Pathé is expanding its library with five titles acquired from London-based production banner Celador Films, including Danny Boyle’s Oscar-winning “Slumdog Millionaire.” Pathé has collaborated with Celador Films and its founder Paul Smith on the development, production and sales of many movies, including “Slumdog Millionaire” which Pathé sold around the world. The five-picture library pact also […]

A new industry analysis by consultancy firm Media Partners Asia (MPA) projects substantial growth in Japan’s digital entertainment landscape. The report, “The Future of Japan’s Video Industry,” forecasts the online video sector to expand at a 7% compound annual growth rate over the next five years. Total screen industry revenue, encompassing free TV, pay-TV and […]

Spain’s prominent public broadcaster Radio Televisión Española (RTVE) is set to launch RTVE Play+, its international video-on-demand OTT platform, in Asia and Oceania this Tuesday, Oct. 22. The announcement comes at a fortuitous time, given a recent glowing report from Spanish trade and investment body ICEX and entertainment analytics org, Parrot Analytics. The report, unveiled […]

“Ena – Queen Victoria Eugenia,” the screening highlight in Mipcom’s Spain Country of Honor celebrations, begins with a bang. Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, Queen Victoria youngest granddaughter, marries Spain’s Alfonso XIII at Madrid’s San Jerónimo Royal Monastery on May 31, 1906. Splendid first scenes see the couple after the wedding in their carriage, Ena smiling […]

Rakuten TV, a leader in European streaming and FAST channels, will unveil its new business line, Rakuten TV Enterprise Services, from Mipcom today. Enterprise Services will offer content owners and distributors access to Rakuten’s cloud-based suite of tools as well as the company’s market knowledge to help launch and monetize FAST channels and video apps […]

With Mipcom in full swing, Spain’s Onza Distribution – with offices in Madrid and Miami – has cemented sales to Portugal, Romania, Croatia, Latvia and Mozambique for a slew of key titles.  Chilean drama “Allende, The Thousand Days,” Onza-produced thriller “Heartless” and its comedy “Traffic Jam” as well as acclaimed Italian mini-series “Flowers Over the Inferno” […]

The year was 1992 when Ettore Bernabei, a former chief of Italian public broadcaster RAI, founded Lux Vide, first as an advertising company before moving into television production.  Over 30 years and 1,300 hours of television later, the production house with its  expanded studio space now has one of the largest, most sustainable and technologically […]

Catalonia’s blend of cultural heritage, natural beauty and cosmopolitan cities has attracted numerous filmmakers, hosting some of the most important films and TV series in history. It’s well-known: from the Costa Brava beaches to the mountains of the Pyrenees, the region offers a wide variety of locations that can adapt to any kind of production. […]

U.K.-based distributor Omega Global Media has boarded Brendan Foley’s Hans Christian Andersen-inspired crime drama “Fairytale Detective.” Each one-hour episode follows Andersen as he solves crimes in 1850s Copenhagen aided by a coterie of characters from his stories, who come to life to help him find justice. While embarking on his unusual hobby, he hopes to […]

Cineflix Rights has closed several deals for “Irvine Welsh’s Crime,” starring Dougray Scott (“Mission: Impossible 2,” “Batwoman”) in his International Emmy award-winning lead role. The series has been acquired by Telefonica’s pay TV platform Movistar Plus+ (Spain), SBS (Australia), RTE (Ireland), Blue Entertainment (Switzerland), and Canal+ for viewers in Luxembourg, Hungary, Romania, Czech Republic, Slovakia […]

DR Sales, the international sales arm of Danish pubcaster DR, is launching at Mipcom in Cannes DR Drama’s latest event series “Generations,” mixing crime, mystery and family secrets. Making her debut in long-form serialised drama is Anna Emma Haudal, behind DR3’s hit youth series “Doggystyle” for which she won a national Robert Award for best […]

Beta Film’s thriller series “The Couple Next Door,” commissioned by the U.K.’s Channel 4 and Starz in North America, has taken the global market by storm. Beta Film secured major deals in more than 55 territories across the world, including RTL in Germany, RAI in Italy, Amazon in the Netherlands (first window) and RTL in […]

Shout! Studios has reached an agreement with Mercury Studios Media Limited to license exclusive U.S. and Canadian distribution rights including AVOD, SVOD, broadcast, theatrical and non-theatrical distribution rights for a catalog of Monty Python films, specials and performances. This includes perennial favorites such as the landmark sketch comedy TV series “Monty Python’s Flying Circus,” recently […]

Life swings between triumph and failure in the enthralling “El Gran Salto” produced by Atresmedia TV in collaboration with Banijay’s Diagonal TV, the force behind shows such as “Isabel” and “La Catedral del Mar.”  Spanish star Óscar Casas (“Instinto,” “Xtremo”) stars as Olympic Gold Medalist gymnast Gervasio Deferr. The series is written by “Bye” scribe […]

RTL+ Germany has acquired exclusive rights to the Dutch hit crime series “Mocro Maffia: Gangs of Amsterdam” from Amsterdam-based distributor Skoop Media for its streaming platform.  Belgian platform Streamz has also secured rights to “Mocro Maffia’s” latest – and final – sixth season, along with re-licensing the series’ previous five seasons as part of a […]

BBC Studios’ Scripted Formats, Documentaries Head Abroad BBC Studios Global Entertainment has licensed the drama “Doctor Foster” and comedy series “Ghosts” in Greece. The former, a BAFTA-winning psychological drama about a doctor whose outwardly perfect life implodes after she discovers her husband has been unfaithful, will star Marilita Lambropoulou in the lead role and Nikos […]

Grupo Globo, the biggest production force in Latin America, has sold the format of the major hit drama series “The Others” for Greece and German-speaking territories and the format for the anthology series “Justice” for Greece, Variety can exclusively announce. In Greece, “Justice: Life is Not Fair” will be produced by Primavisione and broadcast by Alpha. In […]

Paramount-owned U.K. broadcaster Channel 5 has acquired premium history docuseries “Seven Wonders of the Ancient World,” a Keshet International (KI) and SandStone Global collaboration. The three-part series, which has just gone into production, is based on Professor Bettany Hughes’ best-selling book of the same name. Historian and broadcaster Hughes will travel across three continents for […]

While the upcoming “Harry Potter” TV series may be mostly shrouded in a cloak of invisibility while the show is being carefully developed, the head of TV at Warner Bros. offered a few morsels of information. Speaking at Mipcom in Cannes, Channing Dungey who serves as Warner Bros. TV Group’s chairman and CEO, said that […]