Too many comedians are taking “the path of least resistance” and failing to address contentious political topics, according to the creator of The Thick of It and Veep.
Storied British comedy creator Armando Iannucci said he often hears comics utter phrases like “I have to be careful about what I say,” with his comments coming as both the UK and U.S. warm up for general elections in six weeks and six months respectively.
Speaking at the BBC Comedy Festival in Glasgow, Iannucci urged comedians to meet these challenges head on.
“Comedy is not belittling a subject but if it chooses to look at that subject it is offering a way into it that might offer a surprising or fresh perspective,” he added. “It is asking us to tell ourselves what we think about something, and how we might respond to that. We shouldn’t feel that someone is telling...
Storied British comedy creator Armando Iannucci said he often hears comics utter phrases like “I have to be careful about what I say,” with his comments coming as both the UK and U.S. warm up for general elections in six weeks and six months respectively.
Speaking at the BBC Comedy Festival in Glasgow, Iannucci urged comedians to meet these challenges head on.
“Comedy is not belittling a subject but if it chooses to look at that subject it is offering a way into it that might offer a surprising or fresh perspective,” he added. “It is asking us to tell ourselves what we think about something, and how we might respond to that. We shouldn’t feel that someone is telling...
- 5/23/2024
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Comedy producers have been told to locate their “funny bones” when pitching shows to the BBC by the most powerful person in British comedy commissioning.
Jon Petrie, who runs BBC comedy, set out his “firmly sitcoms first” stall in a speech this morning in Glasgow.
He urged producers to “send us less shows that are ‘an exploration’ of something and more that know where their funny bones are,” citing the likes of Ghosts, Motherland and Two Doors Down as examples of the “comedy first proposals” he is after.
Petrie has not held back on his desire for sitcoms since taking on the job a couple of years ago and announced a raft of new and returning shows this morning at the BBC Comedy Festival.
But he said his team is “not getting pitched enough of the comedy we need to keep people happy” and is instead over-stocked with dramedies, which...
Jon Petrie, who runs BBC comedy, set out his “firmly sitcoms first” stall in a speech this morning in Glasgow.
He urged producers to “send us less shows that are ‘an exploration’ of something and more that know where their funny bones are,” citing the likes of Ghosts, Motherland and Two Doors Down as examples of the “comedy first proposals” he is after.
Petrie has not held back on his desire for sitcoms since taking on the job a couple of years ago and announced a raft of new and returning shows this morning at the BBC Comedy Festival.
But he said his team is “not getting pitched enough of the comedy we need to keep people happy” and is instead over-stocked with dramedies, which...
- 5/23/2024
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Filming Underway On New Alan Partridge BBC Series
Filming is underway on new Alan Partridge mockumentary And Did Those Feet. Deadline revealed the BBC series several months back and cameras have rolled on the latest Steve Coogan conception. The mockumentary follows the beloved comedy creation settling into life back in his Norfolk home after a year working in Saudi Arabia, but the adjustment has left him with a deep sense of unease. Over six episodes he will unpack what is missing in his life, explore why the nation is in such a funk and find out what it might take to keep a person funk-free. “This look into the state of the nation (and Alan’s own psyche) through a unique lens – that of Alan Partridge – promises to further bolster the already iconic repertoire of the most legendary comedy character in the UK,” said BBC comedy boss Jon Petrie. Coogan...
Filming is underway on new Alan Partridge mockumentary And Did Those Feet. Deadline revealed the BBC series several months back and cameras have rolled on the latest Steve Coogan conception. The mockumentary follows the beloved comedy creation settling into life back in his Norfolk home after a year working in Saudi Arabia, but the adjustment has left him with a deep sense of unease. Over six episodes he will unpack what is missing in his life, explore why the nation is in such a funk and find out what it might take to keep a person funk-free. “This look into the state of the nation (and Alan’s own psyche) through a unique lens – that of Alan Partridge – promises to further bolster the already iconic repertoire of the most legendary comedy character in the UK,” said BBC comedy boss Jon Petrie. Coogan...
- 5/20/2024
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Alan Partridge is officially back as evidenced by a new first look image from his upcoming BBC documentary “And Did Those Feet… with Alan Partridge.”
Filming has officially commenced on the show, in which comedian Steve Coogan (who was twice nominated for Oscars his work on 2013 comedy-drama “Philomena”) reprises his role as the hapless interviewer.
The six-part mockumentary follows Partridge as he returns to Norfolk following a year in Saudi Arabia and struggles to reintegrate.
“One of the first – if not the first – documentary to address the issue of mental wellness, the six-part series follows the revered and beloved broadcaster on a quest to understand what’s going on, with Britain’s minds and his own,” reads the official logline. “It’s a show that makes a statement that will create shockwaves: ‘I’m Alan Partridge, and I’m not Ok.’ Partridge will write, present and produce the series. He will also direct the series.
Filming has officially commenced on the show, in which comedian Steve Coogan (who was twice nominated for Oscars his work on 2013 comedy-drama “Philomena”) reprises his role as the hapless interviewer.
The six-part mockumentary follows Partridge as he returns to Norfolk following a year in Saudi Arabia and struggles to reintegrate.
“One of the first – if not the first – documentary to address the issue of mental wellness, the six-part series follows the revered and beloved broadcaster on a quest to understand what’s going on, with Britain’s minds and his own,” reads the official logline. “It’s a show that makes a statement that will create shockwaves: ‘I’m Alan Partridge, and I’m not Ok.’ Partridge will write, present and produce the series. He will also direct the series.
- 5/20/2024
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Since being launched in 2017 by a quartet including Jesse Armstrong, Various Artists Limited (Val) has made shows ranging from Michaela Coel’s I May Destroy You to Julia Davis’ Sally 4Ever, but bosses now see the comedy landscape heading in a somewhat different direction.
Fresh off the back of Sunday’s BAFTA win for Kat Sadler’s BBC comedy Such Brave Girls, head honcho Phil Clarke and comedy boss Jack Bayles are talking up the return of the sitcom in a landscape beset by budget woes and risk aversion that is nonetheless continuing to birth breakouts.
“The word we are getting from broadcasters is they want more traditional sitcoms with ‘A, B, C’ storylines and bigger characters,” Bayles tells Deadline. “We’ve been through this amazing era of drama and people have got so used to seeing that scale and ambition but trying to compete with that in half-hour,...
Fresh off the back of Sunday’s BAFTA win for Kat Sadler’s BBC comedy Such Brave Girls, head honcho Phil Clarke and comedy boss Jack Bayles are talking up the return of the sitcom in a landscape beset by budget woes and risk aversion that is nonetheless continuing to birth breakouts.
“The word we are getting from broadcasters is they want more traditional sitcoms with ‘A, B, C’ storylines and bigger characters,” Bayles tells Deadline. “We’ve been through this amazing era of drama and people have got so used to seeing that scale and ambition but trying to compete with that in half-hour,...
- 5/17/2024
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: BAFTA-nominated British comedy Such Brave Girls is returning for a second season.
The BBC has reordered the series, which plays on Hulu in the U.S. and is from Various Artists Ltd and A24.
Such Brave Girls follows Josie (Kat Sadler), her sister Billie (Lizzie Davidson) and their mum Deb (Louise Brealey), as they attempt to claw their way towards a better life. Per the synopsis: “Armed only with an ability to see the line and boldly step over it, these very brave girls finally have a chance to explore themselves.”
Season 1 of the show launched last year, as a loosely autobiographical story about dysfunctional family life. Sadler and her real-life sister Davidson star. Further casting and launch details on the six-part season 2 will follow.
Such Brave Girl’s writer and creator Kat Sadler recently picked up a BAFTA Craft award for Emerging Talent, Fiction. “It’s a sick...
The BBC has reordered the series, which plays on Hulu in the U.S. and is from Various Artists Ltd and A24.
Such Brave Girls follows Josie (Kat Sadler), her sister Billie (Lizzie Davidson) and their mum Deb (Louise Brealey), as they attempt to claw their way towards a better life. Per the synopsis: “Armed only with an ability to see the line and boldly step over it, these very brave girls finally have a chance to explore themselves.”
Season 1 of the show launched last year, as a loosely autobiographical story about dysfunctional family life. Sadler and her real-life sister Davidson star. Further casting and launch details on the six-part season 2 will follow.
Such Brave Girl’s writer and creator Kat Sadler recently picked up a BAFTA Craft award for Emerging Talent, Fiction. “It’s a sick...
- 5/10/2024
- by Jesse Whittock and Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: The CAA agent who brokered the sale of Dreaming Whilst Black to A24 is to head up Emily in Paris producer Jax Media’s UK division.
Katie Gahamire joins the LA outfit’s London hub as Creative Director, replacing Molly Seymour, who recently moved to BBC Studios. Jax has also signed former Disney Star exec Hussain Casey-Ahmed as Production Executive.
The hires will help Imagine Entertainment-owned Jax expand its UK originals, alongside producing U.S. projects from the UK. Since launch, Jax UK commissions have included Channel 4’s Simon Bird-starrer Everyone Else Burns, which was picked up by The CW and has been recommissioned for a second season, and BBC Three short form show Peck Eds. The hub also made Clem Garritty’s Showtime pilot Jonah Kills.
Gahamire has spent the past six years working across the television and comedy departments at CAA, where she helped...
Katie Gahamire joins the LA outfit’s London hub as Creative Director, replacing Molly Seymour, who recently moved to BBC Studios. Jax has also signed former Disney Star exec Hussain Casey-Ahmed as Production Executive.
The hires will help Imagine Entertainment-owned Jax expand its UK originals, alongside producing U.S. projects from the UK. Since launch, Jax UK commissions have included Channel 4’s Simon Bird-starrer Everyone Else Burns, which was picked up by The CW and has been recommissioned for a second season, and BBC Three short form show Peck Eds. The hub also made Clem Garritty’s Showtime pilot Jonah Kills.
Gahamire has spent the past six years working across the television and comedy departments at CAA, where she helped...
- 4/24/2024
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Big Deal Films and A24’s Dreaming Whilst Black, one of the buzziest British comedies of 2023, has been greenlit for a second season by the BBC and Showtime.
