John Hopewell - starsalert.com

variety.com

23.03.2023 / 16:17

Beta Group Offers a Business Model for Our Times, Moritz von Kruedener Argues at Series Mania

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent LILLE, France — Germany’s Beta Group is a company for our challenged times, Moritz von Kruedener, Beta Group managing director told an audience at Series Mania’s Lille Dialogues on Thursday. He also broke down Beta’s business model which takes elements which hark back to the past – a powerful, ultra connected territory-by-territory international sales apparatus combined with Beta’s biggest pivot in recent years: a move from picking up and selling finished shows into far larger production involvement, be its financial support or early upstream input on maximising a project’s international potential. Beta Group and Series Mania has also scored heavily at this year’s festival with the first edition go Seriesmakers, a mentoring program for filmmakers making their TV creator debut.

John Hopewell Moritz Von-Kruedener France Germany Berlin city Babylon Hollywood show stage audience country travelers

variety.com

22.03.2023 / 19:43

Finland’s Juho Kuosmanen, Guatemala’s Cesar Díaz, Brazil’s Beatriz Seigner Win Seriesmakers, Which Is Renewed for a Second Edition

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent LILLE, France — “Yours, Margot,” from “Compartment No 6’s” Juho Kuosmanen, Guatemalan Cannes Camera d’Or winner César Díaz (“Our Mothers”) and Brazil’s Beatriz Seigner (“Los Silencios”) have won the three prizes on offer at the first edition of Seriesmakers. A mentoring program for filmmakers making their TV creator debut, after an inaugural edition delivering one of the most talent-packed project lineups at any festival, film or TV, in 2023, Seriesmakers backers Beta Group and Series Mania opened on Wednesday a call for admissions for a second edition. Though all three series range hugely in setting and creators, all three see their protagonists go back to a recent past to explore events that have impacted their family (“Yours, Margot”), their modern-day country (“The Invisible Ink”), or traumas in the present (“Amigas”).

John Hopewell Juho Kuosmanen Jussi Rantamäki Beatriz Seigner César Díaz France Brazil Germany Berlin Finland Guatemala city Helsinki county Republic film death awards track country

variety.com

22.03.2023 / 17:37

Paramount+ Launches ‘Drag Race Italia,’ Talks Growth at Series Mania

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent LILLE, France — Paramount+ will be bowing “Drag Race Italia” Season 3 on the streaming service in Italy, followed by the U.S. and Latin America later this year. The Italian Season 3 follows on the recent announcement of three new “Drag Race” editions in Brazil, Germany and Mexico and a “Global Drag Race All Stars,” which will air on Paramount+ in their respective territories this year, Paramount+ announced Wednesday. “As we expand Paramount+’s global footprint, it was important to recapture ‘Drag Race’ in key international markets and also build an interconnected competition series with a new ‘Global Drag Race All Stars’ – it’s like a global Super Bowl for Drag,” said Chris McCarthy, president-CEO, Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios & Paramount Media Networks.

Emmy Awards Taylor Sheridan Chris Maccarthy John Hopewell Marco Nobili France Brazil Mexico Italy Germany city Lost Entertainment show stage audience mtv Latin Racing

variety.com

22.03.2023 / 10:23

Viaplay’s ‘The Fortress’ Delivers a Big Parable Thriller About Small-Minded Nationalism

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent LILLE, France — The gauntlet thrown down by the opening stretches of Viaplay banner title “The Fortress,” one of nine series in main competition at Series Mania, is to believe that this is fiction. News footage plays of a pandemic, then a war; huge protests rage around the world as Norway’s prime minister addresses his nation to announce that Norway is building a wall to keep everybody else out. That’s been done before (Israel) and in metaphorical terms (Brexit). Cut to nine years later: Norway is a bucolic paradise, Sweden next door a refugee camp hell, until strange bacteria kills fish and then humans, and Norway will, foreseeably, need international help and “what starts as a wall, ends as a prison,” comments Filippa Wallestam, Viaplay Group chief content officer.

