WarnerMedia Readies Ground in Asia for HBO Max, Expanded Local Production

K.J. Yossman Georgia Flood and Thierry Frémont have joined Disney Plus original U.K.

Just as Discovery’s acquisition of WarnerMedia is entering the final stretch, HBO/HBO Max is living up to its status as one of the most prized assets in the proposed deal.

NEW YORK -- The Associated Press said Tuesday that it is assigning more than two dozen journalists across the world to cover climate issues, in the news organization's largest single expansion paid for through philanthropic grants.The announcement illustrates how philanthropy has swiftly become an important new funding source for journalism — at the AP and elsewhere — at a time when the industry's financial outlook has been otherwise bleak.The AP's new team, with journalists based in Africa, Brazil, India and the United States, will focus on climate change's impact on agriculture, migration, urban planning, the economy, culture and other areas. Data, text and visual journalists are included, along with the capacity to collaborate with other newsrooms, said Julie Pace, senior vice president and executive editor.“This far-reaching initiative will transform how we cover the climate story,” Pace said.The grant is for more than $8 million over three years, and about 20 of the climate journalists will be new hires.

HBO and HBO Max are gearing up for a must-see spring TV schedule, with a number of new, star-studded series slated to premiere in the next few months. During the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour, the networks shared new images for the biographical series  , an adaptation of the popular true-crime docuseries; the series adaptation of David Simon's return to Baltimore with  and more.Get your first look at what's to come:Starring Colin Firth as Michael Peterson, is the anticipated limited series recounting the events surrounding the suspicious death of his wife, Kathleen Peterson (Toni Collette).

NEW YORK -- The Associated Press said Tuesday that it is assigning more than two dozen journalists across the world to cover climate issues, in the news organization's largest single expansion paid for through philanthropic grants.The announcement illustrates how philanthropy has swiftly become an important new funding source for journalism — at the AP and elsewhere — at a time when the industry's financial outlook has been otherwise bleak.The AP's new team, with journalists based in Africa, Brazil, India and the United States, will focus on climate change's impact on agriculture, migration, urban planning, the economy, culture and other areas. Data, text and visual journalists are included, along with the capacity to collaborate with other newsrooms, said Julie Pace, senior vice president and executive editor.“This far-reaching initiative will transform how we cover the climate story,” Pace said.The grant is for more than $8 million over three years, and about 20 of the climate journalists will be new hires.

Naman Ramachandran Projects from France-Iran and India were the big winners at this year’s Berlinale Co-Production Market, which is part of the European Film Market.The Eurimages Co-Production Development Award, endowed with €20,000 ($22,628), went to the producers of Caractères Productions from France, and Honare Khiyal from Iran for their project “My Favourite Cake” by directors Behtash Sanaeeha and Maryam Moghaddam. The VFF Talent Highlight Award with prize money of €10,000 went to director Shuchi Talati’s “Girls Will Be Girls.” The film is to be produced by Pushing Buttons Studios, an outfit founded by Indian actors Ali Fazal (“Death on the Nile”) and Richa Chadha (“Gangs of Wasseypur”) and co-produced by Sanjay Gulati and Pooja Chauhan of Crawling Angel Films (2020 Berlinale selection “The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs”) and Claire Chassagne of Dolce Vita Films (2019 Venice and Cairo winner “A Son”).

Sarajevo Director Exits After 27 Years

Naman Ramachandran Acclaimed Nepalese filmmaker Deepak Rauniyar has cast Indian actor Tannishtha Chatterjee as one of the leads in his upcoming feature “The Sky Is Mine.”Chatterjee’s credits include “Brick Lane” (2007), for which she scored a best actress nomination at the British Independent Film Awards, “Parched” (2015) and “Lion” (2016). She won the Asia Star Award for best Asian filmmaker at Busan for her directorial debut, “Roam Rome Mein” (2019).Rauniyar’s latest work, short film “Four Nights,” is playing at Berlinale Shorts. The filmmaker’s first feature, “Highway,” premiered at the 2012 Berlinale and played Locarno, while his sophomore feature “White Sun” (2016) won awards at the Venice, Palm Springs, Fribourg and Singapore festivals.

It’s hard to think of other professional basketball teams that measure up to the Showtime Lakers era. NBA dynasties such as the Chicago Bulls led by Michael Jordan had a predecessor with Magic Johnson and the Lakers.

Naman Ramachandran Times Internet’s MX TakaTak and ShareChat’s Moj have revealed a strategic merger to create India’s largest short video platform. The combined platform will have 100 million creators, over 300 million Monthly Active Users (MAU), and nearly 250 billion monthly video views.

Selome Hailu Kevin Costner and 44 Blue Productions have partnered to develop “Onward,” an anthology docuseries about traditions and rituals in Indigenous communities around the world, Variety has learned exclusively.Each episode of “Onward” focuses on a specific Indigenous community and how their people, land and cultures have endured existential threats such as climate change, commercial development and the pandemic.The concept for “Onward” is based on Cale Glendening’s documentary short of the same name, which chronicled his time embedded with Kazakh-Mongolia eagle hunters in the remote Altai Mountains of Mongolia. Glendening writes and directs the series, as well as executive produces alongside Costner, Monitor & Merrimack Pictures’ Glenn Kleczkowski and Mark Gillard.

James Murdoch and Uday Shankar, formerly CEO of Star India and president of Walt Disney Asia Pacific, have formed Bodhi Tree, a new outfit backed by the Qatar Investment Authority.

Naman Ramachandran James Murdoch and Uday Shankar have formed Bodhi Tree, an investment platform financially supported by the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) designed to invest in media and consumer technology opportunities in Southeast Asia, with a particular focus on India. Murdoch set up Lupa Systems as a private holding company in 2019 following his departure as CEO of 21st Century Fox, Sky plc, and Star. He subsequently quit as a director of News Corp.

Lata Mangeshkar, the singing voice behind many Bollywood actresses, died Sunday at Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai, India. She was 92 and the cause was complications of Covid-19, said Pratit Samdani, a doctor at the hospital, according to Indian news outlets.

Naman Ramachandran Indian filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali has revealed the first trailer for his long-awaited film “Gangubai Kathiawadi,” which will have its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. Starring Alia Bhatt (“Gully Boy”) in the titular role alongside Ajay Devgn (“Tanhaji”), the film is based on the book, “Mafia Queens of Mumbai,” written by S. Hussain Zaidi and Jane Borges.

Naman Ramachandran Go language-specific, go cheap and go hyper-local to reap success appears to be the motto of a range of streamers operating across South Asia.With countries including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Afghanistan, South Asia is a vast region populated by 1.9 billion people speaking a welter of languages. It is no secret that people in the region prefer consuming content in their own tongues.

Naman Ramachandran Leading Indian music label and film studio T-Series is diversifying into producing series designed for streaming platforms and has signed up an A-list directorial talent roster.The company’s stated aim is to create content “which shall appeal to all sectors of the audience, with gripping shows across genres,” including action thrillers, biopics, murder mysteries, jailbreak dramas.”Signed up as show runners are Aanand L. Rai (“Atrangi Re”), Anubhav Sinha (“Article 15”), Nikkhil Advani (“Mumbai Diaries 26/11”), Hansal Mehta (“Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story”), Sanjay Gupta (“Mumbai Saga”), Bejoy Nambiar (“Solo”), Suparn S.