No ‘Rah-Rah Canada’ for Amazon Studios: Streamer On the Hunt for Half-Hour Formats That Aren’t Uber-Canadian

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Ji.hlava Intl. Documentary Film Festival, which runs Oct. 25-30, has unveiled Opus Bonum, its international competition section. The 16-strong lineup includes eight world premieres. Andrea Kleine’s “The End Is Not What I Thought It Would Be,” from the U.S., is set during the pandemic. Kleine, the author of novels “Calf” and “Eden,” is seen performing stand-up comedy, monologues and music in a theater without an audience. Emily Allen’s U.S. film “Cisco Kid” features a young woman living in the middle of a vast desert in the American West, in the ruins of a town where the last of the oddball inhabitants struggle to survive.

When Israeli film director Ariel Vromen called up Ray Liotta to join his film, “1992”, the late screen legend had one question.

The English,” starring Emily Blunt and Chaske Spencer. All six episodes of the limited series will premiere on November 11 exclusively in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the Nordics on Prime Video, following its November 10 UK premiere on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer. The series is created by Hugo Blick, who also serves as an executive producer, director and writer. The series follows aristocratic Englishwoman Lady Cornelia Locke, played by Blunt, and a Pawnee ex-cavalry scout named Eli Whipp, played by Spencer. They come together in 1890 middle America to cross a violent landscape built on dreams and blood.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Former RAI CEO Fabrizio Salini – who prior to running the Italian pubcaster held top posts at Sky, Fox International Channels, and Discovery Italy – has joined Italy’s Minerva Pictures, which is stepping up its expansion from film into the realms of TV and streaming content. The veteran TV exec will become a board member at Rome-based Minerva, the production, digital publishing and distribution company headed by Gianluca Curti. Minerva has been branching out into TV since 2019 when Santo Versace, who is the older brother of Gianni and Donatella Versace, decided to invest in the company, becoming chairman of its board. Salini, besides joining the Minerva board, will be in charge of the company’s “business activities with broadcasters and streamers,” said Curti, who added that the exec has a mandate to explore opportunities that go beyond film, TV series and docs.

sees several of the main characters taking action, particularly Luke, played by O-T Fagbenle. Often relegated to the sidelines with the series largely focused on the struggles of his wife,  June (Elisabeth Moss), the latest episodes show how he’s no longer a passive participant in the fight against Gilead as they both figure out a way to free their daughter, Hannah, from the oppressive nation. With episode 5, “Fairytale,” now streaming on Hulu, Fagbenle talks to ET about Luke’s confrontation with Serena (Yvonne Strahovski), his reconnection with June and their mission to bring Hannah home. “Luke realizes he can’t do the same things,” the actor says of the character’s previous attempts to fight from the sidelines, adding that now his “focus is on June and Hannah.”[: Spoilers for the first five episodes of season 5.]Following Serena’s use of their daughter in the funeral for Commander Waterford (Joseph Fiennes), things really start to change for Luke.

EXCLUSIVE: Ireland’s Lighthouse Studios is developing its first original series, Savage Town.

The new edition of “Fixer Upper” is the grandest yet.

Amber Dowling Amazon’s Prime Video is bringing the story of Canada’s most famous children’s entertainer to the world. The streamer has confirmed the start of production on an untitled “Mr. Dressup” documentary, based on the life and career of Ernie Coombs. The doc will celebrate the origins and history of the children’s show and its legacy of valuable lessons. In addition to including insights into the relationship with Rogers, the project uses unseen archival footage, interviews with series puppeteers and musicians, the Coombs family, and other notable Canadians who discuss the impact the series had on them. Rob McCallum (“Power of Grayskull: The Definitive History of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe”) directs and co-writes with Jordan Morris (“Nintendo Quest”).

John Morayniss’ Blink49 Studios and Sex Education producer Eleven are working up a series adaptation of author M.L. Rio’s novel If We Were Villains.

Olivia Rodrigo hailed Alanis Morissette as the “most incredible human being” at the Canadian Songwriters Hall Of Fame at the weekend.The 19-year-old pop star took to the stage at Massey Hall in Toronto on Saturday (September 24) to induct Morissette.Referring to how the latter’s 1995 album ‘Jagged Little Pill’ changed Rodrigo’s life at 13, the former said (via ET Canada): “My life was completely changed. Alanis’ songwriting was unlike anything I’d ever heard before and I haven’t heard anything quite like it since.

Canada’s first all-Black awards ceremony was a big moment for the two brothers who made it happen.

Olivia Rodrigo helped her role model Alanis Morissette add another honour to her “long list of musical achievements.”

Olivia Rodrigo is supporting Alanis Morissette on her big night!

Three of Canada’s most talented tunesmiths will be joining the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in a special event on Saturday, Sept. 24.

EXCLUSIVE: Amazon Freevee has picked up Icons Unearthed: Star Wars for the UK, the doc series that features the first tell-all on-camera interview with George Lucas’ former wife Marcia Lucas.

Marcia Gay Harden said her Tony-winning role as Veronica in “God of Carnage” helped shape the character she plays in the new CBS dramedy “So Help Me Todd.”“‘So Help Me Todd’ is blending the drama with the comedy, and that’s right up my alley,” Harden, 63, told The Post. “It’s truly what I prefer to do.

Carly Rae Jepsen is hitting the road!