Adjani Salmon’s comedy took years to get from web series to screen but was picked up by A24 and then Showtime last year and has been catapulted, garnering strong ratings and critical acclaim. The season will premiere in the U.S. on the Paramount+ with Showtime streaming tile, on linear on Paramount+ with Showtime and in the UK on BBC Three and iPlayer. It continues to be co-produced by Big Deal in creative collaboration with A24, and A24 distributes globally.
Dreaming follows Kwabena, played by Salmon, an aspiring filmmaker stuck in a dead-end recruitment job who takes the first step to achieving his dream of creating a TV show. Season 1 ended with Kwabena showing his new movie project to friends and family,...
Adjani Salmon’s comedy took years to get from web series to screen but was picked up by A24 and then Showtime last year and has been catapulted, garnering strong ratings and critical acclaim. The season will premiere in the U.S. on the Paramount+ with Showtime streaming tile, on linear on Paramount+ with Showtime and in the UK on BBC Three and iPlayer. It continues to be co-produced by Big Deal in creative collaboration with A24, and A24 distributes globally.
Dreaming follows Kwabena, played by Salmon, an aspiring filmmaker stuck in a dead-end recruitment job who takes the first step to achieving his dream of creating a TV show. Season 1 ended with Kwabena showing his new movie project to friends and family,...
- 2/5/2024
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Steve Coogan is bringing a long-gestating Alan Partridge comedy doc series to the BBC.
Deadline can reveal that the beloved comedy icon’s latest show, And Did Those Feet.. With Alan Partridge, will see him travel around meeting locals, with the character having come in to some money after a trip to Saudi Arabia, as the ever-developing Partridge moves with the times.
BBC comedy boss Jon Petrie revealed the news to Deadline alongside a string of recommissions including for Diane Morgan’s Cunk with Netflix, Dreaming Whilst Black with Showtime, Greg Davies comedy The Cleaner and Man Like Mobeen, along with a new show, Only Child, from the producer of Guilt.
Penned by long-time collaborators Neil and Rob Gibbons and produced by Coogan and Sarah Monteith’s Baby Cow, And Did Those Feet… starts as a homecoming documentary but morphs into something more personal as the character realizes that...
Deadline can reveal that the beloved comedy icon’s latest show, And Did Those Feet.. With Alan Partridge, will see him travel around meeting locals, with the character having come in to some money after a trip to Saudi Arabia, as the ever-developing Partridge moves with the times.
BBC comedy boss Jon Petrie revealed the news to Deadline alongside a string of recommissions including for Diane Morgan’s Cunk with Netflix, Dreaming Whilst Black with Showtime, Greg Davies comedy The Cleaner and Man Like Mobeen, along with a new show, Only Child, from the producer of Guilt.
Penned by long-time collaborators Neil and Rob Gibbons and produced by Coogan and Sarah Monteith’s Baby Cow, And Did Those Feet… starts as a homecoming documentary but morphs into something more personal as the character realizes that...
- 2/5/2024
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Aimee Lou Wood and David Morrissey have been tapped for the lead roles in new BBC Studios comedy “Daddy Issues.”
Wood is best known for her turns in “Sex Education” and “Living” (the latter opposite Bill Nighy) while Morrissey has starred in “The Walking Dead,” where he played The Governor, and James Graham’s series “Sherwood.”
The duo are now set to play daughter and father in “Daddy Issues,” which follows the story of hard-partying Gemma (Wood), who lives for the weekend when she gets down to let down her hair in Manchester. But after a brief encounter on an airplane during a vacation to Portugal leaves her pregnant, Gemma finds her life turned upside down.
As well as coping with her pregnancy, she’s also got sad dad Malcolm (Morrissey) to contend with, who’s struggling to put his life back together after the collapse of his marriage — a...
Wood is best known for her turns in “Sex Education” and “Living” (the latter opposite Bill Nighy) while Morrissey has starred in “The Walking Dead,” where he played The Governor, and James Graham’s series “Sherwood.”
The duo are now set to play daughter and father in “Daddy Issues,” which follows the story of hard-partying Gemma (Wood), who lives for the weekend when she gets down to let down her hair in Manchester. But after a brief encounter on an airplane during a vacation to Portugal leaves her pregnant, Gemma finds her life turned upside down.
As well as coping with her pregnancy, she’s also got sad dad Malcolm (Morrissey) to contend with, who’s struggling to put his life back together after the collapse of his marriage — a...
- 12/11/2023
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
BBC Radio 4 has today launched Jokes, a new comedy podcast feed that brings together top picks from the station’s original comedy in one place. Available to subscribe on BBC Sounds and RSS, Jokes will combine brand new series with highlights from the archive, providing comedy fans with an easy way to find the latest content from their favourite comedians.
First up in the feed will be Nora Meadows’ Week of Wellness, a new sitcom starring Katy Wix as a therapist trying to help her clients (and herself) find wellness. This series is a joint commission between BBC Comedy and Radio 4 following a non-broadcast pilot last year.
Jokes is set to include further TV co-commissions too, including Icklewick FM, written by and starring Amy Gledhill and Chris Cantrill of The Delightful Sausage. Set in a fictional Yorkshire radio station, the show follows the residents of Icklewick as they discuss...
First up in the feed will be Nora Meadows’ Week of Wellness, a new sitcom starring Katy Wix as a therapist trying to help her clients (and herself) find wellness. This series is a joint commission between BBC Comedy and Radio 4 following a non-broadcast pilot last year.
Jokes is set to include further TV co-commissions too, including Icklewick FM, written by and starring Amy Gledhill and Chris Cantrill of The Delightful Sausage. Set in a fictional Yorkshire radio station, the show follows the residents of Icklewick as they discuss...
- 12/8/2023
- Podnews.net
The exec producer behind BBC comedy-drama We Might Regret This has said his ambition was for a show starring and written by a disabled performer to be “at the very top table of creativity.”
The Office and People Just Do Nothing producer Ash Atalla, whose Roughcut TV outfit is making We Might Regret This in association with Village Roadshow Television, said there has been a tendency for British broadcasters to “use the dry slopes of smaller budget shows or ancillary channels as training progams” when it comes to projects led by disabled people.
Penned by Kyla Harris and Lee Getty, We Might Regret This, on the other hand, is being positioned as a bigger-budget primetime offering for the UK’s national broadcaster, which its backers feel could be a potential awards winner.
“There was always an ambition to make a show that stars a disabled performer sat at the very top table of creativity,...
The Office and People Just Do Nothing producer Ash Atalla, whose Roughcut TV outfit is making We Might Regret This in association with Village Roadshow Television, said there has been a tendency for British broadcasters to “use the dry slopes of smaller budget shows or ancillary channels as training progams” when it comes to projects led by disabled people.
Penned by Kyla Harris and Lee Getty, We Might Regret This, on the other hand, is being positioned as a bigger-budget primetime offering for the UK’s national broadcaster, which its backers feel could be a potential awards winner.
“There was always an ambition to make a show that stars a disabled performer sat at the very top table of creativity,...
- 11/29/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
“We are sleepwalking into a media landscape where UK kids are culturally swamped,” the BBC Children’s boss warned today, as she urged government lobbying and “radical” solutions.
Patricia Hidalgo was sounding the alarm over a lack of investment in UK kids TV amidst an “explosion in choice” from the big U.S. players.
She urged the entire UK sector to ask the government for help, “not just for a handout but because change is happening at such a deep societal level that no solution is possible without [the government].”
One idea floated by Hidalgo at today’s Westminster Media Forum was extra incentives linked to shows that prove “enhanced cultural relevance,” which would go beyond the current tax credit set-up and “bring IP and productions” back to the nation. A BFI-managed Young Audiences Content Fund ran for three years but was closed in February 2022 to much chagrin from the sector.
Hidalgo...
Patricia Hidalgo was sounding the alarm over a lack of investment in UK kids TV amidst an “explosion in choice” from the big U.S. players.
She urged the entire UK sector to ask the government for help, “not just for a handout but because change is happening at such a deep societal level that no solution is possible without [the government].”
One idea floated by Hidalgo at today’s Westminster Media Forum was extra incentives linked to shows that prove “enhanced cultural relevance,” which would go beyond the current tax credit set-up and “bring IP and productions” back to the nation. A BFI-managed Young Audiences Content Fund ran for three years but was closed in February 2022 to much chagrin from the sector.
Hidalgo...
- 9/14/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Simon Carlyle, the co-creator of hit BBC sitcom Two Doors Down, has died aged 48.
Carlyle’s manager Amanda Davis confirmed the news in a statement to Pa Media.
“I am immensely sorry to confirm that Simon Carlyle has died at the age of 48,” Davis said.
“Simon was a wonderful person and a major comedic talent. He was much respected across the industry both for the quality of his writing and for being a kind, funny, supportive and nurturing collaborator. Our thoughts and deepest sympathies go to his family, friends and colleagues.”
With Gregor Sharp, Carlyle was the co-creator of Scottish BBC sitcom Two Doors Down, which stars the likes of Arabella Weir and Alex Norton as neighbours in a suburban street in Scotland, who are “all a bit nuts,” according to an interview with Carlyle several years ago.
The show has been hugely popular, running for six seasons on BBC Two...
Carlyle’s manager Amanda Davis confirmed the news in a statement to Pa Media.
“I am immensely sorry to confirm that Simon Carlyle has died at the age of 48,” Davis said.
“Simon was a wonderful person and a major comedic talent. He was much respected across the industry both for the quality of his writing and for being a kind, funny, supportive and nurturing collaborator. Our thoughts and deepest sympathies go to his family, friends and colleagues.”
With Gregor Sharp, Carlyle was the co-creator of Scottish BBC sitcom Two Doors Down, which stars the likes of Arabella Weir and Alex Norton as neighbours in a suburban street in Scotland, who are “all a bit nuts,” according to an interview with Carlyle several years ago.
The show has been hugely popular, running for six seasons on BBC Two...
- 8/10/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Showtime has picked up the BBC’s BAFTA-winning buzzy breakout comedy Dreaming Whilst Black from Big Deal Films and A24.
The move is the latest step in the show’s ascent, having started life as a web series before moving to BBC pilot, then series and subsequently being picked up by A24 for distribution in the space of several years.
