Wednesday round-up: Latest news, deals & hires

Neil Zeiger, Martin Proctor launch Flickers

Former Nevision exec Neil Zeiger has partnered with Blackthorn producer Martin Proctor to launch Flickers Films, which will produce across genres for UK and international audiences.

The company is backed by private investment - details of which have not been revealed - and has projects in the works including scripted series Charlie King, written by Ashley Pharoah (Life on Mars), which is being developed with World Productions.

Other dramas on the slate include Bad Priest from Jamie Patterson (Fractured), which is being co-produced by APC Studios, and An Austrian Holiday, a low budget indie film from Ann Hawker. The unscripted development slate includes a series that explores the lives of prisoners in the notorious San Pedro jail in Bolivia.

Zeiger and Proctor previously ran Flickers Productions in the 1980s, creating Liam Neeson-starring feature Lamb and BBC doc The Bolshoi Ballet. They also worked together to create and establish the BBC’s first drama unit in Northern Ireland.

NHK’s Detective Conan goes global

Broadcasters and streamers across Europe, Asia and Middle East have picked up Behind the Scenes: Detective Conan from Japan’s NHK and NHK Enterprises.

The show has been acquired by Thailand’s PBS, PTS in Taiwan, Chinese streamer Bilibili, Hong Kong’s pay-TV service Now TV, Germany’s Seven.One Entertainment Group and the UAE’s Spacetoon.

The 1 x 49-minute doc tracks the life of Gosho Aoyama, who created hit manga series Detective Conan (aka Case Closed) three decades ago, and provides an in-depth look behind the scenes of his work.

TF1 Studios sells Sunshine Murders into US

UPTV in the US has picked up cosy crime show The Sunshine Murders, marking distributor Studio TF1 America’s first series pre-sale in the States.

The show is being produced for 5 in the UK by Cork Films, Green Olive Films and Three Point Capital (TPC).

The 10 x 45-minute show (also available as a 5 x 90-minute) is set between Athens and New Zealand, and follows two very different half-sisters who form an unlikely crime-solving duo: Shirley, a straight-talking Kiwi farmer, and Helen, her intense Greek detective sibling.

Motto, Banijay’s BD4 and MLB prep baseball doc

MLB Studios, Major League Baseball’s in-house production label, has linked with Motto Pictures and Banijay America’s label BD4 on a John Turturro-directed feature doc about Joe Torre (working title).

The film will chart the career of the four-time New York Yankees World Series champion manager, who also remains the only person in Major League Baseball history to record 2,000 hits as a player and 2,000 wins as a manager.

Motto Pictures’ Christopher Clements and Julie Goldman produce, with executive producers including Nick Trotta from MLB Studios, Dan Silver, Ryan Harrington from BD4, and Ken Scherer, who developed the project with the Torre family. Andrea Torre serves as co-executive producer.

James Dolan unveils Beam Digital

Former ITV Studios exec James Dolan has launched digital consultancy firm Beam Digital.

The company will advise organisations, rights owners and content creators on their digital strategies, as well as working with selected IP and brands to build out their digital worlds, with a particular focus on YouTube.

Dolan was previously digital channels director at ITV Studios and has also worked for outfits ranging from All3Media’s Little Dot to children’s producer Acamar Films.

UK’s C4 fuels BriteSpark travelogue

Grand Designs’ Kevin McCloud will be taking to the road in a series of vintage cars for an upcoming travelogue for Channel 4.

Produced by BriteSpark East Kevin McCloud: Scenic Drives in Stunning Cars (w/t) will see McCloud learn about each of the cars in a road trip around its country of origin, as well as the country’s heritage, history and culture.

The classic vehicles which feature in each of the six episodes include a Volvo P 1800, which McCloud drives across Sweden, taking in the archipelagos and seaside towns, and a Maserati 3500 GT, which he manoeuvres through provincial piazzas, medieval hilltop villages and ancient cities in Italy.

Other episodes will see him take in England’s Peak District and drive across Northern Ireland’s Causeway Coastal route. Read more