Welcome to Global Breakouts, Deadline’s fortnightly strand in which we shine a spotlight on the TV shows and films killing it in their local territories. The industry is as globalized as it’s ever been, but breakout hits are emerging in pockets of the world all the time and it can be hard to keep track. That’s why we’re doing the hard work for you.
This week, we detail a co-production from South Africa and France that spotlights the four-wheeled sport of spinning. Not heard of it? Well neither had we, but on closer inspection this series is far more than an exhibition of a little-known extreme pasttime. Creatives on the Showmax-Canal+ co-pro tell us why ‘Spinners‘ holds a mirror up to society, and where they think it could travel next.
Name: Spinners
Country: South Africa & France
Networks: Showmax & Canal+
Producer: Empreinte Digitale & Natives at Large
International...
This week, we detail a co-production from South Africa and France that spotlights the four-wheeled sport of spinning. Not heard of it? Well neither had we, but on closer inspection this series is far more than an exhibition of a little-known extreme pasttime. Creatives on the Showmax-Canal+ co-pro tell us why ‘Spinners‘ holds a mirror up to society, and where they think it could travel next.
Name: Spinners
Country: South Africa & France
Networks: Showmax & Canal+
Producer: Empreinte Digitale & Natives at Large
International...
- 2/20/2024
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
ITV Spent $68M On Diverse Shows In 2023
ITV invested £54.2M ($68M) of its Diversity Commissioning Fund last year on shows made by or about people from under-represented backgrounds such as Lenny Henry’s Three Little Birds. The fund was launched in 2022 with £80M to be spent across three years to “drive change towards racial equity and disability equity in whose stories get told,” with one quarter reserved for content made by “production companies led by People of Colour and/or Deaf, Disabled and/or Neurodivergent people.” The figures came as part of the Love Island network’s Diversity Acceleration Plan report for the previous 12 months, which said 475 productions across around 160 production companies have embedded Dei using ITV’s production principles over the past three years. The BBC has a similar £100M fund across a three-year period to March 2024 and says it has already exceeded this target. ITV said plans for...
ITV invested £54.2M ($68M) of its Diversity Commissioning Fund last year on shows made by or about people from under-represented backgrounds such as Lenny Henry’s Three Little Birds. The fund was launched in 2022 with £80M to be spent across three years to “drive change towards racial equity and disability equity in whose stories get told,” with one quarter reserved for content made by “production companies led by People of Colour and/or Deaf, Disabled and/or Neurodivergent people.” The figures came as part of the Love Island network’s Diversity Acceleration Plan report for the previous 12 months, which said 475 productions across around 160 production companies have embedded Dei using ITV’s production principles over the past three years. The BBC has a similar £100M fund across a three-year period to March 2024 and says it has already exceeded this target. ITV said plans for...
- 1/31/2024
- by Max Goldbart and Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
Showmax CEO Yolisa Phahle is leaving the African streamer after nearly two decades.
The CEO of Showmax parent MultiChoice Calvo Mawela announced Phahle’s exit with “mixed emotions” in a note to staff. Marc Jury became interim Showmax CEO on September 1 as a search for the full-time successor is found.
Phahle will provide “full time advisory support” to Jury for the next six months. From March 2024, Phahle will continue to consult for another 12 months, reporting to Jury, who will lead both Showmax and MultiChoice’s South African operations.
“In what could be characterised as the end of an era defined by a solid career and almost two decades with the Group, it is with mixed emotions to announce that our Showmax CEO, Yolisa Phahle, is making her way into the next chapter of her career,” wrote Calvo.
“Discussions have been underway with an understanding that she will be entering the...
The CEO of Showmax parent MultiChoice Calvo Mawela announced Phahle’s exit with “mixed emotions” in a note to staff. Marc Jury became interim Showmax CEO on September 1 as a search for the full-time successor is found.
