STV On Verge Of Acquiring ‘Lego Masters’ Production Group Greenbird From Keshet International

There’s a missing face at the That ’70s Show 25th anniversary activation at San Diego Comic-Con. Danny Masterson, who co-starred as Eric Forman’s best friend Steven Hyde in the Fox sitcom, is conspicuously missing from a shot of the main ensemble cast at the activation behind the Omni hotel.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Recently restored versions of William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist,” Terrence Malick’s “Days of Heaven” and Francis Ford Coppola’s “One From the Heart” feature in the Venice Classics section of the 80th Venice Film Festival. The lineup of recently restored films in Venice Classics, which is curated by the festival’s artistic director Alberto Barbera in collaboration with Federico Gironi, was unveiled on Friday. “The Exorcist” is screened, 50 years after it was produced by Warner Bros., alongside Disney’s “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm,” starring Shirley Temple and directed by “the prolific and sometimes brilliant” Allan Dwan, to mark the Hollywood studios’ 100th anniversaries.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent France’s Canal+ Group has acquired a 12% stake in Viaplay, the leading Scandinavian streamer which announced earlier today that it would cut 25% of its workforce. More to come.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Saudi filmmaker Abdulaziz Alshlahei (“The Tambour of Retribution,” “Zero Distance”) is set to direct timely drama “Hobal,” about a Saudi family living in isolation in the desert during the early 1990s. The film will be shot in NEOM, the sprawling production hub in Saudi Arabia’s northwestern corner. “Hobal” will be Alshlahei’s third feature, segueing from his groundbreaking social issues drama “The Tambour of Retribution,” about the forbidden love between an executioner’s son and a wedding drummer’s daughter in turn-of-the-century Riyadh. “Tambour” scored two prizes at the Cairo Film Festival, was released on Netflix, and was Saudi Arabia’s submission for the 2022 best international feature film Oscar.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Rome’s iconic monuments are getting lots of mileage in Hollywood movies this summer. Since May, the Eternal City has hosted the world premieres of “Fast X” and “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One,” two blockbusters that burned rubber and wreaked havoc on its cobblestoned streets. Universal held its “Fast X” red carpet in the Roman Forum’s Temple of Venus, with the Colosseum as a backdrop, in early May. Weeks later, Paramount descended for the June premiere of “M:I 7,” with Tom Cruise prancing down the same Spanish Steps that serve as the setting for spectacular car chases in both movies.

Fox has finally unveiled its fall schedule and, as expected, it’s full of unscripted series and animated shows.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Netflix has released first-look images of limited series “The Leopard,” based on the classic Sicily-set novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa that marks the streamer’s most ambitious Italian original to date. Production on the lavish historical tapestry with elements comparable to “Downton Abbey” or “The Crown” – and potential to make a global mark – is currently underway in the Sicilian cities of Palermo, Syracuse and Catania. The show is a modern take on the sensual Sicilian saga famously adapted into a film by Luchino Visconti starring Claudia Cardinale, Alain Delon and Burt Lancaster. The movie, now an Italian cinema classic, won the 1963 Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

Come one, come all, Insiders. Jesse Whittock back again this week to take you through the past week in international film and TV. Let’s get started. If you’re not already subscribed, click here and make that right.

EXCLUSIVE: Yesterday, Scotland’s STV confirmed one of the bigger deals in UK television so far this year when it announced the acquisition of indie production network Greenbird Media.

STV Studios has acquired the 15 companies operated by “Lego Masters” company Greenbird Media for £21.4 million ($27.3 million). Israel’s Keshet International acquired 60% of Greenbird five years ago. STV Studios has now acquired 100% of Greenbird, including Keshet’s stake. Greenbird founders, Jamie Munro and Stuart Mullin, will join the STV Studios board in the roles of chief commercial officer and finance and integration director respectively, working alongside COO, Paul Sheehan, and under the leadership of MD, David Mortimer. The deal boosts the number of labels within STV Studios from nine to 24. As a result of the acquisition, STV Studios now has expanded bases in Glasgow and London, as well as offices in Cardiff, Belfast, Brighton and Manchester.

