The producer behind series including “Rake” and “Jack Irish” and the movie “Saving Mr. Banks” is launching Essential Scripted, a new high-end TV and film production business.
International Emmy Award-winning producer Michelle Hardy has joined the team. A first-look deal has also been set with Hardy White Pictures, the Australian drama indie that is a partnership between Hardy, and director Erin White, whose credits include the ABC Australia comedy series “Sando.”
The new division will be part of Essential Media, which is owned by acquisitive film and TV production and distribution group Kew Media.
Essential sold its drama catalog to FremantleMedia last September in a move that saw one of its co-founders, Ian Collie, exit and start FremantleMedia-backed drama shingle Easy Tiger. Based in Sydney and L.A., Essential is now getting back into creating drama with the launch of the new scripted unit.
Essential is run by CEO Chris Hilton...
International Emmy Award-winning producer Michelle Hardy has joined the team. A first-look deal has also been set with Hardy White Pictures, the Australian drama indie that is a partnership between Hardy, and director Erin White, whose credits include the ABC Australia comedy series “Sando.”
The new division will be part of Essential Media, which is owned by acquisitive film and TV production and distribution group Kew Media.
Essential sold its drama catalog to FremantleMedia last September in a move that saw one of its co-founders, Ian Collie, exit and start FremantleMedia-backed drama shingle Easy Tiger. Based in Sydney and L.A., Essential is now getting back into creating drama with the launch of the new scripted unit.
Essential is run by CEO Chris Hilton...
- 7/5/2018
- by Stewart Clarke
- Variety Film + TV
Acorn TV has launched in Latin America, the first rollout outside North America for the British programming focused Svod service. The streamer has launched on Roku devices in 12 countries in Lat-Am including Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico.
Programming will be in English with Spanish subtitles and the service will be priced at $4.99 a month. The launch lineup includes popular British series “Doc Martin” and “Line of Duty.” Other shows on the Latin American service are Iain Glen detective show “Jack Taylor,” and BBC period drama “The Great Train Robbery.”
Acorn TV is operated by Rlj Entertainment, which said international expansion is a key goal for this year. “One of our top 2018 priorities is accelerating our expansion of our distribution footprint, and Acorn TV’s launch in Latin America with our partner Roku is another step in this progression,” said Rlje CEO Miguel Penella.
“This advancement in our international expansion underscores...
Programming will be in English with Spanish subtitles and the service will be priced at $4.99 a month. The launch lineup includes popular British series “Doc Martin” and “Line of Duty.” Other shows on the Latin American service are Iain Glen detective show “Jack Taylor,” and BBC period drama “The Great Train Robbery.”
Acorn TV is operated by Rlj Entertainment, which said international expansion is a key goal for this year. “One of our top 2018 priorities is accelerating our expansion of our distribution footprint, and Acorn TV’s launch in Latin America with our partner Roku is another step in this progression,” said Rlje CEO Miguel Penella.
“This advancement in our international expansion underscores...
- 6/5/2018
- by Stewart Clarke
- Variety Film + TV
North American Svod service Acorn is developing a biopic of irreverent British comedian Benny Hill. The digital platform is working up a 2 x 90-minute series about the comic, best known for his wild slapstick shenanigans, with Midsomer Murders writer Caleb Ranson.
Lonely Boy: The Benny Hill Story will follow Hill’s life from the mid-1930s through his tragic death in the 1990s and will explore his early career as well as his rise to fame and tragic decline in the late 80s. It will follow the journey of a cripplingly insecure young boy with a desire to make people laugh, through the dying last days of variety as well as the double-standards of the tabloid press.
The series is produced by British production company Free@Last, which produces Ashley Jensen-fronted Agatha Raisin, which became Acorn TV’s first sole commission. It is being written by Ranson and Hilary Bonner,...
Lonely Boy: The Benny Hill Story will follow Hill’s life from the mid-1930s through his tragic death in the 1990s and will explore his early career as well as his rise to fame and tragic decline in the late 80s. It will follow the journey of a cripplingly insecure young boy with a desire to make people laugh, through the dying last days of variety as well as the double-standards of the tabloid press.
The series is produced by British production company Free@Last, which produces Ashley Jensen-fronted Agatha Raisin, which became Acorn TV’s first sole commission. It is being written by Ranson and Hilary Bonner,...
- 5/31/2018
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
The British — and others — are coming to Comcast. Acorn TV, a subscription video-on-demand service specializing in U.K. and international television, is now available to the cable giant’s Xfinity TV customers nationwide.
It’s the first pay-tv distribution deal for Rlj Entertainment’s Acorn TV, which offers a lineup of mysteries, dramas, and comedies previously unavailable to U.S. audiences. The advertising-free Svod service is available to Comcast subs for $4.99 monthly.
“The addition of Acorn TV and its curated collection of standout international television provides even more choice to our Xfinity TV customers, giving them another way to watch their favorite series or discover new and classic programs,” said Michael Imbesi, Comcast Cable’s VP of movies and pay-per-view programming.
Acorn TV’s originals include BBC comedy “Detectorists”; the new ITV drama “Girlfriends”; and Irish drama “Striking Out.” Exclusive content includes new seasons of Aussie period drama “A Place to Call Home...
It’s the first pay-tv distribution deal for Rlj Entertainment’s Acorn TV, which offers a lineup of mysteries, dramas, and comedies previously unavailable to U.S. audiences. The advertising-free Svod service is available to Comcast subs for $4.99 monthly.
“The addition of Acorn TV and its curated collection of standout international television provides even more choice to our Xfinity TV customers, giving them another way to watch their favorite series or discover new and classic programs,” said Michael Imbesi, Comcast Cable’s VP of movies and pay-per-view programming.
Acorn TV’s originals include BBC comedy “Detectorists”; the new ITV drama “Girlfriends”; and Irish drama “Striking Out.” Exclusive content includes new seasons of Aussie period drama “A Place to Call Home...
- 4/9/2018
- by Todd Spangler
- Variety Film + TV
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