Spain’s Mediacrest, Finland’s ReelMedia, YLE Co-Develop Climate Change Thriller Series ‘17kHz’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Apple TV+‘s latest series, “The Last Thing He Told Me,” is an adaptation of the book of the same name written by Laura Dave, who is also one of the show’s co-creators alongside Josh Singer and Lauren Neustadter. The novel was published in May 2021 and quickly became a bestseller, having sold almost two million copies in the United States alone and remained a New York Times bestseller for more than a year.

Kate Bosworth calls in a mayday in the first trailer for her upcoming movie, Last Sentinel.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer What started as a singing competition special featuring Wiz Khalifa and Bebe Rexha that aired during NBA All-Star Weekend on TNT is now being shopped as a full-format series, Variety has learned. From “The Biggest Loser” and “World of Dance” executive producer Alex Katz, co-founder of Anagram Studios, the special was titled “The Sum” and though it prominently featured Wiz Khalifa and Rexha, they weren’t the competitors. Their fans, singing along to their hit songs, were the real players. Per “The Sum’s” description, “‘The Sum’ is an original concept based on the best part of any concert — fans singing along with the artists, also known as ‘the common chorus effect.’ In ‘The Sum,’ fans share the spotlight with their favorite music stars by performing a song together.”

Lainey Wilson and Piper Perabo, has been an incredible experience, and they both feel there's a whole lot of story to tell.Wilson and Perabo both walked the carpet at this year's Billboard Women in Music awards gala in Los Angeles on Wednesday, and they spoke with ET's Diedre Behar about their time on the hit modern Western and rumors that it might be coming to an end.«It's been crazy, you know, I feel like I learned something about myself that I didn't even know,» Wilson said of her time on the show — which also marks the country singer's acting debut. «I feel like I just I love being creative, whatever that means, and diving in head first.

Lainey Wilson and Piper Perabo, has been an incredible experience, and they both feel there's a whole lot of story to tell.Wilson and Perabo both walked the carpet at this year's Billboard Women in Music awards gala in Los Angeles on Wednesday, and they spoke with ET's Diedre Behar about their time on the hit modern Western and rumors that it might be coming to an end.«It's been crazy, you know, I feel like I learned something about myself that I didn't even know,» Wilson said of her time on the show — which also marks the country singer's acting debut. «I feel like I just I love being creative, whatever that means, and diving in head first.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Netflix has ordered the limited series “Zero Day” starring Robert De Niro in his first regular television role, Variety has learned exclusively. In addition, Lesli Linka Glatter has boarded the show and will direct and executive produce all six episodes. Variety previously reported that the series was in development at Netflix in November. It hails from writers and executive producers Eric Newman and Noah Oppenheim. Per the official logline, “Zero Day” “asks the question on everyone’s mind — how do we find truth in a world in crisis, one seemingly being torn apart by forces outside our control? And in an era rife with conspiracy theory and subterfuge, how much of those forces are products of our own doing, perhaps even of our own imagining?”

Emiliano De Pablos Boston-based sales agent 34T has picked up international sales rights to Spanish writer-director Ana Ortiz’s feature debut, psychological thriller “El claro de las luciérnagas” (“Firefly Glades”). Produced by Sergy Moreno at Madrid’s White Leaf Producciones, the film is structured as a Spanish regional co-production, teaming with Magnética Cine’s María Barroso in Andalusia and Joaquín Calderón at Navarra-based Melitón Films. “Firefly Glades” figures among the 22 projects selected at Málaga’s 2023 Festival Fund & Co-Production Event (MAFF), which runs March 13-16 as part of Málaga Festival’s growing Mafiz industry area.

Game of Thrones star Natalie Dormer is leading a thriller for South African network M-Net.

It seems like a million years ago, because so much has happened in the realm of prestige TV since, but the BBC/AMC thriller series, “The Night Manager,” was only released back in 2016. However, it’s been long enough that folks just assumed that one season of the John le Carré adaptation was all we’d ever get.

The broadcast of the 48th edition of French Cesar’s awards was interrupted briefly on Friday night after a young woman suddenly appeared on stage.

Katie Reul editor The Elephant Whisperers Kartiki Gonsalves’ documentary debut, “The Elephant Whisperers,” released on Netflix, shines a spotlight on the ways in which climate change and human encroachment are rapidly destroying the habitats of Asian elephants. The film’s dire warning is subtly woven into a heartfelt narrative about forging family in unlikely places with elephant caretakers Bomman and Bellie at its core. The duo raise an orphaned elephant named Raghu, whom they’ve cared for since infancy, as well as another calf named Ammu. “[Bomman and Bellie] are still understanding the process of what the Oscars exactly are, but they’re just overwhelmed with messages and calls and really happy to share their lives with such a large audience,” Helmer Kartiki Gonsalves told Variety. “I don’t think they’ve ever had this kind of recognition before.”

