Ravindran International Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Manori Ravindran International Editor British model and actor Cara Delevingne got to be herself on screen for the first time in her forthcoming docuseries “Planet Sex” and says she realized she was more of a prude than she thought. Speaking in Cannes at international TV market Mipcom on Tuesday, the 30-year-old said the Fremantle-produced show for Hulu and the BBC took her in directions she never imagined when offering to tell her personal journey with sexuality in a series. “I went into the masturbation seminar thinking it was going to be a classroom and I’d have a notepad, and instead it was a pink, leather gym mat on the floor, with six people going, ‘Well, take your underwear off. This is the lube,’” explained Delevingne. “I didn’t realize I was a prude. I think I’m a pretty hip, young, cool, down-with-anything kind of girl but I was like, ‘Sorry what? Sorry, no, absolutely not, I will not do that.’ But I kind of did everything I felt comfortable doing.”

Manori Ravindran International Editor The David Tennant-starring “Litvinenko” has sold into AMC+ and Sundance Now in the U.S., along with a host of other buyers in 80 international markets. The drama has pre-sold ahead of its debut on ITV’s forthcoming U.K. streaming service ITVX, which launches this fall, and NENT Group’s Viaplay streaming service in the Nordics, Netherlands, Poland and Baltics. Written by George Kay (“Lupin”) and produced by Patrick Spence, ITV Studios and Tiger Aspect Productions, the drama tells the story of Alexander Litvinenko, the former Russian Federal Security Services and KGB officer, whose death from polonium poisoning in November 2006 triggered one of the most complex and dangerous investigations in the history of the Metropolitan Police.

Manori Ravindran International Editor British TV industry leaders are set to convene at an event in celebration of deaf, disabled and neurodivergent talent that will address their lack of representation on screen and commit attendees to specific action points. Created by Bridge06 and Hot Coals Productions, the event — entitled About Time! — is positioned as a “call to action” for broadcasters, commissioners, casting agents, producers and agents — key roles that are central to improving the opportunities for deaf, disabled and neurodivergent creative communities. Taking place on Oct. 28 at BAFTA, the event will feature 10 working deaf, disabled and neurodivergent actors, musicians and performers and will be hosted by the BAFTA-nominated “Don’t Take My Baby” actor Ruth Madeley and “Coronation Street” star Cherylee Houston.

Manori Ravindran International Editor New York’s South Asian International Film Festival has appointed Chayan Sarkar as its new president. A filmmaker, entrepreneur and festival director, Sarkar is also the founder of the Indian International Film Festival of Queensland in Australia. He takes over from SAIFF founder Shilen Amin, who will step down as president, but will remain a member of the festival’s board of directors. Sarkar joins SAIFF as the festival enters its 19th year as a leading film festival in the U.S. for new cinema from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, and within the Indian diaspora. In recent years, SAIFF has become increasingly influential as a platform for South Asian cinema, both in the U.S. and internationally. Fourteen of India’s submissions for the international feature film Oscar have had their North American premieres at the festival.

Manori Ravindran International Editor “Baroness von Sketch Show” star Carolyn Taylor will front a new unscripted comedy series for Canadian streaming service Crave, produced through Catalyst and Blue Ant Studios. The six-part comedy series has been commissioned by the Bell Media-owned SVOD, and is produced by Catalyst — the Toronto-based development and funding company focusing on women-centric content — and Blue Ant Studios as part of a strategic partnership to develop female-generated programming for the global marketplace. Taylor is best known as one of the stars and co-creators of CBC’s comedy hit “Baroness von Sketch Show,” which aired across five seasons from 2016 to 2020. Starring four female comedians, the satirical sketch comedy offered clever takedowns of contemporary culture through the female gaze. Some of the show’s most famous skits include “Private Vagina,” “Mom Says Hello” and “Not All Men.”

Manori Ravindran International Editor Netflix has struck deals with European cinema giant Vue International and Cineworld to put “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” in British movie theaters. The film will screen at select Vue and Cineworld cinemas across the U.K. an entire month before the movie hits the streaming service. “Glass Onion” will screen from Nov. 23-29, and then leave cinemas for three weeks before dropping on Netflix on Dec. 23. Tickets are now on sale for the U.K. cinema run. Tim Richards, founder and CEO of Vue International, said: “This is an exciting moment in our relationship with streaming platforms and for the wider ecosystem as a whole. Studios have recognized the value of the theatrical window and now we’re seeing Netflix embracing the big screen theatrical release too.

