Taraji P. Henson’s TPH Entertainment Inks Overall Deal With BET Studios (EXCLUSIVE)

Heidi Klum walked into her judging gig on America’s Got Talent on Thursday in style, sporting a sheer white crop top under some uniquely patterned overalls. The denim wear featured suns, smiley faces, eyes, and sunflowers, making for an upbeat look. The supermodel paired the style with rose-tinted sunglasses, white strappy stiletto heels, and a large white purse, also sporting her signature blonde locks down and lightly tousled.

MipTV returned to Cannes after two years with a much-reduced list of exhibitors, a compact agenda and bare Palais exteriors, devoid of its usual quirky advertising. Organizer RX had the “pandemic effect” on its side, with most delegates on the ground — just over 5,000 in all, they say — appreciative of in-person meetings and reconnecting with long-lost contacts.

Manori Ravindran International EditorA Vice Studios documentary series on the 2014 disappearance of Malaysian flight MH370 has been sold to History Channel in the U.S. and a raft of broadcasters in Europe.Vice Distribution, the global distribution and licensing arm of Vice Media Group, pre-sold the three-part series, entitled “MH370: The Lost Flight,” into A+E Networks’ History, TV2 in Denmark and Viaplay across its European territories (Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Poland and the pan-Baltics).

EXCLUSIVE: Natalie Chaidez (, Queen of the South) has signed an exclusive multi-year deal with Warner Bros. Television. As part of the deal, she will develop and create original programming via WBTV for all platforms.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentMediawan Rights, the commercial arm of the European media powerhouse, is set to expand its scope with the launch of a sales division dedicated to light entertainment programming. Estelle Bodén, an industry veteran, has been appointed head of distribution of this newly-created unit.Bodén will report to Valérie Vleeschhouwer, managing director of Mediawan Rights, and will be in charge of developing and structuring this new initiative.Boasting 25 years of experience, the executive previously worked at Strix Television, the outfit behind hit reality TV formats such as “The Farm” and “The Bar.” In 2004, Bodén co-founded Friday TV whose portfolio included factual formats around the world, notably “Clash of the Choirs,” “Single Moms” and “Minute to Win It” which aired on NBC in the U.S.

EXCLUSIVE: Mike Leech and Zach Smilovitz, co-creators of Stephen Colbert Presents Tooning Out The News, are staying put at CBS Studios, the studio behind the Paramount+ animated news satire. The duo have renewed their overall deal at the studio, originally signed in 2020, where they will continue to write and produce across all platforms.

EXCLUSIVE: Carlton Cuse is returning to Amazon Studios. The prolific, Emmy-winning writer-producer, who co-created and was showrunner for the first two seasons of the Prime Video Original Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, has signed a first-look deal with Amazon Studios. Under the multi-year pact, he will develop and produce projects to premiere on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.

EXCLUSIVE: Amina Munir is formalizing her relationship with Universal Television.

Julia Garner is going into business with Tomorrow Studios. The Ozark star — who formed Alma Margo with producing partner Rowan Riley — has signed a first-look deal with the company founded by CEO Marty Adelstein.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterJulia Garner has signed a first-look television deal with Tomorrow Studios, Variety has learned.Under the deal, Garner and her producing partner, Rowan Riley, will develop scripted series via their Alma Margo production company for Tomorrow Studios, an ITV partnership.“Above all else, Alma Margo is looking for bold and original content, so we thought it only natural to partner with a studio that also fits that description,” said Garner and Riley. “We are incredibly proud to be working with Tomorrow Studios who exhibit every quality that we’re looking for in a partner: intelligence, drive, experience and passion.”Garner is perhaps best known for her role in the critically-acclaimed Netflix series “Ozark,” which will release the second half of its fourth and final season in April.

MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount want to stay in business with the Emmy-winning Antoine Fuqua and his Hill District Media banner. The executive producer of the Paramount+ drama Mayor of Kingstown has signed overall deal with the studios that will focus on original scripted and unscripted content for TV.

EXCLUSIVE: Wrestler Brandi Rhodes has been hosting cooking show Shot of Brandi on YouTube for the last four years. Now, she’s looking to step up to television and has partnered with Scream and Teen Wolf producer DIGA Studios to achieve that.

Naman Ramachandran Future Studios and women’s destination Marie Claire are teaming for digital true crime series “On the Record with Marie Claire.”The seven-part anthology series will feature female-focused stories of women seeking justice, told from the viewpoint of a central character directly linked to the case in question. Each episode, which is 7–12 minutes long, features archive film and stills and evidence from an individual case, alongside Marie Claire’s storytelling and investigative reporting.

Rich Moore, the Oscar-winning filmmaker behind such titles as Zootopia and Wreck-It Ralph, has entered into an exclusive, multi-year overall deal with Skydance Animation, which will see him create, develop and produce original animated features for the studio.

Skydance Animation has landed another major talent.Rich Moore, director of “Zootopia,” “Wreck-It Ralph” and “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” is joining the team in an exclusive, multi-year overall deal. Under the new pact, Moore will create, develop and produce original animated features for the studio.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaRWS Entertainment Group has tapped Keith Senglaub as its next chief financial officer.A former Feld Entertainment finance executive, Senglaub joins RWS with more than 30 years of experience in corporate leadership roles ranging from controller to CEO.“The past 12 months have been incredibly exciting, including the launch of several new divisions within the company and the acquisition of JRA,” said RWS Entertainment Group Founder and CEO Ryan Stana. “Keith Senglaub’s expertise and experience are exactly what we need to stay at the forefront of the entertainment industry.”As CFO of Feld, Senglaub provided corporate financing strategy, deal execution and risk management, working with such brands and productions as Disney on Ice, Sesame Street Live and The Trolls Experience.

Tony McNamara, creator of Hulu series The Great, is staying in the Disney family.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterABC Signature has signed a two-year overall deal with Tony McNamara, the Oscar- and Emmy-nominated writer who created Hulu’s “The Great” and penned films “The Favourite” and Disney’s “Cruella.”Under the pact, McNamara will develop and supervise projects for the Disney Television Studios-owned division.“Tony’s work on ‘The Great’ and ‘Cruella’ is sly, subversive and delicious, and we made it our mission to get this spectacular talent to our studio,” ABC Signature president Jonnie Davis said in a statement Wednesday. “Thankfully, he said ‘yes.’ We’re so excited to support him in whatever he wants to do next.”McNamara is the creator, showrunner, and executive producer of the Emmy-nominated series “The Great” on Hulu, starring Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult, which is based on his stage play.

K.J. Yossman Film Mode Entertainment has inked a multi-project distribution deal with Australian director/producer Luke Sparke’s company Sparke Films.Among the titles Film Mode will represent worldwide are Sparke’s upcoming projects “Weapons of Choice,” a television adaptation of John Birmingham’s World War Two trilogy “Axis of Time” and “Primitive War,” a horror feature franchise based on Ethan Pettus’ book series.Film Mode will also handle worldwide sales rights for “Occupation: Rainfall 2” and “Occupation: Rainfall 3” – the third and fourth films in Sparke’s franchise – as well as a number of other projects still in development.

EXCLUSIVE: Former Grown-ish co-showrunner Jeni Rice-Genzuk Henry has signed an overall deal with BET Studios, the venture launched last year by Paramount and BET to generate premium content from Black creators for Paramount+, Showtime, CBS, Nickelodeon, BET+ and BET, as well as select third-party platforms.