Hot Spots: How Manchester Is Fast Becoming A Magnet For International Productions

Olivia Rodrigo had a surprise for fans at a dive bar in Manchester, U.K., on Sunday night.

June was a massive month for gigs in Manchester, playing host to city son Liam Gallagher, Harry Styles and Ed Sheeran, as well as Red Hot Chili Peppers, Billie Eilish, The Killers and Alisha Keys. And July is shaping up to be a whopper of a month for live music, too.

Vacuum cleaner and haircare giant Dyson is opening its second store in the UK - and this one's coming to Manchester. Dyson already has a demo store on London's Oxford Street, which is hugely popular with shoppers.

Following the huge success of the inaugural production development trainee scheme on Waterloo Road earlier this year, Wall to Wall Media and Rope Ladder Fiction have announced that applications are now open to join the next six-month paid programme, which will commence in mid-August.

The fact that the bosses at Manchester's soon-to-be-completed Co-op Live arena are keeping land aside to accommodate flying taxis in the future goes to show just how far ahead their plans stretch.

The BBC has unveiled a five-strong documentary slate at Sheffield Doc Fest including shows on Alzheimer’s Disease, Alcoholics Anonymous and paranormal activity, along with a fourth-series recommission of The Detectives. 

In Lalalaletmeexplain's hit column, readers now get to feel like they watching TV's Love Island with her. She'll be using her knowledge to analyse the episodes so we can learn from the cast's triumphs and mistakes. With over 200k Instagram followers, Lala is the anonymous voice helping womankind through every bump in the road.

Coronation Street's Neelan family may be down to just one member following the death of both of Kelly's parents but off-screen, they've found a new member. Millie Gibson, who plays the teen in the ITV soap, reunited with her on-screen mum earlier this week.

An incident sparked a large police presence outside a takeaway and shop in Harpurhey on Thursday evening (June 23). A cordon was erected after police arrived amid unconfirmed reports of a 'fight'.

When Manchester’s city council made a strategic decision back in 2013 to improve the infrastructure of its creative industries, it decided to put its money into bricks and mortar with the construction of the £35M ($42.7M) Space Studios Manchester. The purpose-built facility for high-end TV, film and commercial production, which sits in West Gorton, Manchester, features more than 85,000 square feet of sound stages and has housed high-end TV drama ranging from BBC’s Peaky Blinders to season 4 of The Crown to, most recently, Sony/Marvel’s Morbius.

Bolton Wanderers have confirmed Service My Car as the club's new official kit sponsors for the 2022/23 season.

A man was stabbed following an altercation with ten men in Manchester city centre in the early hours of this morning (June 18). Police have been investigating the incident on the corner of Market Street and High Street.

A serving special constable with Greater Manchester Police has been found guilty of assaulting a seven-year-old boy who "accidentally" sprayed him during a water fight with other kids. Andrew Parkinson, 55, was charged with assault by beating after the incident on May 7 last year.

Harry Styles had a surprise for someone very special to him, as he performed the first of two huge homecoming gigs in Manchester, U.K. on Wednesday.

Lionsgate Chairman Kevin Beggs has said the studio is “working on a variety of projects” with 42, ramping up international productions and has put recent successes down to there being “a little more room at the broadcasters.” Beggs also defended Netflix following a period of lower-than-expected growth for the streamer but said it may need to be “more judicious and disciplined” going forwards.

A family from Devon have had to relocate to Manchester in order to treat their nine-year-old boy's bone cancer. Jack Middleton, a young motocross star, is being cared for in the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital.

Paramount Global veteran Syrinthia Studer has joined the company’s Content Licensing division as Executive Vice President, International Productions.

Selome Hailu Syrinthia Studer has joined Paramount’s global content licensing division as executive vice president of international productions.After being promoted from serving as executive vice president of Nickelodeon and Awesomeness Films, she will now oversee content strategy, development and production of local language and micro-budget films for the studio’s new business unit. Her purview will focus on originals and culturally specific local language remakes sourced from Paramount Pictures’ film library, with projects releasing via limited theatrical or direct-to-consumer platforms globally.