Manori Ravindran International Editor “Monty Python” star John Cleese is set to host a regular show on right-wing news channel GB News next year. The 82-year-old actor revealed his new project on BBC Radio 4’s popular “Today” program on Monday morning. “I was approached and I didn’t know who they were,” said Cleese of GB News, which set up shop in Britain in 2021. “I don’t know much about modern television because I’ve pretty much given up on it — I mean, English television. Then, I met one or two of the people concerned and had a dinner with them and I liked them very much. “What they said was, ‘People say it’s a right-wing channel, but it’s a free speech channel,’” explained Cleese, who is working on the show with political satirist and comedian Andrew Doyle.

Manori Ravindran International Editor BAFTA has made key changes to its Television and TV Craft awards in an attempt to level the playing field for women in historically imbalanced categories such as directing. For the 2023 awards, which are set to take place next spring, the Director categories of factual, fiction and multi-camera will see the top three male and top three female directors from the Round One membership vote automatically going through to jury consideration. The new intervention is a first for the TV Craft Awards, and intended to increase the visibility of women at the crucial longlisting stage, “with the longer-term aim to encourage a greater representation of women considered,” according to BAFTA.

Manori Ravindran International Editor When presenter June Sarpong agreed to take on the most public-facing diversity and inclusion role at the BBC in the fall of 2019, the corporation — and indeed the world — was a different place. “I joined when the BBC was just coming out the other side of everything that had happened with [breakfast presenter] Naga Munchetty,” Sarpong tells Variety on her last official day at the BBC, capping off three years as head of creative diversity. “Feelings were heightened.” The U.K. public broadcaster was smarting from a heavy backlash against the attempted censure of Munchetty, who was reprimanded for breaching impartiality guidelines after she criticized, on air, then U.S. President Donald Trump for perceived racism. The decision was overturned by then BBC director general Tony Hall, but only after widespread outcry against the corporation for punishing one of its top hosts for calling out racism, which many felt should be exempt from impartiality rules.

Manori Ravindran International Editor BFI festivals director Tricia Tuttle is stepping down from the role after 10 years. This month’s edition of the London Film Festival will be her last in the post. Tuttle has, for the last five years, led as director the BFI London Film Festival as well as BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival. She was previously deputy head of festivals from 2013 to 2017. She will remain in the role through to early 2023, while the BFI recruits for a new festivals leader. Tuttle leaves the festival during what’s shaping up to be one of its strongest editions yet: the festival has more world premieres than ever this year, with headline films including Matthew Warchus’ “Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical,” Guillermo del Toro’s “Pinocchio” and Asif Kapadia’s “Creature.”

Manori Ravindran International Editor BAFTA is expanding its U.S. awards activity with the year-round presentation of Special Awards to recipients in North America. BAFTA Special Awards are honorary awards presented to those who have made a significant contribution to film, games and television through a particular project or their overall body of work. The Special Awards, which among others include the Outstanding Contribution to Cinema Award and the Fellowship Award, are a mainstay of the British Academy’s U.K. prizes. BAFTA says these year-round awards are an “evolution” of the Britannia Awards ceremony, an event that was previously hosted once a year in Los Angeles, and which last took place in 2019. The org has made clear to Variety that the Britannia’s aren’t necessarily canceled, but will rather take on a different shape as more awards are presented across the calendar year.

Manori Ravindran International Editor “RuPaul’s Drag Race U.K.” contestant George Ward, who performed as Cherry Valentine, has died at the age of 28. A cause of death is still unknown. Ward, who also worked as a mental health nurse, starred in Season 2 of the British “Drag Race” adaptation in 2021. Ward’s agent Emma Bunning confirmed the news of his death, on Sept. 18, to Variety and shared a statement from the actor’s family: “It is with the most heart wrenching and deepest sadness to inform you that our George – Cherry Valentine – has tragically passed away,” reads the statement. “This will come as a profound shock to most people [and] we understand there is no easy way for this to be announced.

Manori Ravindran International Editor “Kim’s Convenience” producer Thunderbird Entertainment Group has appointed Nelson Huynh as director of distribution sales. Huynh will license Thunderbird’s animated and live-action kids series from Atomic Cartoons and primetime scripted series to broadcasters and streamers with a focus on Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Latin America and Asia. Reporting to Richard Goldsmith, president of global distribution and consumer products, he will also work to secure commissions, pre-sales and co-productions for new series from Thunderbird’s animated, scripted and unscripted (from in-house production banner Great Pacific Media) series production divisions.

