Topic Nabs Exclusive U.S., Canadian Rights to Beta Film Crime Series (EXCLUSIVE)

Brent Lang Executive Editor Cody Ryder has joined Park Pictures as senior executive producer for commercials and co-head of film and television. Ryder is the first executive producer at the company to serve in a dual capacity across its commercial and feature film divisions. Ryder previously served in the TV and branded content department at Plum Productions. There, she developed pitches and produced branded content until becoming a freelance line producer based out of New York. Ryder has been freelance ever since until she decided to join the ranks at Park in its Los Angeles office.   Ryder’s projects include the recently released Kendrick Lamar short film “We Cry Together”and the “We Matter Too” PSA produced with Common’s Imagine Justice organization. She has worked with brand clients including Coca-Cola, Old Navy, Verizon, McDonald’s, Chevy, Reebok, Instagram,and Kia, to name a few; and artists like LCD Soundsystem, Kanye West, Haim, Brandi Carlile and Questlove. Her feature film work includes “The Art of Self Defense,” “The Clovehitch Killer,” “Other People,” “Cop Car” and “Robot and Frank.”

Anna Marie de la Fuente The upcoming animated TV series “Lil’ Heroes” from Exile Content Studio is one step closer to being made. The studio has tapped Emmy Award-winning writer, author Kevin Shinick, best known for his stints as writer, producer and voice-actor on Adult Swim’s irreverent “Robot Chicken” and his best-selling YA novel, “Star Wars: Force Collector.” Shinick joins NBA star Carmelo Anthony who serves as an executive producer and voice actor on the upcoming series. Asani Swann, Anthony’s producing partner and co-founder of Creative 7, also executive produces. Launched in January this year, the “Lil’ Heroes” franchise started off as an NFT collection created by Spanish contemporary artist Edgar Plans, in partnership with Exile Content Studio, the film, television, audio, and digital production house founded by Isaac Lee and now a part of Candle Media.

What’s better than a true-crime series about a corrupt business? Well, how about when that business involves male strippers and stars none other than Kumail Nanjiani? Yeah, Hulu’s “Welcome to Chippendales” is a no-brainer.  As seen in the trailer for “Welcome to Chippendales,” Kumail Nanjiani stars as Somen “Steve” Banerjee, an Indian immigrant who comes to the US for the American dream. What starts as a modest dream to run a business turns into a desire to build an empire based on the fact that people like to see sexy dudes dancing around in bowties and cuffs.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The North American rights to Firas Khoury’s coming-of-age drama “Alam” (The Flag) have been sold to Film Movement. The film premiered at Toronto Film Festival, and will be playing in competition at Rome Film Festival on Tuesday. The first trailer debuts here (below). MPM Premium is handling international sales. Michael Rosenberg of Film Movement said: “Set among a group of Palestinian teens living in Israel, Firas Khoury’s debut feature marries universal themes of growing up with the complex political awakening young Palestinians are forced to undergo living under occupation. Film Movement is excited to bring this tender coming of age drama to North American audiences next year.”

Ed Meza @edmezavar The Lumière Festival’s International Classic Film Market (MIFC) in Lyon, France, is celebrating its 10th edition this year with a wide-ranging program focusing on bolstering classic film distribution, the prospects of new commercial territories, film education and a focus on Spain’s heritage film sector. The MIFC, which runs Oct. 18-21, kicks off with a keynote by Gian Luca Farinelli, director of Italy’s Cineteca di Bologna film archive. Market organizers praise Farinelli for “allowing classic films to be found, restored, reviewed and, most often, put back on the market firstly through the Il Cinema Ritrovato Festival, exhibition and distribution activities within the foundation, while maintaining strong links with cinemathques from around the world.”

Ed Meza @edmezavar A restored version of Iván Zulueta’s ground-breaking 1979 film “Arrebato” (“Rapture”) is screening at the Lumière Festival’s International Classic Film Market (MIFC) in Lyon, France, thanks to Los Angeles distributor Altered Innocence and Madrid’s Mercury Films. The cult film, considered a milestone in Spanish cinema from the post-Franco years, is seen as metaphor for how directors can be consumed by filmmaking. It centers on José, a frustrated low-budget horror movie director trying to complete a film while struggling with drug addiction. When he receives a package from past acquaintance Pedro — a Super-8 film reel and audiotape – José soon finds himself sucked back into the eccentric young man’s vampiric orbit.

