EXCLUSIVE: Former Warner Bros. Development Executive Paul Perez has inked a production deal at the Burbank, CA lot.
25.05.2022 - 14:35 / variety.com
K.J. Yossman “The Repair Shop’s” Jay Blades has struck a first look deal with BBC Studios via his production company Hungry Jay Media.Hungry Jay is a joint venture between Blades and production company Hunrgy Bear (“Michael McIntyre’s The Wheel”), which was founded in November 2020 by Dan Baldwin and Juliet Denison Gay.The 1-year deal will mean BBC Studios has first dibs on Hungry Jay’s factual entertainment slate.
Recent shows from the company have included “Jay Blades: Learning to Read at 51” (BBC One) and “Jay Blades: There’s No Place Like Home” (Channel 5).“I’m really looking forward to working with the team at BBC Studios and creating formats they can sell around the world,” said Blades. *****“Strictly Come Dancing” host Claudia Winkleman is set to front a new BBC One show called “The Traitors.” It’s an unscripted competition series set in Scotland.Described as “an intense psychological game in which players must decide who they can trust,” the series is made by Studio Lambert Scotland.
It will divide contestants into two groups: The Traitors and The Faithful, with the latter group plotting to eliminate members of the former.Kate Phillips commissioned the series and Syeda Irtizaali developed it for BBC One. Neil McCallum is the commissioning editor for the BBC.
Exec producers are Mike Cotton, Sarah Fay and Toni Ireland for Studio Lambert Scotland, which is part of the All3Media group. The show is based on a Dutch version, created by Marc Pos and developed by All3Media’s IDTV & RTL Creative Unit and produced by IDTV.All3Media International is distributing the format worldwide.
.EXCLUSIVE: Former Warner Bros. Development Executive Paul Perez has inked a production deal at the Burbank, CA lot.
EXCLUSIVE: Prolific film and television producer Liza Chasin (Made For Love, The Lost City) has signed a first look deal with Endeavor Content to develop and produce premium, talent-driven television series through her 3dot Productions.
K.J. Yossman 101 Studios, the company behind series including “Yellowstone” and “Mayor of Kingstown,” has inked a first-look deal with PZAJ, Variety can exclusively reveal.PZAJ, a global film and television production label formed by Phillip Glasser, Jason Brown, and Ash Greyson, is owned by Nasdaq-listed Vinco Ventures Inc. Vinco Ventures is currently merging with Zash Global Media.Already in development under the new partnership are a feature film adaptation of LA Times columnist Bill Plaschke’s “Paradise Found,” a story about a small California town ravaged by fires that finds new hope in a football team that rises from the ashes of the devastation.
“The Internet Must Go.”“Oscar and Elvira are both uniquely talented storytelling powerhouses who care deeply about the impact the work they do has on the audience and on the cultural conversation,” said Konstantinakos. “I could not be more thrilled to be continuing the journey we started together on The Letter Room, now with the support of the brilliant team at Endeavor Content.
Jordan Moreau Their first joint production received an Academy Award nomination. Now Oscar Isaac and Elvira Lind are ramping up Mad Gene Media under a first-look deal with Endeavor Content, hoping to build on the success of “The Letter Room” with a wide array of future projects. The married couple, who are raising two children together, are building this banner while Isaac stars in high-profile offerings such as “Moon Knight” and “Scenes From a Marriage.”“We’re not always on 24/7; I’d say 23/7,” Isaac says.“We never sleep,” Lind adds.The couple launched Mad Gene Media in 2019, and recently hired Gena Konstantinakos as head of development and production, after working with her on their Oscar-nominated short film.
Wilson Chapman editorThe “A League of Their Own” Amazon series based on Penny Marshall’s popular 1992 comedy film will premiere Aug. 12.Amazon announced the news via a first look teaser, set to the classic Stevie Nicks song “Edge of Seventeen.” The teaser can be seen below.Both the show and film version of “A League of Their Own” take place in 1943, the year that the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was formed.
Jay Blades is a well-known TV presenter and the star of the BBC’s The Repair Shop. The 52 year old furniture restorer has faced many battles in life including racism and learning to read at a later age. Jay is dyslexic and was only diagnosed with the condition as a mature student when he went to study at university.
Joe Otterson TV ReporterOmar Sy has signed a first-look television deal with HBO Max.Under the deal, the French actor and producer will develop series for the streamer for multiple markets around the globe.“I am very happy to be partnering with HBO Max who share my dreams of developing globally appealing content for audiences around the world, including French speaking Africa, France and the United States,” Sy said.Sy broke out with his starring role in the French film “The Intouchables,” for which he earned a César for best actor. He was the first Black actor to win the award.
EXCLUSIVE: MVD Entertainment Group has acquired worldwide rights to the autobiographical coming-of-age comedy 5-25-77, from writer-director Patrick Read Johnson (Spaced Invaders), slating it for release in North American theaters this fall, with an unveiling on digital and VOD to follow.
BBC Studios Partners With ‘Repair Shop’ Star Jay Blades & Hungry Bear
Angelique Jackson Prolific producer Debra Martin Chase has re-upped her multi-year first-look deal with Universal Television.The news comes as the two parties celebrate continued success for “The Equalizer,” starring Queen Latifah, which was renewed for a third and fourth season earlier this month.“I’m thrilled that this partnership with Debra continues to thrive to this day,” stated Universal Television president Erin Underhill. “It has been phenomenal to work with Debra and her team on ‘The Equalizer.’ She is a true inspiration, pioneer and friend.”With the extension, Chase will develop and produce new projects for network, cable and streaming services under her Martin Chase Productions banner.
Ahead of its Season 3 premiere, Disney+ has ordered a fourth season of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. The eight-episode third season will premiere on July 27, with each episode streaming weekly on Wednesdays, exclusively on Disney+. The streamer also released a first-look clip of Season 3 (see above).
Universal Pictures has entered into a first-look production deal with “The Notebook” author Nicholas Sparks to bring three of his more recent novels to the big screen, starting with last year’s runaway hit “The Wish.” Sparks and Anonymous Content will partner to produce three feature films for Universal, each one based on one of his most recent books, though only a film based on “The Wish” was announced on Tuesday. Zack Hayden will produce “The Wish” on behalf of Anonymous Content with oversight by Anonymous Content CEO Dawn Olmstead and CCO David Levine, alongside Theresa Park, Sparks’ longtime literary agent and collaborator, and Universal Pictures’ Vice President of Production Development, Lexi Barta.