Russell Tovey John Hopewell Filippa Wallestam France Sweden Ukraine Norway Israel film show pandemic country isolate Waves Banner

variety.com

21.03.2023 / 20:43

‘It’s a Sin’ Producer Nicola Shindler on Working for Writers, Battling Costs, Women’s TV Surge

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent U.K. producer Nicola Shindler received on Tuesday the third Women in Series Award at Series Mania, Europe biggest TV festival. Few awards seem such just reward. From serving as a script editor on “Cracker” (1993), Jimmy McGovern’s breakout, to producing his “Hillsborough” (1995) and executive producing “Queer as Folk” (1999) which heralded Russell T. Davies as a major writing talent, very few producers have been so consistently successful down the decades. Shows produced by Shindler in just the last 10 years take in Sally Wainwright’s “Happy Valley” (2014), Harlan Coben’s “The Five” (2016) and “Safe” (2018), Davies’ “Years and Years and It’s a Sin, his consecration, and now “Nolly,” made by Shindler out of Quay Street Productions, her new label launched in 2021 as part of ITV Studios.

Russell T.Davies Harlan Coben Sally Wainwright Nicola Shindler John Hopewell Jimmy Macgovern Francesco Capurro show stage stars awards voice Love Platform

variety.com

17.03.2023 / 22:45

Jack Thorne, Ron Leshem, Pedro Almodovar Feature in Talent-Studded Series Mania Main Competition

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent With an International Panorama spangled by gems – think Spain’s “Apagón,” Sweden’s “Blackwater,” and Canada’s “Disobey” and “Little Bird” – Series Mania also weighs in this year with one, if not the, strongest and most mouthwatering of international competitions in its history. Including the opening and closing series, Amazon’s “Greek Salad” and Netflix’s “Transatlantic,” nearly all the global streamers have titles in the lineup, from Apple TV+’s “Drops of God” and Paramount+’s “Fleeting Lies.” The lineup also features some A-List international writing talents, such as the U.K.’s Jack Thorne and Israel’s Ron Leshem and Amit Cohen, whose “The Virtues” and “No Man’s Land” rank among the most memorable of recent Series Mania competition titles, and closing the festival, out of competition, “Unorthodox’s” Anna Wenger.”Fleeting Lies” also represents one of the first series from Pedro and Agustín Almodóvar’s El Deseo label in Madrid, opening series “Greek Salad” Cedric Klapisch’s first works a TV series creator.

Jack Thorne Pedro Almodovar El Deseo John Hopewell Ron Leshem Cédric Klapisch Spain France New York Sweden Canada Madrid Greece Iran Israel city Athens film performer stars social actor career Dreams

variety.com

16.03.2023 / 14:55

Netflix, Dama Unveil Spain’s 2023 Cambio de Plano Diversity Drive Winners

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent MALAGA, Spain — “My Parents’ Great Bazar,” from “Ane is Missing” co-scribe Marina Parés, bio “Costus,” on the iconic Madrid Movida artists, and “Villa Futuro,” a queer old age drama from “Locked Up” star Alberto Velasco, all feature among eight winners of Tell Us the Stories That Nobody Tells, a diversity drive contest for movies and TV shows backed by Netflix and Dama, the Spanish audiovisual authors’ rights collection body. Announced Wednesday at an awards ceremony hosted by the Malaga Film Festival, the winners of the competition, which forms part of the partners’ Cambio de Plano initiative, will receive €6,000 ($6,348) a piece.

John Hopewell Spain Madrid state Virginia Netflix Pop film show stars social queer

variety.com

16.03.2023 / 13:07

‘The Head’s’ Mediapro Studio, Cuca Canals, Jorge Dorado Team for ‘The Young Poe’ (EXCLUSIVE)

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent The Mediapro Studio is teaming with Spanish director Jorge Dorado and author Cuca Canals on detective thriller “The Young Poe” in a bid to build a second English-language international franchise on the heels and of the scale of “The Head,” sold to 90-plus territories and TMS’ biggest breakout hit to date. Enrolling one of the biggest IPs in literary history, Edgar Allen Poe, the series adapts the hit novel saga of Spain’s Cuca Canals, co-screenwriter of Bigas Luna’s celebrated “Jamón Jamón” movie trilogy. Canals’ novels imagine Poe as a precocious, irrepressible, neurotic and highly Gothic 11 or 12 year-old in 1820 Boston, grounding in true events of Poe’s childhood the extraordinarily analytical and morbid mind which Edgar Allen Poe brings to his fiction – whether 1841’s “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” commonly regarded as the first modern detective story, or the horror short stories such as “The Fall of the House of Usher.”

