Deadline is continuing to bolster its formidable international ranks with the hire of respected industry vet Stewart Clarke, recent Creative Director of the Edinburgh TV Festival and former international correspondent at Variety.
Clarke is joining Deadline as SVP, Content, International. Based in London, he will contribute to editorial and work closely with Deadline’s SVP Global Business Development & Strategic Partnerships, Celine Rotterman, and International Features Editor Diana Lodderhose, to help grow Deadline’s international business opportunities.
Clarke, who starts Monday (Dec 11), will report to Deadline’s President Ellie Duque and collaborate with the overseas team, including International Editor, Andreas Wiseman, who oversees international editorial.
“Stewart’s unique background as a seasoned trade reporter and accomplished festival executive makes him a perfect addition to Deadline’s formidable international team,” said Deadline co-editors in chief Nellie Andreeva and Mike Fleming, Jr. “He had been on our wish list for awhile, and we...
Clarke is joining Deadline as SVP, Content, International. Based in London, he will contribute to editorial and work closely with Deadline’s SVP Global Business Development & Strategic Partnerships, Celine Rotterman, and International Features Editor Diana Lodderhose, to help grow Deadline’s international business opportunities.
Clarke, who starts Monday (Dec 11), will report to Deadline’s President Ellie Duque and collaborate with the overseas team, including International Editor, Andreas Wiseman, who oversees international editorial.
“Stewart’s unique background as a seasoned trade reporter and accomplished festival executive makes him a perfect addition to Deadline’s formidable international team,” said Deadline co-editors in chief Nellie Andreeva and Mike Fleming, Jr. “He had been on our wish list for awhile, and we...
- 12/8/2023
- by The Deadline Team
- Deadline Film + TV
On Monday, 2nd October 2023, at 9:00 Pm on BBC Two, the new series “Union” will kick off with its first episode, titled “The Making of Britain, 1603-1707.” Hosted by David Olusoga, this show delves into the early efforts to create a united Britain.
In this episode, viewers will be taken back in time to the 1600s, a century marked by religious divisions. The story continues through to 1707, a significant year when Scotland joined forces with England and Wales, forming a united Britain. This historical journey unfolds amidst a backdrop of religious tensions and a failed colonial expedition to Panama.
“Union” offers a glimpse into the complex history of the British Isles and the events that led to the formation of the United Kingdom. It’s a chance to explore the challenges and decisions that shaped the course of history during this period.
Tune in to the first episode of “Union...
In this episode, viewers will be taken back in time to the 1600s, a century marked by religious divisions. The story continues through to 1707, a significant year when Scotland joined forces with England and Wales, forming a united Britain. This historical journey unfolds amidst a backdrop of religious tensions and a failed colonial expedition to Panama.
“Union” offers a glimpse into the complex history of the British Isles and the events that led to the formation of the United Kingdom. It’s a chance to explore the challenges and decisions that shaped the course of history during this period.
Tune in to the first episode of “Union...
- 9/26/2023
- by Posts UK
- TV Everyday
Louis Theroux has unveiled a Sky feature documentary exploring the controversial affair between a married female professor and a non-verbal black man with cerebral palsy, which led to one of the most divisive criminal trials of the 21st century.
As he prepares to deliver tomorrow’s Edinburgh TV Festival MacTaggart address, Tell Them You Love Me looks set to be one of the most high profile shows so far to come from the celebrated documentarian’s Mindhouse Productions.
Co-produced with U.S. streamer Topic and distributed by Kino Lorber in North America and NBCUniversal internationally, the 100-minute feature follows the astounding events that led to a divisive criminal trial, which is described as a “misunderstood love affair or a tale of sexual assault and predatory behaviour.”
When the pair first meet, Anna Stubblefield is a respected academic and a disability rights advocate; passionate in her belief that the most essential...
As he prepares to deliver tomorrow’s Edinburgh TV Festival MacTaggart address, Tell Them You Love Me looks set to be one of the most high profile shows so far to come from the celebrated documentarian’s Mindhouse Productions.
Co-produced with U.S. streamer Topic and distributed by Kino Lorber in North America and NBCUniversal internationally, the 100-minute feature follows the astounding events that led to a divisive criminal trial, which is described as a “misunderstood love affair or a tale of sexual assault and predatory behaviour.”
When the pair first meet, Anna Stubblefield is a respected academic and a disability rights advocate; passionate in her belief that the most essential...
- 8/22/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Louis Theroux, the renowned British documentarian who has been a staple on U.K. TV and radio for more than two decades, is set to deliver the 2023 James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture, the flagship address of the Edinburgh TV Festival.
While he’s arguably best known in the U.S for his 2015 documentary feature My Scientology Feature (in which he’s seen in several comical altercations with church enforcers), Theroux has been a cult figure and beloved interviewer in the U.K. since the late 1990s for his BBC doc series including as Weird Weekends and When Louis Met…, shows that saw him cover off-beat human experiences as well as hard-hitting subject matters. In his trademark style, Theroux has explored the world of the infamous Westboro Baptist Church, plus porn stars, survivalists, swingers and neo-Nazis, and has spent time with several noted individuals (most famously Jimmy Savile, several years before his...
While he’s arguably best known in the U.S for his 2015 documentary feature My Scientology Feature (in which he’s seen in several comical altercations with church enforcers), Theroux has been a cult figure and beloved interviewer in the U.K. since the late 1990s for his BBC doc series including as Weird Weekends and When Louis Met…, shows that saw him cover off-beat human experiences as well as hard-hitting subject matters. In his trademark style, Theroux has explored the world of the infamous Westboro Baptist Church, plus porn stars, survivalists, swingers and neo-Nazis, and has spent time with several noted individuals (most famously Jimmy Savile, several years before his...
- 6/29/2023
- by Alex Ritman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Louis Theroux will deliver this year’s James MacTaggart memorial lecture, the flagship address at the Edinburgh TV Festival.
The documentary maker, who also founded unscripted production company Mindhouse in 2019, has examined everything from Scientology to porn to neo-Nazis in his films. He has also turned his hand to social media, podcasting and streaming.
Theroux will address the challenges broadcasters face in today’s “multi-platform universe,” how he has maintained longevity after a quarter of a century in the broadcasting industry and the pros and cons of the tech revolution we are all living through.
“I am beyond thrilled to be asked to deliver this year’s MacTaggart lecture,” Theroux said. “The old Chinese curse runs, ‘May you live in interesting times.’ But I also believe interesting times – to those of us whose job it is to report on them and reflect them, while also providing an occasional distraction from them – can be a blessing.
The documentary maker, who also founded unscripted production company Mindhouse in 2019, has examined everything from Scientology to porn to neo-Nazis in his films. He has also turned his hand to social media, podcasting and streaming.
Theroux will address the challenges broadcasters face in today’s “multi-platform universe,” how he has maintained longevity after a quarter of a century in the broadcasting industry and the pros and cons of the tech revolution we are all living through.
“I am beyond thrilled to be asked to deliver this year’s MacTaggart lecture,” Theroux said. “The old Chinese curse runs, ‘May you live in interesting times.’ But I also believe interesting times – to those of us whose job it is to report on them and reflect them, while also providing an occasional distraction from them – can be a blessing.
- 6/29/2023
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
Kate Winslet, Sharon Horgan and Ben Whishaw were among those who scooped the top prizes at the BAFTA TV awards on Sunday evening.
The ceremony, which took place at the Royal Festival Hall in London, was hosted by comedians Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan.
Winslet won the prize for best leading actress for her turn in “I Am Ruth,” which also starred her real-life daughter Mia Threapleton. The duo also took to the stage to accept the award for best single drama, with Threapleton tearing up. “We did this together kiddo,” Winslet said as she accepted the leading actress award, adding: “There were days when it was agony for [Threapleton] to dig as deeply as she did and it took my breath away.”
Horgan, meanwhile, thanked her writers as she accepted the award for best drama on behalf of Apple TV+ series “Bad Sisters,” which also saw Anne-Marie Duff take home...
The ceremony, which took place at the Royal Festival Hall in London, was hosted by comedians Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan.
Winslet won the prize for best leading actress for her turn in “I Am Ruth,” which also starred her real-life daughter Mia Threapleton. The duo also took to the stage to accept the award for best single drama, with Threapleton tearing up. “We did this together kiddo,” Winslet said as she accepted the leading actress award, adding: “There were days when it was agony for [Threapleton] to dig as deeply as she did and it took my breath away.”
Horgan, meanwhile, thanked her writers as she accepted the award for best drama on behalf of Apple TV+ series “Bad Sisters,” which also saw Anne-Marie Duff take home...
- 5/14/2023
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
The UK documentary festival runs June 14-19.
The UK’s Sheffield DocFest (June 14-19) has unveiled the line-up for its 30th edition and includes new films from Chris Smith, Paul Sng, Julie Cohen, and Patrick Forbes.
The selection includes 37 world and 20 international premieres, with 52 countries featuring across the entire lineup.