Manori Ravindran International Editor “Shantaram” star Alexander Siddig is set to lead a supernatural series for Brazilian streaming service Globoplay. “Fallen,” which has begun principal photography, will star Siddig alongside Sarah Niles (“Ted Lasso”), Jessica Alexander (“Get Even”), Gijs Blom (“The Letter for the King”) and Timothy Innes (“The Last Kingdom”). Produced by Silver Reel and Night Train Media, and co-produced with Globoplay, “Fallen” (8 x 60′) follows the story of Luce, a young woman who is sent to a cult-like rehab facility called Sword & Cross to serve time for a crime she can’t remember committing.

Manori Ravindran International Editor Canada’s Sphere Films has signed a multi-picture deal with A24 that will cover nine of the U.S. studio’s films in the Canadian market. Under the deal, Sphere Films will theatrically release pics including Charlotte Wells’ Cannes breakout “Aftersun,” which is currently screening as part of TIFF, and Ari Aster’s “Disappointment Blvd.” starring Joaquin Phoenix. The latter is believed to be A24’s biggest production to date. The A24 deal comes off the back of Sphere Films’ acquisition of MK2 Mile End in April. Charles Tremblay, former boss of MK2 Mile End and now the president of Sphere Films, said: “We felt that by joining a larger media company like Sphere that would help our chances of being a larger distributor than on our own.”

Manori Ravindran International Editor IFC Films has acquired the U.S. rights to “Operation Avalanche” director Matt Johnson’s new movie, “BlackBerry,” about the ill-fated smartphone that took the world by storm in the early 2000s. The highly anticipated film, which was first revealed by Variety last month, tells the story of the meteoric rise and catastrophic demise of the BlackBerry, and stars an ensemble cast including Jay Baruchel (“This Is the End”), Glenn Howerton (“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”) and Cary Elwes (“Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning”). The pic will detail the operations of BlackBerry’s Canadian parent company Research in Motion, which was one of the country’s most illustrious and well-known tech companies before it floundered in legal disputes and eventually lost its market advantage to competitors such as Apple and Samsung. At the heart of the story is the business relationship between co-founders Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie.

Manori Ravindran International Editor New Zealand rugby icon Jonah Lomu and former Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel will be the subjects of two new documentaries from U.K.-based sales agent and distributor Dogwoof and Sylver Entertainment. The companies previously collaborated on “McEnroe,” a documentary about the tennis great John McEnroe, which was released in U.K. cinemas in July and premiered on Showtime on Sept. 2. As development financiers and executive producers on both projects, Dogwoof will be presenting the projects to buyers at the Toronto International Film Festival this week.

Manori Ravindran International Editor MTV Documentary Films has boarded new projects about an all-girl Afghan robotics team, a #MeToo crime story, an imprisoned mural artist and a community of disabled children in Pakistan. The documentaries join a slate that includes Ondi Timoner’s Sundance title “Last Flight Home,” which will be screening at Telluride this week in a rare double festival act. The fledgling division, which was Oscar-nominated for the film “Ascension” earlier this year, was set up in 2019 by legendary HBO Documentary Films boss Sheila Nevins, and ViacomCBS executives Liza Burnett Fefferman and Nina L. Diaz. Nevins was at HBO for 38 years and won 34 Emmys in that period. Her credits include “Citizenfour,” “Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief” and “Paradise Lost.”

Manori Ravindran International Editor “Tár” is going to get people talking, but its star Cate Blanchett has made clear that she’s “not interested in agitprop.” The Oscar winner is in Venice for the world premiere of the Todd Field-directed movie, and was in good spirits as she addressed journalists at a Thursday press conference. The Focus Features pic stars Blanchett as fictional Lydia Tár, a globally renowned, gay and sometimes tyrannical conductor of a German orchestra, who finds herself in the crosshairs of a perilous #MeToo scandal. The film is Field’s first movie in 16 years, following the acclaimed “Little Children” (2006) and his breakout “In the Bedroom” (2001).

