Wednesday round-up: Latest news, deals & hires

Minnow's Claire Goodlass to join Sky

Sky has recruited a Minnow Films exec producer as a commissioning editor for documentaries.

Claire Goodlass spent nine years at Minnow, where she worked across development and production, with credits there including Netflix docs Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart and Crime Stories: India Detectives. Additionally, she helped develop and secure commissions for Netflix docuseries Jerry Springer: Fights, Camera, Action and Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal.

Other career credits include Channel 4 series 999: What’s Your Emergency (Blast! Films), SAS: Who Dares Wins (Minnow) and The Tribe (Renegade Pictures), as well as series producing Raw’s Dead in the Water for Amazon Prime Video.

She will assume her role at Sky at the end of this year. Read more

BBCS's Nation's Dumbest extends US run

Fox has ordered a second season of BBC Studios format Nation’s Dumbest.

The celebrity competition series is hosted by UK comedian Jack Whitehall and features contestants taking part in pop quizzes and physical challenges while trying to avoid being labelled as the nation's dumbest.

The show is based on BBCS's format from Montreux Films and is executive produced by BBC Studios LA chief Ryan O’Dowd, Krystal Whitney and Jenny Groom.

Pip Wells and Pete Cooksley also serve as executive producers, with Wells serving as showrunner.

Amazon to double Japan spending

Amazon MGM Studios Japan's recently installed chief Buddy Marini will "double the investment" in original Japanese films and series.

Marini was speaking at TIFFCOM in Tokyo and said his focus is on working alongside Japanese creators to create scripts that have the potential to resonate locally before travelling worldwide.

"We like to make sure we invest in and provide great content to Japanese audiences, giving these creations the opportunity to appeal globally,” said Marini. “Interesting tiles attract audiences all over the world, regardless of geography.”

Marini, joined Amazon in March having previously been at Warner Bros. Discovery, did not reveal how much the company is investing at present but added that "it depends on the subject matter... but you really have to spend the money to satisfy that global audience."

Chicken Soup Date heads to cinema

UK YouTuber Amelia Dimoldenberg’s Chicken Shop Date is to screen its final series for one night only in cinemas across UK-Ireland, as well as Paris.

Ten cinemas are currently set to take part in the event release on November 24, in partnership with mk2’s YouTube Ciné-Club. The event will screen all six episodes in the final series, including the final unreleased episode before it lands on YouTube, plus exclusive new material. Chains taking part are Vue, Picturehouse and Curzon, with Paris’s mk2 Bibliothèque also hosting a screening.

Famous faces to feature in the most recent series include Oasis’ Noel Gallagher, Role Model and Jorja Smith.

It is the first time that YouTube series Chicken Shop Date has appeared on the big screen. The interview series began in 2014, with Dimoldenberg announcing last month that she is bringing it to an end.