Black Bear Pictures & New Regency Form Joint Venture Double Agent For Production Of Non-Fiction Content; Dana O’Keefe To Head Up As President

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority is investigating the proposed joint venture between Warner Bros Discovery and BT Group which will create a new premium sports offering for the UK and Ireland. The regulator said today that it notified the respective parties on Tuesday and is inviting comments on the transaction until June 17.

Naman Ramachandran The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is investigating the joint venture between Warner Bros. Discovery and telco giant BT.The entities had revealed a premium sports venture in May, for the U.K.

Manori Ravindran International EditorArgonon, the super-indie behind “The Masked Singer U.K.” and “Hard Cell,” has launched a new U.S. production company that marks its first joint venture Stateside.The new outfit, Rose Rock Entertainment, is a JV with producer and former Spoke Studios executive Joe Weinstock, whose executive producer credits include reality hit “Duck Dynasty” for A&E and “Assembly Required” with “Home Improvement” star Tim Allen for History Channel.Launching with offices on the West Coast and Oklahoma, Rose Rock will focus on delivering “cinematic Americana factual content” with an entertainment edge.

EXCLUSIVE: AMC Networks has acquired North American rights to Monsieur Spade, a one-hour drama starring Clive Owen from The Queen’s Gambit co-creator Scott Frank and City On A Hill showrunner Tom Fontana. Black Bear Television also has joined as the series’ studio and will deficit finance.

Rise Films is nearing the end of what has been a monumental month for the London-based production outfit. Last week, HBO Max launched the company’s two-part documentary George Carlin’s American Dream, which chronicles the life and five-decade career of the comedian with Judd Apatow in the director’s seat.

TheWrap previously reported, the new bylaws would also open up Globes voting beyond the current 102 active members to a select group of “other individual non-members as the Board of Directors may invite to participate from time-to-time.” Interim HFPA CEO Todd Boehly has proposed inviting approximately 200 non-member voters to nearly triple the total pool to 300 — a step designed to gain the support of Netflix as well as other studios, streamers and networks. A rep for the HFPA did not comment on the bylaw amendments.

EXCLUSIVE: STX’s former President of International John Friedberg is joining Teddy Schwarzman’s Black Bear to spearhead the company’s international sales and distribution business, we can reveal.

Manori Ravindran International EditorA new series of “Black Mirror” is in the works at Netflix, Variety can reveal.It’s been almost three years since Season 5 of the dystopian drama premiered on the streaming service in June 2019, but sources indicate that a new anthology series of “Black Mirror” is shaping up, and casting is now underway.While details about specific stories are being kept under lock and key, Variety understands that Season 6 will have more episodes than Season 5, which comprised of just three instalments and starred Andrew Scott, Anthony Mackie, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Topher Grace and Miley Cyrus.A source close to the production tells Variety that the latest season is even more cinematic in scope, with each instalment being treated as an individual film. This is, of course, in line with recent seasons of “Black Mirror,” for which episodes usually exceeded 60 minutes and had incredibly high production values.

ITV Dancing On Ice star Vanessa Bauer is in a new relationship, according to reports. Vanessa has been pictured cosying up to a mystery man in sunny Malibu. Vanessa split from her boyfriend Rory McCall last year.

Bartees Strange has returned with another preview of his forthcoming second album, ‘Farm To Table’, sharing the poignant and powerful new single ‘Hold The Line’.A notedly emotive cut from the Washington, DC indie-rocker, Strange explained in a press release that ‘Hold The Line’ is one of the most thematically raw tracks on ‘Farm To Table’. It was inspired by George Floyd’s seven-year-old daughter Gianna, who was thrust into the public eye when her father was murdered by former police officer Derek Chauvin in May 2020.Strange expounded: “I remember watching George Floyd’s daughter talk about the death of her father and thinking wow – what a sad introduction to Black American life for this young person.

st Century as it unfolds around us, in all its complexity and diversity. The possibilities are endless.”O’Keefe was chosen because he is “a seasoned powerhouse in the documentary space with tremendous relationships, an eye for talent, and a keen understanding of content that can reach a global audience,” according to a statement from Schwarzman.

Manori Ravindran International EditorNew Regency Pictures and “I Care a Lot” producers Black Bear Pictures have formed a new joint venture, Double Agent, to produce and finance premium non-fiction content.The planned slate will span all genres and formats, and will leverage the companies’ combined strategic experience and resources to tap into the booming documentary market. The JV is spearheaded by New Regency’s Yariv Milchan and Michael Schaefer and Black Bear Pictures’ Teddy Schwarzman.Dana O’Keefe has been appointed president of the company, stepping down from Cinetic Media where he served as a partner.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorThe streaming joint venture between Comcast and Charter Communications — which is aiming to create a U.S.-wide aggregated streaming device platform — doesn’t have a name. But now it has a leader: The two cable operators announced Marcien Jenckes, who’s been with Comcast since 2010, will lead the JV.In the new role, Jenckes will focus on leading the team and developing the business and monetization models, Comcast and Charter said.

Warner Bros. Discovery and British telecom giant BT Group have confirmed plans to form a 50-50 joint venture, creating a new premium sport offering for the UK and Ireland. This will see the transfer of the operating businesses of BT Sport to Warner Bros Discovery, effectively merging the content offering of both BT Sport and Eurosport UK.

EXCLUSIVE: Dubai-based sales agent Cercamon Docs has come aboard to handle worldwide sales on Ben Chace’s Music Pictures: New Orleans, which is set to bow at the Tribeca Film Festival in June. The company will introduce the film to buyers during the Cannes Market.

black midi have announced details of a new album. The U.K. trio's follow-up to 2021 album Cavalcade is titled Hellfire and is due on July 15 via Rough Trade Records.