Directors UK is calling for broadcasters to commit 0.25 per cent of their commissioning spend for all programme making to fund career development and industry access schemes to close the gender gap, in response to research revealing a drop in the number of women directors working in UK television. The recommendation comes from a report […]
BBC Studios, the content company and commercial subsidiary of the BBC, and new Scottish independent production company Freedom Scripted Entertainment have formed a co-development and production partnership. Based in Glasgow, Freedom was founded earlier this year by former BBC Drama, World Productions and STV development executive Mike Ellen. Freedom will be hiring further development staff […]
Research from Ampere Analysis has shown that pilot episodes are losing their position as a mainstay in broadcast network’s commissioning culture. From 2015 to 2018 the volume of pilot episodes ordered by the major US networks decreased by a sharp 33 per cent. So, do pilots have a place in television or are they sat […]
BBC Studios, a commercial subsidiary of the BBC Group, has signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with beIN Media Group. The MOU establishes a strategic partnership between the two companies to explore opportunities for the co-development, co-production and distribution of content in Qatar, the Middle East and Turkey. Paul Dempsey, President for Global Markets […]
Separate special meetings of stockholders of Twenty-First Century Fox and The Walt Disney Company have approved all proposals related to Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox. The proposals included the adoption by 21st Century Fox stockholders of the merger agreement with Disney and the distribution merger agreement for the spin-off of new ‘Fox’. Disney stockholders […]
After a “long process and extensive search”, Amazon Studios has chosen the duo of JD Payne and Patrick McKay to develop a live-action TV series based on The Lord of The Rings. In a statement, Payne & McKay commented: “The rich world that J.R.R. Tolkien created is filled with majesty and heart, wisdom and complexity. […]
Netflix has announced the creation of its first production hub in Europe, located in La Ciudad de la Tele, a new campus of 22,000m2 in Tres Cantos, Madrid, currently under construction and managed by audiovisual production services specialist Grupo Secuoya. It will be a central facility for Netflix’s growing slate of Spanish-language original content over […]
UK public service broadcaster Channel 4 has confirmed that it is to progress with advanced negotiations with six cities across the UK as part of the process to select its new National HQ and two new Creative Hubs. The announcement follows the second stage of the pitch process over June and July 2018 in which […]
There is growing industry concern about the nature of any transitional deal between the UK and the EU, and what that deal will mean for Ofcom-licensed broadcasters whose channels are exported to the EU. Television companies face challenging decisions about where, when or if to re-license in order to continue broadcasting to the EU, possibly […]
Since rolling out worldwide in 2016, Amazon and Netflix have both stepped up original content production, according to business information provider IHS Markit. Netflix launched 1,257 hours of original first-run content in 2017, well ahead of Amazon Prime Video’s 285 hours. Netflix has also dramatically increased its origination outside the US, with 402 hours launching […]