All the latest news from the global content industry on Tuesday, 11 February

 

Tuesday, 2.40pm: Fifth Season names Canda sales chief 

Fifth Season has appointed former Wattpad Studios executive Muriel Rosilio to the newly created role of director of sales for Canada and struck a raft of deals in the country.

Rosilio will now oversee Fifth Season’s content rights across all media and languages throughout Canada, reporting into Travis Webb, senior vice president of sales, Americas.

The CJ ENM-owned company has also secured a new multi-title deal with Corus, which includes Morimoto’s Sushi Master and Jessica Alba and Lizzy Mathis’ Honest Renovations, alongside Stacey Solomon’s Renovation Rescue and Katherine Ryan: Parental Guidance.

Fifth Season has also inked a multi-title deal with Paramount+ in Canada for shows including Lightbox’s new docuseries Marilyn Manson: Unmasked, while Hollywood Suite has picked up seasons one and two of the acclaimed Irish crime drama Kin.

 

Tuesday, 1.12pm: Evoke adds Reel One, Johnson Prod execs 

Finance, distribution and production company Evoke Entertainment (fka Cartel Entertainment) has hired Breanne Laplante as head of business affairs and Lisa Alford as vice president of development.

Laplante, who was previously executive vice president of business and legal affairs and chief operations officer at Reel One Entertainment, will oversee business affairs for Evoke’s US and Canadian offices based out of Vancouver.

Alford previously held executive producer roles at Johnson Production Group and development jobs at TriStar Television and Sony Pictures Television. She is based in LA and will manage the company’s slate of films and output deals.

 In related news, Evoke has also secured two overhead deals with Anthony Fankhauser of Ames Media Inc. and Lexi Lewis of Magic String Productions. 

 

Tuesday, 12.51pm: Quintus enters Danger Pay

Distributor and channel owner Quintus Studios has unveiled its latest digital-first doc series titled Danger Pay.

The series examines the lives of professionals who risk everything for their pay cheque, with the hour-long pilot episode exploring professional rodeo and debuting on Quintus Studios’ AVoD channel Free Documentary.

It is produced by Adventure Alliance Films, with production led by Chris Stokoe and Olivia Bell. The executive producer for Quintus is Adam Jacobs and is planned to run for 4-6 episodes.

 

Tuesday, 11.33am: New Empire to adapt Still Life

Recently-launched New Empire Pictures has revealed the first project from its slate is to be an adaptation of Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller Still Life by Sarah Winman.

New Empire Pictures is the joint venture that re-unites Matt Barber with his award-winning Downton Abbey producer Liz Trubridge. The project will be spearheaded by Bafta-winning producer and executive producer Trubridge, along with Barber who is New Empire Pictures’ chief executive. Understood to be in advanced development, Winman is to adapt the novel with Lewis Georgeson co-writing the series which follows the story of a young English soldier.

 

Tuesday, 10.10am: NBCU up Chris Taylor in APAC

NBC Universal has promoted Chris Taylor to become managing director of TV distribution and international networks & DTC in APAC.

Taylor expands his remit from Australia and New Zealand to cover the entire APAC region, reporting into exec vce president of global TV distribution Caroyn Stalins and president of international networks and DTC, Ken Bettseller.

He remains based out of Sydney and takes the role of Justine Che, who was recently promoted to become president of Universal Pictures Home Entertainment in LA.

 

Tuesday, 9.03am: New Regency goes Beyond with Bravado

New Regency has partnered with Bravado Equity on European crime mystery drama Beyond (aka Oderbruch) and will launch the series at the London TV Screenings.

The 8 x 50 minute show tracks what happens when the discovery of a mysterious mass grave in rural Germany unearths decades-old secrets about a serial killer and dark legends that shake the community to its core.

It has been produced by ARD Degeto, Syrreal Entertainment and CBS Studios Production, with the support of German Motion Picture Fund and Polish Film Institute and in association with Bravado Equity.

Beyond is directed by The Island duo Adolfo J. Kolmerer and Christian Alvart, and stars Karoline Schuch (Tatort) and Felix Kramer (Dark). It is being produced by Siegfried Kamml, Christian Alvart and Timm Oberwelland, with Arend Remmers, Martin Behnke, Ronny Schalk and Christian Alvart writing.

 

Tuesday, 9am: Sony lands Japan’s 100 Choices 

Sony Pictures Television (SPT) has acquired global distribution rights to comedy competition format 100 Choices from Japan’s FANY Studio and will be launching the format at London TV Screenings.

The show sees a group of contestants faced with 1 question but 100 possible answers. If they can answer correctly, they’ll win a large cash prize. The question will be nearly impossible to answer, so contestants will take on five physical challenges that will allow them to eliminate some answers based on their performance in each challenge.

A pilot episode of 100 Choices aired on BS Yoshimoto in Japan in October 2023, after which it was showcased at Asia TV Forum (ATF).

SPT-backed companies will also rep the format, including Stellify (UK), B17 Entertainment (USA), Curio (Australia), Teleset (Mexico) and Floresta (Brazil).

 

Tuesday, 8.51am: Bosch star strikes Amazon MGM Studios deal

Amazon MGM Studios has signed a first-look deal with Bosch and Bosch: Legacy star, Titus Welliver.

The deal covers series and comes ahead of the third and final season of Bosch: Legacy, which will debut in late March.