Indonesian Horror Title ‘Motel Melati’ Sets Regional Distribution – Global Bulletin

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief ITV has commissioned a second season of the comedy-drama series “The Dry” for ITVX. It will be produced by Element Pictures (part of Fremantle), in association with Fís Eireann/Screen Ireland and ITV Studios, in partnership with RTÉ. Nancy Harris (Dates) and acclaimed director Paddy Breathnach (Viva, Rosie) will return to helm the second season, which will stream exclusively on ITVX next year. The first season was made available to view for free on the streamer last month. With the story picking up seven months after the end of the first, Roisin Gallagher will return as recovering alcoholic Shiv Sheridan, alongside regular cast members from the first series. Further casting details will be confirmed later. in due course.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Michelle Yeoh, star of the globally acclaimed Oscar-winning film “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” will serve as guest of honor and advisor at the fifth Meihodo International Youth Visual Media Festival, a platform for young visual artists and one of the largest short film festivals in the world. The festival takes place in Fukuoka, Japan. Other new guests include Maggie Q (“Mission Impossible: III,” the “Divergent” franchise and CW series “Nikita”), film editor Gabriella Cristiani and Stephen Castor (“Spider-Man”), co-CEO of It’s Just Us Productions, Rocket Science 3D and Rocket Science Motion Capture Studios, franchise.

Hilaria Baldwin penned a loving tribute to her husband, Alec Baldwin, in celebration of his 65th birthday in a new Instagram post uploaded on Monday.  The yoga instructor, 39, could be seen posing with the Emmy-winning actor and their seven children in the family photo shared to her 1 million fans and followers.  The two lovebirds, who officially tied the knot in 2012, recently reached another milestone earlier Sunday by celebrating the 11th anniversary of their engagement.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief C More has commissioned a second, six-episode season of ITV Studios Finland’s glossy detective drama “Helsinki Crimes” (aka “Harjunpää”). The first season of Helsinki Crimes became one of C More’s most-watched crime series to date. After its launch on Netflix last year, in regions across CEE, Benelux, Austria and the Nordics, the series was one of the top ten most-watched series, and the third most-watched in Finland.  In the new season, Chief Constable Timo Harjunpää, portrayed by Olli Rahkonen, and his murder team investigate bloody clashes between street gangs, love scams and a wave of burglaries.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Amazon MiniTV, a free-of-charge service within the Amazon shopping app and on Fire TV, will next month begin airing short-form teen romance series “Gutar Gu.” The show is produced by Guneet Monga and Sikhya Productions, whose “The Elephant Whisperers” recently won the Oscar for best documentary short. “We at Sikhya are super excited to work with director Saqib Pandor, transforming our well-received short film into its own web series! “Gutar Gu” – a new chapter in the story of Ritu and Anuj, dives deep into the many ups and downs of teenage relationships- navigating strict parents, dating protocols, and the innocence and moments of first love,” said Monga.

Naman Ramachandran Blue Ant Media and World of Wonder have launch free, ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel Drag Race Universe on Amazon Freevee in the U.S. Programming launch highlights on the Drag Race Universe channel include: “Canada’s Drag Race” seasons 2 and 3 (19 x 60’), “RuPaul’s Drag Race U.K. vs The World” (6 x 60’), “RuPaul’s Drag Race U.K.” seasons 2 and 3 (20 x 60’). “Drag Race Holland” (8 x 60’), “Drag Race Espana” (10 x 60’), “RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under” seasons 1 and 2 (16 x 60’), the first season of “Drag Race Philippines” (10 x 60’) and “Drag Race Philippines Untucked” (10 x 30’), its companion series that follows the backstage drama.

