‘Karnawal’ Producer Bikini Films Pitches Island Mystery Legend in ‘Non Trubada,’ at Iberseries (EXCLUSIVE)

Bob George, who served as a producer on the dramas Newness, Zoe and Endings, Beginnings, died Tuesday from injuries suffered in a bicycle accident in the Silver Lake section of Los Angeles.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent While artificial intelligence has been one of the biggest points of contention in the WGA and the SAG-AFTRA strikes, back in France, Newen Studios has taken a deep dive into AI to deliver daily soaps, as well as source talent and pitch projects in their own metaverse space. During Mipcom, Newen’s head of innovation, Marianne Carpentier, launched the second edition of the banner’s Meta Pitch Contest.

Anna Marie de la Fuente BTF Media and Spain’s AF Films have teamed up to co-produce “Hasta el Fin del Mundo,” the next film of actress Aislinn Derbez (“Miss Bala”), who marks her debut as an executive producer through her shingle Ais Ais Baby. The romantic drama is also the feature debut of Emiliano Castro Vizcarra, who has written and directed numerous shorts, winning multiple awards, including Best Director at the Cineteca Nacional.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Causeway Films, the Australian film production house behind recent breakout “Talk to Me,” has opened a U.K. operation. The company has hired Daniel Negret, formerly of Head Gear Films, as its CEO. Causeway Films was established by producers Kristina Ceyton and Samantha Jennings in 2014, launching with Jennifer Kent’s Sundance hit “The Babadook.” It followed that by producing Kent’s follow up feature “The Nightingale,” which won the special jury prize at the Venice Film Festival in 2019. Innovative horror film, “Talk to Me,” from filmmaking duo Danny and Michael Philippou screened in Sundance, Berlin and SXSW 2023 and was acquired by A24.

Reuters videographer Issam Abdullah was killed and four other reporters were wounded in southern Lebanon on Friday while covering skirmishes along its border with Israel.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Disney+ has released the first trailer for the upcoming short film “The Shepherd,” premiering on Dec. 1. The story follows Ben Radcliffe as Pandora, a young Royal Air Force pilot flying home across the North Sea on Christmas Eve.

Brent Lang Executive Editor “Shucked” will embark on a North American tour in the fall of 2024, one that will see the charmingly corny Broadway musical make stops in the likes of Austin, Chicago and Los Angeles. The tour will begin performances at the Providence Performing Arts Center in Rhode Island before playing in over 30 cities in its first season. Currently, the show is scheduled to also hit Atlanta, Buffalo, Charlotte, Dallas, Durham, East Lansing, Fort Lauderdale, Greenville, Houston, Los Angeles, Madison, Nashville, Orlando, San Antonio, Schenectady, St.

EXCLUSIVE: Anand Ramayya’s Karma Film is set to produce Maya Bastian’s The Devil’s Tears alongside Canada’s Blackout Media, while Shant Joshi’s Fae Pictures has also come on board to executive produce. 

What the f**k… Former porn star Mia Khalifa i

Sideshow and Janus Films have acquired all US rights for The Beast (LA BÊTE), the latest feature from French filmmaker Bertrand Bonello (Saint Laurent) starring Léa Seydoux.

The Cannes Film Festival has admitted six filmmakers, five women and one man, to its 2024 residency program. 

Anna Marie de la Fuente “Roma” producer Nicolas Celis’ of Pimienta Films is coming on board as lead producer of “Freeland,” the first English-language pic by “Emily in Paris” director Katina Medina Mora, Variety learned at Madrid forum Iberseries & Platino Industria. To be co-written with Chilean scribe Julio Rojas, creator of podcast sensation “Caso 63” and a co-writer on Pablo Fendrik’s “El Refugio,” the project was put together by producer Nestor Hernández, a former Sony and HBO development exec for Latin America, who attended the San Sebastian Film Festival in September to present the project.

Euphoria executive producer Ron Leshem flew into Spain this week and recalled how Hollywood had initially turned down the HBO hit over concerns about teenage lead characters.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Lisbon-based Ukbar Filmes, run by Pandora da Cunha Telles and Pablo Iraola, is prepping the period series “The Marquise of Alorna” (“A Marquesa de Alorna”), based on the eponymous bestseller by Portuguese author Maria João Lopo de Carvalho. Participating in the 2nd Iberseries & Platino Industria’s Co-Production and Financing Forum, the 6 x 50’ episode series will be directed by award-winning helmer Tiago Alvarez Marques, known for “Madre Paula” and “A Impostora.” Written by Mário Cunha, Cláudia Clemente and Rafael Afonso, the series turns on Leonor de Almeida Portugal, best known as the Marquise of Alorna, who as a poet, translator and teacher, was deemed among the first and most prominent feminists of Portugal.

The San Sebastian Film Festival awarded O Corno (The Rye Horn) with the Golden Shell for Best Film. San Sebastián native Jaione Camborda took the top prize of the night for the feature she directed.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Mexico’s Guannaby Films and Colombia’s Dynamo have joined forces to make “The Last Circus.” Among the 10 feature film projects being presented at Iberseries & Platino Industria’s Co-Production and Financing Forum, it promises “magnetic, complex but fun characters in what is primarily a family tale,” said actor-producer Christian Tappan, co-founding partner of Guannaby Films alongside Luis Emilio Guzmán and Tiago Correa. Written by Guzman and to be directed by “The Thin Yellow Line” helmer Celso Garcia, “The Last Circus” turns on Gerardo, a gypsy con artist, who has just lost his family’s circus business due to its mounting debt.

Following the massive success of its live-action Barbie, Mattel Films has tapped Robbie Brenner as President. She had been Executive Producer of Mattel Films since 2018.

Nick Cannon admitted he might not be alive if it wasn’t for his ex-wife Mariah Carey.

Anna Marie de la Fuente “Yo no moriré de amor,” the feature debut of theatre actress Marta Matute, among the five titles selected by the Madrid Film School’s ECAM incubator program, has been boarded by Elastica Films, whose credits include Berlinale Golden Bear prize winner “Alcarràs” and “Creatura,” Elena Martin’s best European film winner at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight. The family drama is lead produced by José Esteban Alenda and César Esteban Alenda’s Solita Films, which saw their first international co-production, “El despertar de las hormigas,” by Costa Rican Antonella Sudasassi, world premiere at Berlinale’s Forum and become the first Central American film to be nominated for a Spanish Goya.

Anna Marie de la Fuente “Monster,” Hirokazu Kore-eda, Japan Described by Variety critic Peter Debruge as a “convoluted portrait of a pre-teen in turmoil,” Kore-eda ‘s Palme d’Or best script and Queer Palm winner stars Sakura Andō as a mother who confronts a teacher after noticing odd changes in her son’s demeanor. Written by Yuji Sakamoto, it’s scored by the late Ryuichi Sakamoto. “Peafowl,” Byun Sungbin, South Korea Myung, a transgender, is estranged from her family because of who she is.