Joseph Cohen Launches MRAA, Asian Entertainment Investment Advisory Firm (EXCLUSIVE)

EXCLUSIVE: Teri Polo has joined the Season 3 cast of FBI: International, sources tell Deadline. Character details are being kept under wraps, but we hear she will appear in the final two episodes of the season and return for additional episodes in Season 4 if the series is renewed.

EXCLUSIVE: Alejandra Reyes, most recently a TV lit agent at UTA, is switching to management and joining 3 Arts Entertainment. She is bringing an expertise in the international space — focusing on Latin America and Spain — which she developed as an agent, introducing international writers and directors to the US market, attaching them to major series and closing first-look/overall deals for them. That includes a first-look deal with Onyx for The House of Flowers creator Manolo Caro and his production company Woo Films and an overall deal with Netflix for Chilean writer José Ignacio “Chascas” Valenzuela, creator, executive producer and showrunner of Who Killed Sara?

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Josh O’Connor is in talks to star in Luca Guadagnino’s new drama “Separate Rooms,” an adaptation of the eponymous novel by the late Italian writer Pier Vittorio Tondelli. The story follows an Italian writer named Leo who is mourning the loss of his boyfriend. O’Connor, who stars in Guadagnino’s upcoming tennis love triangle film “Challengers” alongside Zendaya and Mike Faist, is in advanced talks to play Leo in “Separate Rooms,” whose passionate romance with a shy German musician named Thomas is marked by different forms of separation.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Osaka-based Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation will launch ytv animation, a new brand that will leverage Yomiuri TV’s long history in animation, while also undertaking more challenging titles. The move comes a day ahead of the Anime Japan 2024 convention being held at Tokyo Big Sight. It also comes “ahead of the 60th anniversary in 2027 of Yomiuri TV’s airing of ‘Golden Bat’ in 1967,” the company said. “We will leverage our nearly 60 years of experience producing and broadcasting anime to bring exciting titles to our fans,” said ytv animation producer in a prepared statement.

The wait for Max‘s European launch is nearly over.

(Updated with  Laurene Powell Jobs statement) The fight for the future of the Walt Disney Company got very fast and furious this morning.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent In one of the most anticipated keynotes at Series Mania Festival, JB Perrette, president/CEO of global streaming and games at Warner Bros. Discovery, dropped the launch date for Max across the first nine European countries on May 21.

Holly Jones Premiering in January to a Sundance Dramatic World Cinema Grand Jury Prize, “Sujo” from “Identifying Features” filmmakers Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez has expanded its global reach, closing multiple distribution deals forged by Paris-based Alpha Violet, who heads international distribution. Paris-based Damned Films has picked up the title for France while Twelve Oaks Pictures, Trigon Films, Cinobo and MCF Megacom have swooped on the film for Spain, Switzerland, Greece and Cyprus and Ex-Yugoslavia territories respectively, with Auckland’s Vendetta Films securing rights to the title for the Australia and New Zealand markets.

King and Conqueror” has revealed additional cast members, including “The Crown’s” Luther Ford and “Game of Thrones” actor Joseph Mawle, as it begins production in Iceland. According to its official plot description, “King and Conqueror” is “the story of a clash that defined the future of a country – and a continent – for a thousand years, the roots of which stretch back decades and extend out through a pair of interconnected family dynasties, struggling for power across two countries and a raging sea.

Naman Ramachandran The first edition of India’s Cinevesture International Film Festival (CIFF) has revealed 20 projects that will participate in its accompanying market. Comprising 17 features and three series, several of the projects are by creators who have found acclaim both internationally and in South Asia.

Katcy Stephan Brandon Routh and Mena Suvari will lead the cast of Grammy-winning director Joseph Kahn‘s next film, “Ick.” The film aims to evoke the timeless creature features of the 1980s with an ambitious arsenal of scares and comedy. Routh (“Superman Returns,” “Scott Pilgrim”) stars as Hank, a high school science teacher who still pines for his childhood sweetheart, played by Suvari (“American Beauty,” “American Pie”). While discovering he may have a teenage daughter, portrayed by Malina Weissman (“Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events”), Hank must grapple with a terrifying alien anomaly (the titular “Ick”) invading their small town.