Phahle will provide “full time advisory support” to Jury for the next six months. From March 2024, Phahle will continue to consult for another 12 months, reporting to Jury, who will lead both Showmax and MultiChoice’s South African operations.
“In what could be characterised as the end of an era defined by a solid career and almost two decades with the Group, it is with mixed emotions to announce that our Showmax CEO, Yolisa Phahle, is making her way into the next chapter of her career,” wrote Calvo.
“Discussions have been underway with an understanding that she will be entering the...
- 9/5/2023
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
Fasten your seat belts! African streamer Showmax and Canal+ are getting ready to go pedal to the metal.
The streaming company, co-owned by African pay-tv giant MultiChoice Group and Comcast, and the French pay TV giant has released a trailer for the eight-part gangster and extreme sports drama Spinners, which The Hollywood Reporter is revealing exclusively.
The companies’ third co-production, set in South Africa’s Cape Town, became the first African show to take part in CanneSeries’ main competition.
Spinners follows Ethan (Cantona James), a 17-year-old driver working for a gang who is trying to support his younger brother and discovers a possible way out of gang life: spinning, an extreme motorsport that features drivers performing jaw-dropping daredevil stunts. However, a looming gang war jeopardizes his plans.
The cast includes James (Arendsvlei) and Chelsea Thomas (Arendsvlei) in leading roles, along with Elton Landrew (Recipes for Love & Murder); Dillon Windvogel...
The streaming company, co-owned by African pay-tv giant MultiChoice Group and Comcast, and the French pay TV giant has released a trailer for the eight-part gangster and extreme sports drama Spinners, which The Hollywood Reporter is revealing exclusively.
The companies’ third co-production, set in South Africa’s Cape Town, became the first African show to take part in CanneSeries’ main competition.
Spinners follows Ethan (Cantona James), a 17-year-old driver working for a gang who is trying to support his younger brother and discovers a possible way out of gang life: spinning, an extreme motorsport that features drivers performing jaw-dropping daredevil stunts. However, a looming gang war jeopardizes his plans.
The cast includes James (Arendsvlei) and Chelsea Thomas (Arendsvlei) in leading roles, along with Elton Landrew (Recipes for Love & Murder); Dillon Windvogel...
- 8/28/2023
- by Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
When the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum opened up in Cleveland in 1995 with a massive stadium concert featuring Bob Dylan, Chuck Berry, Johnny Cash, Bruce Springsteen, Jerry Lee Lewis, and countless other rock veterans, Sheryl Crow was one of the youngest artists on the bill. “It’s been an interesting journey for me since I played at that show,” Crow tells Rolling Stone. “My whole life has revolved around Rock and Roll Hall of Fame artists. It’s crazy to be inducted on my own.”
She’s...
She’s...
- 5/3/2023
- by Andy Greene
- Rollingstone.com
Bargain, Carthago, Curduroy’ among big winners.
Norwegian political satire Power Play was named best series as the sixth annual Canneseries (April 14-19) came to a close on the Riveria.
The series from Norway’s Nrk was the last of the 10-strong competition titles to screen at the six-day event, but triumphed with the festival’s top prize in addition to the award for best music that jury member and The Police drummer Stewart Copeland called “downright revolutionary”.
Power Play is based on the true story of the bid to become prime minster by pro-abortion ecologist politician Gro Harlem Brundtland in the 1970’s and 1980’s.
Norwegian political satire Power Play was named best series as the sixth annual Canneseries (April 14-19) came to a close on the Riveria.
The series from Norway’s Nrk was the last of the 10-strong competition titles to screen at the six-day event, but triumphed with the festival’s top prize in addition to the award for best music that jury member and The Police drummer Stewart Copeland called “downright revolutionary”.
Power Play is based on the true story of the bid to become prime minster by pro-abortion ecologist politician Gro Harlem Brundtland in the 1970’s and 1980’s.