Titles include the world premiere of Smith’s Wham! in the Rhythms strand which celebrates the iconic musical duo and will be released on Netflix later this year. The Fyre and Jim & Andy director will also deliver a masterclass.
Opening the festival is Sng’s documentary Tish about the trailblazing...
The UK’s Sheffield DocFest (June 14-19) has unveiled the line-up for its 30th edition and includes new films from Chris Smith, Paul Sng, Julie Cohen, and Patrick Forbes.
The selection includes 37 world and 20 international premieres, with 52 countries featuring across the entire lineup.
Titles include the world premiere of Smith’s Wham! in the Rhythms strand which celebrates the iconic musical duo and will be released on Netflix later this year. The Fyre and Jim & Andy director will also deliver a masterclass.
Opening the festival is Sng’s documentary Tish about the trailblazing...
- 5/10/2023
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: The award-winning team behind 9/11: Inside the President’s War Room are to tell the story of the 7/7 London bombings in a BBC docuseries, while the BBC has greenlit a definitive history of Volodymyr Zelensky from the makers of The Elon Musk Show.
7/7: Three Weeks In July [working title] will document the day plus aftermath of one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in British history, which took place in the English capital almost 20 years ago – killing 52 people when three trains and a bus were blown up by suicide bombers.
9/11 director Adam Wishart’s new indie The Slate Works is producing for the BBC. Inside The President’s War Room, Wishart’s 2021 BBC/Apple TV+ co-pro that told the story of the hours after the Twin Tower attacks via interviews with the likes of George W. Bush, won a BAFTA and an Rts Award.
Key players being interviewed for the 7/7 doc...
7/7: Three Weeks In July [working title] will document the day plus aftermath of one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in British history, which took place in the English capital almost 20 years ago – killing 52 people when three trains and a bus were blown up by suicide bombers.
9/11 director Adam Wishart’s new indie The Slate Works is producing for the BBC. Inside The President’s War Room, Wishart’s 2021 BBC/Apple TV+ co-pro that told the story of the hours after the Twin Tower attacks via interviews with the likes of George W. Bush, won a BAFTA and an Rts Award.
Key players being interviewed for the 7/7 doc...
- 5/10/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Broadcaster, historian and presenter David Olusoga is to be presented with a BAFTA Special Award at the TV Awards later this month.
Olusoga’s “extensive body of work” will be commemorated at the May 14 London event, while Meera Syal will receive the BAFTA TV Fellowship.
Olusoga, who delivered a blistering MacTaggart lecture in 2020 decrying the lost generation of TV’s diverse storytellers and decision-makers, has helmed shows including A House Through Time, Black & British: A Forgotten History and Civilisations.
He used to run factual indie Uplands Television, has written several books and has been a major voice in the UK TV diversity debate for years.
He said: “I am honoured to be the recipient of the BAFTA Special Award 2023. It is humbling to have my work in television, as both a producer and a presenter, recognised in this way.”
BAFTA CEO Jane Milichip hailed his “outstanding contribution, not just to...
Olusoga’s “extensive body of work” will be commemorated at the May 14 London event, while Meera Syal will receive the BAFTA TV Fellowship.
Olusoga, who delivered a blistering MacTaggart lecture in 2020 decrying the lost generation of TV’s diverse storytellers and decision-makers, has helmed shows including A House Through Time, Black & British: A Forgotten History and Civilisations.
He used to run factual indie Uplands Television, has written several books and has been a major voice in the UK TV diversity debate for years.
He said: “I am honoured to be the recipient of the BAFTA Special Award 2023. It is humbling to have my work in television, as both a producer and a presenter, recognised in this way.”
BAFTA CEO Jane Milichip hailed his “outstanding contribution, not just to...
- 5/2/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Award
British presenter, broadcaster, filmmaker, author and historian, professor David Olusoga, will be presented with a BAFTA Special Award at the upcoming BAFTA Television Awards on May 14. The award is one of BAFTA’s highest honors recognizing an outstanding contribution to film, games or television.
Olusoga’s credits include presenting history series “A House Through Time” (BBC Two), writing and presenting series “Black & British: A Forgotten History” (BBC Two) and the BAFTA-winning “Britain’s Forgotten Slave Owners.” In recent years he led major interviews with the former President of the United States, Barack Obama and lectures including the Edinburgh TV Festival MacTaggart Lecture in 2020.
Olusoga said: “It is humbling to have my work in television, as both a producer and a presenter, recognized in this way.”
Jane Millichip, CEO at BAFTA added: “We are honoured to present David Olusoga the BAFTA Special Award at our forthcoming BAFTA Television Awards with P&o Cruises.
British presenter, broadcaster, filmmaker, author and historian, professor David Olusoga, will be presented with a BAFTA Special Award at the upcoming BAFTA Television Awards on May 14. The award is one of BAFTA’s highest honors recognizing an outstanding contribution to film, games or television.
Olusoga’s credits include presenting history series “A House Through Time” (BBC Two), writing and presenting series “Black & British: A Forgotten History” (BBC Two) and the BAFTA-winning “Britain’s Forgotten Slave Owners.” In recent years he led major interviews with the former President of the United States, Barack Obama and lectures including the Edinburgh TV Festival MacTaggart Lecture in 2020.
Olusoga said: “It is humbling to have my work in television, as both a producer and a presenter, recognized in this way.”
Jane Millichip, CEO at BAFTA added: “We are honoured to present David Olusoga the BAFTA Special Award at our forthcoming BAFTA Television Awards with P&o Cruises.
- 5/2/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Erin Doherty, who broke out playing Princess Anne in the third and fourth seasons of The Crown, has joined the cast of Disney+ series A Thousand Blows.
First announced by The Hollywood Reporter last year, the 12-part series is set in the perilous world of illegal boxing in 1880s Victorian London, and was created and written by Stephen Knight and exec produced by Stephen Graham, who also stars.
With filming now underway in London, also joining the cast are Francis Lovehall, Jason Tobin, James Nelson-Joyce, Hannah Walters, Nadia Albinam, Morgan Hilaire, Jemma Carlton and Caoilfhionn Dunne. Small Axe star Malachi Kirby was previously announced as playing a lead role.
A Thousand Blows — still a working title — follows Hezekiah (Kirby) and Alec (Lovehall), two best friends from Jamaica who find themselves thrust into the vibrant and violent melting pot of post-industrial revolution London’s East End. Drawn into the criminal underbelly of the thriving boxing scene,...
First announced by The Hollywood Reporter last year, the 12-part series is set in the perilous world of illegal boxing in 1880s Victorian London, and was created and written by Stephen Knight and exec produced by Stephen Graham, who also stars.
With filming now underway in London, also joining the cast are Francis Lovehall, Jason Tobin, James Nelson-Joyce, Hannah Walters, Nadia Albinam, Morgan Hilaire, Jemma Carlton and Caoilfhionn Dunne. Small Axe star Malachi Kirby was previously announced as playing a lead role.
A Thousand Blows — still a working title — follows Hezekiah (Kirby) and Alec (Lovehall), two best friends from Jamaica who find themselves thrust into the vibrant and violent melting pot of post-industrial revolution London’s East End. Drawn into the criminal underbelly of the thriving boxing scene,...
- 3/16/2023
- by Alex Ritman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Crown star Erin Doherty has boarded Steven Knight’s Disney+ period drama A Thousand Blows.
Doherty, who attracted plaudits for her portrayal of Princess Anne in the Netflix royal drama, will play Mary Carr, the leader of the Forty Elephants. She stars opposite Malachi Kirby, who Deadline revealed is leading the series several weeks ago, and Stephen Graham. Topboy‘s Ashley Walters has boarded as series director.
A Thousand Blows is set in the world of illegal boxing in 1880s Victorian London. Hezekiah (Kirby) and best friend Alec (Francis Lovehall) find themselves thrust into the vibrant and violent melting pot of post-industrial revolution London’s East End, meeting Carr (Doherty) and seasoned boxer Sugar Goodson (Graham) along the way.
Doherty, who also led BBC/Amazon Prime Video drama Chloe, is joined by additional cast revealed today including Jason Tobin and James Nelson-Joyce, while Walters is unveiled as series director with Coky Giedroyc.
Doherty, who attracted plaudits for her portrayal of Princess Anne in the Netflix royal drama, will play Mary Carr, the leader of the Forty Elephants. She stars opposite Malachi Kirby, who Deadline revealed is leading the series several weeks ago, and Stephen Graham. Topboy‘s Ashley Walters has boarded as series director.
A Thousand Blows is set in the world of illegal boxing in 1880s Victorian London. Hezekiah (Kirby) and best friend Alec (Francis Lovehall) find themselves thrust into the vibrant and violent melting pot of post-industrial revolution London’s East End, meeting Carr (Doherty) and seasoned boxer Sugar Goodson (Graham) along the way.
Doherty, who also led BBC/Amazon Prime Video drama Chloe, is joined by additional cast revealed today including Jason Tobin and James Nelson-Joyce, while Walters is unveiled as series director with Coky Giedroyc.
