‘Big Brother Canada’ Returns for Season 10 – Global Bulletin

Naman Ramachandran
·5 min read

In today’s Global Bulletin, “Big Brother Canada” sets 10th season; Francesco Totti soccer documentary wins Rotterdam award; DOK Leipzig returns to cinemas in October; Bavaria Fiction, WarnerMedia, Production Guild of Great Britain appoint key personnel; BAFTA Breakthrough U.S., U.K., open for applications; Hulu buys Red Arrow factual series package; and BFI restores vintage Sherlock Holmes titles.

Banijay Rights has signed a deal for a tenth season of “Big Brother Canada” for Corus Entertainment’s Global channel in Canada.

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The ninth season delivered its most diverse cast ever, with Tychon Carter-Newman (pictured) making history as the first Black winner of “Big Brother Canada.”

Produced by Insight Productions, a Boat Rocker company, in association with Corus Entertainment and Banijay, “Big Brother Canada” Season 10 will debut on Global in spring 2022. The deal was agreed by Banijay Rights.

The “Big Brother” format is represented internationally by Banijay, with over 60 adaptations and broadcast in more than 80 countries.

AWARD

Soccer documentary “Mi chiamo Francesco Totti” by Alex Infascelli has won the International Film Festival Rotterdam’s BankGiro Loterij Audience Award for the June festival chapter, which closed June 9. The award carries a €5,000 ($6,083) cash prize.

Before Italian soccer star Francesco Totti’s final game, the documentary looks back on his 25-year career playing for AS Roma. Using a wealth of archival footage, Infascelli composes a portrait of this one-club man, adored by the people of Rome as both a star athlete and humble family man.

FESTIVAL

After a wholly online 2020 edition, the annual German showcase for documentary and animation DOK Leipzig will return to big screens in the fall. The complete film program will screen selected Leipzig venues during the festival week Oct. 25-31. Events include the DOK Co-Pro Market, the short film pitch DOK Short n’ Sweet, the rough-cut presentations DOK Preview, the DOK Film Market, the XR conference DOK Exchange, Meet the Experts, and talks. Partner presentations and podcasts will also be in the mix. And almost all formats will be simultaneously hosted both on-site and online.

From Nov. 1-14, DOK Stream, featuring a selection of festival films, will launch online.

APPOINTMENTS

Marcus Ammon will join Bavaria Fiction as MD Content, from Sky Deutschland Fernsehen, where he was senior VP, original production. Long-time MD Jan S. Kaiser will be responsible for production and finance. After five years at Bavaria Fiction, Manfred Haus-Pflüger will leave the management at the end of the financial year.

Meanwhile, WarnerMedia has appointed Melissa Lim as the new head of content acquisitions and co-productions for its kids networks in Asia Pacific, which include POGO, Cartoon Network and Boomerang. Based in Singapore and reporting to Leslie Lee, head of WarnerMedia Kids APAC, Lim will also advise on licensing content for regional streaming service HBO GO in Southeast Asia. Her previous roles include stints at MTV Asia and StarHub.

Elsewhere, the Production Guild of Great Britain has appointed Michael Beavan as its new director of partnerships and projects. His remit is to grow the reach and profile of the org across its film and television sector partnerships. He will also oversee the strategy and delivery of The Production Guild of Great Britain Awards. Previously head of events and national publicity for Warner Bros Pictures, Beavan has run his own publicity, events and tour management company, Production Publicity Ltd, since 2001.

BREAKTHROUGH

Applications are open for U.K. and U.S. candidates for BAFTA Breakthrough 2021, BAFTA’s talent support initiative in partnership with Netflix. The initiative, previously known as Breakthrough Brits, has been running in the U.K. since 2013 and in the U.S. and India since the global expansion last year.

BAFTA Breakthrough has championed over 160 talented newcomers, including Bukky Bakray, Paapa Essiedu, Letitia Wright, Florence Pugh, Josh O’Connor, Chella Ramanan, Rose Glass, Stella Corradi and Destiny Ekaragha.

Participants for the inaugural BAFTA Breakthrough India initiative were revealed on Thursday.

PACKAGE DEAL

Red Arrow Studios International has secured a deal with U.S. streamer Hulu for a package of factual entertainment titles including “Renovate Don’t Relocate,” “House Rules” and “The Great House Revival.” The series will be available on Hulu from June 10. The deal with Hulu was brokered by Shirley Bowers, VP sales and acquisitions for North America, U.K., Australia and New Zealand at Red Arrow Studios International.

RESTORATION

The BFI National Archive and Iron Mountain Entertainment Services have embarked on a restoration project to fully restore all of the 1920s silent Sherlock Holmes film series from Stoll Pictures starring Eille Norwood as the sleuth, currently held at the BFI Master Film Store in Warwickshire. This project launch also marks 100 years since the first serial was originally screened. Once completed, this will be the first time that the entire film series will be seen by audiences in over 100 years.

The restoration is expected to be completed by 2023, to coincide with the centenary of the release of the final serial and feature adaptation of “The Sign of Four” (1923).

Norwood (1861–1948) was the most prolific actor ever to play Sherlock Holmes on screen and stage. He portrayed the famous sleuth in 45 two-reelers across 3 serials: “The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes” (1921), “The Further Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes” (1922) and “The Last Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes” (1923), plus two features, “Hound Of The Baskervilles” (1921) and “The Sign Of Four” (1923).

In 1923, Norwood returned to the role in a Sherlock Holmes play written specifically for him, “The Return of Sherlock Holmes,” which opened on the West End.

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