UK’s Blue Horizon Productions Teams With Taiwan’s Ma Studios & New Zealand’s Firefly Films On Historical Deportation Story ‘With Love’

EXCLUSIVE: U.S.-based Wonder Street and New Zealand-based Stripe Studios have struck a deal to team on a slate of unscripted TV series, kicking off the partnership with Snow Patrol as well as New Zealand Gold Diggers.

EXCLUSIVE: Actor-producer Laura Marano, who most recently starred in and produced the Netflix romantic comedy, The Royal Treatment, has signed with Verve for representation.

Sam Heughan gave fans an update on the second season of his hit travel show Men in Kilts.

Gentleman Jack returns this Sunday evening for its long-awaited second season. Suranne Jones once again takes the lead as Anne Lister for the BBC One hit period drama.

A knitted hug that started out as a gift for her son has proven to be a global success story for a mum from Royton. During the Covid-19 lockdown Claire Calverley-Smith and her whole family were shielding after being sadly diagnosed with a very rare type of blood cancer a few years ago.

Leena Tailor Walk into the unembellished black building tucked away in Morningside, Auckland, later this year and there’s no telling what musical superstars one might find. Niall Horan could be leading songwriting camps for aspiring musicians, Taylor Swift could be next door working on her next big hit and maybe Lorde will stop by downstairs to play an intimate show marking 10 years since she recorded “Royals” nearby.The possibilities are endless as Grammy-winning musician Joel Little unveils Big Fan, the multimillion-dollar, non-profit music facility that he and wife Gemma have spent two years pouring time, energy and savings into.With four recording studios and a 180-capacity music venue, the state-of-the-art project is the couple’s “gift” to the music industry, one they hope will help locals fulfill their musical ambitions, whether it’s through studio access, mentoring or simply having somewhere to play their first show or discover their passion for lighting, sound or event management.

Welcome to Deadline’s International Disruptors, a feature where we shine a spotlight on key executives and companies outside of the U.S. shaking up the offshore marketplace. This week, we’re speaking to Romain Bessi, CEO of French group Newen Studios. The company, which is producing Liaison, the first English and French language original for Apple TV+, is ramping up its global ambitions and Bessi takes us through the overall strategy. 

Discovery Italy To Adapt BBC Studios Formats ‘The Great British Sewing Bee’ And This Is MY House’

Beabadoobee will tour both Australia and New Zealand for the first time this September.The tour, announced today (April 5), is in support of the singer-songwriter’s forthcoming second studio album, ‘Beatopia’. She shared news of the album last month, alongside the release of its lead single ‘Talk’. A tour of the UK was also announced at that time, with a world tour to follow.In a press statement, Beabadoobee said that she was “so excited” to be touring through Australasia.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorWētā FX, has announced the opening of its Vancouver office as part of the next phase of the company’s growth following the $1.6 billion technology deal with Unity late last year.The company behind films such as “Eternals,” “Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” Canadian presence marks the company’s first dedicated visual effects office outside its home-base of New Zealand.“The global growth in entertainment content has allowed us the flexibility to really pursue the projects we want and to expand our business model to tap into talent in more locations around the world,” said Prem Akkaraju, CEO of Wētā FX. “Vancouver is an established market for VFX, Animation and Games talent and we look forward to welcoming them into the Wētā FX family.” The Vancouver office will work on a wide range of shows including the Avatar Sequels, the first of which will hit theatres in December 2022.The Palm Springs International Film Society announced dates for the 34th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival, returning in-person from Jan.

BAFTA-nominated St. Trinian’s, Johnny English Reborn and An Ideal Husband director Oliver Parker has launched a production shingle with former Red Arrow Studios CEO James Baker and Metro International Partner Sam Parker, and the outfit is taking a packed slate to Mip TV.

EXCLUSIVE: Arrow and The Hobbit actor Manu Bennett is joining Kiana Madeira (Trinkets), Ross Butler (13 Reasons Why) and Matthew Noszka (Star) in YA movie Perfect Addiction.

In her television series acting debut, supermodel Bella Hadid has joined the upcoming third season of Hulu comedy Ramy in a recurring role. Details of her character and storyline are being kept under wraps for now. Stay tuned.

EXCLUSIVE: XYZ Films and Tavake, the Auckland-based producer of series The Panthers, have acquired adaptation rights to the unpublished memoirs Madame Mom by Antonia Murphy, author of the Huffington Post article I’m an Ethical Pimp.

Pixies have announced their return to Australia and New Zealand, taking to stages this December for their long-paused ‘Come On Pilgrim… It’s Surfer Rosa’ tour – get tickets here.It’ll be the band’s second time taking the run Down Under, after an attempt in 2020 was cut short by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. They played four of the dates on that tour – two headliners in Melbourne, one in Auckland and a set at that year’s Golden Plains festival in regional Victoria – but were forced to cancel shows in Brisbane, Sydney and Perth.All three cities are featured on the new itinerary, which is set to kick off in Brisbane on December 2.

Sigur Rós have added four more shows to their sprawling list of impending tour dates, slating gigs in New Zealand and Australia for this August – get tickets here.The four-date stint will be sandwiched between their 27 shows in North America – the first of which will go down in just under a month – and their 29-date run in the UK and Europe this September. It’ll start in New Zealand, with a lone show at Auckland’s Spark Arena slotted in for Saturday August 6, before the band take to stages in the Australian cities of Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.Tickets for the Auckland and Brisbane dates can be found here, while Sydney and Melbourne fans can get their hands on tickets here.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefWhether or not “The Power of the Dog” wins the big prize at the Academy Awards on Sunday, David Strong, chief executive of the New Zealand Film Commission for the past eight months, is guaranteed to be an in-demand visitor to Los Angeles over the next week.With the Jane Campion-directed film handily showcasing New Zealand’s talent, locations and craft strengths, the country has now reopened its borders to international visitors. Also sweetening the deal are more studio spaces.Ahead of Strong’s flight to Los Angeles, where he has a week of meetings set up with Hollywood decision makers, he spoke to Variety about what New Zealand has to offer going forward.What has been the impact of “The Power of the Dog” and its Oscar nominations? It’s already been a big success story for us.