‘Compartment No. 6’ Production Company Aamu Film Company Joins Forces With Jenni Jauri’s Silmu Films (EXCLUSIVE)

Naman Ramachandran Emile Hirsch (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”) and Inbar Levi (“Fauda”) lead the cast of WWII-set drama “Bau, Artist at War,” which is now in production. The film is based on the true story of Joseph and Rebecca Bau whose wedding in the Plaszow concentration camp was depicted in Steven Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List.” It follows Joseph’s journey as an artist and prisoner in the Plaszow camp and his fight for justice years later. Using his skills to forge IDs, Joseph manages to stay alive while helping hundreds of prisoners escape from the camp, with his creativity and humor providing hope in a place of hopelessness. Rebecca, also a Resistance worker, serves as a spy in Kommandant Goeth’s (Josh Blacker) office. After the liquidation of the Plaszow camp, Rebecca is sent to Auschwitz, while Joseph is sent to Oskar Schindler’s (Edward Foy) factory in Brunnlitz.

Marta Balaga Finnish director Juho Kuosmanen, behind “Compartment No. 6” and “The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki”– both awarded in Cannes – will now turn his attention to new series “Yours, Margot,.”  The upcoming series is one of the 10 projects chosen for Series Mania and Beta Group’s Seriesmakers. Based on Meri Valkama’s novel, “Compartment” will be produced, just like his previous films, by Helsinki-based Aamu Film Company, with “Compartment” scribes Andri Feldmanis and Livia Ulman also on board. This time Kuosmanen dissects the experiences of Vilja, who spent her childhood in East Berlin, following her foreign correspondent father. After his death, she finds old letters to “Erich,” all from mysterious “Margot.” Now, as an adult, she decides to return to Berlin and track her down. 

Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash has launched a new horror production company, BerserkerGang.BerserkerGang was announced via a Variety report, which confirmed that the production company was formed in partnership with Hangar 18 Media producer Pasha Patriki, Rue Morgue Magazine founder and filmmaker Rodrigo Gudiño and Raven Banner executives Michael Paszt, James Fler and Andrew T. Hunt.Slash said of the new company in a statement to Variety: “I’ve always been a huge horror fan, especially going back to the days when horror movies actually scared the hell out of you.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Series Mania, Europe’s biggest TV fest, and German film-TV powerhouse Beta Group has revealed the 10 projects in the first edition of Seriesmakers, unveiling what must be one of the most talent-packed project lineups at any festival, film or TV, in 2023, A mentoring program for filmmakers making their TV creator debut, Series Mania features in development drama series from “Compartment No 6’s” Juho Kuosmanen, ‘Bang Gang’s’ Eva Husson and “Birds of a Passage’s” Ciro Guerra and Cristina Gallego. Also in the mix is “Amigas,” the first TV project of Beatriz Seigner (“Los Silencios”), one of Brazil’s foremost young movie directors, “The Invisible Ink,” teaming Cannes best first feature winner César Díaz (“Our Mothers”)and New Uruguay Cinema founding father Fernando Epstein; and Indian arthouse filmmaker Pushpendra Singh, who scored with Berlin Encounters’ title “The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs.”

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Driving ever more into Latin America, Wild Sheep Content, the L.A.-based label of former Netflix head of international original series Erik Barmack, has launched the Mexico City-based Wild Sheep Latin America as well as a dedicated film completion finance-distribution fund targeting five-to-eight investments a year in the region.  “Three Idiots” producer Jimena Rodríguez, who also created the distribution arm of Mexican exhibition giant Cinepolis, will head up Wild Sheep Latin America following on her production with Barmack of a burgeoning line in star-studded, character-driven crime thrillers begun by Netflix Mexico original “Invitation to Murder.”

Charna Flam Paramount’s MTV Entertainment Studios and film and TV producer Lashan Browning have announced a new joint venture, Antoinette Media. The company is described as a full-service production company working on unscripted titles, scripted features, and documentaries. Browning currently produces seven series for MTV Entertainment Studios, including “Love & Hip Hop Atlanta,” “Love & Hip Hop Miami,” “Love & Hip Hop Family Reunion,” “Couples Retreat,” “Caught in the Act: Unfaithful,” “Shaunie & Keion: Destination I Do,” and “Run it Back.”