- 3/16/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Small Axe star Malachi Kirby has boarded Disney+’s A Thousand Blows, the Victorian boxing period drama penned by Steven Knight and starring Stephen Graham.
Kirby, who also led the A+E remake of Roots, will play Hezekiah Moscow, Deadline understands. Along with best friend Alec Munroe, Hezekiah travels to London from Jamaica and finds himself thrust into the criminal underbelly of the capital’s thriving bare-knuckle boxing scene. As Hezekiah finds fortune and fame through the art of pugilism, he attracts the attention of the infamous Queen of the Forty Elephants, Mary Carr, who sets about exploiting his talents to further her criminal enterprise. Alec Munroe’s casting is yet to be revealed.
The six-part show for Disney+ vertical Star and Hulu in the U.S. was one of the biggest budget projects to emerge from last year’s Edinburgh TV Festival and will see Graham play Sugar Goodson,...
Kirby, who also led the A+E remake of Roots, will play Hezekiah Moscow, Deadline understands. Along with best friend Alec Munroe, Hezekiah travels to London from Jamaica and finds himself thrust into the criminal underbelly of the capital’s thriving bare-knuckle boxing scene. As Hezekiah finds fortune and fame through the art of pugilism, he attracts the attention of the infamous Queen of the Forty Elephants, Mary Carr, who sets about exploiting his talents to further her criminal enterprise. Alec Munroe’s casting is yet to be revealed.
The six-part show for Disney+ vertical Star and Hulu in the U.S. was one of the biggest budget projects to emerge from last year’s Edinburgh TV Festival and will see Graham play Sugar Goodson,...
- 2/28/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
In his upcoming autobiography, Spare, Prince Harry details what he claims was a physical attack by his older brother Prince William during a confrontation over Harry’s marriage to Meghan Markle, according to The Guardian, which obtained a copy of the highly anticipated book.
During an argument at Nottingham Cottage in the grounds of Kensington Palace, his London home in 2019, the younger prince writes that his brother was visiting to discuss “the whole rolling catastrophe” surrounding their struggles with the press. (The British tabloid press was notably described by historian...
During an argument at Nottingham Cottage in the grounds of Kensington Palace, his London home in 2019, the younger prince writes that his brother was visiting to discuss “the whole rolling catastrophe” surrounding their struggles with the press. (The British tabloid press was notably described by historian...
- 1/5/2023
- by Charisma Madarang
- Rollingstone.com
One of the most curious things about “Harry & Meghan,” the new Netflix documentary about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex who stepped away from the British Monarchy, is how ordinary the couple appears. Harry chases after the kids in a stroller, Meghan feeds the chickens in the backyard of their Santa Barbara home. She calls him “H,” and he teases her about being late for their second date. The first three episodes that premiered Thursday appear to peel back the privacy of their lives for an honest glimpse into their world. But in reality, the series’ first three episodes feel like a close-up on previously seen footage.
In January 2020, three months before the worldwide Covid lockdown, Prince Harry Windsor and Meghan Moutbatten-Windsor (née Markle) divested themselves from the British monarchy. By September, while most of us were locked in our homes exploring Tiktok, the couple quietly signed consecutive multi-million dollar...
In January 2020, three months before the worldwide Covid lockdown, Prince Harry Windsor and Meghan Moutbatten-Windsor (née Markle) divested themselves from the British monarchy. By September, while most of us were locked in our homes exploring Tiktok, the couple quietly signed consecutive multi-million dollar...
- 12/10/2022
- by Karama Horne
- The Wrap
Click here to read the full article.
In the third episode of Netflix’s Harry & Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex reflect on their very first interview after the official announcement of their engagement. As they recall, it was “rehearsed,” an “orchestrated reality show” rather than an authentic accounting of their relationship. “We’ve never been allowed to tell our story,” Harry remarks. To which director Liz Garbus (Love, Marilyn), from off camera, responds, “I guess that’s why we’re here.”
This docuseries, then, is intended as an opportunity for Meghan and Harry to finally speak their truths — albeit through Garbus’ lens and not necessarily in “the way we would have told” them, as the princess noted in a recent Variety interview. It is unsurprising that the portrait ends up a flattering one, sympathetic to their trials and scrupulously respectful of their perspectives.
What it does not turn out to be is essential.
In the third episode of Netflix’s Harry & Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex reflect on their very first interview after the official announcement of their engagement. As they recall, it was “rehearsed,” an “orchestrated reality show” rather than an authentic accounting of their relationship. “We’ve never been allowed to tell our story,” Harry remarks. To which director Liz Garbus (Love, Marilyn), from off camera, responds, “I guess that’s why we’re here.”
This docuseries, then, is intended as an opportunity for Meghan and Harry to finally speak their truths — albeit through Garbus’ lens and not necessarily in “the way we would have told” them, as the princess noted in a recent Variety interview. It is unsurprising that the portrait ends up a flattering one, sympathetic to their trials and scrupulously respectful of their perspectives.
What it does not turn out to be is essential.
- 12/9/2022
- by Angie Han
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
If there are two sides to every story, and one of those sides is the Royal Family backed by a spectacle-hungry media and tabloid circus while the other is the very couple they’ve both placed under an unsparing microscope – which holds the truth? In the new documentary series Harry & Meghan, the first three episodes of which are now streaming on Netflix, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle make a case for their perspective: “When the stakes are this high, doesn’t it make more sense to hear our story from us?...
- 12/8/2022
- by Larisha Paul
- Rollingstone.com
Does Meghan and Harry’s Netflix documentary live up to its no-holds-barred expectations? Well, within the first five minutes we’ve seen a makeup-less Meghan, hair wrapped in a towel, crying into her phone camera – so I’m going to say yes.
“What are we doing?” the couple wonder more than once, as they reflect on their actions in this slightly hysterical fever dream of self-aggrandisement. They say they want to be able to tell their story, a story they feel they weren’t allowed to tell before, but now seem to tell professionally for a living. There are no major revelations here, nothing so incendiary that it will cancel King Charles’s coronation next year; in fact, certain quotes are becoming a bit pat. The first three episodes cover their early courtship up to the eve of their wedding, and are a mix of melodramatically soundtracked, soft-focused photo montages,...
“What are we doing?” the couple wonder more than once, as they reflect on their actions in this slightly hysterical fever dream of self-aggrandisement. They say they want to be able to tell their story, a story they feel they weren’t allowed to tell before, but now seem to tell professionally for a living. There are no major revelations here, nothing so incendiary that it will cancel King Charles’s coronation next year; in fact, certain quotes are becoming a bit pat. The first three episodes cover their early courtship up to the eve of their wedding, and are a mix of melodramatically soundtracked, soft-focused photo montages,...
- 12/8/2022
- by Jessie Thompson
- The Independent - TV
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Netflix documentary has drawn a direct link between Britain’s decision to leave the EU and alleged racism experienced by the Duchess of Sussex.
Co-produced by the couple’s Archewell Productions, the second episode wades into the Brexit debate, which remains a divisive topic in the UK six years after the 2016 vote.
It is highly unusual for British royals to broach politically sensitive issues in public, but Prince Harry and Markle have been more vocal since leaving the family and relocating to America.
Harry & Meghan preludes a section about Brexit by showing a young girl telling a CNN journalist that she hopes Markle’s relationship with Prince Harry, which began just weeks after the EU referendum, will help temper racism in the UK.
David Olusoga, the renowned British historian and diversity campaigner, later remarks: “This fairy tale is embedding itself in a nation that...
Co-produced by the couple’s Archewell Productions, the second episode wades into the Brexit debate, which remains a divisive topic in the UK six years after the 2016 vote.
It is highly unusual for British royals to broach politically sensitive issues in public, but Prince Harry and Markle have been more vocal since leaving the family and relocating to America.
Harry & Meghan preludes a section about Brexit by showing a young girl telling a CNN journalist that she hopes Markle’s relationship with Prince Harry, which began just weeks after the EU referendum, will help temper racism in the UK.
David Olusoga, the renowned British historian and diversity campaigner, later remarks: “This fairy tale is embedding itself in a nation that...
- 12/8/2022
- by Jake Kanter
- Deadline Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
“The institution knows the full truth,” Prince Harry says early on in documentary series Harry & Meghan, the first three installments of which were released on Netflix on Thursday.
The Duke of Sussex lays out the mission ahead in the first episode of the anticipated six-part series from the streaming giant that promises a behind-the-scenes deep dive into the early days of the couple’s blossoming romance and their subsequent separation from the royal family: “It is my duty to uncover this exploitation and bribery that happens within our media,” he says.
While expectations of what the documentary might reveal were high, the audience is not enlightened about anything truly groundbreaking in the first three episodes. Viewers are taken through an intimate retelling of what Meghan describes as a great love story with her husband, offering up personal photos and videos of their time...
“The institution knows the full truth,” Prince Harry says early on in documentary series Harry & Meghan, the first three installments of which were released on Netflix on Thursday.
