BBC Sets Zuckerberg Doc to Mark 20 years of Facebook – Global Bulletin

Naman Ramachandran American narrative feature projects in rough or final cut seeking finishing funds are now invited to submit to the 2022 edition of U.S. in Progress, which takes place Nov. 9-11 during the 13th American Film Festival (Nov.8-13) in Wroclaw, Poland.

Naman Ramachandran MBC Studios, the in-house premium content production arm of MBC Group, has commenced production on fantasy-adventure “Rise of the Witches”, the biggest series to be ever produced with a homegrown Saudi cast, and holds the largest ever budget for special effects for a Saudi production. Supported by NEOM, the series is being filmed on three purpose-built studio sets, including Saudi Arabia’s biggest purpose-built backlots to date.Based on the best-selling Saudi mythology books by Osamah Almuslim, the series, set in ancient Arabia, tells the story of an epic war between two rival witch covens, led by Afsaar and Da’ja’a.Growing up in a world dominated by male magicians who want to prevent women from having any access to magical powers, both witches secretly learn the arts and go on to form their own groups in order to protect themselves and gain power.

The messaging app WhatsApp will be introducing two major updates in a bid to improve user privacy.

K.J. Yossman “Stranger Things” star Nikola Djuricko has been tapped to present the Serbian edition of NBCUniversal Formats’ entertainment series “Hollywood Game Night.” This is the 24th international edition of the series, joining adaptations in the U.K., France, Greece, Hungary and Thailand, among others. The show pairs celebrities with contestants as they compete in a variety of party games.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“The House of the Lost on the Cape,” a Japanese animated movie which was an official selection at the recent Annecy festival will have a theatrical release in North America from Sept. 7. The film is to be distributed by Los Angeles-based Eleven Arts in association with Anime Expo and Iconic Events Releasing.

Naman Ramachandran The number of U.K. households with access to a subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service has declined, the Establishment Survey for the second quarter of 2022 by BARB, the U.K. television audience measurement currency, has revealed.

Naman Ramachandran Factual content specialist Zinc Media Group has fundraised £5 million ($6.1 million) and is using £2.1 million of it towards acquiring award-winning production company The Edge Picture Company, which operates from its bases in London, Doha, Vancouver and Paris. The rest of the cash will be invested in talent, potential IP, and in future acquisitions and collaborations.

VFX Firm DNEG Promotes Chas Jarrett to Creative DirectorDune and Tenet VFX firm DNEG has promoted Chas Jarrett to Creative Director. Jarrett, who is based out of London, joined DNEG as a Senior VFX Supervisor in 2019 and is an industry veteran with credits on films such as Aladdin (2019), Logan, Sherlock Holmes, and Sweeney Todd. He will take over the reins from incumbent DNEG Creative Director and two-time Oscar-winning VFX Supervisor Paul Franklin, who will continue on at the company as a Visual Effects Consultant. In a statement, DNEG Group President, VFX, and Stereo, Josh Jaggars said: “Congratulations to Chas on his well-deserved promotion to Creative Director of DNEG. He is an outstanding leader and a fine role-model for our creative teams, with a talent for developing strong relationships with filmmakers. Chas is an important addition to DNEG’s executive leadership team, and I am looking forward to working closely with him to ensure that our creative output remains second-to-none.”

Naman Ramachandran Ana de Armas will be honored with the Hollywood Rising-Star Award at the Deauville American Film Festival (Sept. 2-11).

Naman Ramachandran U.K. broadcaster Channel 4 has commissioned celebrity chef Jamie Oliver‘s Jamie Oliver Productions to make “Jamie’s One-Pan Wonders” (8×30’), where he cooks one-pan recipes from his new book “ONE: Simple One-Pan Wonders,” available in Sept.

Naman Ramachandran “The Freedom Orchestra” (working title), a documentary film presented by Clive Myrie, will tell the story of Ukraine’s newly formed Freedom Orchestra. In the midst of the ongoing war with Russia, 75 of Ukraine’s noted musicians have come together to bring a message of defiance and hope.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorThe TikTok-ification of Instagram took a step back as the Meta-owned social app said Thursday it will discontinue a beta test of a full-screen version of the feed and also promised to reduce the number of recommended videos, photos and accounts that people see in Instagram.But make no mistake: Instagram is still putting its shoulder into video — continuing to aggressively develop and promote Reels, the TikTok-style feature that lets users record and share videos of up to 90 seconds.Meta’s ad revenue from Reels (across Instagram and Facebook) is now on a $1 billion annual run rate, CEO Mark Zuckerberg told analysts on the Q2 earnings call. The company’s monetization rate for Reels is still lower than Feed or Stories, he added, but longer term “we’re confident that Reels will grow engagement overall and quality and will eventually monetize closer to Feed.”Some observers saw the changes Instagram announced Thursday as caving to a grassroots pressure campaign urging it to stop mimicking TikTok.

Shares in Comcast and Meta got hammered in early trading, though the broader stock markets are holding steady despite swirling currents of economic news and signs of a recession.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefGHY Culture & Media, a mainland China-focused entertainment company from Singapore, has launched a slate of short drama series that it says mirror the professionally-generated short format developed by Chinese platforms Douyin and Bilibili. Its first three are fantasy “Goddess Hotel,” urban fantasy-light comedy “Miss Tanya” and sci-fi comedy “Ability Bureau.” Each short drama series is slated to run for 2 or 3 seasons, with 12 to 16 episodes per season, and each episode delivered at approximately 3 minutes. Involving Singapore production teams and actors, each project is estimated to cost between S$350,000 to S$1.6 million ($250,000 – $1.15 million) to produce.

Don’t expect “old Instagram” to return anytime soon.

Naman Ramachandran Newen Studios, the Paris-headquartered production and distribution group, has taken a majority stake in London-based production house, Rise Films, the outfit behind “All That Breathes,” which won the top documentary prizes at Sundance and Cannes this year. The move is part of Newen’s premium documentary ambitions and U.K.