Monday round-up: Latest news, deals & hires

AGC Television lands Cuoco in Vanished

Kaley Cuoco is to lead Vanished, the upcoming drama from Stuart Ford’s AGC Television that is set to start filming in Paris in late April.

The show, from David Hilton and writer Preston Thompson, has Barnaby Thompson (Pixie) attached to direct and is being fully financed by AGC.

It is being launched this week at Series Mania in Lille and follows Cuoco’s character as she is plunged into a web of intrigue after her boyfriend (Sam Claflin) disappears from a train in France.

Karin Viard (The Bélier Family) and Matthias Schweighöfer (Army of the Dead) also star.

Sky NZ unveils choir series

Sky Open in New Zealand is preparing to air a four-parter that tracks choirs from New York City and rural NZ as they go on a life-changing journey to compete in the largest choral competition on earth, the World Choir Games.

The show is from Leanne Pooley ONZM (Beyond the Edge) and tells the story of New Zealand’s Kaitāia Community Voices and New York’s Young People’s Chorus of New York City, as they take part in the 2024 World Choir Games, held in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.

The series debuts on Sky Open on 4 May, with all episodes available to view on Neon and Sky Go from the same date.

 

Wheelhouse names business develpoment exec 

Brent Montgomery’s Wheelhouse Entertainment has upped Emma Gladstone to become its head of east coast business development.

Gladstone has been with the company since its formation in 2018 and started out as an assistant to the chief exec, before moving up to become chief of staff and latterly working across its entertainment and investment arms.

She will look to develop investment opportunities and strike new parternship deals in her new role, which reports into Montgomery and strategy chief Ed Simpson. US trade Deadline broke the news.

WFTV unveils 2025 Julie Burnell Scholarship

The UK’s Women in Film and TV (WFTV) has launched the 2025 Julie Burnell Scholarship: WFTV Production Management Programme, supported by the ScreenSkills High-end TV Skills Fund with contributions from UK high-end TV productions.

The initiative is tailored for women based in the North of England who are working in production management and line producing, particularly those from lower socio-economic and underrepresented backgrounds. The scholarship will provide four selected women with opportunities to accelerate their careers and develop as future industry leaders.

The programme is led by Helen Bullough, WFTV’s north of England mentoring producer. Applications open today, Monday 24 March, and close on Monday 14 April.

The initiative is supported by ScreenSkills in tribute to the late Julie Burnell, former head of production for drama at ITV Studios, who passed away in 2023. Her credits ranged from Vera and Lewis to Mr Selfridge and Poirot.

UK competition probe into BBC, ITV & prodcos dropped 

An anti-trust investigation by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) into major drama producers has been dropped, but four sport production and broadcast companies have been fined over £4m for colluding on freelancer pay rates.

The CMA launched the probe in 2023 to assess whether the BBC, ITV, Hartswood Films, Hat Trick Productions, Red Planet Pictures, Sister and Tiger Aspect Productions colluded on freelance rates. A senior source connected to one of the companies told Broadcast the indies were being investigated for “cartel behaviour”.

At the time, the watchdog said it believed it had “reasonable grounds to suspect one or more breaches of competition law”, relating to the purchase of freelance services and the employment of staff supporting the production, creation and/or broadcasting of television content in the UK.

However, it concluded today that the probe “no longer constitutes an administrative priority”, with the CMA adding that it would instead draw attention to possible consequences if they fail to comply with competition law in the future.

BT, IMG, ITV and the BBC have agreed to pay fines totalling some £4.2m to settle a case, after admitting breaking the law for colluding on freelancer pay rates between 2014 and 2021. Read more