Sky Studios, Production Arm of European Pay-TV Giant, Sets Contingency Plans for Second COVID Spike

Patrick Hipes Executive Managing EditorLos Angeles County director of public health Barbara Ferrer said Monday that there were 19 new deaths reported in the region from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the total in the cities of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Pasadena to 4,996 since the outbreak began in March.The new total does not include delayed data from the state, which Ferrer says they have not received and have not processed.Still, the latest county coronavirus numbers released today

Jill Goldsmith Co-Business EditorFox Corp.’s non-production employees will continue to work remotely at least through year end as COVID-19 cases spike and the company explores more flexible longer-term arrangments, said CEO Laclan Murdoch.“The rising rates of positive cases in areas where we have a significant presence coupled with evolving restrictions and best practices around the country are impacting and postponing our planned companywide return to work efforts this fall,” he said in a note

Tom Grater International Film ReporterOrganizers of the Sarajevo Film Fesitval, which was set to be one of the first international film festivals to take place in a meaningful physical form this summer, have made a late decision to shift the event entirely to online after a spike of infections in Bosnia.The fest had been due to take place August 14 – 21 in the Bosnian capital and the team have been bullish for months that it would be able to stage events in person despite widespread

Comcast-owned European pay TV giant Sky said on Tuesday that it will releaseThe Secret Gardenin cinemas and on its Sky Cinema service in the U.K. and Ireland on Oct.

Peter White Television EditorNat Geo was forced to shut down 77 productions, encompassing 394 hours of programming, across more than a dozen countries around the world in March when COVID-19 struck.It has been laboriously going through the process of getting many of these shows back to production and showrunners from four of its shows –  Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted, Running Wild with Bear Grylls, Queens and Category Six – were present at the network’s virtual TCA presentation to reveal how they’ve

nurse has said she would invite Boris Johnson to join her on a shift if there was a second wave of coronavirus, as hundreds of NHS workers marched to Downing Street demanding an immediate pay rise. NHS staff made their way to Whitehall on Wednesday evening, carrying banners that said " Clapping won't pay my bills " and "We helped you survive, now help us survive".

Alexandra Del Rosario editorLos Angeles County on Tuesday reported a total of 2,708 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 numbers, with the county’s Department of Public Health announcing 51 new deaths from the virus. It said it anticipates receiving a backlog of cases in the following days due to reporting delays, with three hospitals not reporting data today.With the new cases, the county has a total of 178,642 positive COVID-19 cases and 4,426 deaths to date.

Naman Ramachandran Comcast-backed specialty channel Sky Arts is set to go free-to-air from September, after years of speculation around the delivery of the U.K. arts offering.“It is really timely in a way, particularly because the arts and culture sector is in crisis in many ways,” Philip Edgar-Jones, director of Sky Arts, told Variety.

Jill Goldsmith Co-Business EditorNew U.S. jobless claims rose last week for the first time since March, sparking fears the economy is sputtering again as COVID-19 cases surge across the country and some reopened businesses shut down again.Some 1.416 million Americans filed for first-time unemployment benefits in the week ending July 18, up from 1.307 million the week before and above the 1.3 million expected.

Jake Kanter International TV EditorComcast-backed Sky Studios has revealed that it is collaborating with producers to rework major drama series in the event that the UK heads back into another Covid-induced lockdown.Deadline reported last week that series including Sky/Epix co-production Britannia and A Discovery Of Witches, which is made in partnership with AMC, will be back in production by the end of September.Sky Studios CEO Gary Davey confirmed this during a virtual Broadcasting Press Guild

Jake Kanter International TV EditorThe Great British Bake Off is now two weeks back into production and will likely return to television later this year, according to producer Love Productions’ parent company Sky Studios.The baking competition series, which is shown by Channel 4 in the UK and Netflix in the U.S.

Screenshot via KTTV Fox 11

Denise Petski Senior Managing EditorGrown-ish star Yara Shahidi is expanding her relationship with ABC Studios. Shahidi and her business partner and mother, Keri Shahidi, have signed an exclusive overall deal with the studio behind the hit series to develop and produce scripted and alternative television projects for cable, streaming and broadcast via their newly launched production company 7th Sun.

Jake Kanter International TV EditorSky original drama and comedies, including David Schwimmer show Intelligence, will broadcast in Canada under a new “multi-year” output deal with Corus Entertainment.From later this year, Corus will premiere multiple Sky series, including those funded or co-produced by the Comcast-owned broadcaster’s television arm, Sky Studios.

Manori Ravindran International EditorCanadian broadcast group Corus Entertainment has picked up a wide-ranging slate of comedies and dramas from Sky Studios.Sky Original dramas and comedies such as “Intelligence,” “Devils” and “Bulletproof” will land on Corus’s roster of channels and platforms, which includes national network Global Television, following the multi-year pact between Corus Entertainment and NBCUniversal Global Distribution, which absorbed the Sky Vision distribution banner in

Greg Evans Associate Editor/Broadway CriticThe Los Angeles County Department of Public Health today confirmed 37 new deaths and 2,770 new cases of COVID-19. To date, the department has identified 153,041 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of LA County, and a total of 4,084 deaths.Of the 37 deaths, 25 people were over the age of 65, nine people who died were between 41 and 65 years old and two people who died were between the ages 18 and 40.