EXCLUSIVE: Emerging vertical video platform Inverted.Film has picked up Unscripted, a series from RealReelDrama founder Meagan Johnson. Unscripted with Meagan Johnson is microdrama advocate Johnson’s debut series, and is billed as “the first talk show in the vertical space with top stars one-on-one in different locations.” The series is billed as an “intentionally cross-platform” show […]

Piers Morgan, Michelle Obama, Claire Foy and key figures from the House of the Dragon are among the latest big-name entertainment biz players set for SXSW London. Morgan will appear alongside opera singer Katherine Jenkins and be quizzed by Deadline’s Jake Kanter in a panel on fame, media, culture and public opinion, while former First […]

YouTube political commentator Cenk Uygur and his nephew, Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, have been blocked entry to the UK by the Home Office, meaning they will miss scheduled talks at SXSW London this week. In the past few minutes, the Home Office has confirmed that the pair’s Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) “has been cancelled on […]

Netflix is following the money in Korea. The streamer has cast Park Hae-soo (Squid Game, Narco-Saints), Claudia Kim (Avengers: Age of Ultron, Gyeongseong Creature, The Atypical Family) and Cho Jung-seok (Hospital Playlist, Exit) to lead crime thriller series Paper Man (working title), which has gone into production. The series follows a man (cho), who works […]

EXCLUSIVE: Canada’s Shaftesbury is doubling down on the franchise game. The Murdoch Mysteries maker has named Jay Bennett as its Senior Vice President, Franchise Strategy & Innovation – a role that puts the veteran producer and media strategist in charge of expanding its IP acvross platforms, audiences, brand partnerships and emerging media ecosystems. Bennett made […]

EXCLUSIVE: The Jamie Oliver Group is developing a microdrama series with creative company Baby Teeth, as a strategic partnership between the two companies is unveiled amid a rethink at the campaigning celebrity chef’s media business. Details of the vertical video production are broadly under wraps, but it is in pre-production and still begin shooting in […]

EXCLUSIVE: Elev8on Management has officially launched its AI-powered tool that assesses the chances of U.S. talent in Europe. St8r, the new name for Pulse By Elev8on, debuted in Cannes following a Beta testing phases in which ten European producers and distributors provided positive feedback. It has been developed over recent years. The tool, which we […]

EXCLUSIVE: K-drama stars Park Seo-Ham (Our Universe) and Kim Ji-Yeon (The Haunted Palace) are leading Rakuten Viki series Dive Into You. The series, billed as a fantasy romcom, is from Korean production companies Dexter Pictures and Amuse Entertainment and U.S.-based streamer Rakuten Viki, which is an investor and co-producer. It marks Dexter’s first original drama. […]

EXCLUSIVE: The latest series from Amplify Pictures is ‘Anglers’, an unscripted series from indie filmmakers and wildlife photographers Owen and Quentin Reiser. Danny McBride’s Rough House Pictures is serving as an executive producer on the show, which Amplify has greenlit as part of its strategy to independently-finance TV shows. As such, L.A.-based Amplify will finance […]

RTL has closed its deal to acquire Sky Deutschland from Comcast. The deal completed this morning, bringing together two of central Europe’s big players as entertainment businesses seek consolidation to reach scale and compete against the tech giants. The deal “underscores RTL Group’s strategic focus on in-country combinations in Europe to strengthen local media players […]

EXCLUSIVE: L.A. publisher and entertainment company Gungnir is launching a YouTube series, Badd, Gramm-mar. The comedy series, which is from Gungnir founder and publisher Matthew Medney, launches on June 30, billed as “part-review, part-social experiment and part-emotional group therapy disguised as fandom discourse.” We’ve got a trailer above, which you can watch exclusively. Comedians such […]

EXCLUSIVE: It’s a FAST world, and we’re just living in it – at least, that’s what a new report from European streamer Rakuten is telling us. Ahead of a presentation at SXSW London today, Rakuten shared insights from its study, The FAST Advantage, which shows that Europeans are taking FAST channels seriously as a mainstream […]