Nacelle Taps Hud Woodle To Head Its International Sales Division

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent WestEnd Films has scored multiple sales, including to North America, on British director Patrick Dickinson’s drama “Cottontail,” which stars Japan’s Lily Franky (“Shoplifters”) and Ciaran Hinds. The film, first announced at the AFM in 2019, won the prize for best first feature last week at the Rome Film Festival, where it had its world premiere.

wrote. “I share the same sadness with all our film and TV community who shared time with Matthew.”“As you can see, to know him was to adore him,” continued the “Almost Famous” star.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Picture Tree Intl. has boarded international sales for Scandinavian period drama “Stormskerry Maja,” directed by Tiina Lymi (“Happier Times, Grump,” “Sisäilmaa”), adapted from Anni Blomqvist’s series of novels. The film chronicles the saga of Maja and her family as they embark on a journey to the desolate and remote island Stormskerry.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent REinvent International Sales has boarded Howard J. Ford’s “River of Blood,” a psychological thriller that’s about to start shooting in Thailand. The company will unveil the project to buyers at the American Film Market.

As the year comes to a close, one of the biggest stories of 2023 so far is what we call Marvel TV Reckoning. Essentially, the story was Marvel Studios finally recognizing their TV process was broken; they had to stop and rethink it all.

Marvel Studios‘ Daredevil: Born Again has rounded out its revamped creative team with a new showrunner and directors. Dario Scardapane (Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, The Punisher) has been tapped as showrunner and directing team Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (Loki) are set to direct the Charlie Cox series, sources confirm to Deadline.

Mister Smith Entertainment has hired Augusta Charlton as Director, International Sales & Acquisitions. 

K.J. Yossman Kaleidoscope Film Distribution have snapped up Scottish thriller “Kill” for the U.K. market and are set to launch international sales at AFM.

Federation Studios has launched an international theatrical film sales division with Sabine Chemaly.

AGC International has nabbed international rights to Late Night With The Devil from Aussie filmmaking duo Colin and Cameron Cairnes and will launch sales at the upcoming American Film Market. 

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor AGC International, the international sales and distribution arm of Stuart Ford’s AGC Studios, will launch sales on the supernatural thriller “Late Night With the Devil” at the American Film Market in Santa Monica on Halloween. The film, a nightmarishly entertaining ode to the talk shows and horror movies of the 1970s, won the best screenplay prize at Sitges Film Festival.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Beta Film has announced a half-dozen sales to European public broadcasters on high-end period drama “La Storia,” which is Italian pubcaster RAI’s biggest event show of the year and is world premiering at the Rome Film Fest. The sweeping eight-episode saga, set in Italy during the final years of World War II and its immediate aftermath, is based on a globally bestselling novel by the late great Elsa Morante, whom “My Brilliant Friend” author Elena Ferrante often cites as her primary literary reference.

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.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Rome Film Fest opener “There’s Still Tomorrow,” a bold period dramedy that marks the directorial debut of popular Italian actor Paola Cortellesi, has scored a slew of international sales. The film, shot in black-and-white and set in post-World War II Rome, riffs on Italy’s neorealist past, albeit with a female empowerment element angle and a contemporary A-list Italian cast.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Veteran RAI exec Adriano De Maio has been trying to shake things up at the Italian state broadcaster since last May, when he was appointed head of film and drama. To contend with the unstoppable disruption caused by digital and streaming in Italy’s TV landscape, De Maio is trying to steer RAI toward programming that provides more cultural enrichment, while also catering to the youth demographic that drives traffic on the pubcaster’s RAI Play streaming platform — which has more than 23 million subscribers, way more than Netflix’s Italian customer base. As RAI faces possible budget cuts due to the government’s decision to lower its license fee [RAI’s current allocation for film and TV series was not immediately available], De Maio sat down with Variety in Rome to discuss his vision for the scripted content he’d like RAI to acquire for its viewers.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Turkish producer Onur Güvenatam founded OGM Pictures in 2019, and has since shepherded a steady stream of hit series and movies such as drama “The Red Room,” the widely-sold “Golden Boy” and “One Way for Tomorrow,” the first Netflix original film out of Turkey. For Netflix, OGM has also made Turkish original film “Paper Lives” and the series “The Gift.” Güvenatam is at Mipcom with new shows “Stickman” (Çöp Adam), “Miracle of Love” (Yüz Yıllık Mucize), and “Broken Destiny,” (Toprak ile Fidan) being sold by his recently launched in-house sales company OGM Universe. He spoke to Variety about the secret to OGM’s success, and vented frustrations about the business model imposed by U.S.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Sarah Jessica Parker is set to executive produce “Front Row,” a gripping documentary feature following a group of talented Ukrainian ballet dancers. Directed by Miriam Guttmann, the award-winning filmmaker of “Seeds of Deceit,” the documentary is produced by Scenery (“Human Playground”), a joint venture with Banijay Benelux. Parker and Alison Benson are exec producing via Pretty Matches Productions, alongside The Ruderman Foundation.

Christopher Vourlias Beta Film has acquired international sales rights to the Greek drama series “The Beach,” a primetime sensation for Greek public broadcaster ERT, the Munich-based production and distribution powerhouse announced on the eve of Mipcom. The 24-part one hour series begins on an idyllic commune on the shores of Crete in 1969, where love and freedom intertwine, until a murder exposes the messy entanglements spurred on by the hippie residents.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Philippe Bober’s Coproduction Office, whose recent films include Jessica Hausner’s Cannes Competition title “Club Zero” and Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or winner “Triangle of Sadness,” has kicked off international sales on Gust Van den Berghe‘s “The Magnet Man.” The Paris and Berlin based production and sales outfit is attending this week’s MIA Market in Rome. Van den Berghe’s previous films, “Blue Bird” (2011) and “Little Baby Jesus of Flandr” (2010), have both premiered in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight. “The Magnet Man,” which is in post-production, tells the tragicomic tale of how our greatest talents can become our greatest flaws, and how unpredictable our lives can be.

Naman Ramachandran The enduring popularity of the Asian LGBT and horror genres and the relationship with giant streamer Netflix were among the topics of discussion at a lively panel focusing on distribution at the Busan International Film Festival‘s Asian Contents and Film Market. “I hate the fact that all the producers want to work with Netflix, it is also killing international sales as well. Because if all the big titles go to Netflix, it leaves very little room for independent distributors,” said Chen Shao-Yi, general manager at Screenworks Asia.