Netflix Teams With Pokémon On Stop-Motion Animated Series

Addie Morfoot Contributor Netflix and Chicken & Egg Pictures have teamed up on a new $450,000 documentary fund to support seasoned women and non-binary filmmakers working on their next feature-length project. Up to 30 filmmaking teams will receive either a $10,000 research grant or a $20,000 development grant to use towards a docu project. Recipients of the Chicken & Egg Pictures research and development grant will also have access to peer support, mentorship, and relationship-building within the documentary filmmaking community. Applications are currently being accepted for the new grant. The deadline for submission is April 24 and recipients will be announced this summer. To be eligible for the new grant, projects must be a feature-length film that is either in the research or the development stage. Additionally, the project must be directed or co-directed by an experienced woman or non-binary filmmaker who has directed at least two feature-length documentary films. Docus covering all types of topics and artistic approaches are welcome to apply. Projects will be evaluated according to their feasibility and the director’s body of work and connection to the story.

Pink Parrot, for example, unveiled a bevy of pre-sales on comedy romp “4 Days Before Christmas,” led by deals with Germany’s Splendid and Kaleidoscope in the U.K. FilmSharks has closed Latin America with The Walt Disney Co./Star Distribution on “Dalia and the Red Book,” as well as Germany, Russia/CIS and Taiwan with the U.S., France, Japan, Spain and Italy in discussions. Open-market international sales for theatrical distribution have sagged terribly in the past two decades on all but standout titles. One exception, which can still deliver seven figure returns, is animation.  Despite a slowing sales cycle, Mafiz and the Spanish Screenings still saw a dizzying slew of announcements. Following, a selection: 

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Jake Johnson describes his new film “Self Reliance,” which he wrote and directed, as “‘Jacob’s Ladder’ with some laughs.” The film is a comedy with real stakes: Johnson stars as a man who winds up in a game where he’s trying to win a million dollars while hunters try to kill him. The twist is he discovers that the hunters can only attack him when he’s alone. But when none of his friends or family believe the game is real, Johnson’s character must figure out how to survive on his own. There are scary moments, but more often it’s also really funny. And the audience screening it on Saturday night at the South by Southwest festival in Austin rocked the Paramount Theatre with big laughs throughout the film’s tight 85 minutes.

EXCLUSIVE: Fox is moving forward with The Flintstones spinoff series Bedrock.

Frank Doelger’s eco-thriller drama The Swarm has made a splash on German TV.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Formula 1 and Pacsun have teamed up once again for a stylish and affordable apparel collection in time for the racing league’s 2023 season, which kicked off in Bahrain this past weekend. The collection is part of a multi-year collaboration between F1 and the youth retailer. They debuted their first six-piece apparel range last year, quickly selling out online and in stores. Now, they’re back with a much more comprehensive, bolder and brighter 37-piece line, featuring hats, matching sets, jerseys, zip shirts, camp shirts and socks. Read More: How to Watch F1 Online

Netflix will splash the cash in the APAC region this year, boosting content investment by 15% as revenues grow by 12%, according to a report from Media Partners Asia (MPA).

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Global streaming operation Netflix is forecast to spend $1.9 billion on local content in the Asia-Pacific region this year as group revenue from the region accelerates to 12%, according to a new report. The content investment spending figure represents a 15% hike. Netflix will grow revenues this year by 12% year-on-year to exceed $4 billion compared with 9% growth in 2022, says a new report published on Monday by Media Partners Asia.

