Warner Bros. Discovery Lays Off 29 Roles in Europe as HBO Max Originals Model Shifts

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Rachel Bloom has joined the cast of “Julia” Season 2 at HBO Max, Variety has learned exclusively. The series is inspired by the life of Julia Child and her long-running cooking show “The French Chef.” The first season debuted in March 2022 and the show was renewed in May. Bloom will appear in a recurring role as Elaine Levitch. The character is described as “a dynamo who comes to WGBH by way of CBS to work with Julia on ‘The French Chef.'” Bloom will next be seen in the Steve Levitan Hulu comedy series “Reboot,” which premieres Sept. 20. She is best known for her work on the CW musical dramedy series “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” which she co-created and executive produced in addition to starring. She received five Emmy nominations and two Golden Globe nominations for her work on the series, winning one of each. Her recent credits include the Disney+ film “Chip ‘N’ Dalel: Rescue Rangers” and the upcoming Netflix film “The School for Good and Evil.” She published the book “I Want to Be Where the Normal People Are” in 2020.

Naman Ramachandran Sri Lanka’s Vimukthi Jayasundara and Guatemala’s César Díaz, winners of the Cannes Golden Camera for “The Forsaken Land” (2005) and “Nuestras madres” (2019) respectively, are among the recipients of the Hubert Bals Fund (HBF) of the International Film Festival Rotterdam‘s (IFFR) HBF+Europe: Minority Co-production Support scheme for 2022. Out of 25 applications, six projects by filmmakers from Argentina, Egypt, Guatemala, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Yemen have been awarded a contribution of €60,000 ($60,854) each through their European co-producers in Austria, Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. Jayasundara is supported for “Turtle’s Gaze on Spying Stars” (France/Sri Lanka, House on Fire), set on a mysterious resort where the protagonist must quarantine and reckon with his past on his return to Sri Lanka, while Díaz gets it for “Fidelidad” (Guatemala/Belgium, Lemming Film Belgium), a love triangle set on Lake Atitlán in Guatemala.

Christopher Vourlias Warsaw-based New Europe Film Sales has closed a raft of deals on the animated feature film “Yuku and the Himalayan Flower,” from directors Rémi Durin and Arnaud Demuynck. The children’s animated feature, with graphics by Paul Jadoul, tells the story of Yuku, a little mouse who lives with her family in the basement of a castle and decides to embark on a quest to find the legendary Himalayan flower. The film, which premiered at the Annecy fest and played in the Locarno Kids strand of the Locarno Film Festival, is produced by Artémis Prods. (“Mandibules”) and co-produced by Vivement Lundi! (“Flee”), La Boîte Prods. (“March of the Penguins”), Les Films du Nord and Nadasdy Film. 

Trinidad Barleycorn “Downton Abbey” actor Hugh Bonneville takes the viewers on a grand tour of the architectural landmarks of Europe in the international version of “The Wonders of Europe” (“L’Europe des Merveilles”), the new documentary series from Studiocanal. Watching the Acropolis being built before your very eyes or Versailles being enlarged by order of Louis XIV to become one of the most beautiful palaces in the world with its 73-meter long Hall of Mirrors and sumptuous gardens are just a couple of the time travel trips that Chengyu Prod.’s show takes you on. Directed by Claire Benhaim, Angèle Berland, Christophe Widemann, Marine Suzzoni and Nicolas Bozino, the new high-end docu-series focusing on European cultural heritage and architecture was unveiled at Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Biarritz, the international market entirely dedicated to French TV programs.

BLACKPINK have shared details of their 2022 European and North American tour, including two UK dates.The tour will kick off in North America at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas on October 25, with the K-pop four-piece playing arenas in Houston, Texas; Atlanta, Georgia; Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; Chicago, Illinois; Newark, New Jersey, and wraps in Los Angeles, California at Banc of California Stadium on November 19.The ‘Born Pink’ tour dates will then resume at London’s The O2 on November 30 and December 1. It then moves to Barcelona, Spain; Cologne, Germany; Paris, France; Copenhagen, Denmark, and Berlin, Germany before closing at Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam, Netherlands on December 22.Tickets go on general sale next Friday (September 16) at 10am local time here.

Ed Meza @edmezavar “Musk vs Bezos: The New Star Wars,” about the space race between the two richest men in the world, is attracting plenty of attention from broadcasters in Europe, where new TV documentary has secured multiple sales. Commissioned by France 5 from French documentary production shingle Magneto, “Musk vs Bezos” examines the intense competition between Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezo’s Blue Origin as they vie for the top spot in the U.S.’s burgeoning space travel business and the potential consequences for the world if the two billionaires develop the capacity to monopolize all future terrestrial communications. “When Musk first tried to buy a Russian rocket back in 2001, the chief engineer of the Russian Space Agency thought it was a joke,” Java Films notes. “By 2008 SpaceX had a contract with NASA to supply flights to the International Space Station.”

