Carmelo Anthony To Exec Produce Animated Series Based On ‘Lil’ Heroes’ NFTs From Edgar Plans & Exile Content Studio

A rugby Super League player from Yorkshire is the next contestant rumoured to be arriving in the Spanish villa for the newest series of Love Island. Jacques O’Neill, who currently plays for the Castleford Tigers in West Yorkshire has reportedly been lined up to appear on the upcoming series of ITV2’s smash hit dating show.The 23 year old began playing for the club when he was still just a teenager, with the player’s impeccable skill on the pitch making him one of rugby’s best young prospects in recent years.

Marc Anthony, 53, and his 23-year-old model girlfriend, Nadia Ferreira, are engaged.The couple announced their engagement at a party in Miami Thursday night. The former Miss Universe Paraguay showed off her diamond ring on her Instagram story. "Engagement party," she captioned the image of her hand on top of Anthony’s.

All in the family! Singer Marc Anthony has an accomplished career as an award-winning musician — and he’s also a father of six.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentBen Stassen’s nWave Studios (“The Son of Bigfoot,””Sammy”) is set to produce “The Inseparables,” a $25 million animated feature based on an original idea by Joel Cohen et Alec Sokolow, the Oscar-nominated writers of “Toy Story.”The feature is being jointly produced by nWave Studios in Belgium, Octopolis in France and A Contracorriente in Spain.Cohen and Sokolow penned the feature with Cal Brunker, Bob Barlen (“Paw Patrol,” “Bigfoot”), Matthieu Zeller and Jérémie Degruson.Degruson, who previously directed some of nWave Studios’ biggest animated hits “The House of Magic,” “Bigfoot Junior” and Bigfoot Family,” is on board to helm “The Inseparables.”The animated buddy movie follows the misadventures of Don, a runaway puppet with a boundless imagination and, DJ Doggy Dog, an abandoned stuffed animal toy in need of a friend, as they cross paths in Central Park and pair up against all odds for an epic adventure of friendship in New York City. The movie will be delivered in July 2023 in both 2D and 3D formats.

Channel 4 Puts 1,000 Hours Of Shows On YouTube: British broadcaster Channel 4 has signed a deal with YouTube to put 1,000 hours of programming on the Google-owned streaming platform. The agreement expands on an existing partnership between the companies and will allow Channel 4 to sell its own advertising around the show — a first-of-its-kind deal in the UK and Europe. Shows will begin rolling out this month and include 8 Out Of 10 Cats; Location, Location, Location; Nikki Grahame: Who Is She?, SAS: Who Dares Wins and The Dog House. Selected titles will be made available 30 days after their first broadcast on Channel 4 or younger sibling network E4. Channel 4 has been following a five-year ‘Future 4’ strategy to supercharge digital revenues, and its management believes today’s deal represents a “major step” in that process.

EXCLUSIVE: London’s Blackbox Media and Latin American firm EO Media have paired up to develop a drama series based on a novel about the origins of famed Spanish video game company Dinamic Software.

EXCLUSIVE: Julio Peña (Through My Window) has signed with Anonymous Content for management.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorMunich-based Global Screen has acquired family entertainment film “School of Magical Animals 2” for worldwide distribution. A first teaser will be presented at the Cannes Market for the project, which has a budget of more than $13 million.

Emiliano De Pablos After a two-and-a half year hiatus, renowned Spanish producer Manuel Cristobal has returned to toon production, joining the team behind animated feature project “The Glassworker,” directed by Usman Riaz, and created by Pakistan-based Mano Animation Studios. “The Glassworker” marks the first hand-drawn animated feature from Pakistan. Scheduled for a 2023 release, the project is said to be in the running for a berth at this year’s Annecy Work in Progress showcase, a prestige selection which would earn the title considerable international profile. Targeting family audiences, the film is set in a location loosely inspired by Pakistan, telling the story of young Vincent and his father Tomas, who run the finest glass workshop in the country and find their lives upended by an approaching war in which they want no part.  The arrival in their town of an army colonel and his young talented, violinist daughter, Alliz, shakes their reality and tests the relationship between father and son.The love that develops between Vincent and Alliz is challenged constantly by the differing views of their fathers.

EXCLUSIVE: Upgrade Productions, the Los Angeles-based production company focusing on local-language content, has unveiled an initial trio of projects from around the world.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent“The Inventor,” the animated family feature by “Ratatouille” scribe Jim Capobianco whose all-star voice cast is led by Marion Cotillard, Daisy Ridley, Stephen Fry and Matt Berry, has been sold by MK2 Films to a flurry of territories. The stop-motion film, which charts the life of Renaissance master Leonardo Da Vinci, has pre-sold to a large part of the world, with deals in France (KMBO), Portugal (Nos Lusomundo), Hong Kong & Taiwan (Muse), the Philippines (Falcon), Former Yougoslavia (Karantanija).

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaNetflix has acquired “Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths,” the new film from Oscar-winner Alejandro G. Iñárritu.The highly-anticipated film is currently in post-production, and is expected to wrap by fall.

NBA star Carmelo Anthony has lined up a new gig voicing a character in the upcoming “Lil’ Heroes” animated series.Anthony and his producing partner Asani Swann, of Creative 7, have also joined the show, from Exile Content and Spanish artist Edgar Plans, as executive producers.The animated series is based on the “Lil’ Heroes” NFT collection. “We are excited to be partnering with Exile on what we believe is one of the most unique and innovative ideas for an animated series in a long time,” Anthony said in a statement. “At Creative 7, we are always looking to support dynamic projects like this that are reinvigorating the traditional content landscape.

Gemma Atkinson has revealed what her future plans are with Gorka Marquez, over a year after the pair got engaged. The Strictly Come Dancing star got down on one knee on Valentine's Day last year.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentInternational production powerhouse The Mediapro Studio, producer of “The Head” and the Oscar-shortlisted “The Good Boss,” is allying with top Turkish producer-distributor Medyapim – behind global hit series “Mother” and “A Woman Scorned” – to launch of a new joint venture company dedicated to Spanish-language content production.The as-yet-to-be-named j.v. between two of international’s production pacemakers will see the partners making Spanish-language originals and adaptations of hit Turkish and other country dramas, as well as further content assets from Medyapim, for distribution in Spain, Latin America and the world.Unveiled by the partners on Thursday, the joint venture announcement comes as Turkish sries are enjoying a remarkable run on broadcast-network TV in Spain as indeed around much of the weorld.

EXCLUSIVE: Anonymous Content is aggressively bolstering its unscripted television slate with a slew of new projects including music, sports, cooking, dating and documentary series.