- 4/19/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
Cannes — News of the death of Mip-tv looked greatly exaggerated if the 2023 edition, which played out over April 17-19 in Cannes, was anything to go by, with Lucy Smith, director of MipTV and Mipcom, Cannes two TV trade fairs, announcing final figures of 5,560 participants, including 5,510 on-site delegates.
That said, attendance was sizeably down on pre-pandemic levels – 9,500 attendees in 2019 – with major European drama sales companies literally counting the cost of attendance and exhibition space versus Mip-driven sales. In a fast-evolving TV landscape, the future and identity of MipTV still remains uncertain. 10 takeaways from this year’s edition:
MipTV: The Impact of Brute Market Forces
Two major macro market trends, both presented by Ampere Analysis’ Guy Bisson’ in an early MipTV panel, go a long way to explaining 2023 MipTV. Global streaming commissions in the fourth quarter of 2022 were the lowest in over two years; unscripted represented 30.35% of streaming commissions last quarter 2019, 50.3% Oct.
That said, attendance was sizeably down on pre-pandemic levels – 9,500 attendees in 2019 – with major European drama sales companies literally counting the cost of attendance and exhibition space versus Mip-driven sales. In a fast-evolving TV landscape, the future and identity of MipTV still remains uncertain. 10 takeaways from this year’s edition:
MipTV: The Impact of Brute Market Forces
Two major macro market trends, both presented by Ampere Analysis’ Guy Bisson’ in an early MipTV panel, go a long way to explaining 2023 MipTV. Global streaming commissions in the fourth quarter of 2022 were the lowest in over two years; unscripted represented 30.35% of streaming commissions last quarter 2019, 50.3% Oct.
- 4/19/2023
- by John Hopewell, Marta Balaga and Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
“Paddington” producer-distributor Studiocanal is gearing up to shoot “How To Stop Time,” starring Benedict Cumberbatch and with D.C. Moore (“Mary & George”) and Tomas Alfredson (“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”) on board as key creative talent.
Production on the title by Studiocanal and SunnyMarch will be announced by CEO Anna Marsh on Monday at her keynote at Cannes’ MipTV trade fair.
In it, she also looks set to confirm that Studiocanal has acquired an equity stake in London-based Strong Film & Television, co-founded in late 2020 by “Broadchurch” director James Strong and Matt Tombs, a former executive at the BBC and Paramount.
Both moves come as Studiocanal parent, Vivendi’s Canal+ Group, is ramping up its own international ambitions, operating throughout Africa, in six territories in Eastern Europe and two in Asia with 16 million of its 25.5 million subscribers now outside France. It also holds a leading 30.3% stake in Africa’s MultiChoice Group, the biggest...
Production on the title by Studiocanal and SunnyMarch will be announced by CEO Anna Marsh on Monday at her keynote at Cannes’ MipTV trade fair.
In it, she also looks set to confirm that Studiocanal has acquired an equity stake in London-based Strong Film & Television, co-founded in late 2020 by “Broadchurch” director James Strong and Matt Tombs, a former executive at the BBC and Paramount.
Both moves come as Studiocanal parent, Vivendi’s Canal+ Group, is ramping up its own international ambitions, operating throughout Africa, in six territories in Eastern Europe and two in Asia with 16 million of its 25.5 million subscribers now outside France. It also holds a leading 30.3% stake in Africa’s MultiChoice Group, the biggest...
- 4/17/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy and John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
World premieres for some of the global streamers’ biggest upcoming launches will take place at next month’s Canneseries.
Unveiled earlier today, the likes of Apple TV+’s Silo, Prime Video’s Dead Ringers and Paramount+’s Fatal Attraction reboot will be screened at the France event, which takes place concurrently with Mip TV.
They will be joined by a list including Netflix France’s Tapie, Israels Corduroy and highly-anticipated South African Studiocanal drama Spinners. Other notable inclusions are Bargain, the Korean smash that has emerged from Cj Enm’s partnership with Paramount+, Childhood Dreams from The Netherlands and Good Morning Chuck (Or the Art of Harm Reduction) from Canada.