The Duke of Sussex lays out the mission ahead in the first episode of the anticipated six-part series from the streaming giant that promises a behind-the-scenes deep dive into the early days of the couple’s blossoming romance and their subsequent separation from the royal family: “It is my duty to uncover this exploitation and bribery that happens within our media,” he says.
While expectations of what the documentary might reveal were high, the audience is not enlightened about anything truly groundbreaking in the first three episodes. Viewers are taken through an intimate retelling of what Meghan describes as a great love story with her husband, offering up personal photos and videos of their time...
- 12/8/2022
- by THR staff
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Vice Studios global president Kate Ward is joining BBC Studios to oversee its factual portfolio, Variety can reveal.
Ward has been appointed to the role of managing director for factual at BBC Studios Productions, where she replaces Tom McDonald, who left the company earlier this year to join National Geographic.
With her new role, the well-respected executive — who most recently served as president of global studios and Pulse Films for Vice Media Group — will take on one of the most significant production portfolios in the U.K. industry, spanning the BBC’s Natural History Unit, Documentary Unit and Science Unit. She will also oversee relationships with BBC Studios’ roster of production companies, including Louis Theroux’s Mindhouse Productions, David Olusoga’s Uplands TV and James and Soleta Rogan’s Rogan Productions.
Ward, who starts the role in February 2023, reports into Ralph Lee, CEO of BBC Studios Productions.
The Bbcs managing...
Ward has been appointed to the role of managing director for factual at BBC Studios Productions, where she replaces Tom McDonald, who left the company earlier this year to join National Geographic.
With her new role, the well-respected executive — who most recently served as president of global studios and Pulse Films for Vice Media Group — will take on one of the most significant production portfolios in the U.K. industry, spanning the BBC’s Natural History Unit, Documentary Unit and Science Unit. She will also oversee relationships with BBC Studios’ roster of production companies, including Louis Theroux’s Mindhouse Productions, David Olusoga’s Uplands TV and James and Soleta Rogan’s Rogan Productions.
Ward, who starts the role in February 2023, reports into Ralph Lee, CEO of BBC Studios Productions.
The Bbcs managing...
- 9/22/2022
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
TV show creator Armando Iannucci has opposed those who have labelled the casting choices of Doctor Who as “woke”.
Iannucci, who is behind programmes such as The Thick of It and Veep, recently spoke at the MacTaggart Legacy panel as part of the Edinburgh International TV Festival.
Joined by writer and producer Jack Thorne, British historian and broadcaster David Olusoga OBE, and Channel 4's former Head of News and Current Affairs Dorothy Byrne, the writer discussed making programmes and films that feel representative of the UK.
“British television is great, we want it to be even better, and it can only be better if it’s much more reflective of who we are, as a country and as an audience,” he explained.
In Iannucci’s 2019 film The Personal History of David Copperfield, Dev Patel played the title role – a move that the creator described as “colourblind casting” and something...
Iannucci, who is behind programmes such as The Thick of It and Veep, recently spoke at the MacTaggart Legacy panel as part of the Edinburgh International TV Festival.
Joined by writer and producer Jack Thorne, British historian and broadcaster David Olusoga OBE, and Channel 4's former Head of News and Current Affairs Dorothy Byrne, the writer discussed making programmes and films that feel representative of the UK.
“British television is great, we want it to be even better, and it can only be better if it’s much more reflective of who we are, as a country and as an audience,” he explained.
In Iannucci’s 2019 film The Personal History of David Copperfield, Dev Patel played the title role – a move that the creator described as “colourblind casting” and something...
- 8/25/2022
- by Nicole Vassell
- The Independent - TV
Click here to read the full article.
The conservative U.K. government has “weaponized” the word “woke,” Veep creator Armando Iannucci told the Edinburgh TV Festival on Wednesday.
Events like the festival’s prestigious MacTaggart Lecture, which tend to focus on big issues that deserve attention, make “what we make better,” the writer and producer known for The Thick of It and The Death of Stalin said via Zoom, during a panel featuring four previous Edinburgh Festival MacTaggart keynote speakers.
“My worry is that there is now this word ‘woke’ that the government has weaponized to try and stop all of that,” he added. “With Boris Johnson exiting as U.K. Prime Minister in early September, he talked about foreign secretary Liz Truss, the favorite to succeed him. “I want someone to ask Liz Truss if she wants Doctor Who to just be a white man.”
He added: “If she can be...
The conservative U.K. government has “weaponized” the word “woke,” Veep creator Armando Iannucci told the Edinburgh TV Festival on Wednesday.
Events like the festival’s prestigious MacTaggart Lecture, which tend to focus on big issues that deserve attention, make “what we make better,” the writer and producer known for The Thick of It and The Death of Stalin said via Zoom, during a panel featuring four previous Edinburgh Festival MacTaggart keynote speakers.
“My worry is that there is now this word ‘woke’ that the government has weaponized to try and stop all of that,” he added. “With Boris Johnson exiting as U.K. Prime Minister in early September, he talked about foreign secretary Liz Truss, the favorite to succeed him. “I want someone to ask Liz Truss if she wants Doctor Who to just be a white man.”
He added: “If she can be...
- 8/24/2022
- by Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Put down the razor blades and lace up the gloves: “Peaky Blinders” creator Steven Knight is entering the ring of illegal boxing in 1880s Victorian London via new Hulu (here)/Disney+ (overseas) series “A Thousand Blows.” He’ll have a familiar face by his side in star Stephen Graham, who appeared in several episodes of “Peaky Blinders” in its final season.
The new 12-part, hour-long series follows Hezekiah and Alec, best friends from Jamaica who find themselves thrust into the vibrant and violent melting pot of post-industrial revolution London’s East End. Drawn into the criminal underbelly of the thriving illegal boxing scene, Hezekiah meets Mary Carr, leader of The Forty Elephants – the notorious all-female London gang – as they battle for survival on the streets.
As Hezekiah sharpens his new skills, he comes up against Sugar Goodson, a seasoned and dangerous boxer played by Graham, and the two are soon...
The new 12-part, hour-long series follows Hezekiah and Alec, best friends from Jamaica who find themselves thrust into the vibrant and violent melting pot of post-industrial revolution London’s East End. Drawn into the criminal underbelly of the thriving illegal boxing scene, Hezekiah meets Mary Carr, leader of The Forty Elephants – the notorious all-female London gang – as they battle for survival on the streets.
As Hezekiah sharpens his new skills, he comes up against Sugar Goodson, a seasoned and dangerous boxer played by Graham, and the two are soon...
- 8/24/2022
- by Tony Maglio
- Indiewire
Veep and The Thick of It creator Armando Iannucci is still angry. In fact, he told delegates here at the Edinburgh TV Festival on Wednesday that he is “angrier than ever” at the direction of the UK’s politics and broadcasting, seven years after his blistering MacTaggart lecture urged the BBC to fight back against its critics and railed against a sale of Channel 4 — both topics now back on the agenda.
Iannucci was one of many creatives to vocally criticize the British Conservative government over its plans to sell network Channel 4 into private hands. As he did on Twitter last year, Iannucci pointed to the fact that well over 95 of submissions to the government’s own consultation on the sale were against it but the government is pushing on, making things bleaker than when he addressed the festival in 2015.
“The government doesn’t listen to us and thinks our opinion is worthless,...
Iannucci was one of many creatives to vocally criticize the British Conservative government over its plans to sell network Channel 4 into private hands. As he did on Twitter last year, Iannucci pointed to the fact that well over 95 of submissions to the government’s own consultation on the sale were against it but the government is pushing on, making things bleaker than when he addressed the festival in 2015.
“The government doesn’t listen to us and thinks our opinion is worthless,...
- 8/24/2022
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
Stephen Graham has joined the cast of acclaimed screenwriter Steven Knight’s period drama series ‘A Thousand Blows.’
The new 12-part series set in the perilous world of illegal boxing in 1880s Victorian London, follows Hezekiah and Alec, two best friends from Jamaica who find themselves thrust into the vibrant and violent melting pot of post-industrial revolution London’s East End. Drawn into the criminal underbelly of the thriving boxing scene, Hezekiah meets Mary Carr, leader of The Forty Elephants – the notorious all-female London gang – as they battle for survival on the streets. As Hezekiah sharpens his new skills, he comes up against Sugar Goodson, a seasoned and dangerous boxer played by Stephen Graham, and the two are soon locked into an intense rivalry that spills out way beyond the ring.
Also in news – Samaritan Press Conference: Sylvester Stallone on entering a relatable superhero universe
Created, written and executive produced by Steven Knight,...
The new 12-part series set in the perilous world of illegal boxing in 1880s Victorian London, follows Hezekiah and Alec, two best friends from Jamaica who find themselves thrust into the vibrant and violent melting pot of post-industrial revolution London’s East End. Drawn into the criminal underbelly of the thriving boxing scene, Hezekiah meets Mary Carr, leader of The Forty Elephants – the notorious all-female London gang – as they battle for survival on the streets. As Hezekiah sharpens his new skills, he comes up against Sugar Goodson, a seasoned and dangerous boxer played by Stephen Graham, and the two are soon locked into an intense rivalry that spills out way beyond the ring.
