BBC Studios Inks India Licensing Deal with Lionsgate

Lionsgate has renewed the contract for its India office managing director Rohit Jain, and promoted him to grow the studio's South Asian businesses and drive the Starz premium subscription platform into emerging Asian markets. Terms of the new multiyear deal were not disclosed.

Lionsgate’s Indian chief Rohit Jain has been promoted to oversee all of South Asia for film and TV company.

EXCLUSIVE: DAZN Unveils ‘Club Ibiza: The Sessions’ Original Sports streamer DAZN has unveiled its latest original: A documentary going behind the scenes of Ibiza soccer club UD Ibiza, which has dreams of making it all the way to La Liga. The five-part series, which premieres from December 25 around the world, features interviews with president Amadeo Salvo and Italian soccer star Marco Borriello, who played for UD Ibiza.

Spotlight producer Topic Studios has signed a first-look deal with The Population, the independent production company formed by Nomadland producer Mollye Asher, Mynette Louie and Derek Nguyen. The Populations's first two films are I Carry You With Me from director Heidi Ewing and Sony Pictures Classics, and Swallow from director Carlo Mirabella-Davis and IFC Films.

Topic Studios has entered a first-look deal with Mynette Louie, Mollye Asher, and Derek Nguyen’s The Population, the production company behind I Carry You with Me and Swallow. The multi-faceted deal covers all media and includes film, television, non-fiction and podcasts.

Disney Appoints APAC Chief Disney has named Luke Kang as President, Asia Pacific, following the departure of Uday Shankar, which was announced in October and becomes effective from December 31. Kang will not, however, be taking on Shankar’s responsibilities in India, with a separate appointment set to be made for the territory by Rebecca Campbell, Chairman, International Operations and Direct-to-Consumer for Disney.

Naman Ramachandran BBC Studios, the commercial subsidiary of U.K. broadcaster BBC, is launching ad-free streaming channel BBC Select on Amazon Prime Video Channels and the Apple TV app in early 2021.The service will offer programs from the U.K.

BBC Studios has pulled the curtain back on its latest global streamer, BBC Select, which will go live across the U.S. and Canada early next year and is being characterized as a TV service for “independent thinkers.”

TIFF Drama Gets Canada Deal

England fans could be denied the opportunity to watch next year’s crucial Test tour to India as a domestic TV deal for the four-match series has yet to be agreed.

EXCLUSIVE: XYZ Films has acquired North American rights to India’s Best International Oscar entry Jallikattu.

Nexstar Media Group said its widely distributed cable network WGN America has reached its first carriage agreement with internet-delivered bundle FuboTV.

Elaine Low Senior TV WriterSkydance Television has struck an exclusive first-look deal with Exile Content Studio to develop and produce scripted English-language series, Variety has learned.“We are very proud to partner with Exile Content Studio to bring its diverse array of Latinx-based content to our current development slate,” said Jesse Sisgold, Skydance Media president and chief creative officer.

Amazon Donates $600,000 To Germany Amazon Prime Video has donated €500,000 ($600,000) to a German relief fund for entertainment industry workers who have been left without income by the coronavirus pandemic. Amazon, which counts Deutschland 89 among its German originals, has donated to Backstage Heroes, a fundraising campaign led by STERN magazine. Amazon’s support is part of a $6M commitment announced earlier this year to support the European production community.

There’s a lot going on in “A Suitable Boy” — but the British import takes its time to unravel.And it’s worth the wait.The six-episode series, which premiered in July on BBC One, has now landed in the US on AMC-owned Acorn TV, which has exclusive American and Canadian rights.

Elaine Low Senior TV Writer“Game of Thrones” and “Lord of the Rings” writer-producer Bryan Cogman has struck a multiyear overall deal with Entertainment One, which follows his most recent overall at Amazon Studios.Under the terms of the agreement, he is set to develop scripted television and new media projects for eOne.

Metro Goldwyn Mayer has signed a cloud computing agreement with Amazon Web Services to move its content and distribution efforts to the tech giant's cloud and to help the studio develop "new business models" and "new revenue opportunities," according to the companies.