John Hopewell Jorge Dorado Spain city Boston beautiful show actress Department Celebrity Target Discover

variety.com

15.03.2023 / 13:09

Spain’s AVS Hub Plan is Here to Stay, Say Government Reps at Malaga Power Panel

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent MALAGA, Spain — It’s not over yet. In March 2021, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced the government would plow €1.6 billion ($1.9 billion) into a Spain AVS Hub plan designed to turn Spain into one of the foremost film and TV hubs in Europe. Supported by Spain’s E.U-backed Recuperation, Transformation and Resilience push for post COVID-19 recovery, the Spain AVS Hub plan has been co-financed by part of a €806.9 billion ($866.5 billion) NextGenerationEU stimulus package for the whole of the European Union, which is a temporary instrument. As that package ends, Spain’s government will look to negotiate funding from alternative sources to ensure that Spain AVS Hub initiatives are more than a flash in the pan, a broad cross-section of governmental authorities told an audience Tuesday at a Malaga Spanish Screening Content conference.

Pedro Sánchez John Hopewell Cristina Morales Spain Eu Beyond film Covid-19 social audience Digital CEO Malaga

variety.com

13.03.2023 / 10:01

From Netflix to ’20,000 Species’ and Other Highlights, 10 Takes on Málaga’s Super-Sized Mafiz, Spanish Screenings

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Running March 13-17, the Málaga Festival’s Mafiz-Spanish Screenings Content weigh in this year as one of the biggest dedicated Spanish movie platforms in history, boasting also a strong line in Latin American arthouse projects and productions. 10 Takes as the event kicks off, blessed by early Spring sunshine, in the Andalusian city: XXXL In 2022, super-sized by the Spanish Screenings Content, part of Spain’s €1.6 billion ($1.7 billion) AVS Spain Hub, a vibrant Mafiz, the Malaga Film Festival industry area, fair exploded, delivering a sterling confirmation of Spain’s build as a fiction force in a platform age, aided by robust state sector backing. This year, Mafiz looks even larger. At 1,560 delegates and counting as of March 6, Mafiz is tracking to pass 2022’s final attendance figure of around 1,600, Juan Antonio Vigar, Málaga Festival director told Variety. Participants come from 62 countries, up from 53 last year. “The event’s consolidation is clear,” Vigar added. “It makes us feel that the work we do is useful for the sector,” he adds.

Vicente Canales John Hopewell Britain Spain France USA city Andalusian Netflix film show audience country shootings Platform spanish and

variety.com

13.03.2023 / 09:33

‘20,000 Bees,’ ‘Sica,’ ‘Girl Unknown,’ ‘Upon Entry’ Energize Malaga Fest Competition

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Running March 10-19, and now hosting the Spanish Screenings, the Malaga Film Festival is now firmly established as Spain’s biggest movie event in the early part of the year. Strategically positioned fairly sharp on the heels of the Berlinale, the Spanish event offers top Spanish titles at the German festival the chance to consolidate their reputations while often producing new discoveries, especially from first-time directors. Many titles, from a Spanish film industry whose younger directors are highly social conscience and favor art-house, are issue driven. “There’s a search for identity, whether a young trans girl’s exploration of gender identity or young leads to understand the world they live in, or the search for love and a sense pf strangeness, of being a stranger to oneself,” Juan Antonio Vigar, Málaga Film Festival director said of this year’s main Competition. Following, a brief breakdown of its titles.

John Hopewell Gerardo Herrero Spain Germany Argentina Berlin film performer stars social country gossips Love Malaga

variety.com

10.03.2023 / 19:21

Erik Barmack Sets Up Wild Sheep Latin America, Launches New Film Fund with Paulina Goto Rom-Com from J.M. Cravioto (EXCLUSIVE)

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Driving ever more into Latin America, Wild Sheep Content, the L.A.-based label of former Netflix head of international original series Erik Barmack, has launched the Mexico City-based Wild Sheep Latin America as well as a dedicated film completion finance-distribution fund targeting five-to-eight investments a year in the region. “Three Idiots” producer Jimena Rodríguez, who also created the distribution arm of Mexican exhibition giant Cinepolis, will head up Wild Sheep Latin America following on her production with Barmack of a burgeoning line in star-studded, character-driven crime thrillers begun by Netflix Mexico original “Invitation to Murder.”