Also in news – Samaritan Press Conference: Sylvester Stallone on entering a relatable superhero universe
Created, written and executive produced by Steven Knight,...
- 8/24/2022
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight and U.K. acting star Stephen Graham are reuniting on the 12-part original period drama A Thousand Blows, set against the backdrop of Victorian London’s illegal boxing scene, for Disney+ and Hulu.
Knight takes creator, writer and executive producer credits while Graham stars and executive produces alongside Hannah Walters at their joint company Matriarch Productions, Damian Keogh and Kate Lewis for The Story Collective, and Tom Miller and Sam Myer for Water & Power Productions.
The drama follows the fortunes of Hezekiah and Alec, two best friends newly arrived from Jamaica. Fighting for survival in the violent melting pot of Victorian London’s East End, they come up against Sugar Goodson, a dangerous, veteran boxer played by Graham.
The UK Original series will premiere on Disney+ globally, Star+ in Latin America and Hulu in the US.
Knight is the lead writer with episodes also written by Ameir Brown,...
Knight takes creator, writer and executive producer credits while Graham stars and executive produces alongside Hannah Walters at their joint company Matriarch Productions, Damian Keogh and Kate Lewis for The Story Collective, and Tom Miller and Sam Myer for Water & Power Productions.
The drama follows the fortunes of Hezekiah and Alec, two best friends newly arrived from Jamaica. Fighting for survival in the violent melting pot of Victorian London’s East End, they come up against Sugar Goodson, a dangerous, veteran boxer played by Graham.
The UK Original series will premiere on Disney+ globally, Star+ in Latin America and Hulu in the US.
Knight is the lead writer with episodes also written by Ameir Brown,...
- 8/24/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight and Peaky Blinders star Stephen Graham, two of the biggest and most respected names in British TV, are reuniting for a Disney+ U.K. original series set in the perilous world of illegal boxing in 1880s Victorian London, The Hollywood Reporter has exclusively learned.
With the working title A Thousand Blows, the 12-part series will premiere on Disney+ globally, Star+ in Latin America and Hulu in the U.S., and is being produced by The Story Collective in a co-production with Matriarch Productions and Water & Power Productions.
Based on real-life figures and stories, the series will follows Hezekiah and Alec, two best friends from Jamaica who find themselves thrust into the vibrant and violent melting pot of post-industrial revolution London’s East End. Drawn into the criminal underbelly of the thriving boxing scene, Hezekiah meets Mary Carr,...
Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight and Peaky Blinders star Stephen Graham, two of the biggest and most respected names in British TV, are reuniting for a Disney+ U.K. original series set in the perilous world of illegal boxing in 1880s Victorian London, The Hollywood Reporter has exclusively learned.
With the working title A Thousand Blows, the 12-part series will premiere on Disney+ globally, Star+ in Latin America and Hulu in the U.S., and is being produced by The Story Collective in a co-production with Matriarch Productions and Water & Power Productions.
Based on real-life figures and stories, the series will follows Hezekiah and Alec, two best friends from Jamaica who find themselves thrust into the vibrant and violent melting pot of post-industrial revolution London’s East End. Drawn into the criminal underbelly of the thriving boxing scene, Hezekiah meets Mary Carr,...
- 8/24/2022
- by Alex Ritman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Emily Maitlis, one of the most respected British news broadcasters of the past two decades and the notorious Prince Andrew Newsnight interviewer, is to deliver this year’s prestigious James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at the Edinburgh Television Festival.
Former Newsnight host Maitlis’ address, which will focus on the role TV has to play in speaking truth to power, will be her first since leaving the BBC as she prepares to front a Global podcast with former BBC North America Correspondent Jon Sopel.
The multi-award-winning Maitlis is one of the most established British TV news faces of the past two decades, working for a number of networks, mainly the BBC, fronting popular podcasts and interviewing presidents, prime ministers, Hollywood A-listers and business leaders.
She is known for her thorough interviewing style and an in-depth knowledge of a whole range of issues. Perhaps her best moment came during the 2019 Prince Andrew interview...
Former Newsnight host Maitlis’ address, which will focus on the role TV has to play in speaking truth to power, will be her first since leaving the BBC as she prepares to front a Global podcast with former BBC North America Correspondent Jon Sopel.
The multi-award-winning Maitlis is one of the most established British TV news faces of the past two decades, working for a number of networks, mainly the BBC, fronting popular podcasts and interviewing presidents, prime ministers, Hollywood A-listers and business leaders.
She is known for her thorough interviewing style and an in-depth knowledge of a whole range of issues. Perhaps her best moment came during the 2019 Prince Andrew interview...
- 8/9/2022
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Some of the U.K.’s biggest TV and streaming stars are set to appear at the 2022 Edinburgh TV Festival. Among those who will be present at the in-person event in Edinburgh are “Succession” patriarch Brian Cox, “Heartstopper” star Kit Connor and “Strictly Come Dancing’s” Rose Ayling-Ellis, who will give this year’s Alternative Mactaggart speech.
Actor Ayling-Ellis, who was “Strictly’s” first deaf contestant and is a British Sign Language (Bsl) campaigner, is set to discuss her experiences in the industry in what is sure to be a no-holds barred speech that follows on from last year’s Alternative Mactaggart lecture by “His Dark Materials” writer and disability campaigner Jack Thorne.
Cox will appear in conversation to discuss his career, his scene-stealing role as Logan Roy and his working-class Scottish roots while the cast and creative team from Netflix hit “Heartstopper” will also be on hand to discuss the coming-of-age romantic drama,...
Actor Ayling-Ellis, who was “Strictly’s” first deaf contestant and is a British Sign Language (Bsl) campaigner, is set to discuss her experiences in the industry in what is sure to be a no-holds barred speech that follows on from last year’s Alternative Mactaggart lecture by “His Dark Materials” writer and disability campaigner Jack Thorne.
Cox will appear in conversation to discuss his career, his scene-stealing role as Logan Roy and his working-class Scottish roots while the cast and creative team from Netflix hit “Heartstopper” will also be on hand to discuss the coming-of-age romantic drama,...
- 6/8/2022
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
Moonage Daydream will open DocFest Photo: Courtesy of Sheffield DocFest Sheffield DocFest has announced the full programme of this year's festival, which will run from June 23 to 28.
This year's line-up will feature 38 world premieres.
In addition to film screenings, there will be talks from guest curator Asif Kapadia with editor Chris King; Brett Morgen (Moonage Daydream), Pratibha Parmar (My Name Is Andrea) and David Olusoga: (StoryTrails).
BBC news journalist Clive Myrie will also feature as an interview, along with singer Will Young, who will discuss documentary Losing My Twin Rupert, and British Olympian Ellie Simmonds.
Alex Cooke, Chair of the Board of Trustees, says: “There has never been a more important time for documentaries. They take us into worlds and lives and help us understand, they let us empathise, and they hold those in power to account. This special festival affords us a community, one to find real comfort in.
This year's line-up will feature 38 world premieres.
In addition to film screenings, there will be talks from guest curator Asif Kapadia with editor Chris King; Brett Morgen (Moonage Daydream), Pratibha Parmar (My Name Is Andrea) and David Olusoga: (StoryTrails).
BBC news journalist Clive Myrie will also feature as an interview, along with singer Will Young, who will discuss documentary Losing My Twin Rupert, and British Olympian Ellie Simmonds.
Alex Cooke, Chair of the Board of Trustees, says: “There has never been a more important time for documentaries. They take us into worlds and lives and help us understand, they let us empathise, and they hold those in power to account. This special festival affords us a community, one to find real comfort in.
- 5/31/2022
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
First Disabled-Led Company Joins Channel 4 Indie Growth Fund
Channel 4 has invested in Rockerdale Studios, the first disabled-led company to join its burgeoning Indie Growth Fund. Rockerdale becomes the 17th producer to join the Fund, for which Channel 4 takes small minority stakes in producers and nurtures them, and the ninth over the past two years including David Olusoga’s Uplands TV and Walter Iuzzolino’s Eagle Eye. Rockerdale is the first to be run by a person with a disability, CEO Stu Richards. The company has produced Channel 4’s Mission: Accessible, Comedy Central’s Bobby and Harriet Get Married and upcoming All 4 show Rosie Jones’ Dine Hard. Indie Growth Fund Head Caroline Murphy lauded Richards and COO Michelle Singer as an “impressive team both creatively and in terms of ambition.” Channel 4 has placed more focus on disability representation over the past months, following Help creator Jack Thorne’s blistering August...
