‘Project Wolf Hunting,’ ‘Gem Hunters’ Find Buyers – Global Bulletin

Patrick Frater
·4 min read

MIDNIGHT MOVES

Korean film sales agent Finecut has struck several deals for action thriller “Project Wolf Hunting” ahead of its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival’s Midnight Madness section. In Asia, the film has been licensed to Moviecloud for Taiwan, Multivision Multimedia for India, Sahamongkolfilm International for Thailand, The Klockworx for Japan. Finecut also closed a deal with A Contracorriente Films for Spain, Prime Time Media for CIS and Well Go USA for Canada and the U.S. The film set on board a cargo ship which is being used to transport dangerous criminals from the Philippines to Busan, Korea. An escape attempt leads to a riot which in turn unleashes a sinister force. The film is directed by Kim Hongsun and will have a theatrical release in Korea from Sept. 21.

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DISTRIBUTION

U.K. distributor Studio Soho has acquired the U.K. and Ireland rights for this year’s Cannes Un Certain Regard Jury Prize winner “Joyland.” Saim Sadiq’s debut feature is the first film by a Pakistani director to win at Cannes. “Joyland” also won the Queer Palme award at Cannes.

The film follows a patriarchal family as they yearn for the birth of a baby boy to continue the family line, while their youngest son secretly joins an erotic dance theatre and falls for an ambitious trans starlet.

Sadiq’s short film “Darling” won the Orizzonti Best Short Film award at the 2019 Venice Film Festival. The film stars Ali Junejo, Alina Khan, Rasti Farooq, Sarwat Gilani, Sohail Sameer, Salman Peerzada, and Sania Saeed.

“Joyland” will have its U.K. premiere at the BFI London Film Festival as part of the Sutherland Award first feature competition.

THREE OUT OF FIVE AIN’T BAD

Western Australia recently launched a A$20 million ($13.4 million) production attraction incentive scheme. Together with state’s A$105 million ($70.3 million) commitment to building a world class film studio in Perth, the string of investments is intended to bring footloose national and international productions to Western Australia. The state can claim recent success with three of the five Australian efforts selected to screen at the Toronto International Film Festival this year were shot in the state: Robert Connolly’s “Blueback”; Jub Clerc’s “Sweet As”; and drama series “Mystery Road: Origin.” “This a much-needed addition to the local landscape. We look forward to the increased levels of production in our state [and] to build a sustainable WA screen industry,” said Rikki Lea Bestall, CEO of screen support body Screenwest.

YOSHIMOTO’S GOT TALENT

Yoshimoto Kogyo, a Japanese entertainment conglomerate that manages Japan’s biggest comedy acts, will produce a local version of the “Got Talent” audition show after acquiring the Japan rights from co-owners Freemantle and Syco Entertainment. “Japan’s Got Talent” will stream on the Abema website starting in February. Masatoshi Hamada of the popular Downtown comedy duo will serve as first judge. Celebrating its 110th anniversary this year, Yoshimoto has long focused on comedy acts that appear on both network TV and in its own chain of theaters. In recent years, however, the company has been shifting to a strategy of expanding into international markets, with the “Got Talent” deal being the latest example.

BAVARIA BECKONS

Jonas Baur has joined Bavaria Fiction as an executive producer, working from its Munich and Berlin offices from Oct. 1, 2022. Baur, who reports to Marcus Ammon, has a remit which includes the development and production of serial formats. Baur comes to Bavaria Fiction from ITV Studios, where he recently produced TV movie “Die Tänzerin und der Gangster” for Sat.1. Prior to that, he held various positions at UFA Serial Drama for more than 20 years, including executive producer of “Spotlight” and “Sterne für Berlin.” He was producer of “Verbotene Liebe” and the telenovela “Verliebt in Berlin,” the first season of which he also co-developed.

HIDDEN GEM

Wild Thring Media has achieved its first pre-sales for “Gem Hunters Down Under,” an observational documentary series about an adventurous band of miners. Produced by factual content firm WildBear Entertainment, the 6 x 60 mins series has been pre-sold to Seven Network for 7Mate in Australia, Warner Bros. Discovery for Discovery in both the U.K. and Benelux, Seven One Entertainment in Germany and Viasat World for Viasat Explore across the Nordics, Baltics and CEE. The initial demand for “Gem Hunters Down Under” and subsequent responses to early cuts from the pre-sale partners has seen WildBear move into production on series two and three, featuring the same great characters. They are due for delivery next year.

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