Adjani Salmon’s comedy launched last week on BBC Three and has garnered highly favorable reviews. It follows Kwabena, played by Salmon, an aspiring filmmaker stuck in a dead-end recruitment job who takes the first step to achieving his dream of creating a TV show. However, he is quickly confronted with the tribulations of balancing finances, love and his own sense of reality, while the show deals with themes including racism, microaggressions and elitism.
The series will launch on Paramount+ with Showtime on September 8 and premiere two days later on linear,...
The move is the latest step in the show’s ascent, having started life as a web series before moving to BBC pilot, then series and subsequently being picked up by A24 for distribution in the space of several years.
Adjani Salmon’s comedy launched last week on BBC Three and has garnered highly favorable reviews. It follows Kwabena, played by Salmon, an aspiring filmmaker stuck in a dead-end recruitment job who takes the first step to achieving his dream of creating a TV show. However, he is quickly confronted with the tribulations of balancing finances, love and his own sense of reality, while the show deals with themes including racism, microaggressions and elitism.
The series will launch on Paramount+ with Showtime on September 8 and premiere two days later on linear,...
- 8/2/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Jessica Hynes (“Shaun of the Dead”) and Akemnji Ndifornyen (“Famalam”) are among the cast set to join Adjani Salmon’s BBC, A24 and Big Deal Films series “Dreaming Whilst Black.”
The show, which Salmon (“Doctor Who”) created and stars in, is based on a web-series of the same name. It was adapted into a critically acclaimed pilot in 2021 and greenlit for a six-part series last fall.
The series will see Salmon reprise his role as Kwabena alongside Dani Moseley (“Everything I Know About Love”) as Amy.
They will be joined by newcomers to the show Hynes and Ndifornyen as well as Isy Suttie (“Peep Show”), Peter Serafinowicz (“The Tick”), Roger Griffiths (“Chef!”), Martina Laird (“The Little Mermaid”), Jo Martin (“Doctor Who”), Steve Furst (“The Serpent Queen”) and “Love Island’s” Ovie Soko.
Meanwhile, returning from the pilot are Demmy Ladipo (“We Are Lady Parts”) as Maurice, Rachel Adedeji (“Champion”) as Funmi,...
The show, which Salmon (“Doctor Who”) created and stars in, is based on a web-series of the same name. It was adapted into a critically acclaimed pilot in 2021 and greenlit for a six-part series last fall.
The series will see Salmon reprise his role as Kwabena alongside Dani Moseley (“Everything I Know About Love”) as Amy.
They will be joined by newcomers to the show Hynes and Ndifornyen as well as Isy Suttie (“Peep Show”), Peter Serafinowicz (“The Tick”), Roger Griffiths (“Chef!”), Martina Laird (“The Little Mermaid”), Jo Martin (“Doctor Who”), Steve Furst (“The Serpent Queen”) and “Love Island’s” Ovie Soko.
Meanwhile, returning from the pilot are Demmy Ladipo (“We Are Lady Parts”) as Maurice, Rachel Adedeji (“Champion”) as Funmi,...
- 6/27/2023
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: The BBC has greenlit a comedy-drama about a Canadian tetraplegic moving to London from Stath Lets Flats producer Roughcut TV in association with Village Roadshow Television.
In the Catastrophe-esque We Might Regret This, Freya, played by the show’s co-writer Kyla Harris, moves to the English capital to live with Abe (Killing Eve and Smack the Pony’s Darren Boyd). Abe thinks he’s an old dog that can learn new tricks but Freya requires constant PAs who are always present and, after failing to find the right person for this intimate role, invites chaotic and impulsive best friend Jo (Elena Saurel) to take the job.
The show is inspired by the lives of Harris and co-writer Lee Getty, who said it will be about the “messiest and most joyous lived experiences of friendship, love and disability.”
We Might Regret This was initially reported to be in development as a Channel 4 pilot.
In the Catastrophe-esque We Might Regret This, Freya, played by the show’s co-writer Kyla Harris, moves to the English capital to live with Abe (Killing Eve and Smack the Pony’s Darren Boyd). Abe thinks he’s an old dog that can learn new tricks but Freya requires constant PAs who are always present and, after failing to find the right person for this intimate role, invites chaotic and impulsive best friend Jo (Elena Saurel) to take the job.
The show is inspired by the lives of Harris and co-writer Lee Getty, who said it will be about the “messiest and most joyous lived experiences of friendship, love and disability.”
We Might Regret This was initially reported to be in development as a Channel 4 pilot.
- 6/22/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Ricky Gervais and Sharon Horgan’s agent has said creatives should “be careful what they wish for” when considering whether to launch production companies.
United Agents vet Duncan Hayes told a BBC Comedy Festival audience that his constant challenge is “steering” creatives towards writing and directing over getting too involved with their businesses, which can be incredibly time costly.
Gervais runs Derek Productions and Horgan is the co-founder of Merman TV, and both have devoted much of their time to building up their indies over the past few years.
“Sometimes Sharon has a lot of plates to spin,” said Hayes. “She is running a successful indie and has lots of scripts to write. It can feel a bit ‘be careful what you wish for’ when you have the weight of your own production company.”
The Bad Sisters creator recently said she is pausing work on U.S. projects due to...
United Agents vet Duncan Hayes told a BBC Comedy Festival audience that his constant challenge is “steering” creatives towards writing and directing over getting too involved with their businesses, which can be incredibly time costly.
Gervais runs Derek Productions and Horgan is the co-founder of Merman TV, and both have devoted much of their time to building up their indies over the past few years.
“Sometimes Sharon has a lot of plates to spin,” said Hayes. “She is running a successful indie and has lots of scripts to write. It can feel a bit ‘be careful what you wish for’ when you have the weight of your own production company.”
The Bad Sisters creator recently said she is pausing work on U.S. projects due to...
- 5/25/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Marcel Theroux To Investigate Playboy Bunny Murders
Louis Theroux’s brother Marcel Theroux is to investigate the playboy bunny murders for Itvx. In The Playboy Bunny Murders, the novelist will examine the brutal murders that shocked London in the 1970s, when Eve Stratford, a Playboy Bunny who aspired to be a famous model, Lynda Farrow, a croupier with years of experience working in nighttime London, and Lynne Weedon, a schoolgirl whose whole life lay ahead of her, were all murdered. Itvx has gained exclusive access to friends, colleagues and relatives of the victims and will provide intimate insight, as Theroux attempts to track down police files, examines new breakthroughs and travels across the world in search of answers. Soho Studios and Future Studios are producing the two-parter for the ITV streaming service. Theroux said the story has “obsessed him for years.” Executive producers are Ian Lamarra for Soho Studios and John Farrar for Future Studios.
Louis Theroux’s brother Marcel Theroux is to investigate the playboy bunny murders for Itvx. In The Playboy Bunny Murders, the novelist will examine the brutal murders that shocked London in the 1970s, when Eve Stratford, a Playboy Bunny who aspired to be a famous model, Lynda Farrow, a croupier with years of experience working in nighttime London, and Lynne Weedon, a schoolgirl whose whole life lay ahead of her, were all murdered. Itvx has gained exclusive access to friends, colleagues and relatives of the victims and will provide intimate insight, as Theroux attempts to track down police files, examines new breakthroughs and travels across the world in search of answers. Soho Studios and Future Studios are producing the two-parter for the ITV streaming service. Theroux said the story has “obsessed him for years.” Executive producers are Ian Lamarra for Soho Studios and John Farrar for Future Studios.
- 5/25/2023
- by Max Goldbart and Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
BBC comedy boss Jon Petrie is to spend the year identifying a “package of measures that industry, government and regulators can come together on to safeguard comedy’s future,” while calling for a comedy tax credit.
Petrie used a set-piece speech to declare that the cost of half-hour TV comedy has “risen enormously,” while stressing his new-look commissioning team is “working hard to raise [program funding] as much as we can whilst retaining the breadth of comedy on the BBC.”
“Despite the TV industry receiving the welcome news that a form of high-end TV tax credit will be retained, I know that comedy producers remain concerned about the rising costs of making comedy for television,” he said at the BBC Comedy Festival in Cardiff, where he unveiled shows from David Mitchell, Ricky Gervais and The Duchess star Michelle de Swarte. “It goes without saying that we do too, and we feel equally...
Petrie used a set-piece speech to declare that the cost of half-hour TV comedy has “risen enormously,” while stressing his new-look commissioning team is “working hard to raise [program funding] as much as we can whilst retaining the breadth of comedy on the BBC.”
“Despite the TV industry receiving the welcome news that a form of high-end TV tax credit will be retained, I know that comedy producers remain concerned about the rising costs of making comedy for television,” he said at the BBC Comedy Festival in Cardiff, where he unveiled shows from David Mitchell, Ricky Gervais and The Duchess star Michelle de Swarte. “It goes without saying that we do too, and we feel equally...
- 5/24/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
David Mitchell is returning to the BBC for genre-bending detective comedy Ludwig, which features on a five-strong comedy slate alongside Hulu co-production Dinosaur and a show from The Duchess star Michelle de Swarte.
Unveiling his first major comedy slate at this afternoon’s BBC Comedy Festival in Cardiff, the corporation’s Comedy Director Jon Petrie said the shows reflect “the depth and range of our offerings which champion British creativity.”
The slate is led by Ludwig, Peep Show star Mitchell’s first BBC project since Upstart Crow, which follows the eponymous protagonist as he takes on the identity of his brother, Dci James Taylor, who has disappeared off the face of the earth. Mitchell’s Ludwig lives in quiet solitude, designing puzzles for a living under his nom-de-plume, and he struggles to adapt to being a twin who happens to be a successful Dci leading Cambridge’s busy inner-city major crimes team.
Unveiling his first major comedy slate at this afternoon’s BBC Comedy Festival in Cardiff, the corporation’s Comedy Director Jon Petrie said the shows reflect “the depth and range of our offerings which champion British creativity.”
The slate is led by Ludwig, Peep Show star Mitchell’s first BBC project since Upstart Crow, which follows the eponymous protagonist as he takes on the identity of his brother, Dci James Taylor, who has disappeared off the face of the earth. Mitchell’s Ludwig lives in quiet solitude, designing puzzles for a living under his nom-de-plume, and he struggles to adapt to being a twin who happens to be a successful Dci leading Cambridge’s busy inner-city major crimes team.