Channel 4 has invested in Rockerdale Studios, the first disabled-led company to join its burgeoning Indie Growth Fund. Rockerdale becomes the 17th producer to join the Fund, for which Channel 4 takes small minority stakes in producers and nurtures them, and the ninth over the past two years including David Olusoga’s Uplands TV and Walter Iuzzolino’s Eagle Eye. Rockerdale is the first to be run by a person with a disability, CEO Stu Richards. The company has produced Channel 4’s Mission: Accessible, Comedy Central’s Bobby and Harriet Get Married and upcoming All 4 show Rosie Jones’ Dine Hard. Indie Growth Fund Head Caroline Murphy lauded Richards and COO Michelle Singer as an “impressive team both creatively and in terms of ambition.” Channel 4 has placed more focus on disability representation over the past months, following Help creator Jack Thorne’s blistering August...
- 5/27/2022
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: David Olusoga’s Uplands TV and Blackadder star Tony Robinson are combining on a history competition series for Channel 4 portfolio network More 4, in which UK people have to week to investigate and curate a museum about their road.
Museum of Us will be helmed each week by Robinson and a team made up of a historian, designer and curator. Residents are challenged to create their very own pop-up museum, uncovering piece-by-piece the story of their street. As they begin with their own personal connections, they then gather evidence that tells the story through time and learn how it fits into Britain’s national history.
Broadcaster, historian and former MacTaggart lecturer Olusoga’s indie Uplands TV, which is part of the Channel 4 Indie Accelerator program and backed by the Channel 4 Indie Growth Fund, is behind the four-part show and Olusoga is exec producing.
Olusoga has experience presenting BBC Two...
Museum of Us will be helmed each week by Robinson and a team made up of a historian, designer and curator. Residents are challenged to create their very own pop-up museum, uncovering piece-by-piece the story of their street. As they begin with their own personal connections, they then gather evidence that tells the story through time and learn how it fits into Britain’s national history.
Broadcaster, historian and former MacTaggart lecturer Olusoga’s indie Uplands TV, which is part of the Channel 4 Indie Accelerator program and backed by the Channel 4 Indie Growth Fund, is behind the four-part show and Olusoga is exec producing.
Olusoga has experience presenting BBC Two...
- 3/29/2022
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
The British TV industry is “losing the arguments around Public Service Broadcasting and hasn’t yet found the words to make an effective case,” according to Brexit: The Uncivil War and Quiz creator James Graham.
Graham, who is also behind BBC1’s upcoming drama Sherwood, said a “new case” needs to be forged to keep broadcasting in public hands, with Channel 4 potentially on the verge of being sold to a private buyer.
“Unless we can find that language and case I worry about the decline of broadcasters which, if they didn’t exist, would deplete our cultural language,” said Graham. “We are losing the arguments around Psb.”
Graham was arguing passionately at today’s Freeview Outside the Box event in a Vt alongside historian and broadcaster David Olusoga, presenter Mobeen Azhar and former Endor Creative Director Sara Johnson, who has just launched disability advocacy group Bridge 06.
Olusoga called on...
Graham, who is also behind BBC1’s upcoming drama Sherwood, said a “new case” needs to be forged to keep broadcasting in public hands, with Channel 4 potentially on the verge of being sold to a private buyer.
“Unless we can find that language and case I worry about the decline of broadcasters which, if they didn’t exist, would deplete our cultural language,” said Graham. “We are losing the arguments around Psb.”
Graham was arguing passionately at today’s Freeview Outside the Box event in a Vt alongside historian and broadcaster David Olusoga, presenter Mobeen Azhar and former Endor Creative Director Sara Johnson, who has just launched disability advocacy group Bridge 06.
Olusoga called on...
- 11/17/2021
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Social Impact
Viacom International Studios has launched Vis Social Impact, a new studio division dedicated to developing social impact-driven content focused on topical issues such as climate, equality and health. The division is part of Vis’s larger Content for Change initiative, which was established to counteract racism, bias, stereotypes and hate throughout the company’s culture, creative supply chain and its finished productions.
Georgia Arnold, Vis senior VP of social responsibility will head the new division, reporting directly to Jc Acosta, president of Vis and networks Americas. Arnold brings with her a wealth of experience in large-scale behavior changing and was the co-founder and director of the MTV Staying Alive Foundation, which was established to protect young people worldwide against HIV and improve sexual and reproductive health.
The division’s first Social Impact Commission is “Protest & Progress” from photographer and social activist Misan Harriman. A three-part docuseries, the show...
Viacom International Studios has launched Vis Social Impact, a new studio division dedicated to developing social impact-driven content focused on topical issues such as climate, equality and health. The division is part of Vis’s larger Content for Change initiative, which was established to counteract racism, bias, stereotypes and hate throughout the company’s culture, creative supply chain and its finished productions.
Georgia Arnold, Vis senior VP of social responsibility will head the new division, reporting directly to Jc Acosta, president of Vis and networks Americas. Arnold brings with her a wealth of experience in large-scale behavior changing and was the co-founder and director of the MTV Staying Alive Foundation, which was established to protect young people worldwide against HIV and improve sexual and reproductive health.
The division’s first Social Impact Commission is “Protest & Progress” from photographer and social activist Misan Harriman. A three-part docuseries, the show...
- 10/12/2021
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Mipcom roundup
Banijay Rights Builds South Korea ‘Lego Masters’ Deal
Hit entertainment format Lego Masters is to become South Korea’s first non-Korean unscripted format to air on free-to-air TV in the country as network Mbc seals a deal with distributor Banijay Rights. The format, which sees pairs compete against each other on lego challenges, originated on Channel 4 in the UK and airs on Fox in the US, will be remade by Seoul-based production company B&c Content. Created by UK indie Tuesday’s Child, the show launched quietly in the UK but has since sold to 16 international broadcasters across Europe, the US, Australia and Asia. Daryl Kho, Banijay Rights SVP Asia, Formats, described the latest sale as a “landmark deal” for a “global phenomenon.”
Nutopia’s ‘Extra Life’ Goes Global
World According To Jeff Goldblum Producer Nutopia’s documentary series Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer has...
Banijay Rights Builds South Korea ‘Lego Masters’ Deal
Hit entertainment format Lego Masters is to become South Korea’s first non-Korean unscripted format to air on free-to-air TV in the country as network Mbc seals a deal with distributor Banijay Rights. The format, which sees pairs compete against each other on lego challenges, originated on Channel 4 in the UK and airs on Fox in the US, will be remade by Seoul-based production company B&c Content. Created by UK indie Tuesday’s Child, the show launched quietly in the UK but has since sold to 16 international broadcasters across Europe, the US, Australia and Asia. Daryl Kho, Banijay Rights SVP Asia, Formats, described the latest sale as a “landmark deal” for a “global phenomenon.”
Nutopia’s ‘Extra Life’ Goes Global
World According To Jeff Goldblum Producer Nutopia’s documentary series Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer has...
- 10/12/2021
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
UK broadcaster Channel 4 has invested in ITV2’s Stand Up Sketch Show and BBC3’s Bamous producer Spirit Studios.
Spirit Studios, which was founded as Spirit Media by former Endemol digital boss Peter Cowley (pictured) and Matt Campion, becomes the latest producer to join C4’s Indie Growth Fund, which sees the broadcaster invest and take minority stakes in production companies including David Olusoga’s Uplands Television and Walter Iuzollino’s Eagle Eye Drama.
Indie Growth Fund head Caroline Murphy hailed Spirit’s “passion, vision and creativity”, with the outfit also behind podcasts for the likes of BBC Sounds, Spotify, Audible and Red Bull.
Cowley described a “significant moment” in Spirit’s journey. “We’re thrilled to have Channel 4 help us scale our businesses, as we continue to disrupt the industry on our journey to become a powerhouse indie of the future,” he said.
Channel 4’s Indie Growth Fund...
Spirit Studios, which was founded as Spirit Media by former Endemol digital boss Peter Cowley (pictured) and Matt Campion, becomes the latest producer to join C4’s Indie Growth Fund, which sees the broadcaster invest and take minority stakes in production companies including David Olusoga’s Uplands Television and Walter Iuzollino’s Eagle Eye Drama.
Indie Growth Fund head Caroline Murphy hailed Spirit’s “passion, vision and creativity”, with the outfit also behind podcasts for the likes of BBC Sounds, Spotify, Audible and Red Bull.
Cowley described a “significant moment” in Spirit’s journey. “We’re thrilled to have Channel 4 help us scale our businesses, as we continue to disrupt the industry on our journey to become a powerhouse indie of the future,” he said.
Channel 4’s Indie Growth Fund...
- 10/8/2021
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Thorne was delivering the 46th MacTaggart lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival.
UK TV has “utterly and totally” failed disabled people, according to MacTaggart lecturer Jack Thorne, as he unveiled an accessibility pressure group designed to improve the situation.
The Virtues and The Accident writer pulled no punches when referring to disability as “the forgotten diversity”, as he became the 46th MacTaggart speaker and first to have had a disability.
“Disability is the issue everyone leaves out of speeches,” he said.
“Gender, race, sexuality all rightly get discussed at length but disability gets relegated out. In conversations about representation, it is confined to the corner,...
