Monday round-up: Latest news, deals & hires

BBC hires Paramount’s John Curbishley 

Paramount Global’s executive vice president of corporate strategy John Curbishley is to return to the BBC in the newly-created role of chief strategy and transformation officer.

Curbishley will relocate from New York and will take up the London-based role next month. Before heading to the U.S in 2003 he worked a strategy manager at the BBC, where he started his career in the 90s.

In his new role, he will have responsibility for leading the development and delivery of the broadcaster’s ‘transformation and performance agenda’, sitting on the executive committee and reporting to Tim Davie.

The role was created after group director of strategy and performance Gautam Rangarajan announced his departure in the summer.

GRÓ Studios & Jákupsson land Red Herring in London

TROM creator Torfinnur Jákupsson has launched Red Herring Story, a London-based development company that will act as a UK affiliate for GRÓ Studios, which claims to be the first Faroese film and TV studio founded in 2022.

Red Herring Story will develop high-end scripted and unscripted thrillers, with an international co-production focus. It already has a slate of “socially conscious crime narratives”, the company said, with its first flagship project a corporate crime thriller set in London’s Canary Wharf that delves into greenwashing, global finance, and political influence.

Red Herring Story is already in talks with international co-production partners with further announcements expected later this year. 

TV Asahi & Craig Plestis’ Smart Dog format to debut

TV Asahi’s Channel 5 has unveiled launch plans for its new talent competition show Song vs Dance, which has been co-produced with Craig Plestis’ Smart Dog Media.

The one-hour variety show, which debuts 11.15pm on 28 March, features performers competing in head-to-head battles set in a video game-inspired format across both singing and dancing disciplines. Contestants will attempt to impress judges to prove whether song or dance is better.

The show is hosted by Japanese comedian Takashi Yoshimura, with singer Takahiro, breakdancing Olympian Shigekix and Naomi Watanabe, the comedian and Instagram influencer, among judges. Coaches include pianist Shinya Kiyozuka.

The show is executive produced by Smart Dog duo Craig Plestis, who helped take The Masked Singer into the US, and Clara Plestis, alongside TV Asahi’s Takaaki Kitano. The show marks TV Asahi’s first co-production with US-based Smart Dog. 

CJ ENM, TBS unveils first uncripted format

South Korea’s CJ ENM and TBS in Japan have unveiled their first unscripted co-production, with survival gameshow format Mugen Loop (Infinite Loop).

The show features K-pop group Izna and takes place in a series of identicial rooms and requires six contestants to complete increasingly difficult challenges, while avoiding being voted out of the game. A cash winner is on offer for the winner.

The show will debut on TBS on 24 March and has emerged following the strategic partnership that the Asian giants struck in 2021, which saw them creating IP with global potential.

BPG to honour Featherstone and Mensah

Jane Featherstone and Anne Mensah are set to be awarded for their services to drama at this year’s Broadcasting Press Guild Awards.

The 51st edition of the BPG Awards, which are chosen by journalists who write about television, streaming and audio, takes place on Thursday 20 March in London.

It will see Sister Pictures co-founder and executive producer Jane Featherstone presented with the Harvey Lee Award for Outstanding Contribution to Broadcasting, while Netflix’s vice president of content for the UK is to be awarded the BPG Jury Prize for Outstanding TV Executive.

FilmRise, UKTV buy Big Media crime show

UKTV and US-based producer, distributor and FAST channel provider FilmRise have acquired rights to Big Media’s social media crime show, Has#tag Homicide.

The 8 x 60 minute series investigates crimes initiated, carried out or solved through social media and is currently in production, with delivery set for Q4.

FilmRise has acquired exclusive all media rights for the US and Canada, while UKTV has free-to-air rights for its entertainment channel U&W, and streaming service U. Has#tag Homicide has previously been sold to RTL Deutschland’s NTV channel in Germany.

The series begins with a clue such as a a post or comment before unveiling the chain of events that led to a tragic crime. An exploration into the investigation then follows, exploring how detectives decode digital footprints to bring perpetrators to justice.

Disney+ extends Percy Jackson

Percy Jackson And The Olympians has been officially renewed for a third season by Disney+ original.

The show, from Disney Branded Television and 20th Television, comes ahead of the series’ second season debut this December.

The third season will be based on The Titan’s Curse, the third installment of Rick Riordan’s bestselling Percy Jackson And The Olympians book series, published by Disney Hyperion. 

Fifth Season sells Godzilla from investor Toho 

CJ ENM-owned Fifth Season has sold Japanese kaiju film Godzilla Minus One into a raft of countries.

The 2023 film has been sold to TV Azetca in Mexico, Talpa TV in the Netherlands and TVN in Poland by Fifth Season on behalf of Toho International, which took a 25% stake in the producer-distributor 18 months ago.

The film has also been acquired by Peppermint Anime for Germany and German-speaking Europe, RTL in Hungary, SVT in Sweden and RTV Slovenija.

Additionally, Godzilla Minus One is launching on digital platforms iTunes, Amazon and Google in the UK and Germany, and on iTunes, Fetch and Google in Australia, in March this year. It was produced by Toho Studios and Robot Communications, grossing $110m worldwide after its 2023 launch.