Tuesday round-up: Latest news, deals & hires

Tuesday, 18.32: Netflix US adapts Coben novel I Will Find You

Netflix has expanded its partnership with Harlan Coben by greenlighting an eight-part drama based on his novel, I Will Find You.

The deal marks the first US-based show between Coben and Netflix, which struck an overall deal with the author in 2018. Robert Hull (Quantum Leap) is co-creator and attached as showrunner.

Netflix and Coben have already worked together on adaptations of Fool Me Once and upcoming Missing You, whihc came out of Netflix UK. I Will Find You, meanwhile, follows a father convicted of murdering his son as he escapes prison to prove his innocence.

Tuesday, 16:02: Fifth Season forges Front Street TV movie pact

CJ ENM-owned Fifth Season is moving into movies after striking a deal with Vancouver-based production company Front Street Pictures to represent international rights across its slate of TV films.

Front Street, which is owned by Blink49 (which in turn is owned by Fifth Season), produces TV movies across Christmas, romance, mystery, action and horror genres for North American networks and streamers such as Hallmark, Lifetime and Tubi.

Initial titles represented by Fifth Season will include Hallmark’s The Groomsmen trilogy and Lifetime’s upcoming feature Family Affair. 

Tuesday, 13:01: MIP London unveils delegate number & Shapiro keynote

MIP London organisers have said almost 500 delegates have signed up for its February event, with ‘media cartographer’ Evan Shapiro confirmed as a keynote speaker.

Shapiro will headline a ‘Global Streaming Strategies Summit’ - taking place 26th and 27th February - and present the second chapter of exclusive new research on British multi-screen viewing data as part of his ongoing collaboration with ratings agency BARB at the inaugural MIP London, which runs 23-27 February 2025.

The event, which will take place at the Savoy Hotel and the IET London conference centre, will run across the same week as the London TV Screenings and BBC Studios Showcase. To date, delegates from over 50 countries have confirmed attendance, including over 250 buyers.

The Global Streaming Strategies Summit, which will explore topics including FAST, AVOD and next generation content creators, will be preceded by MIP London Unscripted from Sunday 23rd through Tuesday 25th February, which will incorporate London editions of MIPDOC and MIPFORMATS. A kids-focused strand will run in the afternoon of Thursday 27th.

Tuesday, 12.23: STV shows strength against ‘challenging backdrop’

Scotland’s STV has continued its strong showing for 2024 despite tough trading conditions, with STV Studios’ forward order book racking up £92m as of the 31 October.

Tracking up to the end of Q3 for this year, the broadcaster’s latest results demonstrate a solid performance in line with market expectations for the full year, despite ongoing weakness in the linear TV advertising and commissioning markets.

This performance was led by a strong performance from STV Studios, which has buoyed the group throughout this year with commissions such as a second series of Criminal Record for Apple TV+, and two new original formats from Crackit TV: Crime Scene Cleaners for Channel 4 and Hunting Britian’s Bedroom Predators for Channel 5 which are both set to be delivered by 2025. Read more

Tuesday, 10:47: Meet the Rees-Moggs indie Optomen has scored its first Sky commission with a feature doc charting Madonna’s rise to pop icon.

Becoming Madonna will be driven by archive and recently uncovered audio tapes featuring the star in her youth. Spanning her life and career from 1978 to 1992, it will reveal rare footage, unseen photos and interviews with family, friends and collaborators, shedding light on the personal tragedies that have fuelled her drive.

Tuesday, 10.23: Tinopolis appoints chief executive

Tinpolis has upped its chief financial officer Jennifer Roberts to chief executive, replacing Arwel Rees who will retire at the end of the year.

Roberts joined the international TV production and distribution group in 2005 as its chief financial officer to deliver acquisitions and investments in the UK and US. Read more

Tuesday, 09:57: Netflix preps first French daily drama with TF1 & Newen

Netflix in France has partnered with Newen Studios and TF1 Group on its first local daily drama.

Tout Pour La Lumiere (aka All for Light) is being coproduced by the trio and will debut on Netflix five days prior to its free-to-air broadcast on TF1. It will also be available on the company’s TF1+ streamer. Read more

Tueday, 09:31: WBD hires Showmax alum to fuel Max originals in Nordics

Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) is looking to bolster its originals offering in the Nordics by hiring former Showmax executive Allan Sperling.

Sperling becomes group vice-president of programming, networks & streaming for WBD Nordics, with a remit to lead the development of local productions for streamer Max across Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. Read more

Tuesday, 08:55: Sphere Abacus hires HiddenLight finance chief

Distributor Sphere Abacus has hired Toby McCathie to newly created position of finance director.

McCathie joins on the 3rd December and reports to Denis Rozon, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Sphere Media. McCathie previously worked as head of finance at HiddenLight Productions and held various financial/consulting roles with companies including Neo Studios, StoryFirst, Betty TV and Universal International Studios.

Tuesday, 08:50: PBS strikes pre-sales with DCD

PBS in the US has struck a pre-sales deal for Prue Leith: My Cotswold Kitchen S2 and also bought the rights for the first season across North America.

The show, sold by UK-based distributor DCD Rights, has also been picked up by SBS Food Australia and AMC Networks Central & Northern Europe in Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Moldova and Romania.

The cookery show, whose first season has also been sold to HRT Croatian TV, is produced by Yeti for ITV and follows Leith as she returns to her idyllic Cotswold home to share all-time favourite dishes and culinary hacks.

Tuesday, 08:36: UK & Spain share International Emmy success

Shows out of the US and Spain were among the big winners at the 52nd International Emmy Awards in New York overnight.

Timothy Spall’s performance in Wild Mercury Productions’ The Sixth Commandment won him the best performance by an actor prize, while Aokbab took the best female prize for her role in Netflix’s Hunger.

France Televisions and Hulu Japan’s Drops of God took the best drama series, Netflix’s Argentine show Division Palermo took the best comedy prize, and Sky’s Otto Baxter: Not A F***ing Horror Story took the best documentary award.

Spain’s Bambu Producciones was behind La Promesa, which took best telenovela, and TV3 Catalonia’s Punt de no Retorn won best short-form series. Read more

Tuesday, 08.03: Netflix snaps up thriller from Euphoria creators

Netflix has taken the global rights to the latest drama from Euphoria creators Ron Leshem and Hagar Ben-Asher.

The streaming giant will launch Bad Boy in its 190 territories in 2025 as an original, after a first run on Israeli broadcaster Hot. Read more