Former Fox, DreamWorks Executive Tim Erickson to Head Peanuts Worldwide – Global Bulletin
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
APPOINTMENT
Former Disney, DreamWorks and Twentieth Century Fox executive Tim Erickson has been named executive VP of brand Peanuts Worldwide, reporting into Eric Ellenbogen, CEO of WildBrain, the majority owner of Peanuts. Working together with the family of Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz, WildBrain’s content and management teams and brand co-owners Sony Music Entertainment (Japan), Erickson will be responsible for sustaining a strategy supporting brand marketing and leveraging new content launches to expand the global presence of the Peanuts brand and build momentum towards its 75th anniversary in 2025. Erickson will be based in New York.
Erickson most recently held the position of COO at the media company GoldieBlox, and prior to that as senior VP of global licensing and operations at Twentieth Century Fox, preceded by the position of global head of licensing and operations at DreamWorks. He also spent several years driving consumer products and sales strategies at Disney and Lego.
More from Variety
Beyond Rights Licenses 'Love It or List It' for Local Versions in France, Finland - Global Bulletin
Jermaine Jenas to Host Post-Euro 2020 Racism Documentary for Channel 4 - Global Bulletin
Popcorn Group
FESTIVAL
The program for the 74th Locarno Film Festival (Aug. 4-14) is now complete, with the addition of the world premieres of “She Will” and “100 Minutes.”
Franco-British director Charlotte Colbert’s debut feature, “She Will” will be the gala premiere at the festival’s Fuori concorso section. The film, produced by veteran Edward R. Pressman (“The Crow”), explores the story of Veronica Ghent (Alice Krige) who after a double mastectomy, goes to a healing retreat in rural Scotland with her young nurse Desi (Kota Eberhardt).
Russian director Gleb Panfilov, who won a Golden Leopard in 1969 for his debut feature “No Path Through Fire,” will bow “100 Minutes” at the Piazza Grande. It follows Ivan Denisovich Shukhov, a literary hero whose tragic fate fascinated readers throughout the world and earned its creator, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the Nobel prize for literature.
CASTING
George Mackay (“1917”), Kelly Macdonald (“Line of Duty”) and Hugh Bonneville (“Paddington”) lead the cast of Netflix film “I Came By,” by Babak Anvari (“Under the Shadow”). Written by Anvari and Namsi Khan (“His
Dark Materials”), the film follows a rebellious young graffiti artist who targets the homes of the wealthy elite and discovers a shocking secret that leads him on a journey endangering himself and those closest to him.
Produced by Lucan Toh for Two and Two Pictures, the film will shoot on location in the U.K. and stream from 2022. “I Came By” is among the first titles comprising the new U.K. film features slate at Netflix, commissioned by Fiona Lamptey.
Red Arrow Studios International
FORMATS
Red Arrow Studios International has secured several European remake deals across its slate of scripted formats. In France, Calt Story has developed for M6 a short-form local version of the hit comedy format, “Lice Mother.” The new 200 x 3’30 series will be shot this summer until mid-2022. The series is set in a primary school – a mini-society with its own playground rules, competitive parents, strange teachers, and the lowest of volunteer jobs: checking the kids for head lice.
Drama format “Danni Lowinski” has been commissioned for a Polish remake by Telewizja Polsat, to be produced by TFP. It follows a former hairdresser turned law graduate who, when rejected by every traditional law firm in town, decides to change the world from her mall-kiosk law practice.
Circus has completed the production of the first season (10 x 15’) of a Turkish adaptation of comedy format “Match,” in collaboration with Fabrika Yapim, while Entre Chien et Loup is currently in production on a local version for French speaking Belgium, which will launch on public broadcaster RTBF and cable platform BeTV. The format has also been optioned by Sputnik Productions for the Netherlands and Belgium, and Boomerang TV Productions for Spain. “Match” (20 x 14’) follows Stian – a twenty-something guy with twenty-something guy problems, with two sports presenters who give a running commentary on every aspect of his life.
In the Czech Republic, Prima Group has commissioned the first season of a recently launched local version of crime procedural “Einstein,” produced by Sirena Film. It turns on Felix, a science genius and the great grandson of Albert Einstein, who is forced to work with the police to solve crimes using his brilliant but eccentric mind.
Banijay
Meanwhile, Banijay has revealed “Drag Me Out,” a new entertainment format from Mastiff Denmark, where well-known drag artists compete to create fabulous personas for well-known celebrities, including high-energy lip sync battles, comedy performances and dance shows.
“Drag Me Out” will launch on TV 2 Zulu in Denmark during the week of Copenhagen Pride at the beginning of August, and is available for adaptation internationally.
PRODUCTION
Producer Ronnie Screwvala‘s RSVP has commenced principal photography on Hindi-language horror-comedy “Kakuda,” at Gujarat, Western India locations. It stars Riteish Deshmukh (“Ek Villain”), Sonakshi Sinha (“Mission Mangal”) and Saqib Saleem (“Race 3”). Aditya Sarpotdar (“Classmates”) directs.
Written by Avinash Dwivedi and Chirag Garg and developed by associate producer Salona Bains Joshi, the film explores a strange curse in a village stuck in time and the lead trio are confronted with a challenging ghost who makes them question superstition, tradition and even love.
The film is designed to bow directly on a streaming platform.
Courtesy of A24
SEASON
In honor of the National Film and Television School’s 50th anniversary, BFI Southbank has announced a season dedicated to the academic establishment’s alumni. Among the films on offer during the season are “Kurt & Courtney,” by Nick Broomfield, Joanna Hogg’s “The Souvenir” and “The Last Tree” by Shola Amoo.
The season’s centerpiece will be an appearance from film-making team (and husband and wife) Roger and James Deakins (“Skyfall”).
The program will also include shorts made by alumni while they were still students, most of which have not been screened since. – K.J. Yossman.
PRIDE
Mj Rodriguez, who became the first transgender performer to pick up an Emmy nomination in the lead drama actress category for “Pose,” is one of the luminaries featured in MTV International’s new short form series, “Out Loud Proud,” to celebrate Pride around the world. Part of the MTV Generation Change campaign, the series celebrates inclusivity, positivity, and the diversity of “coming out” stories from celebrities and activists, including Hanne Gaby Odiele, Todrick Hall, Yasmin Benoit and Noks Simelane.
The series is available across MTV International’s digital platforms outside of the U.S. and on MTV linear channels in the U.K.
“Out Loud Proud” has also been adapted into local versions for MTV Italy and MTV Germany. In Italy, the series features Stephanie Glitter, Muriel, Shanti Winiger, LP, and Dotan. In Germany, the series features Lie Ning, Slim Soledad, Christa Joo Hyun D’Angelo, Adrian B, Daniel Walton and Kiri.
MTV International
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
