Annecy festival, has been acquired by New York-based outfit Dekanalog for North American distribution. A poignant and vibrant portrait of on-campus youth at the Chinese Southern Academy of Arts in the early 1990s, the feature world premiered in competition at the Berlin Film Festival as one of the rare animated movies that have vied for the Golden Bear. “Art College 1994” will open in North American theaters in 2024, following its release in China. “Art College 1994” is set against the backdrop of reforms opening China to the Western world and revolves around a group of college students who take their first steps into adulthood, where love and friendships are intertwined with artistic pursuits, ideals and ambitions. Caught between tradition and modernity, these young adults now have to choose who they want to become. The film, whose voice cast includes Venice Golden Lion-winning filmmaker Jia Zhangke, is filled with pop references and deadpan humor.

A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts.” The 10-episode series is based on Chinese-American author Ying Chang Compestine’s bestselling 2016 YA book. Episode 1 of the anthology, titled “Egg Fried Rice,” is currently in production as a pilot order from Singapore’s national media network Mediacorp, and is due an early 2024 release. The project was one of the winning pitches at Mediacorp’s Content Development Pitch 2022 competition, which was part of Creatives Assembly, the company’s annual call for content ideas.

"The Chosen," the hit Biblical series about the life of Jesus Christ, is coming to The CW this summer. The network announced Friday that it had picked up the first three seasons of "The Chosen", which will debut on July 16 at 8 p.m., according to Deadline.The Angel Studios show will continue airing through the fall until concluding its run with a Christmas Eve finale.  The CW is the first U.S.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent “Forest,” an Italian eco-themed animation film about deforestation, has scored some strong pre-sales for Rome-based True Colours at the Cannes Marché du film. The still-in-production 3-D animation feature – the protagonist of which is a young mushroom named Fey – has been picked up for roughly 20 territories by Top Film Distribution which will distribute “Forest” in Ukraine, CIS, the Baltics, and Eastern European countries including former Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Poland, Czech and Slovak Republics, Romania, and Hungary.  Helmed by Luca Della Grotta and Francesco Dafano, the film is produced by Italy’s AI One, the same team that previously spawned 2020 similarly themed animation feature “Trash” that sold in more than 30 countries. 

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Cohen Media Group has scooped rights to “Kidnapped,” the latest movie by revered Italian master Marco Bellocchio, which world premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. The drama reconstructs the true tale of Edgardo Mortara, a young Jewish boy who was kidnapped and forcibly raised as a Christian in 19th-century Italy. Described by Variety as a “handsomely mounted period drama,” “Kidnapped” opens in 1858, in the Jewish quarter of Bologna, where the Pope’s soldiers burst into the home of the Mortara family. By order of the cardinal, they have come to take Edgardo, their seven-year-old son. The child had been secretly baptized by his nurse as a baby, and the papal law is unquestionable: he must receive a Catholic education.

Selome Hailu The Native American and Indigenous Writers committee is “one of the smallest committees in the Writers Guild, but [with] one of the loudest voices ever” according to its vice chair Aiko Little — which was evidenced by the turnout of some 100 picketers who joined the NAIWC for a strike event in front of Walt Disney Studios on Wednesday. The NAIWC’s Disney picket was the most recent of a string of of WGA strike events over the past several weeks that have gathered writers from specific marginalized backgrounds — Trans Takeover Thursday, for example — to highlight how current working conditions are affecting them while celebrating storytellers from their communities.

The Locarno Film Festival has announced the line-up for the 21st edition of its Open Doors program, which will focus on filmmakers from underrepresented countries in Latin America and the Caribbean for the second year running.

Augusto Góngora, the journalist, author and television host documented in the Sundance winning film The Eternal Memory, is being mourned in his native Chile after his death at 71.

Marvel Studios typically hates when set photos get leaked and fans around the world get a sneak peek at one of the upcoming films or TV shows. But it’s not so bad, I suppose, when someone from Marvel is actually doing the leaking, as is the case with Anthony Mackie giving people a behind-the-scenes look at the new “Captain America” film.

Production on the Peacock series Hysteria! starring Julie Bowen and Anna Camp has shut down production in Atlanta for the remainder of the WGA writers strike.

Oscar de la Renta and Carolina Herrera, and the new and stunning voices of that are following in their footsteps, among them Gabriela Hearst, Willy Chavarria, and Kika Vargas. Emily Ratajkowski poses in tiny string bikini during Brazil getaway: See PicsIs Eva Mendes releasing a summer dress collection?: See her best looksJennifer Lopez turns up the heat in thong bodysuit with chest and side cutouts“The exhibition is thematically organized into sections that address art, craftsmanship, elegance, gender, Indigenous heritage, politics, popular culture, and sustainability.