UK TV has “utterly and totally” failed disabled people, according to MacTaggart lecturer Jack Thorne, as he unveiled an accessibility pressure group designed to improve the situation.
The Virtues and The Accident writer pulled no punches when referring to disability as “the forgotten diversity”, as he became the 46th MacTaggart speaker and first to have had a disability.
“Disability is the issue everyone leaves out of speeches,” he said.
“Gender, race, sexuality all rightly get discussed at length but disability gets relegated out. In conversations about representation, it is confined to the corner,...
- 8/24/2021
- by Max Goldbart Broadcast
- ScreenDaily
BAFTA-winning dramatist and playwright Jack Thorne has slammed the U.K. TV industry’s shoddy treatment of disability and has called for a quota to redress the situation.
Delivering the annual James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival, Thorne, a disabled professional whose credits include the West End play “Harry Potter and The Cursed Child,” Netflix film “Enola Holmes” and TV series “His Dark Materials,” said: “Disability is the forgotten diversity, the one everyone leaves out of speeches.”
“Gender, race, sexuality, all rightly get discussed at length. Disability gets relegated out,” Thorne said. “Producers have ignored disabled writers. Commissioners haven’t taken the opportunity to tell disabled stories. There are very few disabled people in front of the camera, and even fewer behind it.”
“TV has failed disabled people. Utterly and totally.”
Thorne called for an attitudinal change towards disability to begin with. While he hailed some of...
Delivering the annual James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival, Thorne, a disabled professional whose credits include the West End play “Harry Potter and The Cursed Child,” Netflix film “Enola Holmes” and TV series “His Dark Materials,” said: “Disability is the forgotten diversity, the one everyone leaves out of speeches.”
“Gender, race, sexuality, all rightly get discussed at length. Disability gets relegated out,” Thorne said. “Producers have ignored disabled writers. Commissioners haven’t taken the opportunity to tell disabled stories. There are very few disabled people in front of the camera, and even fewer behind it.”
“TV has failed disabled people. Utterly and totally.”
Thorne called for an attitudinal change towards disability to begin with. While he hailed some of...
- 8/23/2021
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Acclaimed screenwriter Jack Thorne has slammed the industry for its treatment of disabled people both on and off screen, saying, “TV has failed disabled people. Utterly and totally.”
Thorne used his invitation to give the prestigious MacTaggart Lecture at this year’s Edinburgh TV Festival to announce the creation of a new pressure group named Underlying Health Condition, which will push to make TV’s working environments more easily accessible to all and create a cross-industry fund to pay for it.
During his speech, prolific scribe Thorne, known for series such as His Dark Materials and This Is England, and movies such as Wonder and Enola Holmes, revealed a disturbing story about a disabled friend working on a project based in an old factory, “who had to crawl up the steps and along the floor to get to her desk, while her electric wheelchair was outside getting soaked by the rain.
Thorne used his invitation to give the prestigious MacTaggart Lecture at this year’s Edinburgh TV Festival to announce the creation of a new pressure group named Underlying Health Condition, which will push to make TV’s working environments more easily accessible to all and create a cross-industry fund to pay for it.
During his speech, prolific scribe Thorne, known for series such as His Dark Materials and This Is England, and movies such as Wonder and Enola Holmes, revealed a disturbing story about a disabled friend working on a project based in an old factory, “who had to crawl up the steps and along the floor to get to her desk, while her electric wheelchair was outside getting soaked by the rain.
- 8/23/2021
- by Caroline Frost
- Deadline Film + TV
ViacomCBS’ Smithsonian Channel is prepping One Thousand Years of Slavery, a four-part docu-series from Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance’s Bassett Vance Productions.
BAFTA-winning British-Nigerian director David Olusoga explores stories of survival and devastation that span across the globe – from Africa to the Caribbean, London to Washington DC, and more. Through preserved historical documentation and insight from experts, every story unfolds to chronicle how slavery frames the present and continues to act as a distinct force on the future. The series features interviews with public figures including Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III, Senator Cory Booker, and actor David Harewood. (Watch a trailer above)
“Slavery is not that long ago. It’s really recent. It’s painfully close to us, and it’s no surprise it’s still shaping our societies,” said Olusoga. “Our aim is to break away from just seeing the slave trade as a phenomena that exists...
BAFTA-winning British-Nigerian director David Olusoga explores stories of survival and devastation that span across the globe – from Africa to the Caribbean, London to Washington DC, and more. Through preserved historical documentation and insight from experts, every story unfolds to chronicle how slavery frames the present and continues to act as a distinct force on the future. The series features interviews with public figures including Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III, Senator Cory Booker, and actor David Harewood. (Watch a trailer above)
“Slavery is not that long ago. It’s really recent. It’s painfully close to us, and it’s no surprise it’s still shaping our societies,” said Olusoga. “Our aim is to break away from just seeing the slave trade as a phenomena that exists...
- 8/18/2021
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
MTV Entertainment on Wednesday announced a new docuseries produced in partnership with Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance’s Bassett Vance Productions that will explore the tragic history of slavery and its profound, continuing impact on the modern world.
The four-episode series, “One Thousand Years of Slavery,” will air on the Smithsonian Channel. Each episode will focus on “powerful stories of notable individuals courageously sharing their deeply personal Black experiences.”
The series will feature interviews and personal accounts with leaders and activists including Smithsonian Institution secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III, Senator Cory booker, and actor David Harewood, and will look at “how slavery frames the present and continues to act as a distinct force on the future.”
Watch the trailer above.
Described as “a dialogue of reflection, oppression, and progression, offering diverse perspectives proving that this challenging yet imperative global conversation will continue for decades to come,” the series will...
The four-episode series, “One Thousand Years of Slavery,” will air on the Smithsonian Channel. Each episode will focus on “powerful stories of notable individuals courageously sharing their deeply personal Black experiences.”
The series will feature interviews and personal accounts with leaders and activists including Smithsonian Institution secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III, Senator Cory booker, and actor David Harewood, and will look at “how slavery frames the present and continues to act as a distinct force on the future.”
Watch the trailer above.
Described as “a dialogue of reflection, oppression, and progression, offering diverse perspectives proving that this challenging yet imperative global conversation will continue for decades to come,” the series will...
- 8/18/2021
- by Ross A. Lincoln
- The Wrap
A range of topics dominating television industry headlines in the U.K. will be front and center at the 2021 Edinburgh TV Festival (Aug. 23-26), the event’s chiefs promise.
The proposed privatization of Channel 4 and global streamers like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney Plus stealing a march over U.K. public service broadcasters have dominated local headlines in recent months — all of which will be unpacked at the fully virtual event.
“Channel 4, and of course, the future of public service broadcasting and the streamers and their place in the fabric of U.K. production and TV, these are all things that will absolutely be talked about,” said festival creative director Stewart Clarke, a former Variety correspondent.
Like the 2020 edition, 2021 is packed with heavyweight speakers including Whoopi Goldberg and Steve Coogan, and climate activist Greta Thunberg who will be in conversation with bestselling author Jo Nesbo.
“It really was...
The proposed privatization of Channel 4 and global streamers like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney Plus stealing a march over U.K. public service broadcasters have dominated local headlines in recent months — all of which will be unpacked at the fully virtual event.
“Channel 4, and of course, the future of public service broadcasting and the streamers and their place in the fabric of U.K. production and TV, these are all things that will absolutely be talked about,” said festival creative director Stewart Clarke, a former Variety correspondent.
Like the 2020 edition, 2021 is packed with heavyweight speakers including Whoopi Goldberg and Steve Coogan, and climate activist Greta Thunberg who will be in conversation with bestselling author Jo Nesbo.
“It really was...
- 8/16/2021
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Will.i.am Hosts ITV Race Film
ITV has commissioned The Voice UK coach will.i.am to front Will.i.am: The Blackprint, a documentary examining what it means to be Black and British. Produced by Twofour as part of a season of shows for Black History Month, will.i.am will travel the UK meeting Black Brits and will compare their experiences with his own, having grown up in Los Angeles. Executive producers are will.i.am and Nic Patten. The senior producer is Laetitia Nneke. Other documentaries include Ashley Banjo: Britain in Black and White (working title), in which the Britain’s Got Talent star will examine his own past and Black British history. The film is made by David Olusoga’s Uplands Television.
BBC Studios Hires COO
BBC Studios’ television production arm has hired Martha Brass as its chief operating officer. She joins from French production giant Newen Group,...
ITV has commissioned The Voice UK coach will.i.am to front Will.i.am: The Blackprint, a documentary examining what it means to be Black and British. Produced by Twofour as part of a season of shows for Black History Month, will.i.am will travel the UK meeting Black Brits and will compare their experiences with his own, having grown up in Los Angeles. Executive producers are will.i.am and Nic Patten. The senior producer is Laetitia Nneke. Other documentaries include Ashley Banjo: Britain in Black and White (working title), in which the Britain’s Got Talent star will examine his own past and Black British history. The film is made by David Olusoga’s Uplands Television.
