Indie Sales Vet Christine D’Souza Gelb Launches Production, Management Shop With David Hinojosa and Kevin Rowe

Vivienne Chow Hong Kong’s local streaming platform HMVOD enjoyed a 200% surge in usage following the COVID-19 pandemic. Now it plans to invest more in original content production and increase licensing of Japanese drama and animation.Cantonese-language original content proved to be successful during the pandemic as many people turned to online entertainment while they remained at home, says Tracy Ho, HMVOD’s CEO.

Vivienne Chow Swiss art fair giant Art Basel is venturing into online streaming with a new digital film program featuring artist-made films.

Jessica Sebastian-Dayeh, who was previously President of ITV America-owned Sirens Media, has set up her own production company with Boat Rocker Studios.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefSteve Chicorel’s Organic Media Group is launching a trio of English-language movies at this week’s Hong Kong FilMart.Aaron Eckhart (“The Dark Knight,” “Thank You for Smoking”) and Terrance Howard (“Crash,” “Iron Man”) head the cast of “Afterward,” a drama about a man struggling with the death of his daughter, for which OMG is handling rights sales within Asia.Directed by Dito Montiel (“Empire State,” “Son of No One”), the fact-based film sees the father set out

EXCLUSIVE: Golden Globe-nominated writer Liz Hannah (The Post, The Girl From Plainville) has signed an overall deal with MRC Television and Civic Center Media, a joint venture between UTA and MRC. Under the pact, Hannah will develop and produce television projects with the indie studio partnership through her newly launched company, Happy Friday Productions.

Naman Ramachandran Netflix has acquired worldwide rights, with some exclusions, for “The Personal History of David Copperfield” star Dev Patel’s directorial debut “Monkey Man.” The streamer is thought to have paid around $30 million for the film.The rights agreement excludes Spain, Latin America, Iceland, Former Yugoslavia, Poland, Russia and Baltic States, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Pan-Asian PTV and China, where there are pre-existing deals.In the India-set film, Patel plays an unlikely hero who

Jamie Lang Mexican-American filmmaker Sofia Garza-Barba made waves with her award-winning short film “Death After Pancakes,” taking prizes at the Independent Filmmakers Showcase and Lady Filmmakers Film Festival, and has shared with Variety that it’s time to announce her debut feature outing, a supernatural fairy tale thriller “Santos Remedios,” pitching at this month’s Sanfic-Morbido Lab.“Santos Remedios” – Holy Remedies in English – turns on eight-year-old Amapola, who idolizes her father,

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefBaidu, China’s search engine, entertainment and AI giant, Friday published detailed plans for its secondary share listing in Hong Kong which will bring in some $3.6 billion of fresh capital.The same day, finance industry sources are reporting that Chinese video entertainment group Bilibili has been given the green light by regulators for its planned share sale.

© @Copyright HELLO! Hello! Magazine Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia of Sweden are awaiting the arrival of their third child this spring and the baby will be the first to be born since King Carl XVI Gustaf made changes to the royal house in 2019. In 2019, the Swedish monarch announced that the children of Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia, and the children of Princess Madeleine and Christopher O'Neill will no longer be members of the royal house.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentBerlin Grand Jury Prize winner “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy,” Japanese writer-director Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s deft three-story reflection on chance, the legacy of love and the contrariness of erotic desire, has clinched further key territory sales for its sales agent M-Appeal World Sales.Fast on the footsteps of clinching the top Berlinale 2021 Silver Bear in March 5’s Berlin prize announcement, “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy” this week closed Spain

 Ng was no stranger to standing up to the government and three months prior to his death had succeeded in a case with the high court ruling that same-sex married couples can inherit the estate of their spouse without a will, which the Hong Kong government is appealing. Despite this, Li has been unable to fulfil his late husbands wishes because Hong Kong does not recognise same sex marriages, even those that were officiated in other countries.In fact, because Li’s gay marriage is not recognised

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentThree years after the first movie theater reopened in Saudi Arabia – following removal of a religion-related ban – the kingdom has become the top theatrical market in the Middle East and is turning into a major driver for Arabic film production.“At the moment Saudi is on a different path from the rest of the world,” says David Hancock, an analyst at London-based Omdia, which sees this new market as having the potential to be ranked among the top 10-15

Glasgow lighthouse lab, the UK Health Secretary said was confident travel restrictions would be lifted in time for the summer staycations across the UK.Hancock said: “I’m now more optimistic about having a great British summer than I have been at any time, thanks to the speed and the effectiveness of the vaccine rollout.”“By great British summer I absolutely mean people being able to enjoy travel across the whole of the UK.

Ng Man-tat, the Hong Kong actor best known for his comic collaborations with Stephen Chow, has died. He was 70.

Rebecca Davis editorTaiwan has denied prominent Hong Kong film producer and entertainment mogul Charles Heung Wah-keung and his son visas to live there, citing national security concerns.Heung is known for founding Win’s Entertainment in the 1980s and 1990s powerhouse China Star Entertainment, the Hong Kong-listed production company and distributor that helped cement the stardom of Hong Kong cinematic icons such as Jet Li, Chow Yun-fat, Stephen Chow, Andy Lau, Johnnie To, and many more.

Gallup Poll.Of adults who identify as LGBTQ, a majority, or close to 3.1% of all Americans overall, identify as bisexual. A little less than one-quarter of LGBTQ adults identify as gay, with about 11.7% identifying as lesbians, and about 11.3% identifying as transgender.

European Film Market, incorporating industry and press screenings of Berlin Film Festival’s program.

EXCLUSIVE: Former Endeavor Content partner Christine D’Souza Gelb has teamed with Killer Films production exec David Hinojosa and manager Kevin Rowe to launch 2AM, a new production and management venture that gets off the ground with backing from A24.

direct to your inboxPiers Morgan and Matt Hancock clashed again on Good Morning Britain as the health secretary refuses to apologise for acting unlawfully.Mr Hancock said he "won't apologise" after a high court ruling found him guilty of unlawful conduct by failing to publish Covid-19 contracts within the legal time frame.Piers was quick to ask him why he wouldn't issue an apology to which Mr Hancock said: "I won’t apologise, to apologise would imply I’d do something differently."Given the

Disney Plus has made good on its plans to offer general entertainment service Star in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, giving the company a new streaming outlet for more grown-up programming.