Mercury Studios Sets Feature Documentary on Sister of Composer Felix Mendelssohn (EXCLUSIVE)

Naman Ramachandran BAFTA-winning producer Patrick Spence is leaving ITV Studios after three years, Variety has confirmed. Spence, who serves as creative director, will leave at the end of March, ITV Studios managing director Julian Bellamy told staff via an internal memo on Thursday. Spence will continue to partner with ITV Studios on upcoming projects including “People vs. Post Office” (working title). Spence joined ITV Studios in 2020 and secured several acclaimed commissions, including the BBC’s drama-romance “Ralph & Katie,” a spin-off of “The A Word,” about the lives of a couple with Down syndrome; ITVX’s “Litvinenko,” about the investigation into the death of Russian defector Alexander Litvinenko; the BAFTA-nominated Cold War spy drama “A Spy Among Friends,” also for ITVX; and post-pandemic frontline medical drama “Maternal” for ITV.  

Gwyneth Paltrow has appeared in a US court to stand trial in a case in which the Oscar-winning actress is alleged to have collided with a skier Terry Sanderson, leaving him unresponsive at the Deer Valley Resort in Utah in 2016. Sofia Coppola’s daughter says she was grounded for trying to charter a helicopter to dinnerPresident Biden presents National Medal of Arts to Julia Louis-DreyfusMartin Lewis explains how to get up to £200 'free cash' by switching banksMoment suspect tries escaping LAPD on skateboard after car chase3D printer attempts to make dessert from seven ingredientsPuppy 'kidnapped' by monkey as crowd watch onSuccession star Sarah Snook reveals she is pregnant with first childGwyneth Paltrow appears in court over Utah ski collisionThieves break in and steal more than £3,000 from Surrey Co-opPutin hails China’s Xi plan to settle ‘acute crisis’ in Ukraine_Original Video_m229956.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter HBO Max is developing a drama series based on the life of Heidi Fleiss, Variety has learned exclusively. The untitled series hails from writer and executive producer Maggie Cohn, who most recently served as the co-showrunner on HBO Max’s critically acclaimed limited series “The Staircase.” Fleiss will serve as a consultant on the project. Emma Tillinger Koskoff (“Joker,” The Irishman”) of First Love Films will also executive produce, along with Alex Goldstone (“Dickinson”) for Anonymous Content, Bill Gerber (“Muhammed Ali,” “A Star Is Born”) of Gerber Pictures, and David Bernon, Paul Bernon, and Sam Slater of Burn Later Productions (“Support the Girls,” “Mile 22,” “Drinking Buddies”).

Multistory Media Bolsters Entertainment TeamITV Studios label MultiStory Media has bolstered its entertainment team. Simone Haywood has been promoted to Creative Director for MultiStory London, while Jon Cahn has joined as Executive Producer and Zinia Scroggs has been appointed Series Editor. Haywood was previously Head of Factual Entertainment, steering shows such as Scared of the Dark for Channel 4, BBC Three’s Project Icon, Big Flower Fight for Netflix and Come Dine With Me for Channel 4. Reporting to Chief Creative Officer Ana de Moraes, she will work with Ceri Aston, Creative Director at MultiStory North. Cahn most recently worked on the Danny Dyer-hosted, celebrity show Scared of the Dark, with other credits including Channel 4’s SAS: Who Dares Wins and Married at First Sight. Scroggs is currently working on Project Icon with previous credits inlcuding BBC Three’s Glow Up. “Simone is fearless about breaking new ground and grabbing big ideas by the horns… We are excited to give her the opportunity to take the next step in her career, building MultiStory’s entertainment slate with Jon Cahn and Zinia Scroggs, both rising stars whose talents are incredible additions to our team,” said de Moraes.

EXCLUSIVE: Angel Studios — the producer and distributor of the equity-crowdfunded, faith-based series The Chosen, which has done major business both online and in movie theaters — has today announced its launch of a theatrical division, as well as its appointment of Brandon Purdie as Vice President of Theatrical Distribution.

Faithless‘ Sister Bliss has returned with details of a new solo single – ‘Life Is A Melody’ is out this week.The song, a collaboration with Hyacinth & Apollo, is the first new material to come from the Faithless camp since the passing of legendary singer Maxi Jazz at age 65 just before Christmas last year.Discussing the inspiration behind the new track and how it came together, Sister Bliss said: “It all started in a South London basement – I first saw Hyacinth & Apollo aka Grammy winner Jinadu & DJ/ producer Jem Haynes perform at a private gig in London I was DJing at – their live set totally blew me away”.“Following the liberating feeling of playing a huge number of festivals over the summer after multiple postponements due to the pandemic, I wanted to encapsulate that feeling of euphoria and intensity of being back on the road, and the power of music to bring us together once again,” she added.“I was inspired to reach out to Hyacinth & Apollo and when we got together to create ‘Life Is A Melody’ the alchemy was tangible.“Pre-save the new track ahead of its release on Friday (March 17) here.Maxi Jazz “died peacefully in his sleep” last December, his former bandmates confirmed in a post on social media.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent The blockbuster French cast of Amazon Prime Video’s third season of “LOL: Qui rit, qui sort” speaks volumes about the Japanese variety format’s tremendous popularity in France. The Amazon Original series, adapted from the format “LOL: Last One Laughing,” scored its biggest launch to date on Prime Video in France since bowing on March 10. The show is one of the streamer’s first unscripted originals in France and has been a major coup as a brand exercise that’s succeeded with limited resources — certainly in comparison to scripted comedy. Adaptations of “LOL” have also thrived in Italy and Germany where they have ranked as the most watched local titles on the service, respectively. Local versions are also available in Spain, Canada, Mexico and Australia (hosted by Rebel Wilson).

