Fremantle Completes Acquisition Of 12 NENT Studios Production Outfits In Nordics

Dave Grohl has praised the young musician Nandi Bushell, saying that watching her play drums is “the true meaning of rock’n’roll”.Grohl and Bushell took part in a virtual drum battle in November 2020 after setting one another musical challenges online during last year’s coronavirus lockdown.Grohl invited Bushell to join Foo Fighters on stage in LA back in August, where she played drums with the band on their set-closer ‘Everlong’.Speaking to Rolling Stone in a new interview, Grohl was asked

ITV Studios’ longstanding Director of Production Sally Debonnaire, a former Managing Director of Talkback and Avalon, is to step down after a decade, and her team is to be restructured.

Entertainment One (eOne) is to strengthen its relationship with Nordic networks as the studio reveals plans for a “Swedish Scandi-noir” production in the region.

EXCLUSIVE: Pantaya has signed a deal with Fremantle and Fabula to develop a slate of eight new series. The agreement folds into Pantaya’s plans of aggressively ramping up production capacity of original content for the service.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentSky Studios and leading Nordic producer Sagafilm have renewed their multi-year development and distribution deal following the recent success of the Icelandic drama series “Sisterhood.”Sagafilm entered a partnership with Sky Studios, the European production and commissioning arm for Sky Original, back in 2019.

It’s been 10 years since Eddie Redmayne last appeared on stage in an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Richard II. Since then, he’s made a name for himself on-screen with roles in “The Danish Girl” and the “Fantastic Beasts” franchise, winning an Oscar for “The Theory Of Everything” in 2014. Now, the 39-year-old actor is ready to take the stage on London’s West End once again in a new adaptation of Cabaret.

Paul Webster, the prolific British film producer whose credits include Pride And Prejudice and Atonement, said he broke one of his cardinal rules while making his buzzy Princess Diana biopic Spencer.

It is truly the end of another era at Walt Disney Studios. In a move that many were expecting, Alan Horn, 78, is retiring as Chief Creative Officer of Disney Studios Content, effective Dec. 31 after a nine-year run at the Burbank, CA lot in an executive TV and motion picture industry career that has spanned closed to 50 years.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor“No Time to Die” doesn’t stint on one of the Bond trademarks: shooting in stunning locations across the globe. Daniel Craig’s latest and last outing as 007 moves from Matera, Italy, to Norway, Denmark and Jamaica and London.A stunning sequence takes place in Cuba, but of course that was one location that wasn’t available.

Nandi Bushell and Roman Morello have released ‘The Children Will Rise Up!’, a song dedicated to enacting change amid the climate emergency.Bushell, an accomplished child musician who became known last year for challenging Foo Fighters‘ Dave Grohl to jam battles over lockdown, wrote the song with Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello‘s son, Roman.The pair, aged 11 and 10 respectively, wrote the song together to empower young people to push for more action to fight climate change.An

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentIn a massive sales roll-out, Fremantle has sold “Arctic Drift: A Year in the Ice,” about the biggest ever Arctic climate research expedition, in a total 170 territories globally.The array of buyers take in Amazon Prime Video for Canada, Australia and New Zealand, Channel 4 in the U.K., PBS science series Nova in the U.S., and France Télévisions.“Arctic Drift” follows a year of the unprecedented MOSAiC expedition, led by Germany’s Alfred Wegener

Fremantle has expanded its scripted department. The American Gods producer has hired Nyanza Shaw and Jerry Jacobs.

Bron Studios, the financier behind “Bombshell,” “Greyhound” and other movie and TV fare, was sued on Wednesday for allegedly misusing loan proceeds as well as failing to repay $14 million to an investor.The investor, Hudson Private LP, alleges that the company has failed to meet its obligations in the case of four Bron titles: “Bombshell,” “Capone,” “The Survivor” and Greyhound.” Hudson Private filed the suit in federal court in New York.

Ringo Starr has linked up with a slew of famous drummers, as well as drumming prodigy Nandi Bushell, to perform a cover of The Beatles‘ classic ‘Come Together’.The cover was performed as part of WhyHunger’s ‘Drum Together’ campaign, aiming to end world hunger by providing, per the non-profit’s website, “critical resources to support grassroots movements and fuel community solutions rooted in social, environmental, racial and economic justice.”Alongside Starr and Bushell, other notable drummers

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentA trio of well-experienced Finnish producers, Eero Hietala, Lasse Koskinen and Ilkka Hynninen, have joined forces to launch Take Two Studios, a production company which will focus on premium drama, documentaries and podcasts. Hietala and Hynninen previously co-founded Aito Media in 2003 and produced more than 1,700 hours of programming during their 18-year run as co-CEO’s.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentFremantle has completed its previously announced acquisition of 12 production labels in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark from Nordic Entertainment Group (NENT Group).The RTL Group-owned “Got Talent” producer will use their new assets — 12 companies in all across Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark — to form Fremantle Nordics.The Scandinavian NENT Group had its unscripted assets on the sales block since early 2020.

Global TV major Fremantle has promoted Andrea Scrosati to the role of CEO Continental Europe, giving him additional responsibility for Fremantle’s businesses in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, the Nordics, and Poland.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentFremantle has promoted Andrea Scrosati, expanding his current group COO role with the additional role of CEO for continental Europe, increasing the markets he will be in charge of within the growing RTL-owned production and distribution giant.Scrosati will continue reporting to Jennifer Mullin, who is Fremantle’s group CEO. He will now have the added responsibility for Fremantle’s businesses in Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Nordics and Poland.

Will Tizard ContributorLocal characters in Finnish TV and film are increasingly diverse in ethnicity, disabilities and gender roles, according to industry insiders who took on the issue in Helsinki on Friday at the Finnish Film Affair, but there is still a long way to go.“We know this is not just a Finnish challenge – this is a global challenge,” said Keely Cat-Wells, CEO and founder of C Talent and Zetta Studios, who has also advised organizations from UCLA to Virgin Media on disability

Will Tizard ContributorFinnish film productions, which tend to be small-scale, have some of the lowest carbon footprints in Europe, panelists agreed at the Finnish Film Affair industry event on Friday.