Australia, India Look to Benefit From Newly Ratified Treaty, Filming Incentives (EXCLUSIVE)

Naman Ramachandran Four BBC India staff members have quit and formed a new entity, Collective Newsroom, in order to comply with India’s strict foreign direct investment (FDI) in media rules. The Indian government’s cap on FDI investment in digital news outfits is 26%. BBC World Service India is 99% owned by the BBC.

Naman Ramachandran Indo-British sports drama “A Game of Two Halves,” which tackles themes of identity crisis and racial dissonance, is set for a global bow in 2024. Directed by British Asian filmmaker Khayam Khan (“Bus Ride”), the film is set across the U.K. and India.

EXCLUSIVE: South Indian stars Adivi Sesh and Shruti Haasan will head the cast of an as-yet-untitled pan-Indian action drama that is being produced by leading Telugu production house Annapurna Studios. 

Naman Ramachandran Top Indian celebrity management firms Matrix IEC and Bling Entertainment are merging, bringing their roster of A-list talents under one roof. Matrix was founded by Reshma Shetty and Vivek Kamath. It represents popular actors including Abhishek Bachchan, Alia Bhatt, Dulquer Salmaan, Farhan Akhtar, Katrina Kaif, Madhuri Dixit Nene, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Ram Charan, Shahid Kapoor, Varun Dhawan and Vicky Kaushal among others.

2018 Everyone Is a Hero writer-director Jude Anthany Joseph was a victim of the 2018 Kerala floods in southern India, a catastrophic natural disaster that was the worst flood to hit the region in more than a century.

Naman Ramachandran Celebrity chef Asma Khan will host food documentary series “Tiffin Stories,” it was revealed at Singapore’s Asia TV Forum & Market. In the six-part “Tiffin Stories,” Asma Khan will be seen interacting with iconic Indians and the Indian diaspora, unearthing their nostalgia associated with food, while bringing to fore their life journeys. The series will be filmed in India and the U.K.

Nick Holdsworth At the closing ceremony of the 3rd edition of the Red Sea Film Festival Thursday, which took place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in front of an audience that included Hollywood stars Nicolas Cage, Gwyneth Paltrow, Halle Berry, Jason Statham and Adrien Brody, the Golden Yusr for best film and a $100,000 cash prize went to Pakistani-Canadian horror film “In Flames,” directed by Zarrar Kahn. The director said that the indie movie was shot for “just $300,000 — the size of a Red Sea Fund production grant.” He urged “everyone who gets a grant to go make a movie, because this was made for nothing.” The Silver Yusr prize for best feature film went to Tarsem Singh for “Dear Jassi.” The film, an India/Canada/U.S.

When Zoya Akhtar was approached some years ago by Graphic India to see if she was interested in adapting American comic The Phantom, her first question was whether the Archies comics were available for adaptation. 

Naman Ramachandran The first image that the word ‘Bollywood’ conjures up is one of song and dance. And Netflix’s “The Archies” promises to be a prime example of that. “The Archies” is a 1960s-set feature film adaptation of the Archie comics, which are hugely popular on the Indian subcontinent.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Wang Jianlin, the Chinese billionaire who previously sought to buy a controlling position in Hollywood, is preparing to complete his imminent exit from the film industry. The troubled conglomerate is facing debt repayment pressure.Wanda Film, which remains China’s largest cinema operator, Wednesday said in a regulatory filing to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange that Wang and his Wanda Investment vehicle expect to sell their remaining stake 51% in the company to China Ruyi Holdings. Ruyi, which operates across film, TV and online games, counts games, social media and streaming giant Tencent among its largest shareholders.

Banijay Asia Unveils Leadership Team Following Endemol Acquisition

Post-pandemic audiences are much more open to different cultures, thanks to streaming and exposure to new types of content, but some of the world’s biggest film industries are still figuring out how to adapt in a rapidly changing landscape, said speakers on the ‘Cinematic Crossovers’ panel in Red Sea Souk. 

Naman Ramachandran Arlene Nelson will direct a documentary series on Indian Women’s Premier League cricket team U.P. Warriorz, it was revealed on the sidelines of the Asian TV Forum and Market (ATF). The men’s Indian Premier League (IPL) is one of the most lucrative properties in world sport.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Director Lukas Dhont is the new guest curator for Galerie, Indian Paintbrush’s digital film club. Dhont, whose 2022 coming-of-age film “Close” was nominated for best international feature, names 18 films that influenced him the most for Galerie members. Among the entries is the 1975 documentary “Grey Gardens.” “A teacher in film school showed us ‘Grey Gardens,’ he writes about the film, which tells the story of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’ eccentric and reclusive aunt, Edith “Big Edie” Ewing Bouvier Beale,” and cousin Edith “Little Edie” Bouvier Beale.

John Bleasdale Guest Contributor Freida Pinto took a break from her jury duties at the Red Sea Film Festival to talk to Variety about her career and her hopes for the future. The Indian actor shot to world fame for her starring role in Danny Boyle’s “Slumdog Millionaire” (2008) and remains committed to the breadth of cinema. “I’ve always looked at cinema globally,” she tells Variety.

Refresh for latest…: New global entry Queen Bey’s concert movie/documentary Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé put a ring on a $27.4M global debut this weekend. Included in that is $6.4M from 2,621 overseas cinemas.

Naman Ramachandran India is on the verge of producing a global breakthrough streaming hit, leading industry players said over the past week across two panel discussions. The mood in the country has been celebratory, even self-congratulatory, albeit with some justification, after the Oscar wins for S.S.

Tubi Hires Endeavor Exec For International Expansion

Naman Ramachandran High powered global experts will feature at the inaugural edition of AniMela, India’s first-ever international festival for animation, VFX, XR, gaming and comics (AVGC-XR). The four-day event is by India’s Aniverse and Visual Arts Foundation (AVAF), which has partnered with the government of India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and France’s Annecy International Animation Festival. As revealed by Variety, the festival will take place Jan.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Though the Red Sea Film Festival will feature a slew of films from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region – including 11 feature films from Saudi Arabia – there is a rich roster of international fare set to launch locally from Jeddah. Kaleem Aftab, the festival’s director of international programming, says they received lots more submissions for this year’s third edition.