International Insider: Israel-Hamas Conflict; A Week At MIA; Mipcom Awaits
Welcome back to Insider. It’s been a heavy few days for the world and the entertainment sector, but Jesse Whittock is here with the most important TV and film news of the past week for you.
Israel-Hamas Conflict
Shock and horror: It’s hard to know where to begin with the tragedy unfolding in the Middle East. Thousands have died since a Hamas-led militia crossed the Gaza Strip border and began attacking Israeli villages and kibbutzes. There’s no end to the conflict in sight, with Israel now blockading Gaza and ordering Gaza City residents to evacuate, while there is growing international concern about the safety of Palestinian citizens who will soon be devoid of food, water and fuel. The history of the conflict runs deep and this isn’t the forum to discuss it, beyond believing that violence cannot be the answer. Like the rest of the world, the entertainment sector has reacted with horror and shock, with many Hollywood leaders condemning the attack on Israel. We’ve tried to make sense of what’s happening on the ground, with Ted Johnson speaking with the U.S. news correspondents translating the awful events, and writing various reports on how political leaders are responding. All of our coverage can be found here.
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Industry response: The shockwaves have been felt through the industry and will continue to do so. Sean Penn, Matthew Fox and Kick Gurry cancelled an appearance at Mipcom Cannes next week, in which they would have talked about their comedy war series C*A*U*G*H*T. That news was followed by confirmation from Mipcom organizer RX France that 70 market-accredited Israeli execs were not expected to attend. International flights have mainly been grounded and people are in mourning over lost loved ones. On the film front, Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival was rescheduled for November, while the U.S. release of the Tel Aviv-set Kiss Me Kosher was postponed. In Israel, cinemas remain closed and TV production has completely stopped as relief efforts and survival become the most important issues. Max spoke with Keshet CEO Avi Nir, who outlined how the commercial network has essentially turned into a 24/7 news operation. Elsewhere, the European Union has taken social media sites such as X/Twitter, Meta and TikTok to task over disinformation floating on these platforms.
Unimaginable trauma: The personal stories have been perhaps the hardest to digest. On Wednesday, we published a first-hand account from filmmaker Shaylee Atary, who was forced to flee her home with her newborn daughter when militants invaded their home at the Kfar Aza kibbutz. Her husband Yanav Winner, also a filmmaker, stayed behind to stop the invaders getting to his family and was subsequently killed. The chilling story can be read here. We also heard from the co-creators of Israeli hits Fauda and Tehran, who detailed how they are helping relief efforts, with anger rising over the Israeli government’s response. Tehran director Daniel Syrkin told the story of sound technician Lior Weitzman, who was murdered on Saturday as the attacks began. Weitzman had worked with Syrkin on Apple TV+ drama Tehran and was in post on Netflix’s first Hebrew-language drama Bros. Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos joined Syrkin in paying tribute to the talented young man, who is one of thousands who have died over the past week.
A Week At MIA
When in Rome: Now back to the world of European television. As a splashy precursor to next week’s Mipcom Cannes, MIA Market fits the bill perfectly. International execs have been in Rome all week in the smart halls of the Cinema Barberini debating the future of TV and film globally. With a last minute spanner thrown in the works of any SAG-AMPTP resolution, there was plenty of U.S. C-suite star power around to chart a forwards-path, with intriguing talks from Paramount’s Nicole Clemens, Miramax’s Marc Helwig and Anonymous Content duo Davids Levine and Davoli. European execs were also bullish about the continent on several panels and Tuesday saw the unveiling of the New8 – a collaboration of eight of the continent’s biggest pubcasters. For Max’s full roundup, check out our key takeaways here.
Mipcom Awaits
On your marks, Croisette, go!: It’s that time of year again, of course. France’s rosé producers are ready for their annual financial windfall as thousands of TV execs, creatives and hopefuls descend on Cannes for Mipcom, the international television community’s biggest market. Famously, much of the dealmaking gets done at 2am after several drinks have been consumed, and Max and I will be there next week scoping out the biggest deals and trends emerging from the market. The events in Israel and Gaza will inevitably cast a shadow over proceedings. We’ve quietly been pulling together a suite of content for the market, and you can read our Hot Ones reports on the top dramas, docs and formats headed for the Croisette, or this interview with event director Lucy Smith outlining what can be expected in Cannes. Make sure to look out for the digital version of our Mipcom special magazine, or if you’re on the ground in Cannes, be sure to pick up a copy. Also check back in on the website for all the news as it breaks, using the Mipcom and Mipcom Cannes tags.
A Busy, Buzzy Busan
“Immigrant mentality”: The 28th Busan International Film Festival ends today in Korea after 10 days of talks, screenings and deals, and our Asia expert Liz Shackleton has been right there with all the news. Over the weekend, Walking Dead star Steven Yeun, John Cho, Justin Chon and Lee Isaac Chung got philosophical when addressing how to tell stories about immigrants. Yeun, who starred in Lee’s Oscar-winning Korean immigrant story Minari, said mournfully at a press conference: “It does feel like we’re living in a self-aware reality where the systems are not working for anyone. A lot of structures are being broken down and to move forward we need that ability to start from the ground up. I think that immigrant mentality is where we’re all headed.” However, he also said watching it was “deeply healing” for the Korean diaspora to see the boom in Korean content around the world, “even watching something like [Netflix gameshow] Physical: 100.” Click here for full Busan coverage.
Coulda Been A Contender
Awards season begins: What do Ridley Scott, Emerald Fennell, Michael Mann, Jeymes Samuel, Todd Haynes, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and J.A. Bayona have in common? That’s right, they were all panelists at our starry movie awards kick-off event Contenders London on Saturday. With the race for the 2024 Oscars now on, they took to the stage for interviews with Deadline’s film and awards teams about their buzzy films. Watch the whole lot at our dedicated site here or read up all the news to come out of the chats here, including the scoop that Mann will indeed take on the much-rumored Heat 2 as his next movie.
The Essentials
🌶️ Hot One: Fox struck drama development deals with two UK indies, per Max’s story.
🌶️ Another One: The Bureau creator Eric Rochant formally unveiled his Federation-backed indie Maui Entertainment.
🌶️ Hot, hot, hot: Financing closed on Irish horror The Morrigan closed ahead of AFM.
🇪🇺 Joining the Gang: Gianni Nunnari and Simon Horsman are launching TV and film label Euro Gang.
🎥 Drama Schools Uncovered: Gary Oldman’s alma mater was at the center of Jake’s latest exposé.
📈 Ratings: Big Brother returned to the UK with a muted 2.5m at new home ITV.
🤝 New job: For Fremantle Spain boss Nathalie Garcia, who joined ITV Studios to launch a new formats-focused entity.
💰 Show me the money: Netflix’s UK revenue grew by 4% to reach £1.54B ($1.9B) in 2022.
🚪 🚶🏻♂️Exiting: Channel 4’s entertainment boss, Phil Harris, as Max revealed.
🚪 🚶🏻♂️🚶♀️ More exits: London Film School managers Dan Lawson and Véronique Fricke, as Zac scooped Wednesday.
⚖️ Investigation: Competition watchdogs are set to explore if the BBC, ITV and several UK indies breached antitrust laws over freelance crews.
🖋️ Signed: Nicole Scherzinger for global management by YMU.
⛺ Festival latest: Thessaloniki Film Festival’s Agora Series will return with Tehran EP Julien Leroux as Program Consultant.
🌅 Holly Willoughbye: The long-serving This Morning presenter is stepping down after 14 years.
Max Goldbart contributed to this week’s Insider
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