- 5/24/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Ricky Gervais has directed his first BBC project for a decade as the corporation’s Comedy Director Jon Petrie unveils his debut batch of 11 Short Films since taking on the role last year.
Deadline can reveal that The Office and After Life creator Gervais has directed 7 Minutes, a show about two people awkwardly contemplating suicide from his own Derek Productions.
Penned by Harry Carlile and Jonathan Parramint and starring Joe Wilkinson and Seroca Davis, 7 Minutes’ logline reads: “A desolate train track seems the perfect spot to end it all, until someone else turns up with the same idea. Awkward.”
Gervais’ last BBC project was the Warwick Davis-starring Life’s Too Short, which ran from 2011 to 2013 and was co-written with long-time writing partner Stephen Merchant. Since then, he has mostly made shows for Netflix such as global smash After Life.
Petrie’s Comedy Shorts are comprised of 10-15 minute one-offs,...
Deadline can reveal that The Office and After Life creator Gervais has directed 7 Minutes, a show about two people awkwardly contemplating suicide from his own Derek Productions.
Penned by Harry Carlile and Jonathan Parramint and starring Joe Wilkinson and Seroca Davis, 7 Minutes’ logline reads: “A desolate train track seems the perfect spot to end it all, until someone else turns up with the same idea. Awkward.”
Gervais’ last BBC project was the Warwick Davis-starring Life’s Too Short, which ran from 2011 to 2013 and was co-written with long-time writing partner Stephen Merchant. Since then, he has mostly made shows for Netflix such as global smash After Life.
Petrie’s Comedy Shorts are comprised of 10-15 minute one-offs,...
- 5/24/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Bafta-nominated sitcom Ghosts is coming to an end after five series, it has been announced.
The comedy series, written by and starring the team who adapted Horrible Histories for the screen, follows a couple (Charlotte Ritchie and Kiell Smith-Bynoe) who inherit a large old home haunted by its previous occupants.
Since it first aired in 2019, the show has amassed a large fan base and received rave reviews, even spawning a US remake.
On Friday (31 March), the writing team – consisting of Mathew Baynton, Simon Farnaby, Martha Howe-Douglas, Jim Howick, Laurence Rickard and Ben Willbond – announced that filming has wrapped on series five of Ghosts, which will be the show’s last.
“After five incredible years haunting the halls of Button House, we have decided that the time is right to let our beloved sitcom Ghosts rest in peace. We have just wrapped filming on our fifth and final series and we...
The comedy series, written by and starring the team who adapted Horrible Histories for the screen, follows a couple (Charlotte Ritchie and Kiell Smith-Bynoe) who inherit a large old home haunted by its previous occupants.
Since it first aired in 2019, the show has amassed a large fan base and received rave reviews, even spawning a US remake.
On Friday (31 March), the writing team – consisting of Mathew Baynton, Simon Farnaby, Martha Howe-Douglas, Jim Howick, Laurence Rickard and Ben Willbond – announced that filming has wrapped on series five of Ghosts, which will be the show’s last.
“After five incredible years haunting the halls of Button House, we have decided that the time is right to let our beloved sitcom Ghosts rest in peace. We have just wrapped filming on our fifth and final series and we...
- 3/31/2023
- by Isobel Lewis
- The Independent - TV
Hit BBC comedy Ghosts is to end after the upcoming fifth season, bringing to a close one of the BBC’s most successful family comedies of the past generation.
The Monumental Television team behind the show announced on social media that “after five incredible years haunting the halls of Button House, we have decided that the time is right to let our beloved sitcom Ghosts rest in peace.”
“We could never have imagined the reception the show has enjoyed, or the fun we have had making it, and we would like to thank our amazing cast and crew as well as everyone at BBC Comedy, BBC1 and Monumental Television for their tireless support,” they added.
Following a young couple who buy an old mansion which they don’t realize is full of ghosts, each of whom has a story, Ghosts has been an outsized hit, regularly amassing 4M to 5M viewers consolidated per week.
The Monumental Television team behind the show announced on social media that “after five incredible years haunting the halls of Button House, we have decided that the time is right to let our beloved sitcom Ghosts rest in peace.”
“We could never have imagined the reception the show has enjoyed, or the fun we have had making it, and we would like to thank our amazing cast and crew as well as everyone at BBC Comedy, BBC1 and Monumental Television for their tireless support,” they added.
Following a young couple who buy an old mansion which they don’t realize is full of ghosts, each of whom has a story, Ghosts has been an outsized hit, regularly amassing 4M to 5M viewers consolidated per week.
- 3/31/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
BBC Comedy Director Jon Petrie has said his team would be “happy to talk” with John Cleese about the upcoming Fawlty Towers revival, as he unveiled the next generation of “very British” shows.
Cleese has already said that the surprise revival, which he is making with daughter Camilla Cleese and Rob Reiner’s Castle Rock Entertainment, will not appear on the BBC because the UK broadcaster would not give him sufficient editorial freedom.
But addressing a BBC Comedy Showcase Tuesday, Petrie described BBC original Fawlty Towers as a “legendary show” and said he would be open to discussions.
“We found out about [the Fawlty Towers revival] when everyone else did,” he added. “I don’t know if it would work for us and we’ve not spoken to John Cleese but it’s obviously a legendary show and we would be happy to talk to John if he wanted to talk about it.
Cleese has already said that the surprise revival, which he is making with daughter Camilla Cleese and Rob Reiner’s Castle Rock Entertainment, will not appear on the BBC because the UK broadcaster would not give him sufficient editorial freedom.
But addressing a BBC Comedy Showcase Tuesday, Petrie described BBC original Fawlty Towers as a “legendary show” and said he would be open to discussions.
“We found out about [the Fawlty Towers revival] when everyone else did,” he added. “I don’t know if it would work for us and we’ve not spoken to John Cleese but it’s obviously a legendary show and we would be happy to talk to John if he wanted to talk about it.
- 3/9/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Following an acclaimed pilot that aired last year, hit web series “Dreaming Whilst Black,” has been commissioned for a full six-part TV series for BBC Three and iPlayer.
The pilot was adapted from the hugely popular web series co-written by Adjani Salmon and Ali Hughes. It gathered kudos for creator, star and co-writer Salmon, including the 2022 BAFTA craft award for Emerging Talent: Fiction, The Royal Television Society’s 2022 Breakthrough Award and the Soho House 59 Gen Now Award.
Loosely inspired by real life events, “Dreaming Whilst Black” follows aspiring filmmaker Kwabena (Salmon) in and out of reality as he tries to make it in “Babylon.” The problem is he’s broke, Black and born into a Jamaican family who wishes he was an accountant.
Global entertainment company A24 will co-produce and distribute the new six-part series internationally. It will be co-produced by BAFTA and Emmy nominated Big Deal Films.
Salmon, said:...
The pilot was adapted from the hugely popular web series co-written by Adjani Salmon and Ali Hughes. It gathered kudos for creator, star and co-writer Salmon, including the 2022 BAFTA craft award for Emerging Talent: Fiction, The Royal Television Society’s 2022 Breakthrough Award and the Soho House 59 Gen Now Award.
Loosely inspired by real life events, “Dreaming Whilst Black” follows aspiring filmmaker Kwabena (Salmon) in and out of reality as he tries to make it in “Babylon.” The problem is he’s broke, Black and born into a Jamaican family who wishes he was an accountant.
Global entertainment company A24 will co-produce and distribute the new six-part series internationally. It will be co-produced by BAFTA and Emmy nominated Big Deal Films.
Salmon, said:...
- 9/28/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Euphoria maker A24 is on board to co-produce and distribute a full season of acclaimed BBC Three comedy Dreaming Whilst Black.
The order comes after an award-winning pilot last year and four years after creator Adjani Salmon released his original short-form online series of the same name through the BBC. The series will air in 2023, with indie film studio A24 selling it internationally.
The pilot’s producer Big Deal Films is co-producing the six-part series, which comes from Salmon, whose pilot last year won him a BAFTA Craft Award for Emerging Talent: Fiction and the Royal Television Society’s 2022 Breakthrough Award among others. That was adapted from Salmon and Ali Hughes’ web series, which launched in 2018 on BBC Three when it was an online-only service.
Loosely inspired by real life events, Dreaming Whilst Black follows aspiring filmmaker Kwabena (Salmon) in and out of reality as he...
The order comes after an award-winning pilot last year and four years after creator Adjani Salmon released his original short-form online series of the same name through the BBC. The series will air in 2023, with indie film studio A24 selling it internationally.
The pilot’s producer Big Deal Films is co-producing the six-part series, which comes from Salmon, whose pilot last year won him a BAFTA Craft Award for Emerging Talent: Fiction and the Royal Television Society’s 2022 Breakthrough Award among others. That was adapted from Salmon and Ali Hughes’ web series, which launched in 2018 on BBC Three when it was an online-only service.
Loosely inspired by real life events, Dreaming Whilst Black follows aspiring filmmaker Kwabena (Salmon) in and out of reality as he...
- 9/27/2022
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
The BBC has commissioned a Catherine Tate comedy, Scottish drama Mayflies starring Line of Duty star Martin Compston, show from BAFTA winners Paul Coleman and Sian Gibson, and fourth season of Man like Mobeen.
In Queen of Oz, Netflix’s Hard Cell creator will exec and star as Princess Georgiana, the black sheep of a fictional British Royal Family. On the back of her latest scandal, her father, the King, makes the unprecedented move of abdicating his Australian throne in favor of his daughter, with the hope she will take the responsibility.
Australian indie Lingo Pictures is producing and Endeavor Content is distributing worldwide. Filming will begin later this year in Australia and further casting will be announced in due course.
Mayflies starring Compston, who plays Di Arnott in Line of Duty, follows Tully Dawson (Tony Curran) and Jimmy’s (Compston) brilliant friendship. With school over and the locked world of their fathers before them,...
