Sky Deutschland Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Sky CEO Dana Strong has said she is “optimistic” that the company’s UK unit can keep hold of HBO content when its deal with Warner Bros. Discovery comes up for renewal in 2026.

We’re back again, Insiders. Jesse Whittock with you this week, as Netflix showcased its latest wares, Hong Kong welcomed the entertainment world and Argentinian film was plunged into crisis. Here we go. Sign up to the newsletter here. 

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Media and entertainment powerhouse Banijay has launched joint venture Dynamic Ally Pictures in Germany, further expanding its scripted capacity in the country. The Berlin-based production company, founded and led by “Helgoland 513” executive producers Veronica Priefer and Johannes Kunkel, is dedicated to developing, packaging and distributing scripted content for the German and international market.

Banijay Germany has taken another step into the scripted market by launching a joint venture with the executive producers behind Helgoland 513.

Naman Ramachandran The documentary projects vying for the 2024 Sunny Side of the Doc Global Pitch for Global Change award examine a range of topics linked to the sustainable development goals defined by the United Nations. On Feb.

EXCLUSIVE: Sky’s docu-series Juan Carlos: Downfall of the King has been snapped up for German free TV a day after launching on Canal+ in France.

Ladbible Execs Launch Digital Studio

The White Lotus actress Sabrina Impacciatore is set for Call My Agent‘s second season on Sky Italia.

The producers of Babylon Berlin have confirmed the drama will get a fifth season, despite partner Sky Deutschland pulling out of commissioning in the country.

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International Sky Deutschland, the German arm of Comcast-owned pay-TV operator Sky, is pulling out of scripted originals from 2024, Variety can reveal. Staff were notified of the surprise move by Sky Deutschland boss Devesh Raj on Thursday morning, local time. Variety understands that the entire scripted originals team will eventually be disbanded, though shows that have already been commissioned and are in production, such as post-apocalypse drama “Helgoland 513″ and “Das Boot” Season 4, will finish filming. Any projects in development will be “put into turnaround,” as per another internal note from Sky Studios CEO Cécile Frot-Coutaz, also seen by Variety.

EXCLUSIVE: Germany’s top scripted conference Seriencamp is headed for a new home in Cologne this summer, and its line-up is coming together.

Bayern Munich sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic has confirmed that the Bundesliga giants will be looking at three targets on Manchester United's radar in the summer.

Long-serving Sky Deutschland exec Quirin Schmidt is moving to Gaumont as an executive producer in April.

Sky Studios CEO Cecile Frot-Coutaz has called the plethora of shows on the market “really confusing” for viewers.

The rise and fall of former Spanish King Juan Carlos I will be told in a Sky docu-series later this year that will be teased at Berlin.

FIFA+ & Others License Football Doc ‘Brazil 2002: The Real Story’

Naman Ramachandran Collective Media Group and Entourage Sports and Entertainment‘s soccer documentary feature “Brazil 2002: The Real Story,” recounting the story of the 2002 World Cup on its 20th anniversary, has sold a raft of territories worldwide. The film uses six hours of unseen archive material shot by Brazilian soccer player Juliano Belletti during the tournament, and also features interviews with Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Cafu and Gilberto Silva from the World Cup winning Brazil team; and, from the opposing teams across the tournament, David Beckham, Michael Owen, Oliver Kahn, Hasan Şaş and Marc Wilmots as well as referee Pierluigi Collina. FIFA has taken the film for its own streamer FIFA+, for territories including Asia (excluding Japan), Turkey and New Zealand. This is complemented by deals confirmed by distribution partner Abacus Media Rights including: Canal+ Group for Canal+ Foot and myCanal (France); Sky Deutschland (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg); Sky Italia (Italy, Republic of San Marino, Vatican City, Malta, Capodistria, Montecarlo and Italian speaking Switzerland); DBS Satellite Services (Israel and West Bank); Supersport Africa (for Africa); NOS Portugal (Portugal and PALOPs); Movistar Plus+ (Spain); and Stan Entertainment Pty (Australia).