This is the first picture Imelda Staunton who is playing the late Queen Elizabeth II in the fifth installment of The Crown, which is out on Netflix next month.

Manori Ravindran International Editor Mark Rylance-led thriller “Inland” has been picked up for international sales by Paris-based sales agent Wide ahead of its BFI London Film Festival premiere. Produced by Black Twist Films, the film stars Rory Alexander, Mark Rylance and Kathryn Hunter and plays in the official selection of the U.K. festival. “Inland” is a modern folktale that explores the fractured identity of a young man after the mysterious disappearance of his mother. Guided by a father figure and old friends who care deeply, his journey through the dreamlike spaces of rural England brings him face to face with the loss that haunts him in ways he could never have expected.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Mexico City-based Endemol Shine Boomdog, a unit of Banijay Americas, has snagged the rights to Carlos Fuentes’ vampire novel “Vlad” and is developing a series based on the bestseller with lauded showrunner J.M. Cravioto (“El Chapo,” “Diablero”) attached as both showrunner and executive producer. Jerry Rodriguez, Endemol Shine Boomdog’s senior VP and head of scripted content, and Clara Machado (“The Followers”) are developing the project for Endemol Shine Boomdog. Carl Zitelmen (“No Abras la Puerta”) is adapting Fuentes’ novel for television.

Ed Meza @edmezavar “Cryptoqueen – The OneCoin Scam,” which makes its market debut at Mipcom in Cannes, chronicles the story of the fake cryptocurrency and its charismatic founder who stole up to $15 billion from trusting investors. Produced by Emmy-award-winning production company A&O Buero and sold internationally by Java Films, the documentary follows Ruja Ignatova, OneCoin’s founder, who hyped the cryptocurrency at rallies that resembled religious gatherings. Ignatova claimed that OneCoin was on course to become the world’s biggest digital currency and change life on Earth, describing it as the cryptocurrency for the poor, a currency that would turn paupers into princes. It was a giant fraud, however, and only turned Ignatova into the Cryptoqueen.

Michaela Zee editor In celebration of the Kentucky Derby’s 150th anniversary in 2024, Churchill Downs Racetrack has partnered with Roundtable Entertainment and Wrigley Media to produce the upcoming series “The Derby.” The show doesn’t yet have a telecast partner, but will be shopped to global Kentucky Derby broadcasters at the Mipcom programming conference. “There is nothing more thrilling than the spectacle of the Kentucky Derby. We are very excited to partner with Roundtable Entertainment and Wrigley Media Group to share this extraordinary experience with our fans around the world,” said Mike Anderson, Churchill Downs Racetrack president, in a statement.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Variety has been given access to the international trailer (below) for “A Thousand Lines,” by one of Germany’s most successful directors, Michael Bully Herbig (“Manitou’s Shoe”), and starring two of its leading actors, Elyas M’Barek (“Fuck You Göhte”) and Jonas Nay (“Deutschland 83”). The film opened via Warner Bros. across German-speaking Europe two weeks ago. Beta Cinema is presenting it to buyers at AFM. “A Thousand Lines” – a blend of satire, drama and comedy – is written by Hermann Florin, inspired by Juan Moreno’s “Tausend Zeilen Lüge.” It is the fictional adaptation of one of Germany’s biggest media scandals. The story centers on freelance journalist Juan Romero, played by M’Barek, who encounters inconsistencies in a cover story by award-winning reporter Lars Bogenius, played by Nay.