Manori Ravindran International Editor Georgia Brown, head of Amazon Studios in Europe, is stepping down after five years in the role, Variety can reveal. The executive’s last day at the business is Wednesday (Aug. 31), though her departure is understood to have been in the works for some time. Brown is believed to be moving on to another opportunity, though it’s not yet clear what or where her new role will be. Brown has been a strong and prominent ambassador for Amazon Studios in Europe, and was the first executive hired to lead originals for the continent. In the 2016 to 2018 period, when a number of the global streaming services were first setting up shop internationally and kept their executives largely out of view, Brown was always front and center for Amazon, keen to discuss her local-first strategy.

Manori Ravindran International Editor Britain’s leading lady of the TV action thriller, Keeley Hawes, is back. The star of “Bodyguard” returns in “Crossfire,” another nail-biting thriller for the BBC in which Hawes plays a holidaymaker whose sunbathing session on her hotel balcony becomes a nightmare when shots ring out across the complex, turning her world upside down. The scenario will remind audiences of her turn as the U.K. home secretary alongside Richard Madden’s bodyguard in the eponymous BBC drama, which became a global hit when it was picked up by Netflix. The setting for “Crossfire,” however, is a far cry from London’s Westminster, instead set at a luxury resort in the Canary Islands.

Manori Ravindran International Editor “The Last Days of the Space Age” creator David Chidlow has signed with CAA for representation. The writer-director works across shows in the U.K., Australia and the U.S. Most recently, he is the writer, creator and showrunner behind Disney+’s eight-part series, “The Last Days of the Space Age.” Set in 1979 Western Australia, the series is billed as a comedy drama that centers on three families whose relationships are put to the test while major social and political events — such as the Miss Universe pageant and the U.S. Space Station Skylab crashing just outside the suburb — throw everything into disarray.

Manori Ravindran International Editor“Love Island” host Laura Whitmore has quit the U.K. reality show after two and a half years.Whitmore, a close friend of former host Caroline Flack, famously took over from the long-time presenter in January 2020, shortly after her December 2019 arrest for domestic assault and two months before Flack’s untimely suicide.

Manori Ravindran International Editor“Poldark’s” Aidan Turner will star as a maverick coach guiding an up-and-coming tennis player (Ella Lily Hyland) to stardom in Amazon Prime Video’s new U.K. drama “Fifteen-Love.”Created by Hania Elkington, “Fifteen-Love” explores the fictional story of Justine Pearce (Hyland), a young sports prodigy, who enjoyed a meteoric rise in the world of Grand Slam Tennis, aided by her coach Glenn Lapthorn (Turner), with whom she shared an intense rapport.Together they reached the semi-final of the French Open but Justine’s dream was cut brutally short by a devastating injury and the end of her professional career.

Manori Ravindran International Editor“Are You The One?” is crossing the pond.A British version of the hit matchmaking series is launching later this summer on MTV channels outside the U.S. and via streamer Paramount+ in the U.K. The show is the first U.K.

Manori Ravindran International Editor“Sex Education” star Mimi Keene has signed with UTA in all areas.Keene stars in Netflix comedy “Sex Education” as Ruby Matthews opposite Asa Butterfield, Gillian Anderson and new “Doctor Who” star Ncuti Gatwa. Keene’s Ruby is one of the main characters on the show, and rules over fictional high school Moordale with an iron fist, but goes on a journey in the show’s later seasons, eventually striking up a relationship with Butterfield’s Otis Milburn.“Sex Education,” one of Netflix’s biggest shows out of the U.K.

Manori Ravindran International Editor“Spinning Gold” director Timothy Scott Bogart has set up his next projects on the heels of his musical biopic about his father, Casablanca Records founder Neil Bogart.Bogart will produce the semi-autobiographical feature “North Star” from Oscar nominee Jim Sheridan (“My Left Foot,” “In the Name of the Father”), which tells the story of the director’s early life in Northern Ireland. U2 musicians Bono and The Edge are in discussions to compose original music for the film, Variety can reveal.Meanwhile, Bogart will also write and direct the modern pop-music driven, 1191-set “Marian,” which charts the love story of Robin Hood and Maid Marian, with music from Grammy-winning songwriter Evan Bogart.

Manori Ravindran International Editor“Snowpiercer” producer Tomorrow Studios has struck a first-look deal with Frank Spotnitz’s London-based production company Big Light Prods.Under the deal, Tomorrow Studios will tap into Big Light’s network of established and emerging writers and its pursuit of IP for projects to produce together under one development slate.Big Light Prods. specializes in returning and limited dramas for the global market.