Charna Flam Amazon Studios and AMC Networks have partnered with Deaf Talent Media and Entertainment Consulting (DTMEC) on the creation of the Deaf Talent Creative Lab (DTCL). The new initiative will work to provide Deaf people of color with skills to further their success within the entertainment industry. The inaugural DTCL will host two simultaneous tracks for teenagers, age 13-19 years old, with another for adult industry professionals. The upcoming residential program will run from July 12 – 27, 2023 at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Ga. The DTCL will provide attendees with tools, guidance and assistance in developing creative proficiencies — including instruction from industry experts in screenwriting, acting, production classes, marketing, pitching and self-taping. In addition, attendees will receive networking and mentorship opportunities.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent In a show of force, English-language “Spellbound,” the live-action tween series from “Find Me in Paris” creators and production partners will get a Season Two.  Produced by Cottonwood Media, with ZDF, ZDF Studios and the Opéra national de Paris, the 13 new episodes of the ballet/witchcraft series will go into production in August.  The “Spellbound” renewal news comes as Season One is set to roll out in international markets across broadcasters and streaming services from this fall.  Federation Kids & Family, the sales arm of Cottonwood Media parent Federation Studios, and ZDF Studios, the commercial company of German public broadcaster ZDF, will handle worldwide sales. 

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Sumerian has acquired the North American rights to brutal coming-of-age story “Mascot,” which had its world premiere in January at Slamdance, and its international premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam the same month. Sumerian is planning a limited theatrical release this year under the English title “Fortunate Son.” The pickup marks the second acquisition for Sumerian’s new film and streaming division, which launched this year. Sumerian founder Ash Avildsen said the film is “a dark, brutally authentic and beautifully shot independent film centered around troubled youth in unorthodox households. It will undoubtedly strike a nerve with audiences who appreciate gritty arthouse drama, as it did with me.”

An untitled “The Walking Dead” spinoff centering on Andrew Lincoln’s Rick and Danai Gurira’s Michonne was also announced during the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour in January, which at the time was expected to air in 2024. The eighth and final season of “Fear the Walking Dead” premiered on May 14.

Ed Meza @edmezavar The 12th edition of Chile’s Sanfic Industria is set to kick off Aug. 20 alongside the Santiago Film Festival with new lab sections and a series focus on Chilean TV productions.   Among Sanfic Industria’s 11 sections will be the new Series Lab, which will select up to six Latin American scripted series projects. Creators and producers will receive advice from Sanfic Industria participants on the development of their works and strengthening international prospects. Industry reps will also take part in pitching sessions and one-on-one meetings for selected projects that will also be eligible for prizes and incentives. Also new is Sanfic ODS Lab, which aims to promote sustainable development goals among Latin American, Spanish and Portuguese projects. Producers, directors and scriptwriters are invited to present audiovisual projects with themes related to sustainable development and that are in an advanced state of development. Selected projects  will also receive incentives to strengthen their development and international prospects.

EXCLUSIVE: AMC Networks’ Acorn TV and Channel 5 are serving up a third season of The Madame Blanc Mysteries.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Latin American companies have descended on the 60th LA Screenings, mindful of the ever-shifting panorama in content distribution and production.  The ongoing writers’ strike is viewed by some as a boon for international content. Take what Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said at the company’s first quarter financials report presentation when the writers’ strike was looming: “If there’s a strike — and we want to work really hard to make sure we can find a fair and equitable deal so we can avoid one — but if there is one, we have a large base of upcoming shows and films from around the world.” “The global market is finally realizing that Latin America, with almost 700 million inhabitants that speak the same language, is a territory that has a huge penetration in terms of OTT and – still – pay tv subscribers,” says Mexico City-based Manuel Marti, Fremantle’s head of scripted development, Latin America. “At the same time, it has a long history of producing local content with a distinctive genre that’s slowly being embedded into American culture via the 62 million Latinos that live in the U.S.,” he adds.

Ed Meza @edmezavar Paris-based sales boutique Alpha Violet has acquired Spanish filmmaker Victor Iriarte’s directorial debut, “Foremost by Night” (“Sobre Todo de Noche”). Described as a noir story with a political background, “Foremost by Night” revolves around two women who meet for the first time, one who was forced to give up her newborn child for adoption when she was young, the other who, unable to bare children of her own, adopted a child she raised as her own. The film, which stars Ana Torrent (“There Be Dragons,” “The Other Boleyn Girl”), Lola Dueñas (“Me Too,” “Volver”) and Manuel Egozkue, was among this year’s winners at the Malaga Film Festival’s Work in Progress awards, where it secured the Latido Films distribution prize and the Aracne Digital Cinema award for post production services.

Selena Gomez is joining the Food Network.