BBC Studios Hires COO
BBC Studios’ television production arm has hired Martha Brass as its chief operating officer. She joins from French production giant Newen Group,...
- 7/22/2021
- by Jake Kanter
- Deadline Film + TV
Jack Thorne, the prolific British writer behind His Dark Materials and Harry Potter and The Cursed Child, is to deliver the prestigious James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival next month.
Thorne, who has been diagnosed with a condition called cholinergic urticaria, which means he is allergic to heat and his own body movement, will spotlight the representation of disability on British TV during his address.
He said: “I am ridiculously honoured to be asked to deliver this year’s MacTaggart lecture. It’s an opportunity I never anticipated, but an opportunity I am determined to use. This country has a glaring problem at the moment and it’s in its treatment of disabled people.
“In the last two years people have died who didn’t need to, and those that survived were treated appallingly, ignored and shut out. We lived and live in a two-tier society, those...
Thorne, who has been diagnosed with a condition called cholinergic urticaria, which means he is allergic to heat and his own body movement, will spotlight the representation of disability on British TV during his address.
He said: “I am ridiculously honoured to be asked to deliver this year’s MacTaggart lecture. It’s an opportunity I never anticipated, but an opportunity I am determined to use. This country has a glaring problem at the moment and it’s in its treatment of disabled people.
“In the last two years people have died who didn’t need to, and those that survived were treated appallingly, ignored and shut out. We lived and live in a two-tier society, those...
- 7/8/2021
- by Jake Kanter
- Deadline Film + TV
Acclaimed dramatist and playwright Jack Thorne will deliver this year’s James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival.
Thorne’s credits include the West End play “Harry Potter and The Cursed Child,” Netflix film “Enola Holmes” and TV series “His Dark Materials.” As a disabled professional, Thorne is a vocal champion, campaigner and ally of other disabled creatives both in front of and behind the camera.
Thorne has co-written with Genevieve Barr an upcoming BBC factual drama called “Independence Day? How Disabled Rights Were Won,” starring Ruth Madeley, based on the true story of the people behind a campaign that led to the winning of disabled civil rights in Britain.
Thorne’s lecture will focus on the need for greater representation, platforming the voices of disabled professionals — both visible and invisible — and the role the TV industry has to play in defining a more accessible future, underpinned by...
Thorne’s credits include the West End play “Harry Potter and The Cursed Child,” Netflix film “Enola Holmes” and TV series “His Dark Materials.” As a disabled professional, Thorne is a vocal champion, campaigner and ally of other disabled creatives both in front of and behind the camera.
Thorne has co-written with Genevieve Barr an upcoming BBC factual drama called “Independence Day? How Disabled Rights Were Won,” starring Ruth Madeley, based on the true story of the people behind a campaign that led to the winning of disabled civil rights in Britain.
Thorne’s lecture will focus on the need for greater representation, platforming the voices of disabled professionals — both visible and invisible — and the role the TV industry has to play in defining a more accessible future, underpinned by...
- 7/8/2021
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Sheffield DocFest is spotlighting and celebrating Black British screen culture this month with a Retrospective titled “Films belong to those who need them – fragments from the history of Black British Cinema.” The Retrospective brings together a wide and diverse range of films that have been largely overlooked and undervalued in film history and criticism.
To give breadth to the selection, the films have been selected by guest curators. They are film exhibition company We Are Parable’s Anthony Andrews and Teanne Andrews; writer and director Campbell X; British-Nigerian historian, broadcaster and filmmaker David Olusoga; filmmaker George Amponsah; filmmaker Judah Attille; curator and cultural historian Mark Sealy; and a group of film studies/screenwriting and film students from Sheffield Hallam University as part of a partnership project led by principal lecturer in film studies Chi-Yun Shin.
For example, the We Are Parable program – titled “Remember / Re-evaluate / Review” – examines the portrayal of...
To give breadth to the selection, the films have been selected by guest curators. They are film exhibition company We Are Parable’s Anthony Andrews and Teanne Andrews; writer and director Campbell X; British-Nigerian historian, broadcaster and filmmaker David Olusoga; filmmaker George Amponsah; filmmaker Judah Attille; curator and cultural historian Mark Sealy; and a group of film studies/screenwriting and film students from Sheffield Hallam University as part of a partnership project led by principal lecturer in film studies Chi-Yun Shin.
For example, the We Are Parable program – titled “Remember / Re-evaluate / Review” – examines the portrayal of...
- 6/2/2021
- by Tim Dams
- Variety Film + TV
Writer Neil Gaiman, actor Hugh Grant and historian and presenter David Olusoga are among 120 well-known British figures who have signed an open letter decrying the threat to public service broadcasters from streamers and government.
The letter, from campaign group the British Broadcasting Challenge, chaired by former BBC creative officer Pat Younge, states that PSBs such as the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 are “under severe threat” from “unregulated streaming services and ‘click-bait’ content of big-tech companies” and also from the U.K. government.
Also signed by actors Michael Sheen and Steve Coogan, author Salman Rushdie and filmmaker Armando Iannucci, the letter is addressed to U.K. Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Oliver Dowden. It points out that funding to the BBC has been cut by 30% and states that “the safeguards supporting the Psb structures at ITV, C4 and C5 have been undermined and would...
The letter, from campaign group the British Broadcasting Challenge, chaired by former BBC creative officer Pat Younge, states that PSBs such as the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 are “under severe threat” from “unregulated streaming services and ‘click-bait’ content of big-tech companies” and also from the U.K. government.
Also signed by actors Michael Sheen and Steve Coogan, author Salman Rushdie and filmmaker Armando Iannucci, the letter is addressed to U.K. Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Oliver Dowden. It points out that funding to the BBC has been cut by 30% and states that “the safeguards supporting the Psb structures at ITV, C4 and C5 have been undermined and would...
- 5/20/2021
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
The Sheffield DocFest has unveiled its line-up for its 2021 programme that includes the World Premiere of the first instalment of Academy Award winner Steve McQueen’s new series for the BBC, ‘Uprising’.
For the first time, Sheffield DocFest goes nationwide with five premiere screenings showing in up to 16 partner cinemas in cities around the UK, and online, followed by pre-recorded Q&As. It also includes the previously announced Retrospective: Films belong to those who need them – fragments from the history of Black British Cinema.
The celebration of Black British screen culture – curated by guest curators including David Olusoga. Films of all lengths will all be presented as part of the retrospective including titles such as ‘Burning An Illusion’ by Menelik Shabazz, ‘It Ain’t Half Racist’, ‘Mum’ by Stuart Hall, ‘Looking for Langston’ by Isaac Julien, ‘Second Coming’ by Debbie Tucker Green, ‘The Black Safari’ by Colin Luke, ‘Baby Mother...
For the first time, Sheffield DocFest goes nationwide with five premiere screenings showing in up to 16 partner cinemas in cities around the UK, and online, followed by pre-recorded Q&As. It also includes the previously announced Retrospective: Films belong to those who need them – fragments from the history of Black British Cinema.
The celebration of Black British screen culture – curated by guest curators including David Olusoga. Films of all lengths will all be presented as part of the retrospective including titles such as ‘Burning An Illusion’ by Menelik Shabazz, ‘It Ain’t Half Racist’, ‘Mum’ by Stuart Hall, ‘Looking for Langston’ by Isaac Julien, ‘Second Coming’ by Debbie Tucker Green, ‘The Black Safari’ by Colin Luke, ‘Baby Mother...
- 5/17/2021
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
My Name Is Pauli Murray will be among the films screening across the UK Photo: Pauli Murray Foundation
Sheffield DocFest has announced its full line-up for this year's festival, which will run from June 4 to 13, both physically in the city and online.
The slate includes 55 world premieres, 22 international premieres, 15 European premieres and 59 UK premieres across 57 countries with 63 languages represented, including new International and UK Competitions, and a Northern (England) Focus.
Highlights include the world premiere of the first instalment of Academy Award winner Steve McQueen’s new series for the BBC, Uprising. Directed by Steve McQueen & James Rogan, the film - about the 1981 New Cross fire - will be presented as a Special Screening.
The festival has previously announced that this year’s Retrospective: Films belong to those who need them - fragments from the history of Black British Cinema, will be a celebration of Black British screen culture -...
Sheffield DocFest has announced its full line-up for this year's festival, which will run from June 4 to 13, both physically in the city and online.
The slate includes 55 world premieres, 22 international premieres, 15 European premieres and 59 UK premieres across 57 countries with 63 languages represented, including new International and UK Competitions, and a Northern (England) Focus.
Highlights include the world premiere of the first instalment of Academy Award winner Steve McQueen’s new series for the BBC, Uprising. Directed by Steve McQueen & James Rogan, the film - about the 1981 New Cross fire - will be presented as a Special Screening.
The festival has previously announced that this year’s Retrospective: Films belong to those who need them - fragments from the history of Black British Cinema, will be a celebration of Black British screen culture -...
- 5/17/2021
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
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