Manori Ravindran International Editor“The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power” star Simon Merrells and “We Hunt Together’s” Hermione Corfield will lead the sci-fi thriller “A Million Days.”Signature Entertainment (“Elizabeth: A Portrait in Parts”) will introduce the film to buyers at next month’s Cannes Film Festival as part of its international sales slate. The film is the third pic from photographer and director Mitch Jenkins, whose debut feature “The Show” was written by graphic novel legend and “Watchmen” creator Alan Moore.The film stars Simon Merrells (who will soon appear in the “Lord of the Rings” prequel series for Amazon’s Prime Video) alongside Hermione Corfield (“Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi”), Kemi-Bo Jacobs (“London Has Fallen”) and Darrell D’Silva (“Wrath of Man”).

Manori Ravindran International Editor“The English Patient” co-stars Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes will reunite in Uberto Pasolini’s “The Return,” a gritty retelling of Odysseus’ return home from war.The film is an original take on Homer’s “The Odyssey” with a script by John Collee (“Master & Commander”) and U.K. playwright Edward Bond, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his work on Michelangelo Antonioni’s “Blow-Up.”“The Return” is produced by James Clayton and Pasolini for Red Wave Films, while Roberto Sessa’s Picomedia is providing funding.

Manori Ravindran International Editor“It’s a Sin” actor Lydia West is set to star alongside Patricia Clarkson in spy thriller “Gray.”Stuart Ford’s AGC Studios is financing the eight-part show and will distribute it in the U.S., represented by CAA, while Lionsgate International will handle distribution in the rest of the world.West co-stars alongside Clarkson, who plays CIA spy Cornelia Gray who emerges from 20 years in hiding, dodging the government agents who suspected her of being a traitor. But just as she returns to her old life, it’s discovered that there’s a new mole in her old spy network.West replaces “Game of Thrones” star Nathalie Emmanuel, who was previously attached to star in the series.“Gray” is produced by AGC Television, the television production and distribution arm of AGC Studios.

Manori Ravindran International EditorNetflix may not have been at the MipTV market in Cannes in any substantial way this year, but the service was certainly front and center in a keynote by HBO Max International boss Johannes Larcher.In a bold presentation, Larcher pointed to his competitor’s international might as a motivating factor for HBO Max’s own growth outside the U.S. In a number of slides dedicated solely to Netflix, the former Hulu exec highlighted the projected growth in Netflix’s international subscribers from 2021 to 2026 (147 subscribers in 2021 to an estimated 266 subscribers by 2026).“Netflix is clearly reaching saturation in the domestic market.

Manori Ravindran International Editor“The Killing Fields” and “The Mission” director Roland Joffé is in talks to helm an epic drama spanning the two World Wars in a project set up with international film and media fund APX Capital Group.“L’Inverno” is the first pic to emerge from APX’s new Music World Films & TV venture — a new division headed by Mathew Knowles (Beyoncé’s father), who sold his Music World Entertainment Group to APX last month. As part of the deal, the film and TV division of Knowles’ company has been merged with the studio.APX will complete the financing on “L’Inverno,” with the $12-million budgeted movie starting principal photography in Rome, Italy, this fall.

Manori Ravindran International Editor“Dexter” and “The Blacklist” producer Daniel Cerone has boarded the U.K. adaptation of Japanese crime drama format “Connected,” Variety can reveal.The veteran producer is overseeing the U.K.

Manori Ravindran International Editor“Black Panther” director Ryan Coogler, one of the most promising directors working in Hollywood today, was detained by Bank of America staff in Atlanta back in January after he was mistaken for a bank robber.The director confirmed the incident to Variety. “This situation should never have happened,” he said.

Manori Ravindran International Editor“Sexy Beast” is back, and it’s part of a slate of six international scripted originals heading to Paramount Plus, Variety can reveal.The long-simmering “Sexy Beast” prequel series has evidently been resuscitated for the streamer after being scrapped for Paramount Network in 2020.The U.K.-originated show, based on the cult classic film of the same name, centers on the characters of Gal Dove and Don Logan (originally played by Ray Winstone and Ben Kingsley, respectively) as they descend into London’s criminal underbelly during the volatile 1990s.Paramount Plus describes the series as “a love story between two men — à la Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” It’s produced by Chapter One and VIS, with showrunner Michael Caleo (“The Sopranos”) attached. Also heading to Paramount Plus out of the U.K.