Filming Underway On New Alan Partridge BBC Series; Amazon’s ‘Top End Bub’ Adds Cast – Global Briefs

James Nesbitt & Matt Willis Board Netflix‘s Next Harlan Coben Series

EXCLUSIVE: Film Independent and the U.S. Department of State on Tuesday named the 20 filmmakers, from 12 different nations, selected to participate in the 2024 Global Media Makers LA Residency.

V Channels Expands Into Kids Entertainment

Jack Dunn Emily Alyn Lind, Shubham Maheshwari, Joseph Zada and Esther McGregor have joined the cast of Prime Video‘s new drama series “We Were Liars,” based on the young adult novel of the same name by E. Lockhart. They join previously announced cast members Mamie Gummer, Caitlin FitzGerald, Candice King, David Morse, and Asher Ali.

Channel 4’s ‘Hollyoaks’ Makes International Soap History

The 1% Club presenter Lee Mack is over the moon as his BBC sitcom 'Not Going Out' is set to return for a fabulous 14th season in 2025, and he can't help but express his gratitude for the show's longevity. After an incredible 18 years since its debut, Lee still finds working on the series a "dream come true." He shared his excitement, saying: "Once again I'm very grateful that the BBC have trusted in us to keep alive the studio sitcom." Lee reminisced about his own experiences watching BBC sitcoms and feels honoured to contribute to the genre: "I grew up watching this genre of sitcom on the BBC, and to be part of it myself is still a dream come true, even after 18 years of doing it.

Vue Names Ian Fraser As Chair

Iconic BBC comedy Outnumbered is returning for a Christmas special after eight years.

Comedy producers have been told to locate their “funny bones” when pitching shows to the BBC by the most powerful person in British comedy commissioning.

Stormy Daniels Doc Finds UK Buyer

Jack Dunn As part of Variety‘s Global Conversations Summit at the Cannes 2024 Film Festival, Variety executive editor Tatiana Siegel sat down with New Zealand Film Commission CEO Annie Murray and Philippa Mossman, head of International Screen Attraction at New Zealand Film Commission, to talk about the country’s thriving film industry. Murray’s most recent project with the New Zealand Film Commission is a pop-up intensive film school by writer and director Jane Campion. Campion has hand-picked a class of ten filmmakers from 300 applicants and is taking them through a two-year program where they will develop and shoot original short films.

K.J. Yossman Alan Partridge is officially back as evidenced by a new first look image from his upcoming BBC documentary “And Did Those Feet… with Alan Partridge.” Filming has officially commenced on the show, in which comedian Steve Coogan (who was twice nominated for Oscars his work on 2013 comedy-drama “Philomena”) reprises his role as the hapless interviewer.

Colin Jost and Michael Che continued their Saturday Night Live “Weekend Update” tradition of swapping jokes and writing zingers for each other to say.

Based on the best-selling book by Ian Rankin, Rebus bursts onto the BBC this weekend when Edinburgh detective John Rebus finds himself at a psychological crossroads after a violent encounter with gangster Ger Cafferty.The BBC's synopsis for the series reads: "At odds with a job increasingly driven by corporate technocrats, involved in a toxic affair he knows he needs to end, and all but supplanted in his daughter’s life by his ex-wife’s wealthy new husband, Rebus begins to wonder if he still has a role to play – either as a family man or a police officer. "In a time of divisive politics and national discord, Rebus’ broke, ex-soldier brother Michael desperately crosses the line to provide for his family, and Rebus begins to wonder if the law still has meaning, or if everyone is reverting to an older set of rules? And if so, why shouldn’t Rebus do so too?" Who is in the cast of Rebus episode 1? John Rebus - Richard Rankin TV fans will instantly recognise Richard Rankin from his role as Roger MacKenzie in time-travelling drama Outlander.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Arab cinema continues to break new ground with a fresh crop of social dramas, several of which depict female empowerment in different forms. These range from the tale of a young woman who fakes being dead so she can leave everything behind, to a rape-revenge thriller titled “Beretta,” just like the semi-automatic pistol used by Suad, its mute protagonist. Below is a compendium of promising upcoming Arabic-language films in various stages that will be surfacing either at festivals or on streamers.

Omnes Films has a goal. “Our mission is to fill a void in modern cinema,” says its website. “Our films are passionate, ambitious works made by friends that favor atmosphere over plot and study the many forms of cultural decay in the 21st Century. Whatever the subject or genre, we seek projects that are original in conception and feel like they’ve never been made before.” It sounds wildly ambitious, and maybe it is, but Cannes audiences will be the judge of that when two of its films — Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point by Tyler Taormino and Eephus by Carson Lund — premiere in Directors’ Fortnight.

ITV Studios Rejigs Distribution Team With Tom Clark Promoted

Reese Witherspoon had several big announcements to make at the Amazon upfront, but the most exciting one involved Legally Blonde!

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor As Cannes Film Festival kicks off, the Paris-based international sales company MK2 Films has revealed it has acquired three films and made substantial investments in new restorations, set against the backdrop of a strong presence at Cannes Classics. MK2 Films has entered into a collaboration with the Niki Charitable Art Foundation on the global rights (excluding the U.S.) for two films directed by artist Niki de Saint Phalle: “Un Rêve plus long que la nuit” (1976) and “Daddy” (1973).

MGM+ and Prime Video have handed a series order to Noir, a live-action series based on the Marvel comic Spider-Man Noir, with Oscar winner Nicolas Cage set to star.