, and, Clea DuVall is now helming, the absorbing Freevee original series adapted from Tegan and Sara’s best-selling memoir about their teenage years. Serving as director, executive producer and co-showrunner of the series alongside Laura Kittrell, DuVall tells ET she “really loved the book” written by her longtime friends. Ahead of the series’ premiere, she talks about bringing the book to life onscreen, and if there’s a chance she’ll follow up with a sequel. Starring TikTok personalities Railey and Seazynn Gilliland as Tegan and Sara, respectively, the series is an LGBTQ, coming-of-age dramedy about finding your own identity, and how that journey is made even more complicated when you have a twin whose struggles parallel your own.  “This is not, like, a goofy, surface-y show about sisters who fight over clothes.

trailer was released Saturday, there were plenty of surprises for fans to get excited about. For the cast of Netflix's anticipated new take on the iconic daughter, two cameos revealed in the trailer — Christina Ricci, marking her return to the franchise, and Fred Armisen, who was officially introduced as Uncle Fester — were highlights of the drop.Ricci's debut offered more details on her new character, Miss Marylin Thornhill, as the actress, who played young Wednesday in the '90s films, passes the torch to star Jenna Ortega.«She’s very close to Wednesday and Christina being a wonderful character actress that she is really delivers something that is very memorable and again, so impressed by her,» Ortega told ET at New York Comic Con over the weekend. «I think people are really gonna love it.»While Ortega noted that she and Ricci «never» spoke about playing the same character decades apart, Ortega praised the star, sharing that they «got to know each other as artists and individuals.»Gwendoline Christie, who plays Nevermore Academy Principal Larissa Weems, also praised Ricci's performance as Miss Thornhill.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italian twin directors Damiano and Fabio D’Innocenzo have started shooting in Rome on “Dostoevskij,” an eclectic detective drama involving a policeman with a troubled past. This first TV series written and directed by the D’Innocenzo brothers – who are known on the festival circuit for dark dramas “Boy’s Cry,” “Bad Tales” and “America Latina” – is an in-house Sky Studios production produced by the Comcast-owned pay-TV player with Rome’s Paco Cinematografica.  Filippo Timi (“Vincere,” “The Eight Mountains”) stars as Enzo Vitello, a sharp detective with a troubled past, who winds up on the blood trail of a ruthless serial killer, nicknamed Dostoevskij because of letters full of gruesome details that he leaves at crime scenes.

Annika Pham Partly featured in James Bond’s “No Time to Die,” the rugged Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic and their 53,000 inhabitants, were the setting and main inspiration for “Trom”, the first ever Faroese TV series, majority produced by Denmark’s REinvent Studios. The crime show’s creator Torfinnur Jákupsson and joint-producer Jón Hammer have now used the international success of “Trom,” commissioned by Viaplay and co-produced by Arte/ZDF, to up their game. The duo has launched Tórshavn-based GRÓ Studios, the first film and television studio of its kind in the Faroe Islands, covering development through production and sales.

Lil Nas X is both star and inspiration for a new short film from famed fashion house Coach launching their new brand purpose, “Courage to Be Real,” set to be released today.

Naman Ramachandran Vijay Sethupathi (“Vikram”), Aditi Rao Hydari (“Hey Sinamika”), Arvind Swamy (“Thalaivi”) and Siddharth Jadhav (“Tamasha Live”) will star in film “Gandhi Talks.” While plot details are under wraps, the film is described as a dark comedy. A teaser for the film was released on Oct. 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The film will be dialogue free and the only aural language will be the music by Oscar-, BAFTA- and Grammy- winning Indian composer A.R. Rahman (“Slumdog Millionaire”). It will be directed by Kishore P. Belekar (“Hajari”). Produced by Zee Studios (“36 Farmhouse”), ‘Gandhi Talks’ is co-produced with Kyoorious Digital (“420 IPC”) and Movie Mill Entertainment (“Respect”).

Naman Ramachandran Neil Maskell, whose acting credits include “Kill List” and “Peaky Blinders,” makes his feature directorial debut with “Klokkenluider,” which is playing at the BFI London Film Festival. A dark comic thriller, the film revolves around a hapless government whistleblower and his partner who hide out in a remote Belgian cottage, accompanied by two eccentric bodyguards. “‘Klokkenluider’ came out of a combination of circumstances. I was on holiday in East Flanders and the atmosphere of the house we were staying in set off some voices in my head. There were four characters and they were trapped there but it took me a while to work out who they were” Maskell told Variety.