‘Pitch Perfect’: Todd Strauss-Schulson To Direct & EP Pilot Of Peacock Spinoff Series

Naman Ramachandran Ukrainian film producer and co-founder of the Ukrainian Film Academy Julia Sinkevych (“Heat Singers”) has been selected as jury president for this year’s Series Mania Festival and its international competition. “She has always been committed to supporting Ukrainian artists and the culture of her country from Kyiv, where she lives,” the festival said in a statement.

The Co-Founder of the Ukrainian Film Academy has been named Jury President for this year’s Series Mania.

BBC Studios And Sky Deutschland Strike Factual Content Deal

For almost 70 years St Mary's Catholic church in Cheetham Hill has been at the heart of Ukrainian life in Manchester.

EXCLUSIVE: Dan Stevens (Legion, Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga) has been tapped for a key role in the Hulu limited series Immigrant (working title), starring and executive produced by Kumail Nanjiani, from Pam & Tommy creator Robert Siegel.

K.J. Yossman Sky have released first look images for a new Sky Original drama, “Unwanted.”Inspired by the book “Bilal,” an investigative book from journalist Fabrizio Gatti, the eight-part series tells the story of an undercover human rights defender who is helping migrants journey from Africa to Europe as they battle human traffickers and government officials.Stefano Bises (“Gomorrah”) created and wrote the series in collaboration with with the collaboration of Alessandro Valenti, Bernardo Pellegrini and Michela Straniero.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentOnly six months after its 2021 edition, Series Mania will be back with a sprawling selection, including the world premieres of Michael Hirst’s “Billy The Kid” (pictured), the Israeli series “Fire Dance” and rap music-themed French show “Le monde de demain.”Underscoring the large presence of streamers within the roster, Series Mania will kick off with Netflix’s “Standing Up,” a new comedy series from “Call My Agent” creator and showrunner Fanny Herrero; while Disney Plus’ “Oussekine,” about a tragic case of police brutality in France, will close the festival.The lineup boasts 58 series spanning 21 countries. These were chosen from 331 series.

Series Mania has unveiled the nine shows from six countries competing for the prestigious International Competition along with revealing the lineup and guests of honor for this year’s edition, the first to take place in person for three years.

Holly Jones Karlsson: It’s also the expectations they put on themselves. Harry’s constantly torn between what he feels is good music and what is just making money, a concern he shares with his father.

Berlinale Series Market. It has grown into one of continental Europe’s biggest TV events. Following, seven takes on this year’s edition.TV Tail Wags Film DogThe Berlinale Series Market used to be a burgeoning sidebar.

Jamie Lang Featuring in this year’s eight iteration of the Berlinale Co-Production Market’s Co-Pro Series, Italian drama “Belcanto” will hope to follow a trail blazed by former participating European standouts such as “Babylon Berlin,” “Freud,” “Furia,” and last year’s Series Mania winner “Blackport.”Co-created by the trio of Mariano Di Nardo, Antonio Manca and Federico Fava and produced by leading Italian distribution-production house Lucky Red, the series project is set in 1798, as 14-year-old Carolina, her 17-year-old sister Antonia and their mother Maria seek refuge in the city of Milan after stabbing their violent father to death.The elder sister dreams of becoming a renowned singer, much as her mother once hoped for when she was the girl’s age. However, an unhappy and often violent marriage waylaid young Maria, who is now willing to go the extreme lengths to ensure that her daughter is afforded every opportunity withheld from herself.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefCritically-acclaimed Australian series “The Newsreader” is set to air in 80 additional territories, following a string of rights sales deals organized by Entertainment One. The six-part show was licensed to the BBC (U.K.), Arte (France and Germany), RTE (Ireland), Viaplay (the Nordic and Baltic regions, Poland and The Netherlands), Cosmo (Spain), Filmin (Portugal and 2nd window in Spain), Now TV (Hong Kong), Telus (Canada) and NBCUniversal International Networks & Direct-To-Consumer (Latin America).Starring Anna Torv and Sam Reid, “The Newsreader” centers around the frantic, busy heart of a commercial TV newsroom set in the 1980s, while following the relationship between an ambitious young TV reporter and the star female news anchor.

EXCLUSIVE: Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz will co-write and co-direct Spanish Dracula, the true story about how silent film star and Mexican actress Lupita Tovar found a second wind starring in  Spanish language versions of Hollywood films like the Universal classic Dracula. The Weitz Brothers are her grandsons, and they will produce through Depth of Field, along with Pancho Kohner. He is their uncle and author of The Sweetheart of Mexico, a memoir he helped his mother write about her most fascinating life.

