Leading Distribution Partners Launched by Industry Vets Ahead of Mipcom (EXCLUSIVE)

John Bleasdale Guest Contributor Nurturing young talent and promoting film education is the name of the game at the Black Nights Film Festival in Tallinn, Estonia. The festival will feature a range of events specifically aimed at education promoting both film literacy in schools and vocational training in front of and behind the camera.

Ben Croll France’s VFX workforce has grown by leaps and bounds over the past three years, with much credit due to a 10% across-the-board tax rebate bonus for international productions that spend more than $2.1 million with local digital outfits. Of course, the fact that American studios could also benefit from the full 40% tax rebate wholly on post-production expenditures has only helped matters further, affording top-trained talent the chance to stay in (or, in many cases, return to) France, proving their mettle on lavish blockbusters shot elsewhere.

EXCLUSIVE: One of the few Israeli delegates who attended last week’s Mipcom Cannes has said he made the trip because “we will not let them win.”

Lise Pedersen When a classic film industry meets at a market, what do they debate. One issue is maybe paramount these days: Distribution. The distribution of classic documentaries was at the heart of discussions at the Lumière Film Festival’s International Classic Film Market (MIFC) in Lyon, France on Oct.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Margreth Olin’s “Songs of Earth,” Norway’s Oscar entry for the international feature film race, has been bought by Strand Releasing for North American distribution. The documentary feature, which is executive produced by Wim Wenders and Liv Ullman, played at Toronto where it sold to key territories, and had its U.S.

Lise Pedersen Can Artificial Intelligence help better restore and preserve heritage cinema? That was the question asked to a high-level panel on Thursday at the Classic Film Market, which runs alongside Lyon’s Lumière Film Festival, dedicated to heritage film. Struggling to override the clatter of the heavy downpour hitting the ceiling of the tent set up next to the Lumière Institute for the duration of the festival, participants took part in a heated debate entitled Artificial Intelligence: A Tool for Heritage, in front of a packed room of industry professionals.

Mipcom Cannes sensed a wave of opportunity coming at them from across the Atlantic, as Hollywood muddles through a period of strategic uncertainty and steep losses from the transition to streaming platforms. The extended labor strife in the U.S. this year, with the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA waging historic and concurrent strikes, has Euro producers touting the appeal of lensing on the continent with a strong pool of skilled talent accustomed to working at much lower price points.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Paris-based sales agency and production company Luxbox has sold the French distribution rights to 12 pics of the late Portuguese maestro filmmaker Manoel de Oliveira to Capricci Films, which plans to release the restored films in cinemas across France from 2024. Expressing his pride at adding some of Oliveira’s best films to its catalog, Capricci’s Louis Descombes said: “We had long hoped to be able to give new life to the unique, mischievous and incredibly modern work of the Portuguese filmmaker.” The Bordeaux-based distributor aims to kick off the releases with “Val Abraham” in the spring.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor “It’s been a really buzzy and busy market,” said Lucy Smith, director of Mipcom TV market and conference, and MipJunior, the kids TV event that preceded it, in Cannes Wednesday. More than 11,000 participants from more than 100 countries had come to the event, which runs Oct. 16-19.

‘Marie Antoinette‘ Back On The BBCThe BBC has announced that it has acquired the second season of Canal+ Creation Originale Marie Antoinette. Sue Deeks, head of acquisitions for the BBC, said the first season of Deborah Davis’ drama had been a “great success” for the corporation. Marie Antoinette is produced by Claude Chelli and Margaux Balsan for Capa Drama, Stéphanie Chartreux for Banijay Studios France, as well as Bedside Productions. Season 2 is currently in production.

Welcome to Global Breakouts, Deadline’s fortnightly strand in which we shine a spotlight on the TV shows and films killing it in their local territories. The industry is as globalized as it’s ever been, but breakout hits are appearing in pockets of the world all the time and it can be hard to keep track… So, we’re going to do the hard work for you.

George Kay looks conflicted. Speaking to Deadline before the resolution of the writers strike, the British WGA member had put down his pen on an Amazon Studios movie project and ducked a U.S. publicity round for his Apple TV+ series Hijack. But it’s fair to say that the strikes coincided with Kay having a serious moment.

Canal+ Chairman and CEO Maxime Saada has recalled how he travelled to Los Gatos with an olive branch six years ago.

The Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) Max streamer will launch in 22 European countries in spring 2024 and France and Belgium later next year, the media outfit revealed today.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Mipcom Cannes, the international TV conference, opened on a solemn note with market director Lucy Smith paying tribute to the “innocent victims in Israel and Gaza.” Smith addressed the reverberations of the Israel-Hamas conflict at the market and within the industry. Out of the 70 Israeli industry executives who had registered for Mipcom, only a few were able to attend due to the devastation brought by Hamas’ attack on Oct.

Ed Meza @edmezavar Paramount Global Content Distribution has licensed the highly anticipated CBS Studios series “Elsbeth” to TF1 in France. Starring Emmy Award winner Carrie Preston, “Elsbeth” is based on the popular character of Elsbeth Tascioni, the astute but unconventional attorney featured in “The Good Wife” and “The Good Fight.” “The series has been highly sought after in the French territory and this agreement will provide TF1 viewers exclusive access to the series in the market,” Paramount Global Content Distribution said.

Ben Croll Hitman dramedy “Knok,” pandemic-thriller “LT-21,” and dystopian sendup “Rictus” will head off Have A Good One’s (HAGO) Mipcom slate, as the Paris-based TV development and sales company has boarded two additional series currently in production. Produced by Mifa Pictures (Groupe StoryPlus) and N22 Productions for 13ème Rue France, and created by Guillaume Duhesme, Bastien Ughetto and Lucie Moreau, the off-kilter “Knok” follows a hapless single-dad inducted into the underworld and made an unwilling contract-killer after accidentally witnessing a hit.

Bassem Youssef Helming Health Reality Series With Propagate Selling

Mipcom, change is in the air yet again on both sides of the Atlantic. In the U.S., the largest media conglomerates are all in rebuilding mode, even the mighty Disney.

EXCLUSIVE: Ahead of its world premiere tonight, the Zorro TV series adaptation has landed a trio of European deals, as Mediawan Rights leans further into big-ticket IP.