The list, which makes up the shows for the 6th Canneseries, has more U.S. streamer shows than ever before.
Fatal Attraction, which sees Lizzy Caplan and Joshua Jackson star in the reboot of the 1987 classic, will air out of competition alongside Silo,...
Unveiled earlier today, the likes of Apple TV+’s Silo, Prime Video’s Dead Ringers and Paramount+’s Fatal Attraction reboot will be screened at the France event, which takes place concurrently with Mip TV.
They will be joined by a list including Netflix France’s Tapie, Israels Corduroy and highly-anticipated South African Studiocanal drama Spinners. Other notable inclusions are Bargain, the Korean smash that has emerged from Cj Enm’s partnership with Paramount+, Childhood Dreams from The Netherlands and Good Morning Chuck (Or the Art of Harm Reduction) from Canada.
The list, which makes up the shows for the 6th Canneseries, has more U.S. streamer shows than ever before.
Fatal Attraction, which sees Lizzy Caplan and Joshua Jackson star in the reboot of the 1987 classic, will air out of competition alongside Silo,...
- 3/28/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Sarah Michelle Gellar, Joey Soloway and Morfydd Clark will be honored this year as part of Canneseries 2023, the French TV festival that runs alongside international television market MIPTV.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Wolf Pack star Gellar will receive this year’s Canal+ Icon Award for her life’s work. Clark, best known for playing Galadriel on Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings series, will be honored with the Canneseries rising star award. Soloway, the Emmy-winning creator of Amazon’s Transparent, will receive this year’s commitment award, which honors social engagement by creatives in the TV industry.
Canneseries on Tuesday also unveiled its competition jury for the 2023 event, with Fauda creator Lior Raz heading up the five-person group, alongside Lupin actress Shirine Boutella, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande and Bad Sisters actor Daryl McCormack, Emmy-nominated composer (and Police drummer) Stewart Copeland and French actress Zabou Breitman (24 Days,...
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Wolf Pack star Gellar will receive this year’s Canal+ Icon Award for her life’s work. Clark, best known for playing Galadriel on Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings series, will be honored with the Canneseries rising star award. Soloway, the Emmy-winning creator of Amazon’s Transparent, will receive this year’s commitment award, which honors social engagement by creatives in the TV industry.
Canneseries on Tuesday also unveiled its competition jury for the 2023 event, with Fauda creator Lior Raz heading up the five-person group, alongside Lupin actress Shirine Boutella, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande and Bad Sisters actor Daryl McCormack, Emmy-nominated composer (and Police drummer) Stewart Copeland and French actress Zabou Breitman (24 Days,...
- 3/28/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Big presence from US streamers at festival’s 6th edition.
Canneseries has lined up world premieres of series such as Silo, Dead Ringers, Fatal Attraction and Tapie for its sixth edition which runs parallel with MipTV from April 14-19.
Artistic director Albin Lewi highlighted the “massive presence of American series world premiering this year” including festival opener Silo produced for Apple TV+ by AMC Studios.
Stars Rebecca Ferguson, Morten Tyldum and Graham Yost will be at Canneseries for the world premiere of Silo, a dystopian tale that follows the last 10,000 people on earth.
The festival closes with episodes from the...
Canneseries has lined up world premieres of series such as Silo, Dead Ringers, Fatal Attraction and Tapie for its sixth edition which runs parallel with MipTV from April 14-19.
Artistic director Albin Lewi highlighted the “massive presence of American series world premiering this year” including festival opener Silo produced for Apple TV+ by AMC Studios.
Stars Rebecca Ferguson, Morten Tyldum and Graham Yost will be at Canneseries for the world premiere of Silo, a dystopian tale that follows the last 10,000 people on earth.
The festival closes with episodes from the...
