Participants Selected For DreamWorks Theatricals, MTI & NBCUniversal Emerging Writers Program

Mod Sun is speaking out after his highly publicized split from Avril Lavigne. Last week, the couple called off their engagement, however, sources close to each artist released conflicting statements about the status of their relationship. A source close to Mod Son, 35, told ET, at the time, that Lavigne «said they were together and engaged as of three days ago when he left for tour, so if anything has changed that's news to him.»Alternatively, a source close to Avril, 38, tells ET, «Avril and Mod Sun have broken up and called off their engagement.

Julia MacCary editor “Better Call Saul” actor Bob Odenkirk, “Pitch Perfect” star Anna Kendrick and acclaimed comedians Chelsea Handler and Eric André are among the lineup South by Southwest (SXSW) announced for its upcoming comedy festival. The comedy festival will include improv, stand-up showcases, live podcast recordings and conversations. In addition to Odenkirk, Kenrick, André and Handler, the comedy lineup features Abbi Jacobson, Adrienne Iapalucci, Andre Hyland, Anthony Atamanuik, Anthony DeVito, Aristotle Athari, Beth Stelling, Brian Moses, Caitlin Peluffo, Caleb Hearon, Christina Catherine Martinez, Doug Benson, Eddie Pepitone, Emma Willmann, Felipe Esparza, Godfrey, Greg Proops, Ismael Loutfi, Jackie Fabulous, Jake Johnson, James Adomian, Jessica McKenna, Joe DeRosa, John Gemberling, Josh Johnson, Joyelle Johnson, Katherine Blanford, Leonard Maltin, Matt Besser, Mike Lawrence, Natalie Palamides, Nick Thune, Patton Oswalt, Pete Lee, Phoebe Robinson, Rachel Sennott, Reggie Watts, Sabrina Jalees, Sam Jay, Sam Tallent, Sandy Honig, Steve Agee, Steph Tolev, Stuart Goldsmith, Tim Robinson, Todd Barry, Tone Bell and Yamaneika Saunders.

Former Manchester United player Wes Brown has backed Erik ten Hag to go with his strongest back four in the Carabao Cup final against Newcastle.

EXCLUSIVE: Chandus Jackson has been selected as the inaugural recipient of the Writers Program fellowship from CBS Studios/NAACP Production Venture and The Black List.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Jan Naszewski’s Warsaw-based sales outlet New Europe Film Sales has sold North American distribution rights for its Berlinale-selected drama “Delegation” to Greenwich Entertainment. “Delegation” is a story of three Israeli high school friends who take part in a class trip visiting Holocaust sites in Poland – their last time together before going to the army. During the trip, shy boy Frisch, aspiring artist Nitzan and class heartthrob Ido deal with issues of love, friendship and politics against the backdrop of concentration camps and memorial sites. The journey will change them forever. The deal for the film, which had its premiere in the Generation 14Plus competition, was negotiated by Naszewski and Greenwich co-president Edward Arentz.

Shayeza Walid “Autobio Pamphlet” (“Aatmapamphlet”), debuting in the Berlin Film Festival’s youth-focused Generation 14plus strand competition, takes on the twin tasks of telling the coming of age story of both its young protagonist and of India. The Marathi-language film marks the directorial debut of Ashish Bende, who previously assisted on several films in India’s flourishing Marathi industry, including award-winning 1970s-set coming of age film “Shala” (2011). The film depicts momentous occasions in the life of Ashish, a so-called “lower caste” boy from the Dalit community in 1980s and 1990s Maharashtra, who falls in love with his classmate from the so-called “upper caste” Brahmin community. The narrative is largely based on Bende’s childhood and teenage years. It follows Ashish and his friends – who are from a variety of castes and religions – as they realize the divisive nature of the caste system, and overcome the challenging socio-political changes around them through kinship and a celebration of differences. 

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Less Is More (LIM), a European development scheme for limited-budget feature films has unveiled its selection of 16 projects, four of which are from Ukrainian writers and filmmakers. The initiative is backed by the MEDIA Programme of the European Union. The French national board (CNC) has come on board to support this year’s special spotlight on Ukrainian projects, alongside the banner Terrarium. The programs, which develops first, second and third feature projects, is organized by the Groupe Ouest, a film org created in 2006 in Brittany, in Northwest France, and headed by Antoine Le Bos and Charlotte Le Vallégant.

EXCLUSIVE: Sony Pictures Television (SPT) is kicking off its 2023 Diverse Writers Program giving 10 participants the opportunity to link up with industry professionals in a four-week course.

Christopher Vourlias The crime noir genre gets a distinctly South African twist in the new series “Donkerbos,” which premiered its first episodes this week as part of the Berlinale Series Market Selects lineup at the European Film Market. The show begins when the bodies of six children are found in the forests of a provincial backwater town, and a local detective (Erica Wessels) is called in to investigate the shocking crimes. But as the series unfolds, she’s forced to wrestle with her dark past, her family and a distrustful community to catch the killer before another child is taken. Written and directed by Nico Scheepers, “Donkerbos” is produced by Nagvlug Films and sold globally by MultiChoice, which bowed the show last year on its SVOD platform Showmax.