STV has confirmed the acquisition of Lego Masters producer Greenbird Media, following Deadline’s exclusive report yesterday.

EXCLUSIVE: Keshet International has boarded Channel 5’s documentary on Sarah Everard’s killer Wayne Couzens.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Sales agency The Playmaker has signed with Lieblingsfilm to handle international sales for their Zlin Film Festival winner “What the Finn?!” (“Kannawoniwasein”). “What the Finn?!” is based on the children’s book by Martin Muser, which was adapted for the screen by Klaus Döring, Adrian Bickenbach and Stefan Westerwelle, who is also the director of the film. The film had its world premiere at Zlin, where it won the main prize, the Golden Slipper Award for Best Feature Film for Children. The Playmaker will present “What the Finn?!” at the upcoming German Films Previews in Potsdam (July 5 – 8), where it will screen for international buyers.

EXCLUSIVE: As the 57th edition of the Czech Republic’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) kicks off Friday, there will be renewed interest in the central European country’s local industry, particularly the curious case surrounding its incentive program for international productions.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Los Angeles-based Syrian director and producer Sam Kadi, who helmed the doc “Little Gandhi” about the life and death of young Syrian peace activist Ghiyath Matar and produced the Oscar-shortlisted animation film “Lamya’s Poem,” has signed for representation with management company Bohemia Group. Kadi’s first feature was the 2012 indie immigrant drama “The Citizen,” starring Egyptian actor Khaled Nabawy as a Lebanese immigrant who wins a green card through the U.S. lottery system and arrives in New York to claim his documents on Sept. 10, 2001. The drama, also starring Cary Elwes, then follows the protagonist’s hellish 10-year path to citizenship in post-9/11 America, including his detainment by homeland security and his deportation trial.

EXCLUSIVE: Shondrella Avery, who starred in Napoleon Dynamite, is developing a slew of unscripted projects after striking a first-look deal with Bling Empire producer Jeff Jenkins Productions.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Egyptian comedy “Beit El Ruby,” about social media’s disruptive impact on the life of a quirky family, has scored a strong opening weekend in Saudi Arabia, ousting “The Flash,” in its second frame, from the top spot. The local farce led by Egyptian superstars Karim Abel Aziz and Kareem Mahmoud Abdel Aziz was released on June 22. It has scored roughly 73,000 admissions across Saudi Arabia, grossing more than $1.1 million in its first frame. “The Flash,” by contrast, garnered a combined total of 91,000 admissions in Saudi cinemas in its first two frames. According to the film’s co-distributor Front Row Arabia, the “Beit El Ruby” bow marks the fifth highest opening for an Arabic film in Saudi, which is the Middle East’s top theatrical movie market.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Strand Releasing has acquired North American rights to “Fantastic Machine,” a documentary which is executive produced by Ruben Östlund (“Triangle of Sadness”) and won Sundance Festival’s Creative Vision Award. Directed by Axel Danielson and Maximilien Van Aertryck, “Fantastic Machine” went on to win both the Youth Jury Special Mention and the Cinema Vision 14+ awards at the Berlin Film Festival. The documentary examines humanity’s infatuation with images of itself, and the impact that has on an untethered free market flooded with photos from 45 billion cameras worldwide each minute.

Naman Ramachandran Keshet International (KI) has racked up several deals for scripted formats and finished tape in the Central and Eastern Europe region. KI has sold the format rights for Duo Productions’ 8 x 60’ relationship thriller “Too Much Love” (“L’homme qui aimait trop”) to Slovakian free-to-air broadcaster TV JOJ. Originally created by Canadian writing duo Michel d’Astous and Anne Boyer (“Taboo”) for Bell Media’s Quebecois streamer Noovo, the Slovakian adaptation will be produced by Piknik Pictures (“Traffic Light”). Currently in pre-production, with casting in progress, shooting will commence later this year ahead of a 2024 premiere on TV JOJ.

EXCLUSIVE: Julie Soto’s debut novel Forget Me Not is being adapted into a TV series by Universal International Studios, a division of Universal Studio Group.