‘Ridley Road’ Sells Wide for Studiocanal – Global Bulletin
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SALES
Studiocanal has sold a raft of global territories on four-part thriller drama series “Ridley Road.” Created by Studiocanal’s Red Production Company, commissioned for BBC One and co-produced with Masterpiece, the series will air in the U.S. on PBS Masterpiece, in France on Canal Plus, and has also been acquired by Now Studio Hong Kong, ABC Australia, Nova Greece, YLE Finland, SVT Sweden, NRK Norway, DR Denmark, RTE Ireland, HOT Israel, Canal Plus Poland and Disney Plus Benelux. A sale to Mola Indonesia was agreed earlier this year.
Based on Jo Bloom’s book, the series follows a young Jewish woman who falls in love with a member of the ’62 Group. She rejects her comfortable middle-class life in Manchester and joins the fights against fascism in London, risking everything for her beliefs for the man she loves.
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The drama adaption is written, and executive produced by Sarah Solemani and Nicola Shindler and Lucy Richer and Ayela Butt for BBC, and Rebecca Eaton for Masterpiece. The series producer is Betsan Morris Evans (“The War of the Worlds”) and Lisa Mulcahy (“Years and Years”) directed all four episodes. The cast includes Agnes O’Casey in the lead and also features Tom Varey (“Game of Thrones”), Rory Kinnear (“Skyfall”) and Eddie Marsan (“Ray Donovan”).
Dori Media Group
Meanwhile, Dori Media Group has sold the hit telenovela “Argentina, Land of Passion and Revenge” (“Argentina, tierra de amor y venganza”) to Contents Seven, a major Japanese aggregator and distributor. Content Seven has picked up 60 episodes and will oversee its localization in the territory, handling translations for the Japanese subtitles. The series is slated to premiere mid-2022 on J:COM’s LaLa TV. Set in the 1930s and 1940s, the series follows the lives of European immigrants in Buenos Aires after an act of treachery sparks an epic love story across two continents. Produced by Pol-ka Producciones, the series became one of 2019’s most watched shows in Argentina, where it originally aired on El Trece, the flagship free-to-air network of Artear. – Patrick Frater
BBC Studios/ABC
Elsewhere, globally popular pre-school animation series “Bluey” has sold to Italy’s Rai, where it will air Dec. 27 on Rai Yoyo, the public broadcast service’s preschool channel. In Greece, Bluey will air on public broadcaster ERT, with transmission dates to be confirmed. BBC Studios will also launch a new Italian language YouTube channel in January 2022 featuring clips and bonus content from the series.
Produced by Ludo Studio and co-commissioned by BBC Studios and ABC Children’s, the series follows Bluey, a six-year-old Blue Heeler dog who loves to play and turn everyday family life into adventures that unfold in unpredictable and hilarious ways.
APC Studios
And, boutique co-producer and distributor APC Studios has sold stand-alone documentary “Wanted: Women in Science” to NHK for Japan free TV, RTL for Belgium and Téléquébec for Canada. Featuring interviews with young female scientists, the documentary delves into the extent of the gender parity issue in the field of science and the possible solutions.
Produced by APC Studios and j2f Production for France Télévisions, the title marks APC Studios’ first co-production in the factual space. It is currently available on France Télévisions’ on demand platform France.tv.
Screenworks Asia
PRODUCTION
Screenworks Asia, a production company backed by Taiwanese streamer Catchplay and government promotion agency TAICCA, has hitched up with Japanese partners to co-produce ‘boys love’ series “+- Plus & Minus” about two couples’ relationships. Currently shooting, the series involves Japan’s Rakuten TV Japan, SPO Entertainment, and Video Market Corporation. It is produced by Anita Sung and directed by Huang I-Hsun. Catchplay is also producing its own variety-comedy show “Dee’s Talks,” produced by Barbie Hsu and hosted by established Mandarin-language talk show host Dee Hsu (“Here Comes Kangxii”). The ten-part celebrity-driven show will air on Catchplay’s streaming service from Dec. 23 in Taiwan, Indonesia and Singapore. – Patrick Frater
REVIVAL
Banijay Rights has confirmed the return of “Big Brother” in South Africa following a seven-year hiatus. Produced by Red Pepper Pictures, the show has started casting for a new season to launch on MultiChoice-owned Mzansi Magic in 2022, having last aired on the channel in 2015.
TRAILER
Disney Plus has released a trailer for original French mini-series “Oussekine”. Commissioned under the Star brand, the four part series looks back on the events of the night of Dec. 5 – 6, 1986 that led to the death of Malik Oussekine. The series looks back on the death of Malik Oussekine (Sayyid El Alami) and the dramatic consequences for his family: his mother Aïcha (Hiam Abbas), his brothers Ben Amar (Malek Lamraoui) and Mohamed (Tewfik Jallab), substitute father of the siblings since the death of their father Miloud (Slimane Dazi); his sisters Fatna (Naidra Ayadi) and Sarah (Mouna Soualem) who will sacrifice everything for justice to be done. Kad Merad is Maitre George Kiejman, the family’s lawyer.
Antoine Chevrollier is the series director, creator and co-writer. Itinéraire Productions’ Anthony Lancret and Pierre Laugier are producing the series for Disney Plus. It will premiere in 2022.
EXPANSION
Following the launch of Nevis Productions in the Nordics last year, London-based independent producer Nevision is further expanding its global reach, launching a new bi-coastal U.S. operation Nevision Inc. With offices in Los Angeles and New York, Nevision Inc. will be headed by former NBCUniversal executives Sandy Wax as president and Vincent Gabriele as COO. Nevision’s James Cabourne will be chair.
Nevision Inc will develop projects across scripted, unscripted, kids and family. The team will also focus on developing platform partnerships, as well as securing co-production deals and pre-sales in North America for Nevision’s and Nevis Productions’ existing slate of projects.
DATES
Annual trade event MIA (Mercato Internazionale Audiovisivo) has set Oct. 19 – 23, 2022 for its eighth edition in Rome. The event will return to the city’s Barberini district with a program of panels, showcases, and screenings under MIA’s three divisions: Scripted, Unscripted and Strategic Development.
Animaccord Studio
EPISODE
To celebrate reaching the landmark of 100 billion YouTube views, Moscow-based Animaccord Studio team has created a special episode of popular animation series “Masha and the Bear.” The short episode titled “We love you to 100 BILLION and back” was released Monday on the official “Masha and the Bear” YouTube channel.
Created in 2009 by Oleg Kuzovkov and loosely based on the children’s folk story of the same name, the show focuses on the adventures of a little girl named Masha and her caring friend, a bear that keeps her safe from disasters. The series has been translated into 42 languages and its Arabic YouTube channel has just surpassed 10 million subscribers. Its English YouTube channel has 30.5 million subscribers.
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