Jamie Lang Belgium’s Panenka, producers of recent VRT breakout hit “Two Summers” – which premiered last week to a jaw-dropping 51% market share in its prime-time slot and which will soon be released worldwide by Netflix – will virtually pitch one of their upcoming projects, “This is Not a Murder Mystery,” at Berlin Co-Pro Series.One of 10 such projects set for this event, Co-Pro Series marks the first public pitch for “TINAMM,” with the creative team looking to the right co-production and distribution partner to help realize their murder mystery series. Panenka producer Kristoffel Mertens hosts the virtual Co-Pro pitch with co-creators Paul Baeten and Christophe Dirickx.Baeten is a novelist, essayist and TV screenwriter, whose credits include two seasons of the acclaimed drama series “Over Water” and the aforementioned “Two Summers.” Dirickx has written and produced several feature films, including Cannes players “The Misfortunates” from director Felix van Groeningen and Frank Van Passel’s “Manneken Pis.” International Emmy-nominee Hans Herbots (“The Spiral”) and Matthias Lebeer, a winner of two Golden Lions at Cannes for his work on GT Academy Europe, will direct.

Jamie Lang Norwegian broadcaster NRK has boarded Hummelfilm’s coming-of-age crime drama series “Nowheresville,” one of 10 projects participating in this year’s Berlin Co-Pro Series where producer Marte Hansen and series creator-director Rebecca W. Kjellmann are virtually pitching the series to potential partners, financers and broadcasters.Development on the project is already well underway, with four finished scripts and outlines for the show’s other four episodes already banked.“We are currently continuing the writing process, while working on the financing and production set-up for the series,” the partners explained to Variety before pitching in Berlin.

Marta Balaga Danish helmer Lone Scherfig is already developing the second season of “The Shift”, she revealed on Monday during an online Berlinale Series Market talk “From Film to Series.”Set in a maternity ward and starring Sofie Gråbøl and Pål Sverre Hagen, it’s the first series as a showrunner for Scherfig, who in 2019 opened Berlinale with “The Kindness of Strangers” and won a Silver Bear for “Italian for Beginners.”“It’s a tribute to the people who work in the healthcare system under extreme pressure, to the care and the love they show, even despite tough working conditions,” she said. “The Shift” is produced by Creative Alliance, with Beta Film handling the sales.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentItalian multi-hyphenate Nicolò Bassetti is an urban planner and director, whose doc “Into My Name,” screening in Berlin’s Panorama Documentary section, provides an eye-opening look at the universal challenges of gender transition.The doc features Nico, Leo, Andrea, and Raff, whose ages span from their mid-20s to mid-30s, and come from different parts of Italy. They start their gender transition at different times in their lives within a tight-knit group of friends in the central Italian city of Bologna.“Into My Name,” which is being supported by Elliot Page, stems from Bassetti’s personal experience with the gender transition of his child, Matteo.

Tim Dams One of the highlights of the Berlinale Series Market is the pitch event Co-Pro Series, which looks to match projects with suitable co-producers and financiers.Ten international series projects from Europe, Canada and Latin America have been selected to pitch at this year’s Co-Pro Series, where they will also have the opportunity of meeting one-on-one with potential partners.Taking place over two days (Feb. 15-16), and held online once again due to the pandemic, Co-Pro Series has a track record of showcasing drama projects that have not only gone on to be produced, but that have also achieved success.International hit “Babylon Berlin,” Austrian-German crime series “Freud,” Norwegian-German domestic terrorism drama “Furia,” Icelandic thriller “Blackport” and 1920s-set German drama “Eldorado KaDeWe” have all participated in previous Co-Pro Series pitches.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentTel-Aviv-based Cinephil, the sales company behind triple-Oscar nominated “Flee,” has snapped up world rights, excluding U.S., to Italian director Nicolò Bassetti’s transgender-themed doc “Into My Name,” which is executive-produced by Elliot Page.UTA Independent Film Group will be handling North American rights. The buzzy doc, which world-premieres at the Berlin Film Festival in the Panorama Documentary section, stems from Bassetti’s personal experience with the gender transition of his child, Matteo.“Into My Name” provides an intimate look at the universal challenges of gender transition by observing a tight-knit group of trans friends in the central Italian city of Bologna. Cinephil managing director Olivier Tournaud in a statement said that he was “immediately taken” by Bassetti’s “sensitive and relatable exploration of the many facets of gender and even more so the love letter from a father to his son.”“Into My Name is timely and spotlights voices that need to be heard; this is exactly the kind of film Cinephil is proud to represent,” Tournaud noted.Bassetti underlined that for him the doc “is a deeply personal project, both as a parent of a transgender son and as a director who has always explored individual paths that show our shared humanity.” “I trust that together with a strong partner such as Cinephil, we can add to the awareness and understanding of trans issues with international audiences,” the director said.The doc’s characters, Nico, Leo, Andrea and Raff — whose ages span from their mid-20s to mid-30s — come from different parts of Italy, and started their gender transition from a female to a male identity at different times in their lives.