Streaming TV Series Ahead Of Broadcast In Featuring Women In Front Of And Behind Camera, Latest “Boxed In” Study Finds

Hong Kong’s government is introducing two new funding schemes under the Hong Kong Film Development Council (HKFDC) aimed at boosting co-productions with other Asian countries and to support the production of streaming content in Hong Kong. The ‘Hong Kong-Asian Film Collaboration Funding Scheme’ will hand out grants of up to HK$9M (US$1.15M) to a maximum of eight films that are co-produced by Hong Kong filmmakers and their counterparts in Asian countries. Applicants will be able to seek other investors in cases where the production budget exceeds the grant. The ‘Content Development Scheme for Streaming Platforms’ will be conducted through a competition to select eight production teams to develop series for streaming platforms.

Kino Lorber has acquired MHz Networks, the owner and operator of subscription streaming outlet MHz Choice and a specialist in bringing international TV series to North American audiences.

Altitude has boarded sales on the Village Roadshow Pictures thriller The Prize, starring Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty) and Haley Bennett (Till). The London-based company will present the project to buyers at AFM this week, with additional support and review from Village Roadshow Pictures’ international sales team. 

Veteran Canadian-American voice actress Cree Summers has joined the cast of Marvel’s upcoming Disney+ series Ironheart, sources tell Deadline. A rep for Marvel declined comment.

Secret soldier. Robert F. Kennedy’s grandson Conor Kennedy revealed that he volunteered to fight in the Ukraine war and was “willing to die there.”

While Chad Stahelski wraps up post-production on “John Wick: Chapter 4,” he has one of his next projects lined up at Netflix. Deadline reports that Stahleski will direct the streamer’s feature film adaptation of the “Black Samurai” novels, about an American soldier who learns the way of the samurai.

Spanish auteur Fernando Trueba has wowed the cinema world over the years, and he has the accolades to prove it. He’s won three Goya Awards for Best Director, a Silver Bear for 1986’s “Year Of Enlightenment,” and the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1994 with “Belle Époque.” Now, Trueba’s 2020 drama “Memories Of My Father” finally gets its US theatrical release after the COVID-19 pandemic canceled its premieres at the 2020 Cannes Film Festival.

Selome Hailu During the 2020-21 TV season, a study found that streaming companies put more women in positions of creative power than broadcast networks did, though broadcasters featured slightly more women as major characters in their shows. But a year later, that same study has found that streamers now beat out networks on both fronts by slight margins. The study, titled “Boxed In,” has been run by Dr. Martha Lauzen, executive director of San Diego State University’s Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film, for 25 years now. Lauzen also conducts the yearly studies “Celluloid Ceiling” and “Thumbs Down: Gender and Film Critics, and Why It Matters.” Boxed In” considers one randomly selected episode of different series appearing on the broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CW) during primetime and streaming services (Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, Netflix, Paramount+, Peacock). In 2021-22, the study tracked over 3,000 characters and more than 3,800 production credits, adding to a total of over 53,000 characters and 66,000 credits since the study began during the 1997-98 TV season.

Thania Garcia The top of the U.S. album and singles charts remain unchanged this week, with Bad Bunny’s “Un Verano Sin Ti” keeping at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for a 14th non-consecutive week and Steve Lacy’s “Bad Habit” reigning at No. 1 on the Hot 100 for a third week in a row. “Un Verano” now ties Drake’s “Views” (2016) and Disney’s “Frozen” soundtrack (2014) for the most weeks at the summit in the past decade. Adele’s “21” scored a total of 24 weeks at No. 1 back in 2011 and 2012. “Un Verano” remains at the top with the equivalent of 84,000 units sold in the United States, according to Luminate via Billboard. Lacy’s “Bad Habit,” fueled largely by its command on streaming services and TikTok, holds its No. 1 streak on the singles chart with 42.3 million radio airplay audience impressions (up by 4% from last week) and 20.1 million streams.

Guardian, the total number of UK homes with at least one paid-for subscription has fallen by 937,000 between January and September.According to consumer behaviour insights company Kantar Worldpanel, just over 16million homes in the UK pay for at least one video-on-demand subscription service.Dominic Sunnebo, global insight director at Kantar Worldpanel, said: “One million households have stopped streaming. The reason people are cancelling is the need to save money.“The most recent quarter saw two of the most anticipated releases of the year, they ranked as the top two most enjoyed pieces of subscription video-on-demand content during the period, and yet we still saw a continuation of the negative trend of the market getting smaller.”The two aforementioned shows are Game Of Thrones prequel House Of The Dragon and The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Fox has given out an early Season 2 renewal to the Jon Hamm-led animated comedy “Grimsburg” before the show has even premiered. The announcement was made by Michael Thorn, president of entertainment for Fox Entertainment, during a MIPCOM panel moderated by Variety‘s co-editor-in-chief, Cynthia Littleton. “’Grimsburg’ is yet another clear example of our strong commitment to, and intense focus on, upholding the high bar of standards any show must exceed in order to reside under the Animation Domination banner,” Thorn said. “Of course, having Jon Hamm’s talent and star power front and center is a great place to start. Equally important, everything we’re seeing with ‘Grimsburg’ – from the very first scripts and show bible to animatics and preliminary cuts – makes us believe we have a winner on our hands that beautifully complements our animation brand.”

Director Rian Johnson confirmed that Daniel Craig’s popular Knives Out sleuth Benoit Blanc is Queer during a press conference at the London Film Festival. 

“There’s a lot of work around, I’ve been busy,” Emily Watson declared, brightly, over tea and crumbly biscuits at The Union, a private club in central London, as she chatted with Deadline about why she loves working in front of the camera.

Emiliano De Pablos Three years ago, platforms were asking Spanish producers for full rights to their TV fiction projects for all territories.  Times have changed. As platforms’ revenues taper off or slow in growth, originals are less habitual. Co-production is increasingly becoming the name of the game. A first-phase boom was triggered by Netflix titles “Money Heist” and “Elite.” Now, Spain is maintaining its momentum, remaining a priority region for Netflix, HBO Max and Prime Video. Newcomers Disney+, Paramount+ and Lionsgate+ have unveiled their first original productions.

Children who tell it like it is are judged more severely by adults than their soft-spoken counterparts, according to research.