- 3/28/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
World premieres of Prime Video’s Rachel Weisz-starrer “Dead Ringers,” Paramount+’s “Fatal Attraction, with Lizzy Caplan, and Joshua Jackson, and Netflix’s awaited French bio “Tapie” pack out a 6th Canneseries which boasts its biggest U.S. presence yet, with titles from nearly all the major global streamers.
They join Apple TV+’s already-announced “Silo,” another world premiere. Paramount+ will also be represented by Korean smash hit “Bargain.”
In all, the main Competition features seven world premieres, Lewi said at a Paris lineup presentation on Tuesday.
Israel and Scandinavia have a prominent presence as ever at Canneseries. The selection also takes in, however, its first South African title in Competition, “Spinners,” admired at the London Screenings.
Adding star wattage, Sarah Michelle Gellar will pick up the Canal+ Icon Award, Joey Soloway, creator of Amazon Studios’ “Transparent” and producer of “Six Foot Under,” receives a Commitment Award. Canneseries’ Rising...
They join Apple TV+’s already-announced “Silo,” another world premiere. Paramount+ will also be represented by Korean smash hit “Bargain.”
In all, the main Competition features seven world premieres, Lewi said at a Paris lineup presentation on Tuesday.
Israel and Scandinavia have a prominent presence as ever at Canneseries. The selection also takes in, however, its first South African title in Competition, “Spinners,” admired at the London Screenings.
Adding star wattage, Sarah Michelle Gellar will pick up the Canal+ Icon Award, Joey Soloway, creator of Amazon Studios’ “Transparent” and producer of “Six Foot Under,” receives a Commitment Award. Canneseries’ Rising...
- 3/28/2023
- by John Hopewell and Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Studiocanal will stage at the London TV Screenings the international premiere of “Spinners,” an eight-part extreme sports action drama set on the mean streets of Cape Town’s Southside, that is not just a series but a sign of an industry zeitgeist.
As the competition for talent grows, there’s a building drive into emerging production hubs beyond the traditional powerhouse territories in Europe led by some of its most powerful players, here France’s Canal+, Studiocanal and Federation Studios, and some of its biggest TV events, such as Series Mania.
Produced by Joachim Landau and Raphaël Rocher at Federation Studios’ Empreinte Digitale, and co-created by Landau, “Spinners” is a co-production of South Africa’s Showmax, Africa’s biggest pan-continental SVOD service available in 65 countries, and Vivendi’s Canal+, rating as both a Showmax and Canal+ Original.
“Spinners” makes its market bow just months after French powerhouse Federation Studios and...
As the competition for talent grows, there’s a building drive into emerging production hubs beyond the traditional powerhouse territories in Europe led by some of its most powerful players, here France’s Canal+, Studiocanal and Federation Studios, and some of its biggest TV events, such as Series Mania.
Produced by Joachim Landau and Raphaël Rocher at Federation Studios’ Empreinte Digitale, and co-created by Landau, “Spinners” is a co-production of South Africa’s Showmax, Africa’s biggest pan-continental SVOD service available in 65 countries, and Vivendi’s Canal+, rating as both a Showmax and Canal+ Original.
“Spinners” makes its market bow just months after French powerhouse Federation Studios and...
- 3/1/2023
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
African streaming service Showmax has inked a two-series slate deal with Tshedza Pictures, the South African production company behind the International Emmy-nominated telenovela “The River,” the company announced Tuesday at the start of the Joburg Film Festival.
“Adulting,” Tshedza’s first Showmax Original, is an eight-part drama series set in the parallel universes of four varsity friends. Their strong bond has held them together even as their journeys in life have taken them in very different directions — a bond the show’s creators describe as “the bromance of the decade.”
Tshedza’s second Showmax Original, “Outlaws,” is a cross-cultural love story that plays out in the dangerous world of cattle-theft syndicates in the lawless land on the border between Lesotho and South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal region.
“Adulting” is set to premiere in the first half of 2023, while the 40-episode epic drama series “Outlaws” is expected to be delivered in the second half of the year.