Emiliano De Pablos Buenos Aires-based production outfit Mil Monos is teaming with writer-director Pablo Agüero (“Primera nieve,” “Akelarre”) and writer-creator Nicolás Britos (“Limbo,” “Pibas en orsai”) to develop dystopian coming-of-age thriller series project “Decibel.” Produced by Mil Monos’ Maximiliano Monzón, “Decibel” is currently at pilot script stage, and a shoot start is planned by January 2024, tentatively in Argentina. Written by Britos, the eight-episode, half-hour thriller follows five deaf teenagers born in a mountainous region. When The Hum, a sound that transforms every person who can hear it into a frenzied killer, is unleashed, their deafness makes them immune.

BreAnna Bell ITV America (“Queer Eye”) and production studio Good Company (Beyonce’s “Lemonade”) have announced new unscripted series “Category Is” (working title), an eight-episode documentary series focusing on New York City’s Ballroom scene through the lens of one of its most prominent houses: The House of Miyake-Mugler. Executive produced by Yusef Williams (“Overall Father” of the House of Miyake-Mugler), the series chronicles the personal and professional lives of nine members of this all-Black and queer “chosen family.” Power struggles, romance and interpersonal rivalries abound as they battle to make names for themselves in the House, the Ballroom scene and around the world, smashing stereotypes and overcoming tremendous adversity.

Marta Balaga Berlin-based X Filme Creative Pool will adapt one of the most successful German-language podcasts, “Zeit Crime” (“Zeit Verbrechen”) into an anthology series for Paramount +. Awarded the German Podcast Prize, “Zeit Crime” is based on the criminal investigations of Sabine Rückert and Andreas Sentker. According to producer Jorgo Narjes, it currently boasts 5 million streams per month and an average of 1.5 million listeners per episode, “most of them female and in their late twenties.” So far, the podcast consists of more than 100 episodes.  Filming started this month and will continue until the end of June 2023.

Emiliano De Pablos Madrid-based Aquí y Allí Films, one of Spain’s most successful auteur movie production houses, is joining forces with popular Spanish actor turned writer-director Daniel Guzmán (“Nothing in Return,” “Canallas”) to produce drama thriller “La deuda.” Backed by Spain’s pay TV giant Movistar+ and public broadcaster RTVE, “La deuda” will be produced by Aquí y Allí’s Pedro Hernández and Guzmán at El Niño Producciones. The film is scheduled to roll in Madrid by the fall. Written by Guzmán, “La deuda” tells the story of Lucas, a 37-year-old man and the 86 year-old woman Antonia, who live together in a city too big to be alone. Lucas is looking for a job but the job seems not to be looking for him.

Emiliano De Pablos Top Spanish producer Nostromo Pictures, which is behind Netflix hit “Through My Window,” is partnering with Beta Fiction Spain to launch “Hermano Caballo,” a documentary by Marcel Barrera, director of  “Mediterraneo: The Law of the Sea” and “100 Meters.” “Hermano Caballo” marks the first documentary produced by Nostromo Pictures and also the first handled by Beta Fiction Spain, the Spanish arm of Jan Mojto’s European studio Beta Film, which launched last year. The documentary focuses on reknowned Catalan wrangler Santi Serra, developer of a natural training technique based on creating bonds with horses and learning through play. 

Naman Ramachandran Bollywood star Karisma Kapoor has made a triumphant return to acting with Zee Studios’ noir thriller “Brown,” the only Indian show at the Berlin Series Market Selects platform. Kapoor, one of the top movie stars in India in the 1990s and early 2000s, took a hiatus to devote time to her young family. She made a comeback with parenting-themed series “Mentalhood” for streamer ALTBalaji in 2020. “Brown” is her first acting gig since then. The series is based on the 2016 novel “City of Death” by Abheek Barua, adapted by Digvijay Singh, Sunayana Kumari and Mayukh Ghosh and directed by Abhinay Deo (“24: India”). It follows Rita Brown (Kapoor), a world-weary, recovering alcoholic, ace detective in the Kolkata police force belonging to the city’s small but influential Anglo-Indian community, who is assigned to the murder case of a young woman from a well-connected family.

Emiliano De Pablos Spain has found a place on the global film industry’s radar as an attractive market for co-producing projects, boosted by its bigger-than-ever-public-sector funding. The trend comes in a moment of maturity for its audiovisual industry, with competitive tax incentives and the emergence of fresh talent, often female, whether directors or producers. Unlike U.S. indie producers, hard hit by streamers pulling back, European counterparts still have public sector financing. But to make movies of any artistic ambition, which might justify that funding and break out to foreign sales and a theatrical release, producers are looking overseas more and to other parts of Spain for production partners.

Emiliano De Pablos Spain has proved ever more successful in luring some of the biggest movies and series, and although 2020 saw a large rise in tax breaks, the big hike came in December. New record tax advantages raised relief for international productions to up to €20 million ($21.4 million) per movie and $10.7 million for any single series episode. In the Canary Islands — operating a special tax regime — the film tax break ceiling is now an extraordinary $38.6 million, one of the highest in Europe. Effective Jan. 1, deduction rates for foreign productions are set at 30% for the first $1.1 million of deductible expenses and 25% for the rest in the Peninsula, and 50%- 45% in the Canaries.