Ernie Hudson is recalling his time on Ghostbusters and how difficult it was for him. The actor played Winston in the Ivan Reitman-directed movie.

Avril Lavigne and Mod Sun's relationship status is being called into question. Nearly a year after the couple got engaged, reports surfaced that they have called it quits.However, a source close to Mod Son, 35, tells ET that the singer «said they were together and engaged as of three days ago when he left for tour, so if anything has changed that's news to him.»Alternatively, a source close to Avril tells ET, «Avril and Mod Sun have broken up and called off their engagement.

They’ve called it quits a little less than a year after announcing their engagement and they definitely seemed happy, so why did Avril Lavigne and Mod Sun break up?

Don Lemon is returning to the air amid controversy.

Christopher Vourlias Firefly Productions is prepping a new high-end drama that the Belgrade-based outfit is billing as Serbia’s first ever superhero series. “Generation Tesla” is based on the famed Serbian American inventor Nikola Tesla, best known for his pioneering work on electricity. In the series Tesla creates an electric frequency at the time of his death that opens a portal to a new dimension, where many of his unfinished projects and ideas are hidden. As the keeper of a vast trove of secrets and knowledge, Tesla must confront the greatest enemy ever known to man, who is looking to steal the secret of this mysterious frequency to rule the world. To fight him, Tesla assembles a team of superheroes, whom he contacts through a video game-obsessed teenager, in order to save the planet.

Marta Balaga Crime shows look for a new angle, argued Berlinale Series participants on Monday.  There is no shortage of new offerings, from Berlinale Market Selects’ “Two Sides of the Abyss,” Serbia’s “The Fall” or South Africa’s “Donkerbos,” created by Nico Scheepers, to China’s melancholic, decades-spanning “Why Try to Change Me Now,” with Golden Bear winner Yinan Diao attached as executive producer. But while there is still an appetite for traditional detective stories, producers and broadcasters are venturing out of the “damaged, middle-aged white detective slot on a Sunday night,” suggested All3Media International’s Rachel Glaister. They are also thinking about their younger audience.

Ed Meza @edmezavar “Snow,” an Austrian-German co-production and one of 16 titles presented in the Berlinale Series Market Selects showcase, weaves the timely issue of climate change and local folklore into a suspenseful mystery drama set in the picturesque Austrian Alps. Brigitte Hobmeier stars as Lucia, a physician who with her husband and children moves to the village, where she is replacing the local doctor, who is retiring. Things take a troubling turn when her daughter is visited by a strange woman at night. The series presentation at the EFM event brings the title back to Berlin, where it came together in 2020 at the Berlinale Co-Production Market’s Co-Pro Series event.

Don Lemon will return to CNN This Morning on Wednesday following the backlash over comments he made last week about when women were in their “prime.”

EXCLUSIVE: India’s Zee Studios, headed by CEO Shariq Patel, is starting to become a regular on the international film festival and TV market circuit. 

Naman Ramachandran Singapore-based film production outfit Potocol, whose “Tomorrow is a Long Time,” by Jow Zhi Wei bowed at the Berlin Film Festival’s Generation 14plus competition, has revealed a diverse Asian slate. Potocol’s recent triumphs include Bangladeshi filmmaker Abdullah Mohammad Saad’s Cannes selection “Rehana Maryam Noor” and Indonesian director Makbul Mubarak’s Venice winner “Autobiography.” The company, led by Jeremy Chua who is currently at the Berlinale, has a growing reputation for championing the rise of young filmmakers from across Asia. Potocol has four films in post-production and several more in development. Nicole Midori Woodford’s debut feature “Last Shadow at First Light” is a supernatural road trip drama that follows a Singaporean teenager tracing the footsteps of her missing mother in Japan and explores the ripple effects of a traumatic event subconsciously buried within the family unit.

Naman Ramachandran India’s Platoon One Films, co-producers of Berlin Film Festival Panorama strand title “Ghaath” (“Ambush”), has seven films in the works. Four films are in advanced development. Police procedural “Bayan” by Bikas Mishra (“Chauranga”) was developed at Film Independent’s Global Media Makers program in Los Angeles and the film is supported by the International Film Festival Rotterdam’s Hubert Bals Fund. Drama “Kadminche,” the feature directorial debut of Tushar Paranjape, writer of Berlin Crystal Bear winner “Killa,” has Rinku Rajguru (“Sairat”) attached to star. Action fantasy film “Don’t Sleep” will mark the Hindi-language debut of Arun Bose (Malayalam-language “Luca”). And Agrim Joshi and Debojit Das Purkayastha, creators of series “Candy” for Viacom18 streamer Voot Select, will make their feature directorial debut with psychological thriller “Influenzaa.”