WarnerMedia Strikes First-Look Deal With ‘In The Fade’ Filmmaker Fatih Akin

Julia Garner is going into business with Tomorrow Studios. The Ozark star — who formed Alma Margo with producing partner Rowan Riley — has signed a first-look deal with the company founded by CEO Marty Adelstein.

EXCLUSIVE: Call My Agent! and Marianne writer Quoc Dang Tran has struck a first-look deal with Universal International Studios, becoming the first French writer to sign such a deal with a major studio.

EXCLUSIVE: Josh Berman has entered a first-look book-to-screen deal with independent publisher Sourcebooks. Under the three-year pact, Berman’s Sony Pictures Television-based Osprey Productions will have a first look at all new titles that Sourcebooks acquires film and television rights to, as well as an overall look at the company’s extensive backlist of bestselling fiction.

Sometimes a novel is so popular that a film adaptation is almost a certainty. Whether or not those films respect the source material and become massive hits are a whole other discussion.

EXCLUSIVE: MGM has signed a first-look feature film production deal with Oscar-winning writer Akiva Goldsman and his production company, Weed Road Pictures.

Hollywood can be a living nightmare for young actresses trying to make their mark in the studio system. Some of that has improved in the age of #MeToo and accountability; however, only a few short years ago, actresses were still having encounters with predatory monsters like Harvey Weinstein.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeWarner Bros. Television Group and HBO have sealed a new first-look deal with producer Stephanie Allain (“Dear White People”) and her Homegrown Pictures banner.

Emmy-nominated producer Stephanie Allain has signed a new first-look deal with Warner Bros. Television Group and HBO. The new agreement continues Allain’s relationship with the Studio, where she and her Homegrown Pictures production company has been under a first-look pact since February 2020. Allain and her Homegrown Pictures team, including Director of Development Gabrielle Ebron, will develop original scripted programming to be produced by Warner Bros. Television for HBO and HBO Max, external streaming services, cable, and broadcast.

Manori Ravindran International EditorTransatlantic production powerhouse Sister has hired Amazon Studios scripted executive Lydia Hampson as executive producer. The company has also struck a first-look deal with Hampson  and Amazon Studios U.K.Hampson most recently served as the head of U.K.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterAmazon has ordered two seasons of an animated comedy from Ramy Youssef, Variety has learned exclusively. The series is part of new first-look deal Youssef and his Cairo Cowboy production banner have signed with the streamer.Youssef leads Cairo Cowboy with Andy Campagna, the former senior vice president of television for Sam Esmail’s Esmail Corp.“Ramy has only scratched the surface of his incredible creative gifts,” said Vernon Sanders, head of global television for Amazon.

EXCLUSIVE: Jaime Camil (Jane the Virgin, Coco) has signed a first look deal with VIS, a division of Paramount, to develop an array of TV and film projects for Paramount+.

Pinocchio is coming!

Emmy Rossum is unrecognizable in the first look at Angelyne!

Kate Aurthur editorMarielle Heller has set a new first-look deal with Paramount Television Studios for her company, Defiant by Nature. Along with producing partners Havilah Brewster and Leah Holzer, Heller will develop premium television shows for the studio across its platforms.Heller came to prominence as a writer-director for 2015’s “Diary of a Teenage Girl,” for which she won an Independent Spirit Award for best first feature.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterKristen Campo has renewed her first-look deal with Endeavor Content. In addition, Campo has launched the new production shingle Campout Productions.“The longstanding relationship I’ve had with Endeavor Content is truly meaningful, and I couldn’t ask for better partners,” said Campo. “I’m excited to continue developing compelling premium programming for years to come.”Campo has hired Hannah Getts to lead Campout as vice president of development and production.

EXCLUSIVE: Veteran TV producer Kristen Campo has launched her own production shingle Campout Productions and renewed her first-look deal with Endeavor Content.

EXCLUSIVE: Lucifer exec producer Sheri Elwood has struck a first-look deal with Blink49 Studios, the Endeavor Content-backed studio founded by John Morayniss.

Manori Ravindran International EditorWarnerMedia has struck a first-look deal with German-Turkish director Fatih Akin.The tie-up marks the first exclusive deal of its kind for Akin in his 27-year career. The helmer is best known for such films as “In The Fade” (2017), “Head-On” (2004) and “Soul Kitchen” (2009).

Joe Otterson TV ReporterCallum Greene and Sara Greene’s Bright Greene production banner has entered into a first-look deal with Amazon, Variety has learned.Callum is an executive producer on Amazon’s highly-anticipated TV series “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.” Under the deal, Bright Greene will develop and produce new projects for Amazon’s streaming platform. UTA brokered the deal on behalf of Bright Greene.\“After the epic journey of Season One we couldn’t be more excited to continue our work with Amazon,” said Callum Greene.

Resembling more of a personal tribute than exhaustive biography, Pietro Marcello‘s Lucio Dalla documentary, “For Lucio,” takes its title as an invitation. A rambling eulogy that is just as often confusing as it is profound, Marcello’s wisp of a film (running less than 80 minutes) may be missing key context for those not already versed in the life and music of the politically-oriented Italian singer-songwriter.