Erik Barmack John Hopewell Brazil Mexico Chile city Mexico Netflix film stars actor Latin Target Strategy

variety.com

01.03.2023 / 10:39

Studiocanal Extreme Sports Thriller ‘Spinners’ Captures France’s Drive into African Premium Drama

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Studiocanal will stage at the London TV Screenings the international premiere of “Spinners,” an eight-part extreme sports action drama set on the mean streets of Cape Town’s Southside, that is not just a series but a sign of an industry zeitgeist. As the competition for talent grows, there’s a building drive into emerging production hubs beyond the traditional powerhouse territories in Europe led by some of its most powerful players, here France’s Canal+, Studiocanal and Federation Studios, and some of its biggest TV events, such as Series Mania. Produced by Joachim Landau and Raphaël Rocher at Federation Studios’ Empreinte Digitale, and co-created by Landau, “Spinners” is a co-production of South Africa’s Showmax, Africa’s biggest pan-continental SVOD service available in 65 countries, and Vivendi’s Canal+, rating as both a Showmax and Canal+ Original.

John Hopewell Joachim Landau Beatriz Campos France London South Africa city Cape Town stage awards sports action Love Extreme Digital Ally

variety.com

27.02.2023 / 12:53

Nigel Havers, Sophie Davant, Warner Bros., ZDF Studios Celebrate ‘Cash or Trash’s’ 10 Years, 10 Territories ‘(EXCLUSIVE)

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Celebrated actor Nigel Havers and French journalist Sophie Davant will join Warner Bros. International Television Production (WBITVP) and ZDF Studios to celebrate 10 years and a now 10 territory roll-out of antique auction show “Cash or Trash.” The property is produced by WBITVP and distributed internationally by ZDF Studios. Celebrations will take place as part of WBITVP’s Formats Showcase, held March 2 at BAFTA during this year’s London TV Screenings. Havers (“Chariots of Fire,” “Finding Alice”) and Davant host the adaptations of “Cash or Trash,” on BBC One (“The Bidding Room”) and French public TV channel France 2 (“Affair Conclue”).

Warner Bros John Hopewell Nigel Havers France Italy Austria Germany Greece Poland Czech Republic Morocco BBC show 2020 actor country experts Celebrity

variety.com

24.02.2023 / 12:55

Casey Bloys, James Farrell, Jan Mojto Set for Series Mania’s Lille Dialogues

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Casey Bloys, chairman and CEO, HBO and HBO Max Content will deliver a keynote at Series Mania’s Lille Dialogues whose one-day summit looks set to take the pulse on a global content industry as content investment flattens and ask how to build a more responsible industry in the future. Marking an early opportunity to hear from streaming platforms after both Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney have announced multi-billion dollar cuts in content investment, the Lille Dialogues also count on a keynote from James Farrell, head of local originals, Prime Video. Further keynotes will be delivered by top execs at France’s biggest free-to-air service, TF1, as well as its energetic public broadcaster France Télévisions and Europe’s biggest pay TV operator, Sky. Jan Mojto, CEO, Beta Film, can be expected to deliver a wide-angled vision of how stories made in Europe can find a market worldwide.

Casey Bloys James Farrell Warner Bros Laurence Herszberg John Hopewell Jan Mojto France film Love CEO Dreams Caseys Platform Strategy Lille

variety.com

20.02.2023 / 10:23

ZDF Studios, Factual Fiction Partner to Update ‘Dorian Gray’ to a Social Media Age (EXCLUSIVE)

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent German powerhouse ZDF Studios and U.K.-based Factual Fiction are reteaming for “#DorianGray,” an updated social media spin on Oscar Wilde’s classic, “The Picture of Dorian Gray.” In Wilde’s original, first published as a novella in 1890 in Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine, the self-besotted Dorian Gray sells his soul in exchange for eternal youth, a picture painted of him recording the decay of his soul as in outward appearance he remains physically forever young. Currently being written by Maiya John, a young London-based screenwriter, the contemporary reimagining is described by ZDF Studios as “a suspenseful ride through the life of a teenager as they construct their identity.”

Oscar Wilde Dorian Gray John Hopewell Yi Qiao Germany stars social record classical Puzzle Adventure

variety.com

20.02.2023 / 10:23

Italy’s ‘The Gymnasts,’ From ‘The Great Beauty’s,’ Indigo Film, Rolls Out In Over 30 Territories (EXCLUSIVE)

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Coming of age thriller “The Gymnasts,” one of the most recent titles from Europe’s public broadcaster partnership The Alliance, has been licensed to over 30 territories, London-based super indie All3Media International confirmed on Monday at the Berlinale Series Market. Based on Ilaria Bernardini’s bestselling novel “Corpo Libero” (“The Girls Are Good”), the six-part series is produced by the Oscar-winning team at Indigo Film, behind “The Great Beauty,” in co-production with ZDF Neo’s German company Network Movie. The series has been made in collaboration with Rai Fiction and Paramount+, and in association with All3Media International.

