Tuesday round-up: Latest news, deals & hires

Paramount alum Haiat joins Mattel

Former Paramount exec Robert Haiat has been appointed vice president of operations and strategy at Mattel Studios.

Haiat, who is based out of LA and will oversee commercial strategy for the toy company, was most recently head of commercial and content partnerships for Mediapro in the US and Canada.

He left that role in July and had previously spent more than 14 years at Paramount, departing in 2022 having risen to become senior vice president of business development.

Truthseekers heads to AMCNI

AMC Networks International Southern Europe has acquired rights to the third season of investigative history series Truthseekers.

The deal was struck via Emma Sparks of distributor Big Media and will see the show airing on AMCNI’s Canal Historia in Spain and Portugal.

The show blends history, science and investigation into the world’s most enduring mysteries, with the third season currently in production.

It is slated for delivery in Q3 2026 and will explore enigmas such as the Loch Ness monster, the Yeti, Bigfoot and Area 51.

Pluto TV launches celebrity interview series

FAST TV specialist Pluto TV is to launch a digital series in which celebrities have candid conversations and share their personal stories.

Hou Docs will produce the 6 x 21-minute Yellow Couch with Jeremy Lynch will feature Patrice Evra, Charlotte Crosby, Benjamin Whittaker, Kaya Scodelario, Ross Kemp and Lucy Bronze set to feature.

They will each sit down on a yellow couch in a studio setting for a one-to-one conversation with digital creator Jeremy Lynch, who will make his presenting debut. He is also the creator of the format.

Iceland’s Truenorth developing medieval drama

Iceland’s Truenorth is in development with a medieval drama series based around the Sturlung family clan which dominated the country in the 12th and 13th century.

Benedict Andrews will showrun and direct the 8 x 60-minute Fury, adapted from the Sturlunga saga, a compilation of Icelandic texts chronicling the internal power struggles between clans.

The Truenorth team is led by chief executive and founder Leifur B. Dagfinnsson, with producers Kristinn Thordarson and David Ó. Ólafsson.

Aussie format Love Triangle axed in UK

The UK’s Channel 4 has cancelled dating format Love Triangle after two series on E4.

Love Triangle was Workerbee’s adaptation of Banijay Entertainment stablemate Endemol Shine Australia’s Nine Network format.

The show follows six singles, the ‘pickers’, as they chose between two suitors. After establishing a connection through texting only, the picker then selected one of the suitors to meet and move in with together.

However, the rejected suitor then returned to form a love triangle, and the trio went through the remainder of the experiment together, with the picker ultimately having to choose which suitor they wanted to continue a relationship with.

Welsh, Irish commissions for dice show

S4C in Wales and Irish-language broadcaster TG4 have ordered local versions of a gameshow inspired by fruit machines. 

Y Deis is a 20 x 30-minute series that sees two teams competing across several rounds of challenges to build a prize pot that allows them to play a dice machine, which can unlock the cash prize. 

The format was created and developed by Slam Media, inspired by creative lead Gavin Cox’s late father’s career as a fruit machine game designer. It is exec produced by Geraint Rhys Lewis.

An Deis, the Irish-language version, was commissioned for TG4 by commissioning editor Laura Ní Cheallaigh. The 10 x 30-minute series will be made by Tyrone Productions and exec produced by Rebecca Speer. Both the Welsh and Irish editions will be filmed at Cardiff’s Enfys Studios and an English-language version will also be filmed by Slam for international interest. Read more 

Curious’s Caroline Flack doc sets Hulu date

Hulu in the US is to premiere Caroline Flack: Search for the Truth from 10 November.

The two-part docuseries, which examines the circumstances that led to the Love Island UK host tragically taking her own life in 2020, will premiere on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ for bundle subscribers, alongside Disney+ outside of the US.

The show follows Flack’s mother, Christine, as she investigates the truth about her daughter’s final months. It is executive produced by Dov Freedman, Charlie Russell and Jessie Versluys for Curious Films.