Eddie Redmayne To Be Honored With Zurich’s Golden Eye

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Motion Picture Association CEO Charles Rivkin is at the Venice Film Festival with Stan McCoy, the org’s chief for Europe, to attend a panel on the economic impact of film and TV production in the U.S. and Italy, organized by the film unit of the Italian culture ministry. They spoke to Variety about the increasingly close ties being forged between Hollywood and Europe. In the past couple of years due to the pandemic we’ve seen a lot more U.S. productions coming to Europe. Is the MPA good with that? Rivkin: There’s no question that there’s more production in Europe and it’s because Europe is a fantastic place to make movies, and because we partner – and have historically partnered – with European creators since the beginning of our association.

Marta Balaga Final Cut, a workshop supporting films in post-production from African and Arab countries – launched by the Venice Film Festival’s industry section, Venice Production Bridge – celebrates its 10th anniversary this week. Its goals have remained the same, however, as it continues to provide emerging filmmakers with concrete assistance as well as visibility, all the while strengthening Venice’s role as “bridge builder,” says Alessandra Speciale, its curator. The final selection features titles made by directors from nine different countries: Algeria, Jordan, Guinea, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Central African Republic and Tunisia.

Manori Ravindran International Editor Georgia Brown, head of Amazon Studios in Europe, is stepping down after five years in the role, Variety can reveal. The executive’s last day at the business is Wednesday (Aug. 31), though her departure is understood to have been in the works for some time. Brown is believed to be moving on to another opportunity, though it’s not yet clear what or where her new role will be. Brown has been a strong and prominent ambassador for Amazon Studios in Europe, and was the first executive hired to lead originals for the continent. In the 2016 to 2018 period, when a number of the global streaming services were first setting up shop internationally and kept their executives largely out of view, Brown was always front and center for Amazon, keen to discuss her local-first strategy.

Emily Blunt Heading To Mipcom For ‘The English’ Red Carpet Curtain Raiser

D-Block Europe have announced details of a world headline tour – get ticket details and dates below.Following their appearance at Reading & Leeds Festivals, D-Block Europe have confirmed they’ll be heading to North America for their first ever US festival appearance at Rolling Loud New York ahead of a string of headline shows. They’ll then return to the UK for a gig at London’s O2 Arena.

media reports. Jonathan Young, VP of original programming and production at HBO Max for Europe, Middle East and Africa; Christian Wikander, VP of original programming for the Nordic region; and Annelies Sitvast, who oversees unscripted original programming were all let go as part of the conglomerate’s latest consolidation move.

EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros. Discovery is letting go of 29 staff in Europe, including key programming execs, as it moves to phase out HBO Max European originals and shift towards a new local commissioning model, Deadline can reveal.

someone got to see “Batgirl.”A select group of folks — mostly people who worked on the show, both cast and crew, as well as representatives and executives — reportedly have been invited to private screenings of the “shelved” film on the Warner Bros. Studio lot this week, multiple sources told The Hollywood Reporter.One insider even described the viewings as “funeral screenings” before the footage is locked away in a vault — but it’s unknown if that vault is physical or digital.On Tuesday, the filmmakers behind the movie, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, said they were not even able to access any footage from the film once Warner Brothers declared it dead.

“John Wick” director Chad Stahelski will take his love of assassin films to Warner Bros. as director and producer of the action film “Shibumi,” which now has “Operation Finale” screenwriter Matthew Orton attached to pen the script. Orton will adapt the script from the 1979 novel of the same name written by Rodney William Whitaker under the pen name Trevanian.

The latest piece of the international Warner Bros. Discovery management puzzle has slotted into place, as the wider reshaping of the business continues. WBD General Manager Warner Bros. Discovery CEE, Baltics and Middle East (CEE MENAT) Jamie Cooke, who took on his post in June, has unveiled his team. Senior roles have gone to the likes of Lee Hobbs and long-serving Warner Bros. sales exec Roni Patel.

tiff.net.The full list of new additions:TIFF DOCS“752 Is Not a Number,” Babak Payami | Canada“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” Laura Poitras | USA“Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On,” Madison Thomas | Canada“Casa Susanna,” Sébastien Lifshitz | France, USA“Ciné-Guerrillas: Scenes from the Labudovic Reels,” Mila Turajlic | Serbia, France, Croatia, Montenegro“The Colour of Ink,” Brian D.

The deal, which will see Warner receive a new stream of incremental revenue through distribution fees, comes just two months after Pamela Abdy and Michael De Luca left their position as heads of MGM to become co-chairs and CEOs of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group.