charged with involuntary manslaughter in the 2021 death of “Rust” cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, is facing criticism online after posting about gun control.The actor, 64, reshared a screenshot of a viral tweet from musician Peter Frampton following the school shooting at Covenant School in Nashville this week, which took the lives of six people and the shooter.“26 years ago, a gunman entered Dunblane Primary School in Scotland, killing 16 kids and a teacher,” the tweet read. “The UK govt responded by enacting tight gun control legislation.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “The Bad Kids,” a hit series from Chinese streamer iQiyi, is to be remade as a Japanese feature film “Gold Boy.” The 12-episode gritty crime thriller depicts the troubles that arise after three children accidentally film a murder. The series was previously licensed to Japanese pay-TV group Wowow.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Indie sales agency All Rights Entertainment has achieved a string of pre-sales on “Lendarys,” a family adventure animation film that is currently in advanced stages of production and set for delivery later this year. The film was licensed to KMBO (France); Flins & Piniculas (Spain); Another World Entertainment (Denmark and Norway); Njuta Films (Sweden); Outsider Films (Portugal); Blitz Film (Ex-Yugoslavia), Five Stars Distribution (Israel), Selim Ramia and Co. (Middle East and North Africa), The Film Group (Greece & Cyprus), Kino Swiat (Poland), Nashe Kino (CIS excluding Baltics), ACME Film (Baltic States) and Madness Entertainment (Mexico).

EXCLUSIVE: Chris Chalk will star as James Baldwin in the latest installment of Ryan Murphy’s Feud series—Feud: Capote’s Women.

K.J. Yossman U.K. podcast production outfit Blanchard House has tapped HBO Max podcasting strategy director Hassan Chaudhry as its new head of partnerships and strategy, Variety can exclusively reveal. Meanwhile Amica Sciortino Nowlan, formerly of The Economist, joins as managing producer. The new hires come ahead of a busy year for the podcast outfit, which is set to launch five shows this year, including two at Audible. Chaudhry, who is based in New York, is responsible for establishing and leading HBO Max’s podcasting group, whose output includes “The Game of Thrones Podcast” and “Batman: The Audio Adventures.” At Blanchard House Chaudhry will look after film and TV relationships and lead growth.

Naman Ramachandran Real life husband and wife couple, celebrity cricketer Virat Kohli and Bollywood star Anushka Sharma, are merging their respective foundations – Anushka Sharma Foundation and Virat Kohli Foundation – to launch SeVVA, a joint non-profit initiative aimed at helping those in need. Sharma and Kohli said in a joint statement: “In the words of Kahlil Gibran ‘for in truth it is life that gives unto life – while you, who deem yourself a giver, are but a witness.’ With this sentiment in mind, we have decided to work together through SeVVA aiming to reach out to as many people as possible. SeVVA’s work won’t be confined to a particular issue as it will continue to strive for social good by championing humanity which is the need of the hour today.”

Naman Ramachandran BFI Distribution has acquired Joanna Hogg’s gothic ghost story “The Eternal Daughter,” starring Tilda Swinton in a dual role, for theatrical release in the U.K. and Ireland and will release in cinemas this fall. In the film, an artist and her elderly mother confront long-buried secrets when they return to a former family home, now a hotel haunted by its mysterious past. The film had its world premiere at Venice in 2022 and also screened at the London and Toronto festivals. Alongside its wider distribution, it will also screen at London’s BFI Southbank as part of a complete Hogg retrospective season, which will run alongside a program of films that have influenced her work.  The film is the BFI’s second acquisition from A24, following “God’s Creatures” earlier this year.

A special prosecutor who doubles as a state legislator is stepping down from her role in the manslaughter case against actor Alec Baldwin in the death of a cinematographer on a New Mexico film set.

Naman Ramachandran Netflix has renewed International Emmy-winning hit Indian series “Delhi Crime” for a third season. The streamer’s India operation has also renewed “Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives,” “Kota Factory,” “Mismatched” and “She” for third seasons. Netflix India has also commissioned a documentary on the life of hip hop artist and rapper Yo Yo Honey Singh who will deep-dive into the reasons behind his sudden disappearance at the peak of his career. The documentary will be directed by Mozez Singh (Disney+ Hotstar series “Human”) and produced by Guneet Monga and Achin Jain‘s Sikhya Entertainment, 2023 Oscar winners for “The Elephant Whisperers.”

