International Insider: Cinemas In Crisis; Mipcom Forges On; Channel 4 For Sale

Jake Kanter International TV EditorViacomCBS has elevated company veteran Wincie Knight to become vice president of global inclusion strategy for ViacomCBS Networks International.Knight, who first joined ViacomCBS in 1999 and is based in London, will join the UK senior leadership team and is tasked with boosting diversity and inclusion in Britain, Europe, Israel, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.The former senior director of global inclusion strategy will report to Marva Smalls, ViacomCBS’

Tom Grater International Film ReporterAsger Flygare, CEO of Scandinavian exhibitor Nordisk Film Cinemas, has penned an impassioned letter calling for the industry to support theaters by releasing fresh product, claiming the demand is there from audiences.Flygare pointed to the green shoots of recovery emerging from the Danish film industry, using the example of Thomas Vinterberg’s Mads Mikkelsen-starring pic Druk (English title Another Round), which was released locally on September 24.The film

Manori Ravindran International EditorMTV International is rebooting iconic format “MTV Cribs,” with guests including Caitlyn Jenner, Nickelodeon personality and singer JoJo Siwa, former “Glee” star Kevin McHale and British singer Stefflon Don.The global launch follows something of a warm-up for “Cribs” in the last year. The show received a U.K.

U.K.-based cinema chain Vue is set to close a quarter of its sites during the week, joining rival British exhibition giants Cineworld and Odeon, which have both announced shutterings in response to the decision by studios to delay major film releases.

A new adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Witches will skip cinemas and go straight to on demand services, it has been announced.

Boris Johnson with a plea to “save cinemas to avert job losses and a cultural blackout”.Last week, it was confirmed that the cinema chain would temporarily suspend its operations in the US and UK amid the COVID-19 pandemic, putting thousands of jobs – including 5,500 in Britain – at risk.Cineworld’s CEO Mooky Greidinger has written to Johnson urging him to reinstate the furlough scheme that benefitted the company’s employees during the previous closure earlier this year.The UK government is

coronavirus continues to hit the film industry.21 of the chain’s 87 cinemas across the country will now open from Friday to Monday only in an attempt to reduce costs incurred by delays to high-profile films.Vue are the latest UK cinema chain to announce drastic changes to its operations.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorWith Cineworld and Picturehouse cinemas temporarily closed in the UK from this past Friday, Cineworld Group CEO Mooky Greidinger has written to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson asking the government to reinstate the furlough program that benefited employees under the exhibition giant’s previous COVID-imposed closure, while also suggesting other measures to aid the industry.

Jake Kanter International TV EditorViacomCBS International Studios has announced that it is developing a TV series based on the life of Italian female artist Artemisia Gentileschi, who is considered to be one of the most accomplished painters in the Baroque period.ViacomCBS International Studios has attached Pan’s Labyrinth producer Frida Torresblanco to develop the project, while former ViacomCBS International Studios UK managing director Jill Offman is also involved through her new outfit 66

Tom Grater International Film ReporterMinamata, Andrew Levitas’s drama starring Johnny Depp as celebrated war photographer W. Eugene Smith, has sold around the world for HanWay Films.Vertigo Releasing has acquired the film’s UK and Ireland rights, while the sales co has also locked deals with Eagle Pictures (Italy), Swift Distribution (France), Odeon S.A.

Tom Grater International Film ReporterA Space In Time, director Nick Taussig’s documentary response to the diagnosis of his two sons, Theo and Oskar, with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a fatal muscle wasting disease, will be released in the UK by Bohemia Media in February 2021.The film, co-directed with Riccardo Servini, will also be represented for international sales by Reservoir Docs.

Tom Grater International Film ReporterEXCLUSIVE: You Cannot Kill David Arquette, the SXSW doc chronicling actor Arquette’s extraordinary life and return to professional wrestling, has been picked up for UK distribution by Blue Finch Films.The company has also acquired the project’s international sales rights ahead of the AFM.

Jake Kanter International TV EditorViacomCBS International Studios, the production and distribution arm of ViacomCBS Networks International, has unified its global sales unit and promoted two long-serving UK-based sales executives.Under the new structure, the company’s international program sales division, which previously focused on tape and format sales for network-branded content outside Latin America, is coming together with VIS’s sales division, which previously focused on the studio’s

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorEXCLUSIVE: Vue International CEO and founder Tim Richards wants to avoid “the nuclear option” of temporarily closing his cinemas in the UK and other overseas markets amid recent shifts to the landscape.

Cineworld will be closing all of its screens from Thursday (October 8) across the UK and the US indefinitely, in light of a number of delayed titles including the new James Bond film No Time To Die.“We were delighted to start reopening our cinemas back in July, and are committed to keeping them open,” Showcase Cinemas UK General Manager Mark Barlow said in a statement.

Naman Ramachandran Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” won the U.K. and Ireland box office crown for the sixth weekend in a row, collecting £628,247 ($813,445), according to final numbers from Comscore.

Covid-19 testing to reduce the amount of time international travellers have to spend in quarantine upon arrival in Britain. As the number of unrestricted travel destinations for Brits can be counted on one hand, ministers are now indicating they may finally allow testing for international arrivals.

Following the confirmation that Regal Cinemas owner Cineworld will be temporarily closing its theaters across both the U.S. and U.K., fellow British exhibition giant Odeon is making similar moves.

Cineworld will be closing all its UK and US venues.The chain confirmed earlier today (October 5) that it would “temporarily” shut its cinemas, putting 45,000 jobs at risk – including 5,500 in the UK – amid the coronavirus pandemic.Reacting to the news, Johnson told the press (via Metro): “Obviously we hope to reduce, to keep the numbers of people who lose their jobs down as much as we can, but clearly there are going to be tough times ahead.“That’s why we’ve already invested £190billion in

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorEXCLUSIVE: Cineworld Group, the world’s second biggest exhibition chain, today announced plans to temporarily close its Regal movie theaters in the U.S. and its Cineworld and Picturehouse sites in the UK as coronavirus wreaks havoc with the industry.