We Need To Talk About Kevin and Marvel’s Doctor Strange, revealed her favourite films in a poll for Sight And Sound magazine.Since 1952, the magazine has asked filmmakers every decade for their lists of the greatest films of all time. As part of the Winter 2022-23 issue, directors like Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson and Barry Jenkins were invited to contribute their favourites.Swinton, who has directing and producing credits over her career, features a mix of Japanese animation and British classics in her list. You can check out the list below.1. A Matter Of Life And Death (1946)2. Vertigo (1958)3. Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday (1953)4. To Be Or Not To Be (1942)5. Walkabout (1971)6. Journey To Italy (1954)7. Pickpocket (1959)8. Jeanne Dielman (1975)9. My Neighbour Totoro (1988)10. La Dolce Vita (1960)The actor’s top pick, A Matter Of Life And Death, is directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor AMC Networks’ Sentai Filmworks unit reached an agreement with Japan’s Mainichi Broadcasting System (MBS) that provides exclusive rights for AMC’s anime-focused HIDIVE streaming service to distribute part of MBS’s future programming lineup in all global markets outside of Asia. The pact is Sentai’s biggest-ever deal for anime content, according to the company. The output deal encompasses MBS’s programming slate based on a collection of popular manga and light novel titles. All of the shows will be available exclusively on HIDIVE outside of Asia. Among the shows covered in the Sentai-MBS output is “The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen: From Villainess to Savior” (pictured above). The new show, scheduled to premiere in July 2023, is a 12-episode series based on hit fantasy light novel by Tenichi and published by Ichijinsha. The series is being directed by Norio Nitta and written by Deko Akao with animation by OLM.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Spin Master, the large toy, game and kids-TV conglomerate has helped build franchises out of concepts like “PAW Patrol” and “Bakugan Battle Brawlers.’ Now the company thinks it can do the same with a group of young girls who have a knack for riding unicorns. The company and Netflix plan to launch a new fantasy-adventure series, “Unicorn Academy.” Based on a series of books by author Julie Sykes, the animated series will launch with a 72-minute movie premiere and subsequent episodes, all slated for release this fall, followed by a toy line, digital game and licensed consumer product rollout in 2024. Spin Master Entertainment has content planned through 2025, with more than 250 minutes of short and long-form features produced to date including original shorts and music videos.

Right now, we’re on the verge of seeing if the recently released “Elvis” film will take home any Oscars gold. Then later this year, we’re expecting Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla” to give us a different perspective on the King of Rock and Roll.

The latest entry in the Pokémon franchise is coming.

Netflix has announced a new Pokémon series is set to launch on the platform, but fans of the franchise have been left hugely divided. In celebration of Pokémon Day on Monday (February 27), the streaming giant confirmed new series Pokémon Concierge is coming soon.

Jordan Moreau Netflix has gotta catch ’em all. The streamer is teaming up with The Pokémon Company to create “Pokémon Concierge,” an upcoming stop-motion animated series. The series will follow “Haru, a concierge at the Pokémon Resort, and her interactions with Pokémon and their owners who visit as guests,” the logline says. A short teaser for “Pokémon Concierge,” announced on Monday, Feb. 27, a.k.a. Pokémon Day 2023, showed a blissful, sandy beach with a Psyduck waddling along the shore. “This is the Pokémon Resort. Pokémon are the guests here. Here is the story of the resort’s concierge,” a narrator says. The official poster for the show revealed Haru, a young, red-headed girl in a floral, Hawaiian-style shirt (covered with grass-type Oddishes), with her Psyduck.

Netflix and The Pokémon Company announced on Monday that the two are teaming up for a new stop-motion animated series called “Pokémon Concierge,” revealing a short teaser for the new show.Expanding the Pokémon world, the story follows Haru, a concierge at the ‘Pokémon Resort,’ and her interactions with Pokémon and their owners who visit as guests. You can see her hanging with Psyduck in the first teaser video above.The ambitious project is a collaboration between Netflix, The Pokémon Company and dwarf studios, which is handling production.“Netflix is looking forward to delighting fans in Japan and around the world with ‘Pokémon Concierge,’ an entirely new visual and storytelling experience featuring ground-breaking stop-motion animation set in the Pokémon world in close collaboration with The Pokémon Company,” Minyoung Kim, Vice President of Netflix Content in Asia, said in a statement.

There are scores of apps aiming to help us monitor our mental health, but sometimes the best approach is to turn off technology. Getting outdoors in parks, woodland and other natural settings has long been known to improve people’s mood – the Japanese call it shinrin-yoku, or “forest bathing”. But recently researchers have been investigating whether spending time with animals can have similar benefits.

Japanese broadcaster Nippon TV has finalized a deal with Netflix to produce ten-part unscripted comedy series Ariyoshi Assists. 

“I think we need to find a way to avoid the U.S. brainwash,” said Newen Connect CEO Rodolphe Buet at this morning’s Berlinale Series Adapting to the Market session.