Ed Meza @edmezavar Spanish filmmaker Félix Viscarret, known for tackling such heavy subject matter as the Basque conflict (“Patria”), crime in the Cuban capital Havana (“Four Seasons in Havana: Winds of Lent”) and psychological drama (“Staring at Strangers”), has made perhaps his most personal film yet with a touching and engrossing story of fatherhood and the pitfalls of success.      In “Not Such an Easy Life,” 40-year-old Isaías (Miki Esparbé), a once promising young architect, is struggling to balance career and family, wanting to raise his young children while desperate to achieve the fleeting professional success he once enjoyed as he strives against more ambitious rivals.  

Caroline Flack's mother Christine Flack has rejected the Metropolitan Police's apology after they were criticised for the way they handled the case of Caroline's death. Christine's daughter Caroline took her own life on February 15 in 2020 at the age of 40, following an incident with her boyfriend, Lewis Burton.The Met Police has been criticised for how they handled the case and has since apologised for not recording why the Love Island star had been charged.The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had recommended the former presenter receive a caution following the incident.

EXCLUSIVE: All3Media’s Objective Media Group (OMG) has expanded by launching an unscripted label with Viacom International Studios exec Oliver Wright.

New Duke Of Edinburgh Opens Sky Studios Sound Stage

All Quiet on the Western Front scooped the Best International Feature Film Oscar this evening, after earlier taking the Cinematography trophy and then winning for Production Design and Original Score. Such categories in which it is also nominated, including Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay and Sound are still to be unveiled. This is the first time a German title has taken the International Feature prize since 2006’s The Lives of Others. 

German musician Volker Bertelmann nudged out the competition to pick up his first Academy Award Sunday for Netflix’s war epic All Quiet on the Western Front.

Fever Ray has shared a new video for ‘Even It Out’, featuring a cameo from the song’s producers, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.The Nine Inch Nails pair worked on the song with Karin Dreijer, and it appears on the Swedish artist’s new album ‘Radical Romantics’.The track’s official video, an homage to the work of John Waters, was written and directed by Martin Falck.Watch the official clip, which sees Reznor and Ross appear on a television screen, below.‘Radical Romantics’, the third Fever Ray album, was released this week (March 10). Reviewing the album, NME wrote: “‘Radical Romantics’ ability to communicate Dreijer’s perspective on love and relationships exquisitely is thanks largely in part to its inventive production.

Selome Hailu Craig Gillespie has entered a first look deal with Tomorrow Studios, a subsidiary of ITV Studios. The deal represents an expansion of Gillespie’s partnership with Tomorrow, as the studio is already behind the Apple TV+ comedy series “Physical. Gillespie serves as a director on “Physical” and executive produces alongside Tomorrow Studios CEO Marty Adelstein and partner and president Becky Clements. Along with “Physical,” which is currently in production on its third season, Gillespie’s television credits include serving as a director and executive producer of Hulu’s “Pam & Tommy” and “Mike.” In film, he is best known for directing “I, Tonya,” “Cruella” and “Lars and the Real Girl.”

K.J. Yossman Freida Pinto is lending her voice to a new animated film project in honor of International Women’s Day. She Creates Change is a new nonprofit-led animation and live action film project from global education organization Room to Read produced by Nexus Studios. The multi-media initiative, which spans a six-episode film series as well as books and audio stories, aims to promote gender equality through telling the stories of young women across the planet. It will initially be available in English, Hindi and Spanish with plans to translate it into dozens more languages and will be distributed across the world via Room to Read and educational partnerships. The project will also be released to general audiences in October.

Tom Sizemore was known just as much for his illustrious, on-screen personalities as he was for his off-screen antics, including romantic pursuits, legal issues and alleged affairs. The "Heat" star died on Friday in Los Angeles after suffering from a brain aneurysm and stroke the week before.

For some, when talking about the awards season’s biggest films, documentaries occasionally get lost in the conversation.

EXCLUSIVE: Following the recent release of Prime Video’s Daisy Jones & The Six, the cast and creators are confirmed to participate in a panel at SXSW on March 11 at 4 p.m.

 examining the impact of the closure of a string of labor and delivery services across the country, , a modern maternity clinic, and Glamour gathered a group of powerful leaders for a thought-provoking lunch to discuss the importance of improved maternal and postpartum care.On March 1st, women working in healthcare, advocacy, media, sports, and business, gathered at the Freehand Hotel in New York City to discuss the urgent maternal health crisis in the United States—from , delivery and postpartum: critical issues that have too long been ignored.The event was kicked off by a panel hosted by public health expert Chelsea Clinton, in discussion with Olympian Allyson Felix, Glamour’s Executive Editor Natasha Pearlman, Oula co-founder, COO Elaine Purcell, and Oula's lead midwife Saonjie Hamilton on the panel.. Attendees included Glamour Woman of the Year Misty Copeland, Gayle King, Girls Who Code founder Reshma Saujani, Planned Parenthood President Alexis McGill Johnson, Paid Leave for All Founding Director Dawn Huckelbridge, and entrepreneur and investor Hannah Bronfman.The event kicked off with a warm welcome from Oula's Co-founder and CEO, Adrianne Nickerson, and Glamour's Americas Editorial Director, Samantha Barry.