In Queen of Oz, Netflix’s Hard Cell creator will exec and star as Princess Georgiana, the black sheep of a fictional British Royal Family. On the back of her latest scandal, her father, the King, makes the unprecedented move of abdicating his Australian throne in favor of his daughter, with the hope she will take the responsibility.
Australian indie Lingo Pictures is producing and Endeavor Content is distributing worldwide. Filming will begin later this year in Australia and further casting will be announced in due course.
Mayflies starring Compston, who plays Di Arnott in Line of Duty, follows Tully Dawson (Tony Curran) and Jimmy’s (Compston) brilliant friendship. With school over and the locked world of their fathers before them,...
- 8/25/2022
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
The BBC is investing an additional £10 million (12.3 million) in developing comedy.
Speaking at the BBC Comedy Festival in Newcastle, U.K., on Wednesday, BBC director of comedy Jon Petrie also revealed that the broadcaster will double the number of half-hour pilots made.
BBC Comedy and BBC Sounds will co-commission up to four audio comedy pilots. BBC Comedy Short Films will launch in June, consolidating current short form strands to create a space for both new and established talent to experiment and develop new work. Existing writing grants are being expanded into the BBC Comedy Bursary Collective initiative, which will give emerging comedy directors and producers a place to hone their craft.
BBC also unveiled a revival, commissions and re-commissions. Jack Whitehall’s “Bad Education,” that ran for three seasons from 2012 through 2014, is being revived with a one-off 10th anniversary special, followed by a new six-part series written by a team of breakthrough writers.
Speaking at the BBC Comedy Festival in Newcastle, U.K., on Wednesday, BBC director of comedy Jon Petrie also revealed that the broadcaster will double the number of half-hour pilots made.
BBC Comedy and BBC Sounds will co-commission up to four audio comedy pilots. BBC Comedy Short Films will launch in June, consolidating current short form strands to create a space for both new and established talent to experiment and develop new work. Existing writing grants are being expanded into the BBC Comedy Bursary Collective initiative, which will give emerging comedy directors and producers a place to hone their craft.
BBC also unveiled a revival, commissions and re-commissions. Jack Whitehall’s “Bad Education,” that ran for three seasons from 2012 through 2014, is being revived with a one-off 10th anniversary special, followed by a new six-part series written by a team of breakthrough writers.
- 5/11/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: The BBC has committed big to comedy by adding £10M (12M) to the genre’s budget over the next two years, as Director Jon Petrie talks up U.S. co-pros and unveils a new season of Jack Whitehall’s Bad Education, a Detectorists feature and recommissions of The Cleaner, Jerk and Guilt.
The extra cash is intended for “high-impact material that represents the whole of the UK” and will help with “rising costs,” according to Petrie, who described it as a “sizeable increase.”
“I feel very lucky that we have it,” he added, as he chatted to Deadline before heading up to Newcastle for the BBC’s inaugural Comedy Festival, an event that has been keeping him busy since he replaced Shane Allen around six months ago. The likes of Romesh Ranganathan and Charlie Brooker are taking part in the Festival.
The money comes as the BBC prepares to...
The extra cash is intended for “high-impact material that represents the whole of the UK” and will help with “rising costs,” according to Petrie, who described it as a “sizeable increase.”
“I feel very lucky that we have it,” he added, as he chatted to Deadline before heading up to Newcastle for the BBC’s inaugural Comedy Festival, an event that has been keeping him busy since he replaced Shane Allen around six months ago. The likes of Romesh Ranganathan and Charlie Brooker are taking part in the Festival.
The money comes as the BBC prepares to...
- 5/11/2022
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
UK comedian Diane Morgan’s beloved Philomena Cunk character is returning to the BBC and Netflix for a mockumentary unlocking the mystery of human civilization to discover humankind’s greatest achievements.
Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones’ indie Broke & Bones is behind Cunk on Earth, which will see Morgan reprise the role that placed her on the comedy map with BBC2’s Cunk on Britain.
Long-time Brooker collaborator Morgan was most recently seen in Broke & Bones’ Netflix comedy special Death to 2021 and Cunk on Earth is the first time the Motherland star’s show has been co-produced for the BBC and Netflix, with the U.S. streamer taking rights outside of the UK and Ireland.
From virtually nothing to virtual reality, Cunk will comically tell the story of our greatest inventions such as the wheel, the Mona Lisa and nuclear power. Along the way, she will ask experts hard-hitting questions about humanity’s progress,...
Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones’ indie Broke & Bones is behind Cunk on Earth, which will see Morgan reprise the role that placed her on the comedy map with BBC2’s Cunk on Britain.
Long-time Brooker collaborator Morgan was most recently seen in Broke & Bones’ Netflix comedy special Death to 2021 and Cunk on Earth is the first time the Motherland star’s show has been co-produced for the BBC and Netflix, with the U.S. streamer taking rights outside of the UK and Ireland.
From virtually nothing to virtual reality, Cunk will comically tell the story of our greatest inventions such as the wheel, the Mona Lisa and nuclear power. Along the way, she will ask experts hard-hitting questions about humanity’s progress,...
- 1/4/2022
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Christopher Walken series “The Outlaws” has been renewed for a second season. Walken will also return as Frank Sheldon.
Created by Stephen Merchant (“The Office”) and Elgin James (“Mayans M.C.”) the comedy thriller follows seven convicts completing community service in Bristol, U.K.
The second season, which has already wrapped and is due to air next year, follows on directly from season 1. Both seasons were filmed back to back. The show is a BBC One/Amazon Studios co-production.
Returning alongside Merchant (who both stars in and writes the series) and Walken are Rhianne Barreto (“Honour”), Gamba Cole (“Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle”), Darren Boyd (“Killing Eve”), Clare Perkins (“EastEnders”), Eleanor Tomlinson (“Poldark”), Jessica Gunning (“Back”), Charles Babalola (“Bancroft”), Nina Wadia (“Goodness Gracious Me”), Tom Hanson (“Brassic”) and Aiyana Goodfellow (“Small Axe”).
Julia Davis (“Sally4Ever”), Dolly Wells (“Dracula”), Ian McElhinney (“Game of Thrones”) and Claes Bang (“Dracula”) guest star.
Created by Stephen Merchant (“The Office”) and Elgin James (“Mayans M.C.”) the comedy thriller follows seven convicts completing community service in Bristol, U.K.
The second season, which has already wrapped and is due to air next year, follows on directly from season 1. Both seasons were filmed back to back. The show is a BBC One/Amazon Studios co-production.
Returning alongside Merchant (who both stars in and writes the series) and Walken are Rhianne Barreto (“Honour”), Gamba Cole (“Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle”), Darren Boyd (“Killing Eve”), Clare Perkins (“EastEnders”), Eleanor Tomlinson (“Poldark”), Jessica Gunning (“Back”), Charles Babalola (“Bancroft”), Nina Wadia (“Goodness Gracious Me”), Tom Hanson (“Brassic”) and Aiyana Goodfellow (“Small Axe”).
Julia Davis (“Sally4Ever”), Dolly Wells (“Dracula”), Ian McElhinney (“Game of Thrones”) and Claes Bang (“Dracula”) guest star.
- 11/29/2021
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
Afternoon International Insiders, Max Goldbart here. It’s been another busy week but don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with all the latest news and analysis. To get this sent to your inbox every Friday, sign up here.
American Film Market Trends
Solid packages: It’s hard to recall an AFM that had as many solid packages as this one. The emergence from Covid lockdowns and the lack of a market in Toronto this year have helped boost the offering. Since we were last in your inbox, we’ve also broken news of buzzy new projects from Martin McDonagh, Daisy Ridley (pictured) and Mathieu Kassovitz, and Guy Ritchie and Jake Gyllenhaal. Yesterday, we announced a new UK road trip from arthouse director Carol Morley which has Jane Campion aboard as an exec-producer. AFM has traditionally been known for its brawn, and while that is available this market, what stands out is the number of prestige dramas. Buyers we’ve spoken to have been particularly high on the scripts for movies like Firebrand and Lee.
Who runs the world?: As the market draws to a close, that leads us to another interesting – and positive – trend, which also counters the AFM norm: the number of strong female-fronted packages. Between Lee, Firebrand, MindFall, Ballerina, Role Play, Beth And Don, Everything Everywhere All At Once, and Mamma Mafia, rarely can there have been as many female-fronted projects leading the slates of the major sellers. Now we wait for the deals to drop.
Climate Content Pledge
Cop-in: David Attenborough may have been appearing on TV screens for nigh on seven decades, but until now the question of what television can do to help combat global warming was on the fringes. That all changed at this week’s Cop 26 in Glasgow, as 12 UK networks signed up to a Climate Content Pledge, which includes an uprooting of commissioning processes to consider climate themes and a doubling down on shows that help audiences understand how the world can reach net zero.
‘Collective responsibility’: Signatories to the pledge include the heads of the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 along with Discovery and Sky in the UK. Speaking at Cop, C4 CEO Alex Mahon said broadcasters have a “collective responsibility” and can use their different programming strengths to reach more audiences. Those strengths equate to quiz shows and entertainment for ITV, sport for Sky and, according to former scientist Mahon, Celebrity Trash Monsters for C4. UK TV truly is the home of plurality.
Middle Eastern In The Spotlight
Strike while the Irons is hot: Andreas had the exclusive on production wrapping on Cello this week, a Jeremy Irons and Tobin Bell horror that is the first in a new wave of English-language projects looking to film in Saudi Arabia, which has been ramping up its film and TV ambitions. Only a handful of sizable English-language movies have shot in the country in recent decades. The Russo Brothers’ Cherry was the biggest back in 2019 but the number of productions is growing as investment increasingly flows in and out of the controversial state, which remains a lightning rod for debate due to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi and human rights abuses. Oh and something about a UK football team.
Growing interest: Among productions to shoot in the country recently are a Discovery Channel documentary on the AlUla region, narrated by Irons, and an AlUla brand campaign commercial directed by Bruno Aveillan. National Geographic is due to film two programs on the region and the area has seen multiple travel programs. This month, production is due to get underway on the Gerard Butler action-thriller Kandahar from Thunder Road, which will be one of, if not the biggest, English-language movies to shoot in the country. It’s all happening. At the Cannes Film Festival this year, Saudi officials were touting the striking AlUla valley, new production facilities and the country’s film and TV tax rebate of 35%. The nation is due to host its first major film festival next month, the Red Sea International Film Festival. Definitely one to keep an eye on.
