The CW Bolsters Unscripted Further With Hire Of NBCU’s Betsy Slenzak

MipTV and Mipcom, Cannes two TV trade fairs, announcing final figures of 5,560 participants, including 5,510 on-site delegates.  That said, attendance was sizeably down on pre-pandemic levels – 9,500 attendees in 2019 – with major European drama sales companies literally counting the cost of attendance and exhibition space versus Mip-driven sales. In a fast-evolving TV landscape, the future and identity of MipTV still remains uncertain. 10 takeaways from this year’s edition:

WE tv has commissioned two new music-centric series.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent One of France’s most beloved and long-running TV hosts, Arthur Essebag, is preparing to take his leading unscripted production banner Satisfaction into English-language markets with top partners, ranging from James Corden, Leo Pearlman, Ben Winston, Benjamin, Gabriel Turner, Richard Bacon to Elisabeth Murdoch. A few days after announcing its stake in Yes Yes Media, the company founded by Richard Bacon alongside Elisabeth Murdoch’s Sister Media, Satisfaction has formed a joint venture with Fulwell 73, the U.K.-based production company behind “The Late Late Show With James Corden.” The London-based outfit was founded in 2005 by Winston, Pearlman and Benjamin and Gabriel Turner. Corden was appointed a director in the company in 2017. Although the banner is headquartered in the U.K., as much as 70% of its turnover in 2020 came from the U.S. where Winston has produced the Grammy Awards, among other shows.

Fox Alternative Entertainment (FAE) is building up its international slate through its International Formats Fund.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “John Wick: Chapter 4” easily outgunned Japanese animation film Suzume to claim top spot at the South Korean box office over the latest weekend. The American action title earned $4.05 million between Friday and Sunday, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). That represented a nearly 50% market share, continuing a polarization or clustering around a single title that has become familiar of late in Korea, a market that formerly had greater diversity and width. Over the five days since its Wednesday opening, “John Wick 4” earned $5.87 million.

While Harry Potter and Game of Thrones may have scored the biggest headlines at this morning’s newly rebranded Max launch event, one of the more understated nuggets was the handful of unscripted originals coming to the service.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief ITV has commissioned a second season of the comedy-drama series “The Dry” for ITVX. It will be produced by Element Pictures (part of Fremantle), in association with Fís Eireann/Screen Ireland and ITV Studios, in partnership with RTÉ. Nancy Harris (Dates) and acclaimed director Paddy Breathnach (Viva, Rosie) will return to helm the second season, which will stream exclusively on ITVX next year. The first season was made available to view for free on the streamer last month. With the story picking up seven months after the end of the first, Roisin Gallagher will return as recovering alcoholic Shiv Sheridan, alongside regular cast members from the first series. Further casting details will be confirmed later. in due course.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Cinedigm has acquired all North American rights to the Japanese sci-fi horror film “New Religion.” “New Religion” is a surrealist body horror film written, directed and produced by first-time feature filmmaker Kondo Keishi. It stars Seto Kaho, Nunami Daiki, Oka Satoshi and Ryuseigun Saionji. After her daughter’s death, divorced Miyabi begins working as a call girl. One day, she meets an unsettling customer who wants to take pictures of her body parts. Soon, she realizes that every time she allows her body to be photographed her daughter’s spirit gets closer. She must decide how far she is willing to go to connect with her daughter once again.

EXCLUSIVE: Beverly D’Angelo (National Lampoon’s Vacation), Dennis Haysbert (Far from Heaven), Nicole Richie (Bless This Mess) and Josh Peck (How I Met Your Father) are among the newest additions to the indie comedy Summer Camp from writer-director Castille Landon (After franchise).

EXCLUSIVE: What started as a short open letter about working conditions in the UK unscripted sector has turned into a full-on campaign with backing from more than 1,000 people and the nation’s largest broadcasting union.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief American rap musician Cardi B has joined the voice cast of upcoming animation film “Baby Shark’s Big Movie!” The film is the first feature-length spin-off from “Baby Shark’s Big Show!,” a pre-school series which began in 2021 on Nickelodeon-branded channels and platforms and is now in its second season. The show is co-produced by Nickelodeon Animation and Seoul, Korea-based The Pinkfong Company and directed by Alan Foreman (“The Casagrandes,” “Welcome to the Wayne”). Its narrative follows Baby Shark and his family as they move to Chomp City, the big city of sharks.

