Big broadcaster Tegna is in the home strength of a long and sometimes contentious change of ownership, announcing that its shareholders have approved a sale led by investment firm Standard General.
28.04.2022 - 01:29 / variety.com
Andrew Wallenstein President and Chief Media AnalystWhen Michael Ellenberg worked at HBO developing hit series including “Westworld” and “True Detective,” he was producing in a very difference climate than the one in which he finds himself now.He’s nearly five years into his own production company, Media Res, where he works on the other side of the fence selling series including “Pachinko” and “The Morning Show” to a growing roster of buyers — in sharp contrast to the days when his previous employer had the field to high-end premium entertainment all to itself.“There used to be, as you know, really one buyer for these kinds of shows,” Ellenberg said on the latest episode of the Variety podcast “Strictly Business.” “For the really big stuff, there were never that many networks, right? So there’s way more than there used to be.” Ellenberg dishes on what it’s been like to put together buzzed-about programming in the streaming era, including “Pachinko,” which just wrapped up its first season on Apple TV+. No word yet on whether there will be more episodes of the trilingual epic drama in the future, but he says Media Res is more than ready to make more of the critically acclaimed series if Apple gives the greenlight.“We actually only finish a portion of the events of the book in Season 1,” he said of the Min Jin Lee novel.
Big broadcaster Tegna is in the home strength of a long and sometimes contentious change of ownership, announcing that its shareholders have approved a sale led by investment firm Standard General.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge aka Dead Men Tell No Tales was released. A sixth outing as Jack Sparrow was in the works at Disney, claimed Johnny Depp in his on-going $100 million defamation lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard. However, the Hollywood star says he was dropped by the studio a couple of days after his former spouse's 2018 Washington Post op-ed claimed she was a victim of domestic violence.
Fox is finalizing a straight-to-series order to a black comedy about a meteorologist whose life unspools after a freak injury at work. Cindy Snow, from The Flight Attendant creator Steve Yockey and Warner Bros TV, was teased by Call Me Kat star and EP Mayim Bialik during Fox’s upfront presentation.
EXCLUSIVE: BBC One has given the greenlight to a second series of Alex Scott-hosted quiz show The Tournament from QI producer QITV.
The chances of Johnny Depp returning for the next “Pirates of the Caribbean” film aren’t great.
Anna Marie de la Fuente The estate of celebrated Mexican artist Frida Kahlo and Miami-based BTF Media have partnered to produce a TV series based on the life and works of Kahlo.Kahlo has been the subject of a slew of multiple films, documentaries and shorts. She was most famously portrayed in Julie Taymor’s Oscar-winning 2002 biopic “Frida,” starring Salma Hayek who garnered a best actress nomination for her portrayal of the artist.Kahlo’s family, represented by Frida Kahlo Management has partnered with BTF Media founders Ricardo Coeto and Francisco Cordero and with Hector Martinez, co-executive producer to co-produce the series inspired by the life of the iconic artist.According to Mara Romeo Kahlo, the painter’s great-niece, “the series seeks to portray Frida as she has never been seen before.
EXCLUSIVE: Peacock has acquired British drag doc City of Queens, the Sky doc which features star of RuPaul’s Drag Race Bimini Bon Boulash.
Jennifer Lopez is taking on a new project!
pic.twitter.com/8GD9BhKt7CLanier “was the epitome of ‘gentle giant,’ always in a good mood… ambassador for the game,” Charles Barkley said Tuesday night during TNT’s coverage of the NBA playoffs. “Just a wonderful man.
Channel 4 Puts 1,000 Hours Of Shows On YouTube: British broadcaster Channel 4 has signed a deal with YouTube to put 1,000 hours of programming on the Google-owned streaming platform. The agreement expands on an existing partnership between the companies and will allow Channel 4 to sell its own advertising around the show — a first-of-its-kind deal in the UK and Europe. Shows will begin rolling out this month and include 8 Out Of 10 Cats; Location, Location, Location; Nikki Grahame: Who Is She?, SAS: Who Dares Wins and The Dog House. Selected titles will be made available 30 days after their first broadcast on Channel 4 or younger sibling network E4. Channel 4 has been following a five-year ‘Future 4’ strategy to supercharge digital revenues, and its management believes today’s deal represents a “major step” in that process.
EXCLUSIVE:UK producer and distributor Signature has secured global rights to British true crime docs Bellfield and The Search for a Serial Killer.
EXCLUSIVE: London’s Blackbox Media and Latin American firm EO Media have paired up to develop a drama series based on a novel about the origins of famed Spanish video game company Dinamic Software.
Wilson Chapman editorCedric the Entertainer is behind “Finding Happy,” an upcoming dramedy series set to premiere later this year on Bounce TV, the channel announced Thursday. Created by Kendra Jo, the ten-episode “Finding Happy” stars comedian and actor B. Simone as Yaz Carter, a single woman working in the Los Angeles radio industry.
EXCLUSIVE: The Offer executive producers Nikki Toscano and Russell Rothberg have come on board Showtime’s upcoming series American Gigolo, from Paramount Television Studios. They will serve as consulting producers, working alongside Executive Producer David Bar Katz.
Hulu has ordered to series We Were the Lucky Ones, a limited series from Old 320 Sycamore and 20th Television that’s based on Georgia Hunter’s bestseller about a Jewish family separated at the start of WWI yet determined to reunite. Eight episodes are planned.
EXCLUSIVE: Don Johnson (Knives Out) will star alongside Isabelle Fuhrman in Andy Tennant’s thriller Unit 234, which is currently in production in the Cayman Islands.
EXCLUSIVE: NBA superstar Carmelo Anthony has boarded Lil’ Heroes, an animated series based on the NFT collection, from Exile Content Studio and Spanish artist Edgar Plans. Anthony and his producing partner and co-founder of his Creative 7 content company, Asani Swann, will executive produce the series and Anthony also will voice one of the characters in the series.
EXCLUSIVE: Kill List and Sightseers director Ben Wheatley is aboard as executive-producer on UK feature The Unraveling, which will reunite the creative team behind BAFTA and BIFA-nominated 2016 thriller The Ghoul.
EXCLUSIVE: Discovery+ is entering the world of teenage drag shows with Tyra Banks.
“Gaslit” has a funny way of recalling a dark moment in American history. It takes a step back and asks: what if Watergate was more of a Coen brothers farce than the tense, paranoid ‘70s thrillers that came after it? That air of absurdity, of eccentric morons making plans that were far from airtight, introduces the amusing disgust of this story.