Midas Man on ice
Help!: Another hot one from Andreas this week, who had the scoop on one of the most talked about films of the moment, Midas Man, pausing production, with director Jonas Åkerlund unlikely to continue. Åkerlund is “taking a break”, according to the production, with sources indicating he is unlikely to return. More likely to come on this one as the Brian Epstein biopic seeks a new director.
New Look BBC Comedy Team
Petrie Dish: BBC Comedy Director Jon Petrie (pictured), the most powerful person in UK comedy commissioning, unveiled his new-look team this week, picking producers from some of the nation’s biggest shows in his first major intervention since taking over from Shane Allen in September. In comes Trying’s Emma Lawson, E4’s Navi Lamba and Stath Lets Flats producer Seb Barwell (temporarily), as the seven-strong team is firmed up. Petrie’s move reassembles a team that was decimated last year with a spate of departures, as his predecessor Allen, Head of Comedy Kate Daughton and Commissioning Editors Sarah Asante and Alex Moody all departed within a few weeks of each other.
Russian Out Of Space
The Challenge: Don’t miss Diana Lodderhose’s exclusive sit-down with Russian director Klim Shipenko and actor Yuliya Peresild, who last month became the first film crew to shoot scenes in Outer Space for upcoming film The Challenge. Well worth your time.
Essentials...
American Film Market Trends
Solid packages: It’s hard to recall an AFM that had as many solid packages as this one. The emergence from Covid lockdowns and the lack of a market in Toronto this year have helped boost the offering. Since we were last in your inbox, we’ve also broken news of buzzy new projects from Martin McDonagh, Daisy Ridley (pictured) and Mathieu Kassovitz, and Guy Ritchie and Jake Gyllenhaal. Yesterday, we announced a new UK road trip from arthouse director Carol Morley which has Jane Campion aboard as an exec-producer. AFM has traditionally been known for its brawn, and while that is available this market, what stands out is the number of prestige dramas. Buyers we’ve spoken to have been particularly high on the scripts for movies like Firebrand and Lee.
Who runs the world?: As the market draws to a close, that leads us to another interesting – and positive – trend, which also counters the AFM norm: the number of strong female-fronted packages. Between Lee, Firebrand, MindFall, Ballerina, Role Play, Beth And Don, Everything Everywhere All At Once, and Mamma Mafia, rarely can there have been as many female-fronted projects leading the slates of the major sellers. Now we wait for the deals to drop.
Climate Content Pledge
Cop-in: David Attenborough may have been appearing on TV screens for nigh on seven decades, but until now the question of what television can do to help combat global warming was on the fringes. That all changed at this week’s Cop 26 in Glasgow, as 12 UK networks signed up to a Climate Content Pledge, which includes an uprooting of commissioning processes to consider climate themes and a doubling down on shows that help audiences understand how the world can reach net zero.
‘Collective responsibility’: Signatories to the pledge include the heads of the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 along with Discovery and Sky in the UK. Speaking at Cop, C4 CEO Alex Mahon said broadcasters have a “collective responsibility” and can use their different programming strengths to reach more audiences. Those strengths equate to quiz shows and entertainment for ITV, sport for Sky and, according to former scientist Mahon, Celebrity Trash Monsters for C4. UK TV truly is the home of plurality.
Middle Eastern In The Spotlight
Strike while the Irons is hot: Andreas had the exclusive on production wrapping on Cello this week, a Jeremy Irons and Tobin Bell horror that is the first in a new wave of English-language projects looking to film in Saudi Arabia, which has been ramping up its film and TV ambitions. Only a handful of sizable English-language movies have shot in the country in recent decades. The Russo Brothers’ Cherry was the biggest back in 2019 but the number of productions is growing as investment increasingly flows in and out of the controversial state, which remains a lightning rod for debate due to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi and human rights abuses. Oh and something about a UK football team.
Growing interest: Among productions to shoot in the country recently are a Discovery Channel documentary on the AlUla region, narrated by Irons, and an AlUla brand campaign commercial directed by Bruno Aveillan. National Geographic is due to film two programs on the region and the area has seen multiple travel programs. This month, production is due to get underway on the Gerard Butler action-thriller Kandahar from Thunder Road, which will be one of, if not the biggest, English-language movies to shoot in the country. It’s all happening. At the Cannes Film Festival this year, Saudi officials were touting the striking AlUla valley, new production facilities and the country’s film and TV tax rebate of 35%. The nation is due to host its first major film festival next month, the Red Sea International Film Festival. Definitely one to keep an eye on.
Midas Man on ice
Help!: Another hot one from Andreas this week, who had the scoop on one of the most talked about films of the moment, Midas Man, pausing production, with director Jonas Åkerlund unlikely to continue. Åkerlund is “taking a break”, according to the production, with sources indicating he is unlikely to return. More likely to come on this one as the Brian Epstein biopic seeks a new director.
New Look BBC Comedy Team
Petrie Dish: BBC Comedy Director Jon Petrie (pictured), the most powerful person in UK comedy commissioning, unveiled his new-look team this week, picking producers from some of the nation’s biggest shows in his first major intervention since taking over from Shane Allen in September. In comes Trying’s Emma Lawson, E4’s Navi Lamba and Stath Lets Flats producer Seb Barwell (temporarily), as the seven-strong team is firmed up. Petrie’s move reassembles a team that was decimated last year with a spate of departures, as his predecessor Allen, Head of Comedy Kate Daughton and Commissioning Editors Sarah Asante and Alex Moody all departed within a few weeks of each other.
Russian Out Of Space
The Challenge: Don’t miss Diana Lodderhose’s exclusive sit-down with Russian director Klim Shipenko and actor Yuliya Peresild, who last month became the first film crew to shoot scenes in Outer Space for upcoming film The Challenge. Well worth your time.
Essentials...
- 11/5/2021
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Following Jon Petrie’s appointment as the BBC’s director of comedy in July, he has now revealed his commissioning team, including the newly-created role of head of comedy talent development.
Tanya Qureshi (“I May Destroy You”) stays on as head of BBC comedy alongside commissioning editor Gregor Sharp (“Starstruck”) and assistant commissioner in the norther Hannah Rose.
They will be joined by two new commissioning editors, Emma Lawson (“Trying”) and Ben Caudell (“Mandy”) as well as acting commissioning editor Seb Barwell (“Hattie”), who is joining in a temporary capacity from November until April 2022.
Lawson brings over 20 years’ experience in scripted television. She produced Apple Plus’s first scripted comedy, “Trying” and has developed a sitcom for Sky One. She also counts Objective, Fremantle and Roughcut TV on her resume.
Caudell moves into his role after executive producing two series of “Mandy” and “Famalam” as well as a number of other shows.
Tanya Qureshi (“I May Destroy You”) stays on as head of BBC comedy alongside commissioning editor Gregor Sharp (“Starstruck”) and assistant commissioner in the norther Hannah Rose.
They will be joined by two new commissioning editors, Emma Lawson (“Trying”) and Ben Caudell (“Mandy”) as well as acting commissioning editor Seb Barwell (“Hattie”), who is joining in a temporary capacity from November until April 2022.
Lawson brings over 20 years’ experience in scripted television. She produced Apple Plus’s first scripted comedy, “Trying” and has developed a sitcom for Sky One. She also counts Objective, Fremantle and Roughcut TV on her resume.
Caudell moves into his role after executive producing two series of “Mandy” and “Famalam” as well as a number of other shows.
- 11/3/2021
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
BBC Comedy Director Jon Petrie has unveiled his new-look comedy commissioning team following a spate of recent departures, with AppleTV+’s Trying producer Emma Lawson joining alongside E4 digital commissioner Navi Lamba and Roughcut TV’s Seb Barwell.
Petrie’s appointment earlier this year came off the back of the departure of former Comedy Director Shane Allen, Head of Comedy Kate Daughton and Commissioning Editors Alex Moody and Sarah Asante, all within a few weeks of each other.
Replacements in the Commissioning Editor team are revealed today as Lawson, whose previous credits include Cuckoo and Peep Show, Mandy’s Ben Caudell, who has been acting but joins on a permanent basis, and Roughcut TV’s Stath Lets Flats producer Seb Barwell, who conversely joins on an acting basis for the next six months.
Lawson most recently worked on Rafe Spall’s AppleTV+ comedy Trying, which led to an in-house commissioning...
Petrie’s appointment earlier this year came off the back of the departure of former Comedy Director Shane Allen, Head of Comedy Kate Daughton and Commissioning Editors Alex Moody and Sarah Asante, all within a few weeks of each other.
Replacements in the Commissioning Editor team are revealed today as Lawson, whose previous credits include Cuckoo and Peep Show, Mandy’s Ben Caudell, who has been acting but joins on a permanent basis, and Roughcut TV’s Stath Lets Flats producer Seb Barwell, who conversely joins on an acting basis for the next six months.
Lawson most recently worked on Rafe Spall’s AppleTV+ comedy Trying, which led to an in-house commissioning...
- 11/3/2021
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Former BBC comedy bosses Shane Allen and Kate Daughton’s Boffola Pictures has landed its debut commission, a BBC comedy-thriller from This Country creator Daisy May Cooper and Deadwater Fell’s Selin Hizli, exec produced by Jack Thorne.
Cooper and Hizli will play the leads and are starring in the untitled six-part show, portraying two friends who love fun, laughter and booze until everything unravels.
His Dark Materials writer Thorne is on board to exec the project, which was ordered several weeks ago by then-acting Director of BBC Comedy Kate Phillips, who took the post temporarily before Jon Petrie joined to oversee the genre permanently. BBC Studios, which owns Lookout Point, is distributing internationally and Allen, Cooper, Hizli and Daughton are all exec producing alongside director Jonny Campbell.
Thorne said the show “balances joy and truth, funny and real,” adding that it has “been a brilliant education for me as a writer.
Cooper and Hizli will play the leads and are starring in the untitled six-part show, portraying two friends who love fun, laughter and booze until everything unravels.
