Wednesday round-up: Latest news, deals & hires

Wednesday, 1.30pm: Crayola, Pipeline link for animation

Crayola Studios, the content arm of the famous crayon manufacturer, has partnered with Pipeline Studios to co-produce School of WhichCraft.

The original CG animated series is aimed at kids ages 4-6 and centers on the magic of creativity. The series was co-created by Evan Baily (Sonic Boom), developed by Shea Fontana (Monster High), and will also be animated by Pipeline Studios.

Executive producers are Jane McGregor, Baily, Fontana, Pipeline Studios CEO Luis Lopez, and Rick Glankler and Kerry Crowley for Crayola Studios. Fontana is showrunner.

The series follows the urban adventures of four eight-year-old students as they learn the inner workings of WhichCraft, an ancient yet accessible form of magic that allows them to harness their favorite forms of creativity to unlock extraordinary wizard powers. 

Wednesday, 11.21am: Ricochet development chief heads to Tuesday’s Child

Ricochet TV’s director of development Eddie Evelyn-Hall has joined entertainment, comedy and popular factual indie Tuesday’s Child as head of development.

Starting this month, he will lead the development teams for both Tuesday’s Child and Glasgow-based Tuesday’s Child Scotland to build non-scripted and reality titles.

He is not replacing anyone but will take the role that was previously held for five years by James Donkin, who left in 2022 to join Expectation. Read more

Wednesday, 11.01am: WedoTV, ZDFS link for channels

Streaming company Wedotv has partnered with Germany’s ZDF Studios to launch two new channels.

Wedotv get.factual will be available across all platforms and is customised for the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) markets. It will feature content from ZDFS’s extensive library, with shows such as Ancient Apocalypse, Cold Case and Missing Link featuring. 

Time2Rlx will be available to platforms worldwide and features environmental scenes set to calming music.

Wednesday, 10.35am: Pachinko firm Media Res staffs up in Nordics

Media Res International has hired the producer of Netflix original Tore, Anna-Klara Carlsten, to lead its Nordic slate.

Carlsten will spearhead the company’s Nordic push and reports into former Banijay exec and Media Res’s head of international, Lars Blomgren.

As a producer at the international arm of the indie behind The Morning Show, one of her first projects will be a 6 x 45-minute series called Summer Of 1985, based on the novel by Scandinavian author John Ajvide Lindqvist. Read more

Wednesday, 10.33am: UK govt could make streamer-only households pay licence fee

The UK government is considering making households who only use streaming services such as Netflix pay the BBC licence fee, according to reports.

Bloomberg has reported that extending the fee to streaming platforms is one of a range of other options under consideration ahead of the renewal of the BBC charter at the end of 2027.

However, it is not clear how this would be enforceable in practice and government insiders have moved to downplay the reports.

According to The Times, a source close to the culture secretary Lisa Nandy said that forcing households who only use streaming services to pay for the BBC was not under active consideration. Read more

Wednesday, 10.05am: UK’s BBC orders Tern’s debut quiz format

The BBC has ordered daytime and celebrity editions of Tern TV’s first quiz format The Inner Circle, which challenges contestants in a series of rounds testing their general knowledge and strategic thinking to win a cash prize.

The Inner Circle will be produced in Scotland by Tern’s team. The commission marks not just the first quiz format for the indie but also for its owner Zinc Media Group, which recently launched ents-focused label Electric Violet.

Each episode will see competitors tested not just on what they know, but which of their fellow players they can trust. As they move through the rounds, they’ll need to decide which of their opponents they would be prepared to join forces with in order to scoop the prize. However, in doing so each of the two could be faced with a final betrayal.

Wednesday, 10.02am: BBCS hires global format sales chief

BBC Studios has hired Seven One Studios’ Rose Hughes to oversee its format distribution.

Hughes becomes senior vice president of global format sales and will lead BBCS’s distribution strategy for unscripted and scripted shows.

She joins BBCS next month and reports to Jacob de Boer, exec vice president of global entertainment. Read more

Wednesday, 8.54am: Nine and WBD in NZ buy from Fred

Nine Network in Australia and Warner Bros. Discovery in New Zealand have picked up Fred Media/Radar’s renovation series, Colin & Justin’s Sub Zero Reno, ahead of its premiere on Paramount+ Canada this week.

Colin & Justin’s Sub Zero Reno (6x60’) is a Far Point Films (Canada) production that follows the transformation of a derelict house into their forever home, all in the middle of a brutal Canadian winter.

Jimmy Elkington, head of sales at Fred Media, concluded the deals. Fred Media/Radar has also sold makeover show Budget Battlers and Spavce Invaders to WBD in New Zealand.

Wednesday, 8.38am: Sphere develops Sophie Grégoire Trudeau book

Canada’s Sphere Media is in development on a six-part documentary series based on Sophie Grégoire Trudeau’s bestselling book, Closer Together: Knowing Ourselves, Loving Each Other.

The book from the TV host and wife of Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau acts as a memoir and guide to living a more fulfilling life. The TV show’s development is being led by Sphere Media’s senior vice president of development and content, Kim Bondi, and will be co-produced by Sphere Media and Grégoire Trudeau.

The six self-contained episodes will see Grégoire Trudeau interviewing celebrities, giving them the space to talk candidly about their personal struggles, challenges and truths. The docuseries will also feature professionals working on the cutting-edge of mental-health research, therapy and brain health. 

Wednesday, 8.35am: Blue Ant extends factual fivesome 

Canada’s Blue Ant Media has greenlit five new originals and renewed four other shows, with programming set to roll out on its TV networks followed by its FAST channels.

The slate includes: one-hour doc Ghost Lands (w/t); docuseries You Can’t Deny It; Vet Detective; Engineering from Above; and Birthplace of Hallowe’en (w/t).

A fourth season has been handed out to hit franchise Mysteries from Above, while second seasons of My Haunted Hometown, Holmes on Homes: Building a Legacy and Wild Rose Vets are in the works.

Overseen by Sam Linton, vice president of production and development, global media, the slate will roll out on the company’s Canadian specialty TV channels, T+E and Cottage Life, in 2025.

They will then become available on Blue Ant’s global free streaming channels - HauntTV, Homeful, Love Pets, and Declassified, with a date yet to be confirmed. Blue Ant Studios will oversee global pre-sales and licensing for all titles.