Naman Ramachandran Sky original drama series “The Lovers,” starring Johnny Flynn (“Beast”) and Roisin Gallagher (“The Fall”) has commenced production. The six-part series, written by playwright David Ireland (“Cyprus Avenue”) and directed by Justin Martin (“Together”), follows Janet (Gallagher), a foul-mouthed, disaffected Belfast supermarket worker and Seamus (Flynn) a self-centred, political broadcaster with what looks to be a perfect London life and a celebrity girlfriend.

An apocalyptic drama from the makes of Deutschland 83, a retelling of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and an emotionally-driven series set in Alabama are European giant Sky Deutschland’s latest trio of original dramas.

Sky Studios has hired CBS Studios international co-pros chief Meghan Lyvers as it seeks to significantly scale up its original UK drama output.

EXCLUSIVE: Leonine Studios has taken worldwide rights to German-Norwegian thriller series The Seed (working title), which is set around the explosive takeover of a seed company and comes from Chameleon writer Christian Jeltsch.

Israeli drama The Lesson has won two prizes in this year’s prestigious Canneseries Longform Competition.

Marta Balaga Following their collaboration on short “When the Hurlyburly’s Done” and “Killing All the Flies,” Alex Eslam and Hanna Maria Heidrich share directorial duties on eight-episode German Sky Atlantic series “Souls,” which competed at Canneseries this week.Produced by Geißendörfer Pictures and Sky Deutschland, its complex plot combines the concept of reincarnation, the kind of love that cheats death and even sees one of its characters, played by Julia Koschitz, caught in a time loop à la Bill Murray in “Groundhog Day.”“It was always clear to me that this topic was way too big to focus on just one storyline,” explains Eslam, who created the series. His protagonists, who seemingly have nothing in common, represent the past, present and the future connected to one tragic event: a passenger plane accident that left many questions unanswered. Until teenage boy Jacob, fresh off a traumatic incident of his own, announces that in a previous life, he was actually the plane’s pilot.

Emiliano De Pablos Munich-based Beta Film has closed a raft of major deals over Europe and beyond on Spanish TV dramas “You Shall Not Lie” and “La Fortuna,” two of the most successful recent originals produced by Movistar Plus, Spain’s biggest pay-TV/SVOD operator.Both series have been sold to Italy’s RAI and to HBO for its platform HBO Max for Eastern Europe, Benelux, the Nordics, Netherlands, and Portugal, among other territories.A six-part thriller by Pau Freixas, co-creator of “The Red Band Society,” “You Shall Not Lie” was sold to RTL Deutschland for Germany, where it will premiere on its streaming platform RTL Plus this spring.In France, the drama has been picked up by M6 with an exclusive window for its SVOD service Salto. Furthermore, Antenna TV secured rights for Greece and Cyprus, as well as Blue TV for Turkey.

Fremantle International Bolsters Scripted

Naman Ramachandran BBC Studios and Sky Deutschland have agreed an output deal for factual content in Germany.The long-term partnership agreement will see Sky Deutschland as the pay TV home for BBC Studios premium factual content in Germany, which will include 150 hours of factual titles from the BBC Studios catalogue. The factual output from BBC Studios can be seen on Sky Deutschland’s Sky Nature and Sky Documentaries channels.BBC Studios titles acquired under the deal include “Greta Thunberg A Year to Change the World,” “Louis Theroux: Shooting Joe Exotic,” “David Attenborough: The Sound of Nature” and “Primates.” In 2019, BBC Studios signed a partnership with Germany’s ZDF to produce factual shows, which includes the upcoming “Green Planet” presented by David Attenborough, alongside co-developing scripted TV series.

Amazon Prime Video has signed an expanded multi-year licensing deal for Germany and Austria with Leonine Studios.

German production house and distributor Leonine Studios has signed an expanded partnership with local broadcaster Sky Deutschland.

German production house and distributor Leonine Studios has signed an expanded partnership with local broadcaster Sky Deutschland.

ViacomCBS Networks International and Sky have teamed for a multi-year deal to make Nick Jr. and NickToons content available in German-speaking markets.