All the latest news from the global content industry on Friday, 17 July

 

Pluribus firm ties with Bell Media

Bell Media has struck a first-look development agreement deal with former Sony exec Jeff Frost and his Pluribus producing label, Bristol Circle Entertainment.

The deal covers original content for CTV and Crave and focuses on developing premium scripted series for audiences in Canada and around the world.

Frost is former president of Sony Pictures Television Studios and has a slate of scripted projects, led by Apple TV drama Pluribus.

Bell Media, meanwhile, recently struck a first-look deal with Celeste Parr’s Punctuation Media and has previously agreed pacts with Point Grey Pictures, Lionsgate and Pageboy Productions.

 

Beta snags Panini sticker drama

Beta Film has acquired international distribution rights to Italian drama The Panini Family - Album of Dreams.

The 6 x 60-minute series tells the remarkable true story of the family behind the world-famous Panini sticker empire, whose humble beginnings began in war-torn Italy.

The show is produced by Indigo Film in collaboration with Rai Fiction and is directed by Letizia Lamartire (The Law According to Lidia Poët).

 

Prime Video UK eyes unscripted addition

Amazon’s streaming platform Prime Video is recruiting an additional, senior UK unscripted creative executive to join its team, Broadcast has learned.

It is understood the process is still in its early stages, and it is not yet clear whether the successful candidate’s focus will be more on the entertainment and formats space or with a factual slant.

The appointment will see the successful candidate work alongside Prime Video UK and Amazon MGM Studios executives Harjeet Chhokar, whose focus is on premium factual and documentary such as Dead in the Water from Raw and Workerbee’s Four Kings, and Cat Lynch who is responsible for factual entertainment and formats and is the commissioner behind UK hit Last One Laughing.

Both report into Prime Video’s head of UK unscripted originals Fozia Khan. Read more

 

Blink49’s Golden Life S1 expanded

US cablenet E! has picked up additional episodes of The Golden Life S1.

The show, which tracks the life of five US socialites heading to the Hamptons, is produced by Canada’s Blink49 Studios, with additional episodes filming this summer.

The first half of The Golden Life will premiere this fall on E!. Tara Long, Nadine Rajabi, Mark Ford and Ben Megargel are executive producers.

 

Topics