Despite a sizable outcry from devoted fans, East New York ended its one-season run on CBS Sunday.
25.04.2023 - 18:11 / variety.com
Ed Meza @edmezavar German broadcasters ZDF and ZDFneo are partnering with Berlin-based Pyjama Pictures to develop a high-end series about notorious scam artist Ruja Ignatova, also known as the Cryptoqueen and the most wanted woman on the planet. Tentatively titled “Take the Money and Run,” the six-part series will tell the story of Ignatova, who shot to fame in 2014 with the launch of OneCoin, which she described as a cryptocurrency for the masses that promised enormous profits. The Bulgarian-German Ignatova hyped the cryptocurrency at huge rallies and attracted millions buyers around the globe who invested billions of euros in OneCoin, believing claims that it would become the world’s biggest digital currency. Flush with cash, Ignatova threw lavish champagne parties and acquired luxury properties around the world. It was all a giant fraud, however.
Ignatova suddenly disappeared without a trace in 2017 after defrauding investors of an estimated $15 billion in what was described as one of the biggest scams in history and the largest capital fraud in Germany. Her whereabouts remain a mystery to this day. Pyjama Pictures and ZDF are aiming to produce a series with international appeal, with a fictionalized account “closely based on true events.” “The question of why plays a central role: What makes a highly intelligent woman with an Oxford degree and a successful job as a management consultant commit a billion-dollar fraud?” For the series’ creators, one thing is certain: the Cryptoqueen had a plan. Boris von Sychowski, whose credits include ZDF crime drama “Kolleginnen,” and Judith Angerbauer (“Das Boot”) are creating and writing the series, with Adolfo J. Kolmerer (“Sløborn”) set to direct the production next year in
Despite a sizable outcry from devoted fans, East New York ended its one-season run on CBS Sunday.
Ed Meza @edmezavar With some of Germany’s most successful production companies in its stable, Leonine Studios is reaping the rewards with such feature film and television hits as “School of Magical Animals,” “Nightlife,” “Dark” and “Pagan Peak.” Leonine’s production division includes such well-established companies as Wiedemann & Berg Film, which focuses on theatrical features, W&B Television and Odeon Fiction, which produce movies and series for all broadcasters and streaming platforms in Germany, documentary outfit Gebrueder Beetz and format maker I&U TV. “We are in for high creative quality and commercial success,” explains Quirin Berg, who, along with Max Wiedemann, serves as Leonine’s chief production officer and managing director of Wiedemann & Berg Film.
Ed Meza @edmezavar In the four years since roaring to life, Leonine Studios has reshaped Germany’s film and television landscape, becoming a leading player in Europe’s biggest and most competitive market. The company is receiving Variety’s International Achievement in Film Award at the Cannes Film Festival. Built by industry veteran Fred Kogel with financing from U.S. private equity group KKR, Leonine Studios is an entertainment conglomerate that has brought together some of Germany’s most successful production and distribution companies under one roof. “I always wanted to establish and create a company as a home of talents – the best people in the German business and then internationally – and create a new company for the digital age,” says Kogel, Leonine’s CEO. “That was the reality behind bringing Leonine to life in 2019 as that was the first time that German content could travel the world. That was the rationale.”
EXCLUSIVE: As all of the Cannes packages start to trickle through ahead of the big event on the Croisette next week, an early frontrunner in the hot package game is Michael Fassbender, Domhnall Gleeson and Ruth Negga starrer Night Boat to Tangier. Oscar-winning director James Marsh is directing the project, based on the novel of the same name from Kevin Barry’s New York Times Top 10 Book of the Year.
A woman is facing thousands in vet bills after her dog was left with a fractured skull following a collision with a motorbike. Cristina Fernandez was walking her dog Lola on Saturday, May 6, in the Craigmillar Castle Park area of Edinburgh with her eight-year-old daughter when a biker driving through the park hit the dog.
Over it. Katie Maloney thinks the Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss cheating scandal is a “dumpster fire” — but believes the twosome should consider giving their relationship a real try.
Whitney Port is getting candid about her personal life.
