Wednesday round-up: Latest news, deals & hires

Microdrama firm Screenburn appoints former UK minister

Screenburn Group, the London company behind the free screenwriting app Screenburn and microdrama intelligence service CherryBowl, has appointed former UK politician Damian Collins as chairman.

Collins was previously the UK minister for tech and the digital economy and joins as Screenburn prepares to open a funding round this autumn.

The company focuses on vertical microdrama and was founded by director Charles Kriel and showrunner Kat Gellein Viken.

Odiri Iwuji, co-founder of C21 Media and Chudor House Productions, has also joined the company’s board of advisors.

Red Bull TV expands in France

Samsung TV Plus has rolled out Red Bull TV in France, offering a localised feed of live event programming and original content.

Motorsport competitions, cliff diving championships, skateboarding events, mountain biking tournaments, and docs focused on sports and culture featrure.

France marks the 14th territory launch for the channel, which is already available in countries including Spain, Germany, the UK and Italy.

The deal was brokered by Antoine Chotard, country lead for France & MENA at Samsung TV Plus EMEA.

Hulu snags The Promise and Invisible

Hulu has picked up US rights to Workerbee’s true-crime documentary series The Promise: Finding My Mother’s Killer.

The 3 x 60-minute show tracks the decades-long quest of Iranian-American Pooneh Entezari, who made a fortune that she then used to find her mother’s killer and clear her father’s name in the process.

Her story was first told by Douglas Perry at The Oregonian/OregonLive. The series is produced in association with Advance Originals & Circle M+P.

The deal, struck via Banijay Rights, also sees Hulu taking Stan Original drama Invisible. It is from Feisty Dame Production and Asphodel Films.