His Dark Materials writer Thorne is on board to exec the project, which was ordered several weeks ago by then-acting Director of BBC Comedy Kate Phillips, who took the post temporarily before Jon Petrie joined to oversee the genre permanently. BBC Studios, which owns Lookout Point, is distributing internationally and Allen, Cooper, Hizli and Daughton are all exec producing alongside director Jonny Campbell.
Thorne said the show “balances joy and truth, funny and real,” adding that it has “been a brilliant education for me as a writer.
- 10/28/2021
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Netflix Announces ‘The Raincoat Killer: Chasing a Predator in Korea’ Premiere Date (TV News Roundup)
Netflix announced “The Raincoat Killer: Chasing a Predator in Korea” will premiere Oct. 22.
The three-part docuseries follows Yoo Young-chul, a notorious serial killer who came to light as a psychopath to the Korean public in 2004. From 2003-2004, Young-chul killed a total of 20 people in various parts of Seoul, targeting wealthy elderly people and sex workers.
“The Raincoat Killer: Chasing a Predator in Korea” will examine the events through never-before-seen archival footage and interviews with the people directly involved in the case, including the victims’ family members; the officer in charge of the case; other detectives and investigators; prosecutors; lawyers; and profilers Kwon Il-yong, Korea’s first profiler who interacted directly with Young-chul, Lee Soo-jung and Bae Sang-hoon.
The series is directed by John Choi and Beach House Pictures head of factual, Rob Sixsmith — who worked with a diverse Korean and Singaporean team for the project.
Producing the series is Beach House Pictures,...
The three-part docuseries follows Yoo Young-chul, a notorious serial killer who came to light as a psychopath to the Korean public in 2004. From 2003-2004, Young-chul killed a total of 20 people in various parts of Seoul, targeting wealthy elderly people and sex workers.
“The Raincoat Killer: Chasing a Predator in Korea” will examine the events through never-before-seen archival footage and interviews with the people directly involved in the case, including the victims’ family members; the officer in charge of the case; other detectives and investigators; prosecutors; lawyers; and profilers Kwon Il-yong, Korea’s first profiler who interacted directly with Young-chul, Lee Soo-jung and Bae Sang-hoon.
The series is directed by John Choi and Beach House Pictures head of factual, Rob Sixsmith — who worked with a diverse Korean and Singaporean team for the project.
Producing the series is Beach House Pictures,...
- 9/24/2021
- by Jennifer Yuma and Katie Song
- Variety Film + TV
Never mind the fact that Netflix original films traffic quite heavily in well-worn tropes — the streaming service has launched the first trailer for a new comedy special called “Attack of the Hollywood Clichés!” that finds celebrities discussing, dissecting, and having fun with familiar plot beats in your favorite movies. Hosted by Rob Lowe, the one-off special features a wide range of celebrities weighing in on everything from the Meet-Cute to the Ticking Time Bomb to the Jump Scare, using iconic films like “Forrest Gump” and “Out of the Past” as examples.
“Stock characters, familiar story beats, and convenient plot devices have crept in over time,” Lowe says in the trailer. “Tonight, we celebrate the clichés that have made cinema what it is today,” Lowe adds, as Netflix is pegging the special as something between a comedy special and a celebration of cinema history. It’s not quite the full-on roasting...
“Stock characters, familiar story beats, and convenient plot devices have crept in over time,” Lowe says in the trailer. “Tonight, we celebrate the clichés that have made cinema what it is today,” Lowe adds, as Netflix is pegging the special as something between a comedy special and a celebration of cinema history. It’s not quite the full-on roasting...
- 9/24/2021
- by Adam Chitwood
- The Wrap
On Tuesday, Netflix offered a first look at Attack Of The Hollywood Clichés!, a one-off comedy special hosted by Rob Lowe, announcing that it will debut globally on September 28.
In the special, featuring some of the most famous films in cinematic history, along with a plethora of Hollywood A-listers, screenwriters, academics and critics, Lowe invites viewers to examine the funny, weird and controversial Hollywood clichés filmmakers can’t help but use, time and time again.
With the help of experts, Lowe will analyze the origins and evolutions of everything from ‘Walking Away from an Explosion,’ to the ‘Meet-Cute’ and ‘Females Running in Stilettos.’ Naturally, the special will also present a ‘Wilhelm Scream’ montage for real movie buffs.
Attack Of The Hollywood Clichés! was produced by Broke and Bones and Sean Doherty, who also serves as director, along with Alice Mathias and Ricky Kelehar. The special’s executive producers are Rob Lowe,...
In the special, featuring some of the most famous films in cinematic history, along with a plethora of Hollywood A-listers, screenwriters, academics and critics, Lowe invites viewers to examine the funny, weird and controversial Hollywood clichés filmmakers can’t help but use, time and time again.
With the help of experts, Lowe will analyze the origins and evolutions of everything from ‘Walking Away from an Explosion,’ to the ‘Meet-Cute’ and ‘Females Running in Stilettos.’ Naturally, the special will also present a ‘Wilhelm Scream’ montage for real movie buffs.
Attack Of The Hollywood Clichés! was produced by Broke and Bones and Sean Doherty, who also serves as director, along with Alice Mathias and Ricky Kelehar. The special’s executive producers are Rob Lowe,...
- 8/24/2021
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Netflix released a trailer for Season 6 of “Nailed It!,” which premieres Sept. 15.
In the new season, the bakers face even tougher challenges than ever before, including making paranormal pastries, celebrating Black history by creating edible versions of historical icons, and recreating chocolate masterpieces inspired by judge and chocolatier Jacques Torres.
The trailer, which you can watch below, begins with host Nicole Byer playing with edible versions of herself, Torres and assistant director Weston Bahr as she gears up to have the contestants create pastries in their likeness for a competition.
“I just love seeing the misfortune of others,” says actor Jack McBrayer, who appears as a contestant this season. Naturally, this line of dialogue is followed by him making a mistake of his own while baking.
While McBrayer is the only celebrity contestant this season, celebrity judge in Season 6 include Wayne Brady, Sam Richardson, Reggie Watts, Big Freedia, June Diane Raphael and Sasheer Zamata.
In the new season, the bakers face even tougher challenges than ever before, including making paranormal pastries, celebrating Black history by creating edible versions of historical icons, and recreating chocolate masterpieces inspired by judge and chocolatier Jacques Torres.
The trailer, which you can watch below, begins with host Nicole Byer playing with edible versions of herself, Torres and assistant director Weston Bahr as she gears up to have the contestants create pastries in their likeness for a competition.
“I just love seeing the misfortune of others,” says actor Jack McBrayer, who appears as a contestant this season. Naturally, this line of dialogue is followed by him making a mistake of his own while baking.
While McBrayer is the only celebrity contestant this season, celebrity judge in Season 6 include Wayne Brady, Sam Richardson, Reggie Watts, Big Freedia, June Diane Raphael and Sasheer Zamata.
- 8/24/2021
- by Jennifer Yuma
- Variety Film + TV
“Black Mirror” creator Charlie Brooker and his collaborator Annabel Jones have set their next Netflix project: a comedy special about Hollywood clichés, hosted by Rob Lowe.
Launching on the streaming service on Sept. 28, “Attack of the Hollywood Clichés!” is described as “a one-off special featuring some of the most famous films in cinematic history along with a plethora of Hollywood A-Listers, Screenwriters, Academics and Critics as they guide us through the funny, weird and controversial clichés which appear on our cinema screens.”
“Attack of the Hollywood Clichés!” will be led by former Brat Pack member, movie star and “handsome devil” Lowe, who will be wearing a “classic crisp suit” while inviting “viewers to examine the Hollywood clichés filmmakers can’t help but use, time and time again.”
Lowe will have the “help of the experts” to analyze the “origins and evolutions of everything from ‘Walking Away from an Explosion,’ to the ‘Meet-Cute,...
Launching on the streaming service on Sept. 28, “Attack of the Hollywood Clichés!” is described as “a one-off special featuring some of the most famous films in cinematic history along with a plethora of Hollywood A-Listers, Screenwriters, Academics and Critics as they guide us through the funny, weird and controversial clichés which appear on our cinema screens.”
“Attack of the Hollywood Clichés!” will be led by former Brat Pack member, movie star and “handsome devil” Lowe, who will be wearing a “classic crisp suit” while inviting “viewers to examine the Hollywood clichés filmmakers can’t help but use, time and time again.”
Lowe will have the “help of the experts” to analyze the “origins and evolutions of everything from ‘Walking Away from an Explosion,’ to the ‘Meet-Cute,...
- 8/24/2021
- by Jennifer Maas
- The Wrap
The BBC has appointed Jon Petrie as its new head of comedy. In the role, he will report to chief content officer Charlotte Moore and be responsible for commissioning all scripted comedy on the BBC, iPlayer and the BBC Comedy Association.
Petrie moves over from Broke and Bones, the Netflix-invested indie owned by “Black Mirror” creators Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones, where he was appointed head of comedy last August. He was previously comedy commissioning editor at Channel 4 where he oversaw “The Windsors,” “Friday Night Dinner” and “Dead Pixels.”
“Jon is a talented creative with a passion for comedy and an impressive track record for spotting new and diverse talent from across the UK and creating mainstream hits,” said Moore. “I’m thrilled he’s joining the BBC as the new director of comedy and can’t wait to start working with him as he leads BBC comedy...
Petrie moves over from Broke and Bones, the Netflix-invested indie owned by “Black Mirror” creators Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones, where he was appointed head of comedy last August. He was previously comedy commissioning editor at Channel 4 where he oversaw “The Windsors,” “Friday Night Dinner” and “Dead Pixels.”
“Jon is a talented creative with a passion for comedy and an impressive track record for spotting new and diverse talent from across the UK and creating mainstream hits,” said Moore. “I’m thrilled he’s joining the BBC as the new director of comedy and can’t wait to start working with him as he leads BBC comedy...
- 7/9/2021
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
The BBC has hired Jon Petrie as its director of comedy after the producer spent less than a year at Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones’ Netflix-backed production company Broke & Bones.
Petrie joined Broke & Bones as head of comedy in August last year. He will now step into Shane Allen’s sizeable shoes, overseeing a BBC department that has given the world hits including Fleabag and This Country in recent years.