The Coronation was but the warm-up event. This coming Saturday sees the UK play host to the 67th Eurovision Song Contest and venue city Liverpool is pulling out all the stops.
READ MORE: Join the FREE Manchester Evening News WhatsApp communityKaty Perry, who will be performing at the Coronation Concert in Windsor Castle on Sunday evening, was also invited. The singer was seen wearing a lilac outfit with a matching hat. British Vogue’s editor-in-chief Edward Enninful, BBC director-general Tim Davie, Australian musician Nick Cave, TV presenter Jay Blades, and Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber were also in attendance.
Was it all staged? Andy Cohen clarified why Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss‘ affair was so shocking — even though Vanderpump Rules captured footage that questioned their relationship months prior.
When dentist Kailesh Solanki set up the first Kissdental clinic in the suburbs of Flixton in 2005, he knew he wanted to offer high-quality cosmetic and restorative dentistry in order to make the practice a success.
Marlo Hampton feels drained after filming season 15 . «Mm, mm, mm… the season drained me,» she cracks to ET, imitating her own would-be catchphrase from a season 14 group trip that's gone viral as a sound on TikTok. «It did drain me,» she reiterates. «In the beginning, for sure it did.
With the Coronation of King Charles III fast approaching, many people are dashing to get their cakes and buffets ready for parties across the nation. And for the centrepiece, what could be more regal than a giant chocolate caterpillar cake with a crown on top?
Ed Meza @edmezavar Studiocanal is releasing a newly re-mastered version of David Lynch’s 2006 surreal mystery drama “Inland Empire,” which is set to hit theaters in the U.K. and France later this month. Supervised by Lynch, the new 4K master was undertaken by The Criterion Collection with the support of Studiocanal. It features 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio and uncompressed stereo soundtracks, newly remastered by Lynch and original rerecording mixers Dean Hurley and Ron Eng. The first digitally shot feature from the famed director of such cult works as “The Elephant Man,” “Blue Velvet” and “Mulholland Drive,” “Inland Empire” stars Laura Dern as Nikki, a once-celebrated actress who lands the lead role in a film by director Kingsley Stewart (Jeremy Irons) alongside co-star Devon (Justin Theroux). The production is a remake of a work filmed several years ago but never finished because the main actors died before shooting wrapped.
Golda Rosheuvel didn’t need to give much advice to her younger self.
With royal engagements taking place all across the globe, members of the royal family live a rather jetset lifestyle. From meet and greets in Scotland to state visits to Germany, King Charles III ’s role as monarch has taken him to various countries in recent months where he has met people from all different walks of life.
Umm, do we have another Khloé Kardashian/Tristan Thompson situation on our hands here?!
The topic on everyone’s mind. Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss‘ affair was a shock to Vanderpump Rules viewers — but the cast was seemingly onto the couple for a while.
Ed Meza @edmezavar Studiocanal has sold two new thrillers from Benelux to international buyers at MipTV in Cannes. The eight-part crime thriller “1985,” produced by Eyeworks for Belgian public broadcasters VRT and RTBF, follows three friends as they move to Brussels and get caught up in the horrifying events of Belgium’s most notorious unsolved crime spree that shocked a generation and left a scar on the entire country. The series went to SBS Australia; Filmin for Portugal and Spain; Canal+ for France, Czech Republic and Slovakia; TG4 in Ireland; and Free TV in Israel.
Ed Meza @edmezavar CJ ENM Sells Remake Rights to hit Korean Drama ‘Train’ to Firebrand Studios The U.K.’s Firebird Studios has acquired remake rights for hit Korean drama “Train” from entertainment giant CJ ENM. “Train” follows a detective investigating his love’s death who discovers a parallel universe, where his late partner is very much alive. Moving back and forth between the two worlds, he tracks down the truth behind her death in one, while protecting her in the other. “With two unforgettable central characters, ‘Train’ is a love story, a detective show, a journey across the multiverse,” said Firebird Pictures CEO Elizabeth Kilgariff. It’s “a story that defies expectations at every turn and one that we can’t wait to re-tell in a British setting.”