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Filming has begun on Tom Waller’s true-crime thriller, “Kiss of the Con Queen,” with real-life victim Eoin O’Brien (“The Last Full Measure”) taking the lead role. He plays actor duped by an impersonator to travel to Indonesia on the promise of auditions for a leading role in a DC origins series, only to discover that he had been scammed by the infamous Con Queen of Hollywood. In the real world, the alleged perpetrator, 41-year-old Indonesian food blogger Hargobind Tahilramani, is accused of pretending to be both male and female Hollywood executives and having swindled hundreds of victims of millions of dollars. He was arrested in 2020 after an FBI manhunt and is currently in prison in the U.K. where he is fighting against possible extradition to the U.S. The U.K. court hearings have been dramatic and disturbing.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival has announced a dozen projects from young filmmakers from Saudi, and the wider Arab and African region, selected for its development program, the Red Sea Lodge, in collaboration with TorinoFilmLab and sponsored by the Film AlUla film commission. The Lodge is a 10-month mentorship program that has now opened up to African works along with Saudi and Arab projects. Winners will take home a portion of the total $200,000 pot in prizes that will be awarded during the fest’s 2023 edition in December.  The selected projects from Saudi Arabia are:

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief After three editions that were canceled due to a combination of COVID and bad timing, Hong Kong’s FilMart film rights market may have finally had some things go its way. It opens March 13 with many factors now moving in its favor. Not least of these are the moves by the Hong Kong government to end its previously harsh and persistent disease-control measures. The city wound down its disruptive quarantine and tracking measures at the end of 2022, opened its borders in January and finally dropped its mask mandate in the last 10 days. “We saw an immediate jump in interest from buyers and sellers after Chinese New Year’s border opening and there were no more restrictions on the food and beverage sector,” says Gloria Chan, section head for the entertainment industry at FilMart organizer, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Asian premiere of Soi Cheang’s “Mad Fate” is just one of three locally-produced movies that have been set as the opening and closing titles of the upcoming Hong Kong International Film Festival. “Mad Fate” is joined in the festival opening slot on March 30 by “Elegies,” Ann Hui’s documentary portrayal of the topography of contemporary local poetry, which will have its world premiere. The closing film, another world premiere, is “Vital Sign,” an affecting drama directed by Cheuk Wan-chi and starring Louis Koo, Yau Hawk-sau, and Angela Yuen, which will wrap up proceedings on 10 April. In total, the festival has programmed some 200 films from 64 countries and territories. These include nine world premieres, six international premieres, and 67 Asian premieres.

Naman Ramachandran Birmingham Rep will co-produce “Sinatra The Musical,” the first official musical based on the life and career of Frank Sinatra, with Michele Anthony, Bruce Resnikoff and Scott Landis for Universal Music Group Theatrical, and Tina Sinatra and Charles Pignone on behalf of Frank Sinatra Enterprises.  The team behind the musical includes two-time Tony-winning writer Joe DiPietro (“What’s New Pussycat?”) and Olivier-winning and three-time Tony-winning director and choreographer, Kathleen Marshall (“Anything Goes”). The musical begins on New Year’s Eve, 1942, where a skinny 27-year-old Italian American singer is about to step onto the stage of New York’s Paramount Theatre and give a performance that will change music history. As Frank Sinatra’s career suddenly skyrockets, he struggles with balancing the love of his wife, Nancy, against the demands and temptations of being the most popular singer in America. But when he begins an affair with movie goddess Ava Gardner, his records stop selling and the press turns against him, sending his career into a tailspin. Driven by his devotion to his family, Sinatra stages the greatest comeback in showbiz history.