“Adulting,” Tshedza’s first Showmax Original, is an eight-part drama series set in the parallel universes of four varsity friends. Their strong bond has held them together even as their journeys in life have taken them in very different directions — a bond the show’s creators describe as “the bromance of the decade.”
Tshedza’s second Showmax Original, “Outlaws,” is a cross-cultural love story that plays out in the dangerous world of cattle-theft syndicates in the lawless land on the border between Lesotho and South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal region.
“Adulting” is set to premiere in the first half of 2023, while the 40-episode epic drama series “Outlaws” is expected to be delivered in the second half of the year.
- 1/31/2023
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Festivals
American narrative feature projects in rough or final cut seeking finishing funds are now invited to submit to the 2022 edition of U.S. in Progress, which takes place Nov. 9-11 during the 13th American Film Festival (Nov.8-13) in Wroclaw, Poland. The strand pairs American projects in final production stages with European buyers and top Polish image and sound post-production companies and provides awards worth totally $100,000. The head of the Polish Film Institute, Radosław Śmigulski, will award one project with a $50,000 cash award to be spent on post-production, image, sound and/or VFX in Poland and Polish post-production companies Fixafilm, Orka Studio, Black Photon, Xanf and Soundflower Studio are each offering a $10,000 in-kind award.
There is no entry fee, and films can be submitted through the U.S. in Progress website. The final deadline is September 11.
The program’s objective is to inspire U.S. producers to work with Poland,...
American narrative feature projects in rough or final cut seeking finishing funds are now invited to submit to the 2022 edition of U.S. in Progress, which takes place Nov. 9-11 during the 13th American Film Festival (Nov.8-13) in Wroclaw, Poland. The strand pairs American projects in final production stages with European buyers and top Polish image and sound post-production companies and provides awards worth totally $100,000. The head of the Polish Film Institute, Radosław Śmigulski, will award one project with a $50,000 cash award to be spent on post-production, image, sound and/or VFX in Poland and Polish post-production companies Fixafilm, Orka Studio, Black Photon, Xanf and Soundflower Studio are each offering a $10,000 in-kind award.
There is no entry fee, and films can be submitted through the U.S. in Progress website. The final deadline is September 11.
The program’s objective is to inspire U.S. producers to work with Poland,...
- 8/10/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Canal+ is teaming with African streamer Showmax for its latest drama from Africa, an action drama about the dangerous South African motor sport spinning. Production on Spinners began in Cape Town on the eight-part series this week, with Gaia director Jaco Bouwer attached.
Shot in English, Kaaps and Afrikaans, it is produced by Joachim Landau and Raphaël Rocher for French indie Empreinte Digitale and co-produced by Locarno, Amiens and Fespaco winner Ramadan Suleman and his full service film and TV production outfit Natives at Large. Canal+-owned Studiocanal has international distribution rights.
Landau co-created the show with Benjamin Hoffman. Director is Bouwer, whose horror Gaia won the Zeiss Cinematography Award last year at SXSW, and Matthew Jankes, Sean Steinberg, Gillian Breslin, Daniel Zimbler, Byron Abrahams and Zoë Laband comprising the writing team.
The motor sport on which the series is based sees cars driven at high speed with drivers performing...
Shot in English, Kaaps and Afrikaans, it is produced by Joachim Landau and Raphaël Rocher for French indie Empreinte Digitale and co-produced by Locarno, Amiens and Fespaco winner Ramadan Suleman and his full service film and TV production outfit Natives at Large. Canal+-owned Studiocanal has international distribution rights.
Landau co-created the show with Benjamin Hoffman. Director is Bouwer, whose horror Gaia won the Zeiss Cinematography Award last year at SXSW, and Matthew Jankes, Sean Steinberg, Gillian Breslin, Daniel Zimbler, Byron Abrahams and Zoë Laband comprising the writing team.
The motor sport on which the series is based sees cars driven at high speed with drivers performing...
- 8/10/2022
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
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