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Mk2 films has enlisted leading distributors around the world for “Reality,” Tina Satter’s feature debut starring Sydney Sweeney, on the heels of its buzzy world premiere at the Berlinale. The movie, which bowed in the Panorama section, stars Sweeney (“White Lotus,” “Euphoria”) as Reality Winner, a 25 year-old whistleblower who spent five years in prison during the Trump administration. A former U.S. Air Force member and National Security Agency translator, Winner was convicted for leaking a confidential report on Russian election interference to the media. The film is based on Satter’s 2019 stage play “Is This a Room” and contains verbatim dialogue from the unedited transcript of a FBI audio recording. “Reality” captures the tense and surreal 90 minutes of FBI’s interrogation with Winner at her home in 2017.

EXCLUSIVE: Rachael Ray is expanding her purview with the launch of her own production studio. The author, TV host and philanthropist has teamed with her longtime collaborator Brian Flanagan and his partners Anthony Amoia and Sean Lee of Intentional Content to launch Free Food Studios. The studio will focus on producing, owning, and distributing “in the kitchen” content created by Ray and serve as a platform for the introduction and development of new and upcoming epicurean talent. It also will focus on developing and creating long and short form content across various platforms.

EXCLUSIVE: Rachael Ray is expanding her purview with the launch of her own production studio. The author, TV host and philanthropist has teamed with her longtime collaborator Brian Flanagan and his partners Anthony Amoia and Sean Lee of Intentional Content to launch Free Food Studios. The studio will focus on producing, owning, and distributing “in the kitchen” content created by Ray and serve as a platform for the introduction and development of new and upcoming epicurean talent. It also will focus on developing and creating long and short form content across various platforms.

which debuted at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and is now streaming on Hulu; “Banana Split”starring Hannah Marks, Liana Liberato and Dylan Sprouse; “The Binge,” which stars Skyler Gisondo, Dexter Darden, Eduardo Franco and Vince Vaughn; “Looks That Kill” starring Brandon Flynn; Josh Friedlander’s “Holly Slept Over;” “The Ultimate Playlist of Noise” starring Emmy-nominee Madeline Brewer and Keean Johnson; Natalie Morales’ solo feature directorial debut “Plan B;” Talia Osteen’s “Sex Appeal;” Sammi Cohen’s directorial debut “Crush”starring Rowan Blanchard and Auli’i Cravalho; and “It’s A Wonderful Binge,” the sequel to the original “Binge”title, which stars Kaitlin Olson, Danny Trejo, Nick Swardson and Tim Meadows and released in November.In addition to producing multiple films per year, American High aims to finance and acquire a number of third-party films that align with the mission of its brand.

Neighbours fans can officially get excited as some more soap favourites will officially be returning to the revived show, set to premiere later this year. Fans of the long-running Aussie soap were left devastated when it was announced in February 2022 that Neighbours was coming to an end after a 37-year run, with a tear-jerking final episode aired on Channel 5 later that year.

Callum McLennan Laura Ferrés’ “The Permanent Picture” has been acquired by Be For Films. The deal is announced a fortnight before the film screens at Malaga WIP where it ranks as the most buzzed of the section’s titles.  The debut follows Ferrés success with short “The Disinherited,” which won the 2017 Cannes Critics’ Week Leica Cine Discovery Prize, in addition to grabbing Goya and Gaudi gongs. It depicts the director’s own father reluctantly facing the end of the family business. “The Permanent Picture” is produced by Spain’s Fasten Films, in co-production with Le Bureau (France), and Volta Production (Spain).

Angelique Jackson Launch Releasing, the independent film distribution and production company, has announced its 2023 development slate following last year’s releases, Lionsgate’s “The Black String,” starring Frankie Muniz, and “The Translator,” which world premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Highlights include the action-comedy “Andy Somebody” and two sequels to the animated franchise “Riki Rhino,” which the company will executive produce. “At Launch Releasing, our passion and mandate is really simple – we want to find movies that we love and share them with audiences. When we saw ‘Andy Somebody,’ we instantly fell in love with its underdog story and its quirky comedic characters and we’re looking forward to audiences joining us on this really fun ride,” stated Sheldon Brigman, the company’s CEO. “Whether it’s genre titles such as ‘Mr. Sleep’ or captivating human interest films such as ‘The Translator’ where complex characters make life and death decisions in war torn Syria, Launch Releasing is proud to have curated a diverse and distinct slate.”