Naman Ramachandran Ken Kwek’s acclaimed Singaporean film “#LookAtMe” has secured North American distribution with Buffalo 8. The deal is exclusive for the North American territory and non-exclusive for the rest of the world. The film is a tragicomedy following the family of a teenage YouTuber who posts an irreverent video lampooning a megachurch pastor in defense of his gay twin brother.

Naman Ramachandran Dubai-based sales agency Cercamon has acquired worldwide rights for Indonesian film “Crocodile Tears,” it was revealed at Hong Kong rights market FilMart. The film is a co-production between Indonesia’s Talamedia (producer Mandy Marahimin), Singapore’s Giraffe Pictures (producers Anthony Chen and Teoh Yi Peng), France’s Acrobates Films (producer Claire Lajoumard) and Poetik Film (producer Christophe Lafont) and Germany’s 2Pilots Filmproduction (producers Harry Flöter and Jörg Siepmann). The deal was negotiated by Sebastien Chesneau at Cercamon, Chen at Giraffe Pictures and Marahimin at Talamedia.

Naman Ramachandran Zarrar Kahn‘s acclaimed psychological thriller film “In Flames” has unveiled a trailer ahead of its North American theatrical release. The film bowed at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight in 2023 and played at several global festivals including Toronto, Pingyao and Red Sea, where it won the top prize. It was Pakistan‘s entry to the Oscars’ international category.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Chan Tai-lee, the screenwriter of many of the Ip Man martial arts action films, has written and directed upcoming action film “Fight for Tomorrow.” Mandarin Motion Pictures, which backed the film and is handling international rights sales, is using this week’s FilMart to launch the picture to international buyers. The production was assisted with finance from the Hong Kong Film Development Fund.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Cora Yim and Benjamin Lin, both established indie producers of Chinese-language content, have joined forces to launch S11 Partners. It is partially backed by Medialink Group, an IP, distribution and brand licensing mini-conglomerate that is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The pair, who previously worked on TV series “Taiwan Crime Stories,” are launching their venture at FilMart in Hong Kong with a slate of three feature films in development.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief COVID, changing money flows and a new superpower Cold War of sorts may have, over the past few years, helped to reduce the connections between the film and TV industries of China and the rest of the world — so, will the 2024 edition of FilMart, whose organizers continue to claim bridgehead status, be the market to increase those connections? Candas Yeung, the Trade Development Council associate director who takes over as head of FilMart this year, says that visitor and exhibitor numbers have crept up again this year — to an anticipated 7,500 and 715, respectively — and that fully 40% of market participants hail from mainland China. “That’s a pretty significant proportion and they are very active in the market, both buying and selling, and making some announcements,” Yeung says.

EXCLUSIVE: After more than a decade, Silver Lining Entertainment, the management and production company founded by veterans Jeff Golenberg and Sam Maydew, is dissolving.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief New Zealand’s funniest export Jackie Van Beek ( (“Nude Tuesday,” “What We Do in the Shadows”) returns to SXSW atop the cast of “Audrey,” an Australian dark comedy that is headed to SXSW. Van Beek, whose 2018 “The Breaker Upperers,” was a previous SXSW hit, portrays a forgotten former soap star whose career and life have been derailed by motherhood and suburban boredom.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Kino Lorber has acquired North American distribution rights to Bruno Dumont’s “The Empire,” a sci-fi satire starring Anamaria Vartolomei (“Happening”), Camille Cottin (“Call My Agent!”), Lyna Khoudri (“The Three Musketeers”) and Fabrice Luchini. “The Empire” just world premiered in competition at the Berlin Film Festival, where it won the Silver Bear Jury Prize.