Israel’s Sam Spiegel Film School Launches Series Lab With Netflix, ViacomCBS’ VIS Social Impact (EXCLUSIVE)

EXCLUSIVE: The documentary film team at Netflix might be popping champagne corks together right about now, if Covid didn’t inhibit the whole in-person office scenario. They’ve got a lot to celebrate.

When Martin Lawrence looks back at his lauded career, the actor-comedian proudly thinks about how his hit ’90s sitcom “Martin” still remains relevant today.

The Tinder Swindler could reportedly soon be turned into a feature film courtesy of Netflix.According to Variety, the streaming giant is in early talks with producers about turning the hit documentary into a dramatisation about Israeli conman Shimon Hayut who swindled a number of women out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.Netflix declined to comment on the development of the film at the time of writing, the tone of which remains unclear.Hayut gave a new interview yesterday (February 21), in which he claimed the women in the Netflix documentary “weren’t conned”.“I’m not this monster,” Hayut said of the claims of The Tinder Swindler. “I was just a single guy that wanted to meet some girls on Tinder.”Victims Cecilie Fjellhøy, Ayleen Koeleman and Pernilla Sjoholm recently set up a GoFundMe page to raise money to repay their debts after being conned.“You’re probably here because you’ve heard about our story, and we appreciate you taking the time to search and find this page,” they wrote.

Schitt’s Creek alumna Karen Robinson and The Sinner alum Michael Mosley round out the series regular cast for The Missing, Peacock’s eight-episode series from David E. Kelley based on Israeli crime writer Dror A. Mishani’s international bestselling novel The Missing File. They join previously announced leads Jeff Wilbusch and Juliana Canfield in the drama series.

The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival It was supposed to be a hybrid event this season, but omicron has forced it to be all virtual this year. Included in the lineup is the sexy LGBTQ-themed film, “The Swimmer.”

Jamie Lang Series Mania unveiled the fifteen projects set to pitch at this year’s Co-Pro Pitching Sessions with the hopes of scoring the €50,000 ($56,821) grand prize. Among the impressive list of participants is Israeli thriller “The Accident,” written by celebrated filmmaker Mata Yair (“Scaffolding,” “One on One”) and produced by Maya Fischer at his long-time collaborators Green Productions.“The Accident” is the story of the Alegba family and their efforts to get away from their life in a downtrodden neighborhood dominated by criminals.

EXCLUSIVE: Here’s a strong first English-language trailer for director Rama Burshtein’s (Fill The Void) anticipated TV debut Fire Dance, which has just been announced for Series Mania’s main competition.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentOnly six months after its 2021 edition, Series Mania will be back with a sprawling selection, including the world premieres of Michael Hirst’s “Billy The Kid” (pictured), the Israeli series “Fire Dance” and rap music-themed French show “Le monde de demain.”Underscoring the large presence of streamers within the roster, Series Mania will kick off with Netflix’s “Standing Up,” a new comedy series from “Call My Agent” creator and showrunner Fanny Herrero; while Disney Plus’ “Oussekine,” about a tragic case of police brutality in France, will close the festival.The lineup boasts 58 series spanning 21 countries. These were chosen from 331 series.

Series Mania has unveiled the nine shows from six countries competing for the prestigious International Competition along with revealing the lineup and guests of honor for this year’s edition, the first to take place in person for three years.

BEIT LAHIYA, Gaza Strip -- The Palestinian militants scrambled out of the tunnel and attacked an Israeli tank in broad daylight as gunfire and explosions echoed across the Gaza frontier.This time it wasn't the start of another war, but an action scene filmed for a TV series produced by the territory's militant Hamas rulers.The 30-episode series, titled “Fist of the Free,” presents the fighters as scrappy heroes outwitting a better-armed Israeli military. Unlike “Fauda,” the hit Israeli drama that deals with some of the same subject matter, it is unlikely to get picked up by Netflix.It's the latest such production by the media arm of Hamas, which has invested heavily in its offerings despite a crippling Israeli-Egyptian blockade on Gaza since the Islamic militant group seized power in 2007.The shows are aired on Hamas-run TV, and “Fist of the Free” will debut during the upcoming holy month of Ramadan, when viewership soars after the dawn-to-dusk fast and networks across the Muslim world debut big-budget offerings.“The idea of our films and series centers on our struggle with the enemy,” says Sadi al-Attar, the assistant director.

HBO’s Euphoria climbed to new heights on Sunday, despite competition from the evening’s main attraction, Super Bowl LVI. The latest episode brought in a series-high 5.1 million viewers across all platforms, rising 20% from the previous week and surpassing the season average by 45%.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer“Euphoria” hit another series high on Sunday, drawing 5.1 million viewers across multiple platforms, a 20% increase from last week and up 45% from the season average. That number was reached despite the HBO drama airing opposite Super Bowl LVI on NBC.As Variety previously exclusively reported, “Euphoria’s” Season 2 per-episode-viewership average is up nearly 100% from its first season.“Euphoria” Season 2 takes place amidst the intertwining lives in the town of East Highland, where 17-year-old Rue (Zendaya) must find hope while balancing the pressures of love, loss, and addiction.The series stars Zendaya, Hunter Schafer, Nika King, Eric Dane, Angus Cloud, Jacob Elordi, Algee Smith, Sydney Sweeney, Alexa Demie, Barbie Ferreira, Maude Apatow, Javon Walton, Dominic Fike, Storm Reid and Austin Abrams.

Naman Ramachandran Protagonist Pictures has closed multiple deals for several key territories on Sundance selection and Berlin Film Festival competition title “Call Jane.”Territories sold include DCM for Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Umbrella Entertainment for Australia and New Zealand, Mis.label for Scandinavia, Eagle for Italy, Shaw for Singapore and Empire for South Africa.Directed by Phyllis Nagy, the Oscar nominated writer of “Carol,” the film stars Elizabeth Banks, Sigourney Weaver, Kate Mara and Chris Messina. The film follows Joy (Banks), a traditional 1960s housewife who unexpectedly falls pregnant and finds the Janes, an underground abortion movement led by Virginia (Weaver).

Showtime Networks Inc. and Bleecker Street have entered into a new and exclusive three-year output agreement, effective in March.

Komplizen Film, the German indie run by Janine Jackowski, Maren Ade and Jonas Dornbach, has joined The Creatives, an alliance of independent production companies that has a three-year partnership for developing and funding series with Fremantle.

After allegedly scamming multiple women on Tinder out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, Shimon Hayut has been permanently banned from the dating app.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor“1341 Frames of Love and War,” which world premieres in the Berlinale Special section of the Berlin Film Festival, has debuted its trailer with Variety. World sales are being handled by Reservoir Docs, excluding North America, Israel, Greece and Portugal, which are being sold by the filmmakers.The film is a documentary portrait of one of the world’s leading war photographers, Israel’s Micha Bar-Am.

Manori Ravindran International Editor“The Tinder Swindler,” an eye-opening documentary about a notorious con man who used the dating app to defraud multiple women, could be getting the movie treatment.Variety understands that Netflix is in talks with producers about dramatizing the wild documentary that’s likely to make any Tinder user’s blood run cold. Sources indicate that the conversation is in early stages, and that the tone of a potential film is still being worked out.“The Tinder Swindler” debuted on the streaming service only on Wednesday, and it’s already cracking the platform’s Top 10 lists in the U.S.

The Tinder Swindler is the jaw-dropping story of a prolific conman who posed as a billionaire playboy to scam a string of women.