More follows.
Petrie joined Broke & Bones as head of comedy in August last year. He will now step into Shane Allen’s sizeable shoes, overseeing a BBC department that has given the world hits including Fleabag and This Country in recent years.
More follows.
- 7/9/2021
- by Jake Kanter
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Black Mirror producer Louise Sutton has quietly re-teamed with Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones at their new Netflix-backed production company Broke And Bones following a two-year spell at Lime Pictures.
Deadline understands that Sutton joined Broke And Bones last year as an executive producer and she is already developing a series for Netflix. She was previously head of drama and YA at Lime, which makes shows including Netflix’s Free Rein and Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks.
Before joining Lime, Sutton worked on Season 4 of Black Mirror, producing USS Callister and Metalhead. Her other credits include Death in Paradise, Midsomer Murders, and Jekyll & Hyde.
Her arrival at Broke And Bones shows the company’s ambition as it develops a slate of Netflix shows following its debut for the streamer, Death To 2020. Broke And Bones also hired People Just Do Nothing producer Jon Petrie as its head of comedy last year.
Deadline understands that Sutton joined Broke And Bones last year as an executive producer and she is already developing a series for Netflix. She was previously head of drama and YA at Lime, which makes shows including Netflix’s Free Rein and Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks.
Before joining Lime, Sutton worked on Season 4 of Black Mirror, producing USS Callister and Metalhead. Her other credits include Death in Paradise, Midsomer Murders, and Jekyll & Hyde.
Her arrival at Broke And Bones shows the company’s ambition as it develops a slate of Netflix shows following its debut for the streamer, Death To 2020. Broke And Bones also hired People Just Do Nothing producer Jon Petrie as its head of comedy last year.
- 1/29/2021
- by Jake Kanter
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Netflix has invested in Black Mirror creators Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones’ new production outfit Broke And Bones in a first-of-its-kind deal for the streamer in the UK, which could ultimately see it take full control of the company for around $100M, Deadline can reveal.
Sources said the agreement with five-time Emmy winners Brooker and Jones’ new venture has been 12 months in the making due to its unusual structure, and is a massive statement of intent about Netflix’s commitment to working with British creators. The UK is second only to the U.S. in feeding original content to Netflix’s 190M subscribers.
Quietly signed a number of weeks ago, Deadline understands that Netflix has the right to acquire Broke And Bones in chunks over a five-year period, giving the streamer exclusivity over the Brits’ new series and interactive projects. Although the deal could ultimately rise to nine figures,...
Sources said the agreement with five-time Emmy winners Brooker and Jones’ new venture has been 12 months in the making due to its unusual structure, and is a massive statement of intent about Netflix’s commitment to working with British creators. The UK is second only to the U.S. in feeding original content to Netflix’s 190M subscribers.
Quietly signed a number of weeks ago, Deadline understands that Netflix has the right to acquire Broke And Bones in chunks over a five-year period, giving the streamer exclusivity over the Brits’ new series and interactive projects. Although the deal could ultimately rise to nine figures,...
- 7/30/2020
- by Jake Kanter
- Deadline Film + TV
Broke & Bones, the new production company set up by Black Mirror creators Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones, has hired Channel 4 commissioner Jon Petrie as its head of comedy.
Petrie joins in August after more than a year-and-a-half at Channel 4, overseeing shows including Friday Night Dinner and The Windsors. Previously, he produced hit BBC Three series People Just Do Nothing for Roughcut Television, helping discover the show on YouTube.
“Jon has a deep passion for finding and nurturing the most amazing talent and stories,” said Jones. “The UK has some of the best television in the world and I’m delighted that Jon is joining as head of comedy so we don’t have to worry about messing it up.”
Deadline revealed in February that Brooker and Jones had formed Broke & Bones shortly after they left their Endemol Shine producer House Of Tomorrow. The company’s debut commission was BBC Two...
Petrie joins in August after more than a year-and-a-half at Channel 4, overseeing shows including Friday Night Dinner and The Windsors. Previously, he produced hit BBC Three series People Just Do Nothing for Roughcut Television, helping discover the show on YouTube.
“Jon has a deep passion for finding and nurturing the most amazing talent and stories,” said Jones. “The UK has some of the best television in the world and I’m delighted that Jon is joining as head of comedy so we don’t have to worry about messing it up.”
Deadline revealed in February that Brooker and Jones had formed Broke & Bones shortly after they left their Endemol Shine producer House Of Tomorrow. The company’s debut commission was BBC Two...
- 7/24/2020
- by Jake Kanter
- Deadline Film + TV
The U.S. remake of People Just Do Nothing is not going to series at Amazon.
The streamer piloted a version of the successful BBC Three comedy, which was produced by The Office producer Ash Atalla.
However, Vernon Sanders, Co-Head, TV at Amazon Studios, told Deadline at the Winter TCA press tour that the project was not going forward.
Jorge Diaz (The Long Road Home) and Eliza Bennett (Sweet/Vicious) lead the ensemble cast of the single-camera comedy pilot with Andre Hyland (Pop Star: Never Stop Never Stopping), Conner McVicker (Vice Principals) and Amir Talai (La to Vegas) also cast in the project, written and executive produced by from Mehar Sethi.
Amazon @ TCA: Deadline’s Complete Coverage
The youth-skewing comedy moved the action from London to North Las Vegas. Shot in a mockumentary style, it followed a group of working class DJs and their friends in a land of mini malls and vast parking lots,...
The streamer piloted a version of the successful BBC Three comedy, which was produced by The Office producer Ash Atalla.
However, Vernon Sanders, Co-Head, TV at Amazon Studios, told Deadline at the Winter TCA press tour that the project was not going forward.
Jorge Diaz (The Long Road Home) and Eliza Bennett (Sweet/Vicious) lead the ensemble cast of the single-camera comedy pilot with Andre Hyland (Pop Star: Never Stop Never Stopping), Conner McVicker (Vice Principals) and Amir Talai (La to Vegas) also cast in the project, written and executive produced by from Mehar Sethi.
Amazon @ TCA: Deadline’s Complete Coverage
The youth-skewing comedy moved the action from London to North Las Vegas. Shot in a mockumentary style, it followed a group of working class DJs and their friends in a land of mini malls and vast parking lots,...
- 1/14/2020
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
The film is called ‘People Just Do Nothing: Big In Japan’.
Filming has commenced on the feature adaptation of BBC’s Bafta-winning comedy series People Just Do Nothing, the mockumentary about pirate radio station Kurupt FM.
Entitled People Just Do Nothing: Big In Japan, the film is shooting in Japan and the UK for six weeks. It will be released in cinemas in the UK and Ireland by Universal Pictures International in August 2020.
A first-look image from the film has been released, shown above.
It will pick up with the members of pirate radio station Kurupt FM, who head to...
Filming has commenced on the feature adaptation of BBC’s Bafta-winning comedy series People Just Do Nothing, the mockumentary about pirate radio station Kurupt FM.
Entitled People Just Do Nothing: Big In Japan, the film is shooting in Japan and the UK for six weeks. It will be released in cinemas in the UK and Ireland by Universal Pictures International in August 2020.
A first-look image from the film has been released, shown above.
It will pick up with the members of pirate radio station Kurupt FM, who head to...
- 11/28/2019
- by 1101321¦Ben Dalton¦26¦
- ScreenDaily
Production is underway on an under-the-radar feature adaptation of BAFTA-winning BBC comedy series, People Just Do Nothing.
After five seasons of the cult mockumentary series on BBC and Netflix, People Just Do Nothing: Big In Japan has begun shoot in Japan and the UK for six weeks and is due be released in cinemas across the UK and Ireland in August 2020.
Focus Features and BBC Films financed the project and Universal Pictures International will distribute the film in the UK and Ireland. It is the first ever BBC Three series to be developed into a feature film.
The film, like the series, stars Allan Mustafa (Mc Grindah), Hugo Chegwin (DJ Beats), Asim Chaudhry (Chabuddy G), Steve Stamp (Steves), Dan Sylvester (Decoy), Lily Brazier (Miche), Hitomi Souno (Miki) and Ken Yamamura (Taka).
In the movie, life has been quiet for the Kurupt FM boys since the end of their pirate radio station.
After five seasons of the cult mockumentary series on BBC and Netflix, People Just Do Nothing: Big In Japan has begun shoot in Japan and the UK for six weeks and is due be released in cinemas across the UK and Ireland in August 2020.
Focus Features and BBC Films financed the project and Universal Pictures International will distribute the film in the UK and Ireland. It is the first ever BBC Three series to be developed into a feature film.
The film, like the series, stars Allan Mustafa (Mc Grindah), Hugo Chegwin (DJ Beats), Asim Chaudhry (Chabuddy G), Steve Stamp (Steves), Dan Sylvester (Decoy), Lily Brazier (Miche), Hitomi Souno (Miki) and Ken Yamamura (Taka).
In the movie, life has been quiet for the Kurupt FM boys since the end of their pirate radio station.
- 11/28/2019
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Jorge Diaz (The Long Road Home) and Eliza Bennett (Sweet/Vicious) lead the ensemble cast of Amazon’s single-camera comedy pilot based on the UK series People Just Do Nothing. Andre Hyland (Pop Star: Never Stop Never Stopping), Conner McVicker (Vice Principals) and Amir Talai (La to Vegas) also have been cast as series regulars in the project, written and executive produced by from Mehar Sethi.
The untitled comedy based on the BAFTA-winning series is a mockumentary following a group of working class DJs and their friends in a town called North Las Vegas: a land of mini malls and vast parking lots, where the lights of The Strip act as a beacon of fame and glory that’s just out of reach. The series tracks their stumbling ambitions, and explores how relationships between friends and family evolve as the reality of your dreams starts to hit. It’s a...
The untitled comedy based on the BAFTA-winning series is a mockumentary following a group of working class DJs and their friends in a town called North Las Vegas: a land of mini malls and vast parking lots, where the lights of The Strip act as a beacon of fame and glory that’s just out of reach. The series tracks their stumbling ambitions, and explores how relationships between friends and family evolve as the reality of your dreams starts to hit. It’s a...
- 11/29/2018
- by Nellie Andreeva and Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.