John Hopewell Ilaria Bernardini Australia New Zealand Sweden Italy Canada South Korea Germany Greece Finland audience Fighting career Dreams

variety.com

20.02.2023 / 10:23

Spain’s Bullish TV Industry Debates Future, Showcases Series at Berlin

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent The latest series from Alex de la Iglesia and “Veneno” creators Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo feature at a first-look Next from Spain Showcase which marks a massive step-up in the country’s presence at the Berlinale Series Market. Running Feb. 20-22, the showcase also unveils “Rapa” Season 2, with its first season proving Movistar+’s biggest 2022 bow, and “This Is Not Sweden,” a pioneering Spanish co-production with Scandinavia and Germany. The Showcase titles are joined by Isaki Lacuesta’s “The Chauffeur’s Son,” a Co-Pro Series project from “Elite’s” Zeta Studios, and “Selftape,” a Filmin Original from Filmax and a Series Market Screening.

Pedro Sánchez John Hopewell Alex De-La-Iglesia Javier Ambrossi Javier Calvo Britain Spain Sweden Germany Japan Berlin Netflix show audience pandemic shootings Platform Strategy

variety.com

18.02.2023 / 21:43

Projeto Paradiso: Making a Difference for New Talent

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent In subscription terms, Brazil rates as the Netflix’s second-biggest market in the world, with a 2022 year-end estimate of 16.4 million subscribers, says Ampere Analysis’ Guy Bisson. “The market is huge and the talent outstanding,” agrees Fremantle’s Manuel Marti. As Brazil shapes up as Latin America’s ground zero for streamer wars, where do you find new talent and how do you nurse it? Some answers are given by Brazil’s philanthropic org Projeto Paradiso. Launched in March 2019 by heiress Olga Rabinovich, it initially focused on new talent and project development, especially screenwriting, the industry’s direst need. Also, in this discipline, Projeto Paradiso’s limited finding could go furthest.

Guy Bisson John Hopewell Brazil film awards 2020 art president Latin Provident

variety.com

18.02.2023 / 21:43

Berlin Hosts a Carlos Saura Tribute with Screenings of ‘Rosa, Rosae’ and ‘Walls Can Talk’

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent He was working to the last. Five days before his latest work, “Lorca by Saura,” opened at Madrid’s Infanta Isabel Theater – in what he saw as a new phase of theatre-based creativity – Carlos Saura died on Feb. 10 at his Collado Mediano home in the lap of the Guadarrama mountains, north of Madrid. Agnieszka Holland and Volker Schlöndorff look set to attend a Carlos Saura Homage Screening which will be held at the Berlin Film Festival on Monday Feb. 20 at 17:30. Further good and great are still to confirmed at an event backed by the Berlin Festival and the European Film Academy. The tribute will be combined with the double bill of “Rosa, Rosae” and “Walls Can Talk” (“Las paredes hablan”), films which premiered at San Sebastian in 2021 and last year.

Agnieszka Holland John Hopewell Volker Schlöndorff Carlos Saura Spain Madrid Berlin county Sebastian county Hunt dance film song singer folk Citi Bill and

variety.com

18.02.2023 / 10:15

Film Factory Nabs Guillermo Arriaga’s ‘A Cielo Abierto’ (EXCLUSIVE)

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent “A Cielo Abierto,” the latest film from Oscar-nominated Mexican screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga (“Babel”), is being brought onto Berlin’s European Film Market by Film Factory Entertainment. Produced by Argentina’s K&S Films, whose credits include “Wild Tales,” “The Clan” and “The Summit” — the last by “Argentina, 1985” director Santiago Mitre — “A Cielo Abierto” is directed by Mariana Arriaga and Santiago Arriaga, Guillermo Arriaga’s daughter and son, making their feature film debut. “A Cielo Abierto” turns on two teen brothers who take a road trip to the Mexico-U.S. border to track down the man responsible for the car accident that caused their father’s death.