‘Philomena’ Writer Martin Sixsmith Sets Next Project; Canal+ Q1 Growth; Sky Germany True-Crime Doc – Global Briefs

Max Goldbart and Jesse Whittock
·3 min read

‘Philomena’ Writer Martin Sixsmith Sets Next Project

Philomena writer Martin Sixsmith and We Are Lady Parts’ Raisah Ahmed are forging a TV adaptation of Sixsmith’s novel Ayesha’s Gift. The six-part detective thriller is set in the wake of the untimely death of British businesswoman Ayesha Rahman’s father, who apparently committed suicide while visiting family in Pakistan. However, with strong reason to believe her dad was in fact murdered and having had no help from the UK or Pakistani authorities, Ayesha takes matters into her own hands and she approaches Sixsmith, an investigative journalist, who also wrote the book that became Stephen Frears movie Philomena, in which he is played by Steve Coogan. Ahmed will write and EP alongside Sixsmith. She wrote on Channel 4’s award-winning comedy We Are Lady Parts and is also developing a debut feature with Film4. Channel 4-backed Freedom Scripted is producing Ayesha’s Gift. “Embarking with Ayesha on the search for her father’s killers set us at loggerheads,” said Sixsmith. “The resolution of the mysteries behind our individual losses brought us solace, self-knowledge and a shared hope of redemption from grief. Now I’m incredibly excited to see how this story plays out on screen.”

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Canal+ Drives Vivendi Revenue Growth

Canal+ owner Vivendi posted slightly improved Q1 revenues of €2.3B ($2.5B) today, which it put down primarily to Canal+ Group growth. The France-headquartered conglomerate increased turnover by 3.3%, with Canal+ adding €32M for the quarter, while Studiocanal grew by 13.6%. “This evolution should be considered in light of the high comparison base of the first quarter of 2022, linked to the rebound in activity following the Covid pandemic,” said a Vivendi statement. The outfit put the Canal+ growth down to the launch of several films plus its deal with Apple TV+, for which the SVoD has become available to all Canal+ subs in France and other French-speaking territories. The results signal an improvement after Vivendi posted a full year loss of $1.07B in March, which it linked to the deconsolidation of its Telecom Italia stake.

Sky Germany Witnesses ‘Car Park Murder’

Sky’s German arm has ordered a true-crime doc about the death of millionaire Charlotte Böhringer, who was found beaten to death in her penthouse flat above a car park in Munich. Her nephew Benedikt Toth  was later imprisoned for life for the murder despite only circumstantial evidence tying him to the killing. Car Park Murder (working title) comes from Bavaria Fiction, it incorporates the latest findings and developments in the case. This morning, Toth was released from jail in Germany. He maintains his innocence and doubts over the guilty verdict remain, and is interviewed for the doc. Bavaria’s Emanuel Rotstein and Sky’s Christian Asanger and Nico Gammella are executive producers, Philipp Klees is producer, Astrid Holz is line producer for Bavaria Fiction and Alexander Vexler is Director of Photography. NBCUniversal Global Distribution has worldwide distribution.

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