Aristomenis Tsirbas’s ‘Timescape’ Sells WorldwideBudapest-based sales outfit Luminescence has unveiled a slew of deals for Canadian director Aristomenis Tsirbas’s adventure film Timescape. Newcomers Sofian Oleniuk and Lola Rossignol-Arts star as two youngsters who travel back in time to prehistoric times, where they encounter dinosaurs while trying to escape from an approaching asteroid. Luminescence took the film to the EFM where it secured deals to Australia (Eagle), France (Factoris), Hungary (ADS), Italy (Plaion), Japan (Nikkatsu), Korea (Yejilim), Latin America (Leda Films), CIS (,Nashe Kino), Middle East (Front Row), South Africa (Filmfinity) in Taiwan (Cola Films) and the UK (Dazzler). The film was released theatrically in Canada via TVA Films in late 2022. XYZ Films acquired all U.S. rights earlier this year. The film was produced by David-Alexandre Coiteux at Fullum Films and Faisal Toor at Empress Road Pictures.

EXCLUSIVE: Channel 5 is on the brink of finding a new producer for its next Jane McDonald and Susan Calman shows. This follows owner Paramount Global’s decision to close the Viacom International Studios (VIS) UK unscripted division, revealed by Deadline last month.

Liv Tyler has officially returned to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and there’s already photos of her on the Captain America 4 set!

Princess Charlene's absence has once again sparked divorce rumours from her husband Prince Albert of Monaco. In recent weeks, the couple have faced a vast amount of speculation about the future of their 11-year marriage. The couple were married in 2011, and will celebrate their 12th anniversary in July this year.

“Shazam! Fury of the Gods” hit theatres on March 17, resulting in a disappointing opening weekend with just $65 million at the worldwide box office — a 43 per cent drop from the first “Shazam” movie.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Viz Media has picked up a wide collection of rights in North America and Latin America to animated Japanese sports series “Captain Tsubasa: Junior Youth Arc.” The series is adapted from a popular manga by Yoichi Takahashi and is licensed by Shueisha Inc. The deal includes digital streaming, TV, electronic sell-thru, home video and merchandise rights for North and Latin American territories. The new series is currently being produced by Studio KAI, with the official main staff including: director Ono Katsumi; character design and executive animation director, Watanabe Hajime; and series composition, Tomioka Atsuhiro. The voice cast includes Sanpei Yuko as Tsubasa Ozora, Gukuyama Jun as Karl Heinz Schneider and Suzumura Kenichi as Wakabayashi Genzo and Hyuga Kojiro as Sato Takuya. It is set to launch October 2023.

Multistory Media Bolsters Entertainment TeamITV Studios label MultiStory Media has bolstered its entertainment team. Simone Haywood has been promoted to Creative Director for MultiStory London, while Jon Cahn has joined as Executive Producer and Zinia Scroggs has been appointed Series Editor. Haywood was previously Head of Factual Entertainment, steering shows such as Scared of the Dark for Channel 4, BBC Three’s Project Icon, Big Flower Fight for Netflix and Come Dine With Me for Channel 4. Reporting to Chief Creative Officer Ana de Moraes, she will work with Ceri Aston, Creative Director at MultiStory North. Cahn most recently worked on the Danny Dyer-hosted, celebrity show Scared of the Dark, with other credits including Channel 4’s SAS: Who Dares Wins and Married at First Sight. Scroggs is currently working on Project Icon with previous credits inlcuding BBC Three’s Glow Up. “Simone is fearless about breaking new ground and grabbing big ideas by the horns… We are excited to give her the opportunity to take the next step in her career, building MultiStory’s entertainment slate with Jon Cahn and Zinia Scroggs, both rising stars whose talents are incredible additions to our team,” said de Moraes.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Vanessa Hudgens, the Asian American actor whose career kicked off in Disney’s “High School Musical” series, is set to shoot a travel documentary in the Philippines, the country of her mother’s birth. The untitled project will shoot in Palawan and Manila in March. Paul Soriano is attached as a director, producer and executive producer. Mark A. Victor of TEN17P will also serve as executive producer. No distributor, broadcaster or streaming platform has yet been disclosed. Soriano’s recent credits include directing the 2019 film “Mañanita” and Manny Pacquiao biopic “Kid Kulafu.”