Tuesday round-up: Latest news, deals & hires

MGM+ orders Chris Brancato’s Westies

Linear channel brand and streamer MGM+ has ordered crime drama The Westies, from creator and executive producer Chris Brancato.

The eight-parter, which comes via Brancato’s overall TV deal with MGM+, has been co-created with Michael Panes, who will also executive produce and showrun. It will go into production in Toronto, Canada, in July and will premiere exclusively on MGM+ in the US, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, and Colombia.

Amazon MGM Studios Distribution will distribute in all other international territories.

The Westies centers on New York City’s infamously violent Irish gang of the same name and explores how they operated during the 1980s as they competed with the Five Families of the Italian Mafia. The show marks Brancato’s third series with MGM+ following Godfather of Harlem and crime thriller Hotel Cocaine. 

Ellie Wood’s Clearwood strikes Banijay pact

Banijay UK has agreed a development deal with Ellie Wood’s indie Clearwood Films, the co-producer of ITV and Britbox’s 2023 series Stonehouse.

The deal is a follow-on from a first look deal between Clearwood and distribution arm Banijay Rights, which ran from 2019. It will see the indie access funding to develop ideas and treatments, with the option to partner with Banijay UK companies on any co-productions. Banijay Rights will continue to distribute any projects.

The first development project under the terms of the deal is the acquisition of the rights to Barbara Pym’s 1952 novel Excellent Women, with the option to develop Pym’s other 11 novels. Read more 

Rai takes Beta series to Italy

Italian public broadcaster Rai has secured a package of European series from Beta Film, including French mystery thriller Homejacking and Spain’s Rapa.

Beta Kids & Family titles including Prisma, Norwegian coming-of-age series Rumors, and holiday series Campsite have also been picked up.

Homejacking (6 x 60 minutes) is written and created by Lupin writers Tigran Rosine and Florent Meyer, in collaboration with Emmanuelle Faguer, and produced by Lincoln TV. The series kicks off in an affluent suburban residence where a middle-class couple are the victims of an intrusion by a hooded assailant, who is looking for secrets hidden in their basement.

Rapa (18 x 60 minutes) follows high school teacher Tomas and local cop Maite, who become an unlikely team solving a murder case. The series is produced by Movistar Plus+ in collaboration with Portocabo. Other shows picked up include movie Murder in the Valley from UFA Fiction.

Walter Presents takes La Favorita

Walter Presents in North America is among a raft of buyers of Bambu Producciones’ Spanish drama, La Favorita 1922.

Pre-sales deals were struck in more than 20 territories ahead of the show’s debut on Mediaset España’s Spanish network Telecinco yesterday, with Lat Am streamer Flow picking up rights in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

The show has also sold into Belgium (Proximus), Lithuania (Lithuanian National Radio and TV), and Poland.

Cast includes Verónica Sánchez (The Pier), with the show the first production between Mediaset España and Bambú Producciones. Sales division Mediterráneo Mediaset España Group is selling globally.

Dogwoof, CBC board Ryan Wedding doc

London-based documentary firm Dogwoof, Toronto-based production company Visitor Media, New York’s Rolling Stone Films and Canada’s CBC, along with filmmakers Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna’s Mexico City-based production company La Corriente del Golfo, have joined forces to develop a docuseries about former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding.

Snow King: From Olympian to Narco draws on the reporting of Rolling Stone and the Toronto Star to chart the astonishing journey of Wedding, a former Olympic snowboarder who is now one of the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted fugitives and stands accused of running a violent, billion-dollar drug empire for Mexico’s most notorious cartel.

The show is a co-production between Dogwoof and Visitor Media that is being developed in partnership with CBC, Rolling Stone Films and La Corriente del Golfo. Dogwoof’s senior development exec Nico Wasserman initially developed the project and is executive producer. 

TV5 Québec hires Quebecor alum

Former Quebecor Content exec Yann Paquet has been hired as president and chief exec at TV5 Québec Canada.

The appointment, which is effective from 14 April, sees former Quebecor vice president Paquet replacing Marie-Philippe Bouchard at the Canadian broadcaster.

The company’s operations include French-language channel TV5, Unis TV and streamer TV5Unis.

Plimsoll Productions scoops four Family Emmys

ITV Studios label Plimsoll Productions won four gongs at the Family Emmys on Saturday.

The awards ceremony, which entered its third year as an awards ceremony, handed Plimsoll prizes for outstanding directing for a single camera live action series, outstanding cinematography for a single camera live action programme, outstanding lighting camera and technical arts and outstanding sound mixing and sound editing for a live action programme.

All of the prizes were in relation to its programme A Real Bugs Life. Other winners included Disney+ series Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief with eight gongs overall.