The British Film Commission (BFC) is extending its partnership with The Production Guild of Great Britain (PGGB) by investing a further £100,000 in a raft of targeted PGGB training courses, designed to increase access to experienced and diverse crew as new stage space continues to expand in the UK. The investment is the second made […]

Netflix has ordered a feature-length documentary about Anna Nicole Smith, the iconic US model and actress who blazed a trail through the 1990s before her tragic death in 2007 at the age of 39. Bringing Smith’s own voice to the foreground, Netflix says the film will include never before seen, exclusive footage from an unreleased […]

Sony’s Chairman & CEO Kenichiro Yoshida opened the company’s Press Conference at CES in Las Vegas on January 4th by stressing Sony’s continuing thrust to get ever-closer to people and “fill the world with emotion, through the power of creativity and technology”. He touched on Sony’s work with artists such as Adele on her latest […]

Philomena Cunk’s latest mockumentary series Cunk On Earth will see the return of pioneering documentary-maker Cunk on her most ambitious quest to date. Made by Broke & Bones, Cunk On Earth will see Cunk (played by Diane Morgan) attempting to unlock the mystery of human civilisation and discover humankind’s greatest achievements across five episodes. From […]

Video software specialist SeaChange International, together with short video app company Triller Hold (TrillerVerz), have entered into a definitive agreement and plan of merger to combine SeaChange with TrillerVerz. The proposed business combination is expected to ultimately result in a value of the combined company at approximately $5 billion (€4.41bn). TrillerVerz believes it is positioned […]

Sony Pictures Networks India Private Limited (SPNI) and Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) have signed definitive agreements to merge ZEEL with and into SPNI and combine their linear networks, digital assets, production operations and programme libraries. The agreements follow the conclusion of an exclusive negotiation period during which ZEEL and SPNI conducted mutual due diligence. After […]

Streaming platforms have significantly raised their investments into French content creation in 2021, pouring around €245 million against €86 million in 2020. The annual VoD observatory’s figures compiled by public funding body CNC notes the fact that Prime Video offered around 450 French titles and Netflix 370 last September. TV series represent 44 per cent […]

Global content spend saw double digit growth in 2021, with research firm Ampere Analysis expecting it to exceed $220 billion (€195.3bn), with growth driven by SVoD platforms. Specifically, investment rose 14 per cent compared to 2020, representing an increase of over $20 billion. Apple TV+, Disney+, HBO Max, Peacock and Paramount+ invested over $8 billion […]

Global sales of British TV shows in 2020/21 suffered a small reduction of 3.3 per cent to £1.42 billion (€1.66bn), independent producers’ trade body Pact’s TV Exports report reveals. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic affecting production in the UK, producers were able to use their back catalogues to boost sales, with a third of all sales […]

BBC Studios, the BBC’s main commercial subsidiary and Mercury Studios, the multi-faceted content studio powered by Universal Music Group (UMG), have struck a development deal, which will see the two creative organisations work together to originate a pipeline of music-driven returnable IP for domestic and international audiences. The arrangement combines Mercury Studios’ expertise in music-rooted […]