Tony and Olivier Award winner Lea Salonga will join the Broadway cast of Here Lies Love by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim for a special guest engagement this summer.

slew of A-list stars, touching acceptance speeches and hilarious presenters, Aubrey Plaza and Jenna Ortega managed to steal the spotlight at this year's SAG Awards.The pair of hilariously deadpan actresses took the stage together to present an award on Sunday, where they poked fun at their obvious similarities to the delight of the audience.The brief but hilarious team-up had some fans calling for the pair to get their own movie together — possibly a darkly comic buddy cop project — and Plaza told ET's Denny Directo after the show that she would be open to that idea.«Oh, I'm down,» Plaza confirmed, adding, «We'll just kill everybody with our eyes.»Plaza and Ortega were hilarious during the show, in which they explained that they didn't understand why producers had paired them together to present.«I don't know why they paired us up together,» Plaza said with a frown, as Ortega replied, «Yeah, I know, we have nothing in common.»«We should find the people who did this,» Plaza began, before Ortega joined in and they recited in unison, «and curse their families, and watch as misfortune follows their bloodline for the next seven generations.»Aubrey Plaza and Jenna Ortega being dark and moody together…love lol#SAGAwardspic.twitter.com/DOsD3bswlWWhen asked if she figured out who had, in fact, paired them together, Plaza joked with ET, sharing, «I don't know, but we went with it! We went with it.»Before the show, ET spoke with Ortega, and the star opened up about how nervous she is to be making her hosting debut in just a few weeks.«It's so funny because everyone is prepping me for it and they're like, 'yeah, any of our clients who have worked for  has said that it's the most stressful week of their life,' have called crying, 'Oh

The production company behind the film Rust has agreed to pay a fine of 100,000 US dollars to the New Mexico Environment Department’s Occupational Health and Safety Bureau (OHSB) following the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on October 21, 2021, The bureau issued a fine of 136,793 US dollars (£104,810) to the production company last April, the maximum allowable by state law in New Mexico. Under the settlement, which is pending approval, the bureau downgraded its claim from “wilful-serious” to a “serious” violation.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Chile’s Quijote Films, run by Giancarlo Nasi, has reteamed with former partners El Viaje Films of Spain and Argentina’s Gema Films on two separate projects. Attending the Berlin Film Festival’s European Film Market, Nasi said: “This market has been very good for us because as one of the outfits selected in the company matching program of the Co-Production Market, we have met with a lot of new firms from different countries. At the same time, we’ve been able to advance and confirm our collaboration with past partners.” Quijote Films and El Viaje Films, partners on Theo Court’s “White on White,” which garnered the Venice Horizons Best Director and Fipresci awards and was Chile’s entry to the best international feature film Oscar race last year, are reteaming on Court’s latest film, “Tres noches negras” (“Three Dark Nights”).

K.J. Yossman S.N.A.P. Films have unveiled their new development slate, including a film and true crime limited series about the first female mob boss Bessie Starkman. The Canadian production company, founded by Sergio Navarretta and Alessandra Piccione, has also secured Dr. Bernie Siegel’s life rights with a view to working on a documentary and feature film about what they describe as “America’s most controversial doctor in the field of mind-body healing and patient empowerment” as well as optioning the rights to the book “Rocco Perri: The Story of Canada’s Most Notorious Bootlegger” by Antonio Nicaso, which they are also planning to adapt as a feature.

Liza Foreman German production outfit MMC Studios (“Amelie”) is backing romanic drama “Dear Eszter,” from writer/director Alex Balassa. Bastian Griese and Lucas Hamacher will produce the film for MMC Studios in Cologne, alongside Balassa. The film’s co-producers include Peter Seres (“World War Z”) at Hungary’s Punk Films, as well as Ondrej Beranek (“The Chronicles of Narnia”) from the Czech Republic’s Blindspot Capital.  Two of Chile’s foremost TV producers, Maria Elena Wood (“Locas Mujeres”) and Patricio Pereira from Maria Wood Producciones (MEW), serve as executive producers. 

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor AnnaSophia Robb has joined Kathy Bates, John Malkovich, Tim Blake Nelson, Stephen Root and Lewis Pullman in the cast of “Thelma.” The Exchange is selling the film at Berlin’s European Film Market. Robb starred in Hulu’s Emmy-winning series “The Act,” Hulu’s “Little Fires Everywhere” and HBO Max’s “The Carrie Diaries,” and is toplining Netflix’s upcoming “Rebel Ridge.” “Thelma” tells the true story of the 11-year battle by the mother of John Kennedy Toole, the Pulitzer Prize winning author of “A Confederacy of Dunces,” to get his novel published after his suicide.