Global Showbiz Briefs: TF1 Demotes ‘Dallas’; ‘Behind The Candelabra’ To Open Deauville Festival; More
The Rise And Fall Of ‘Dallas’ In French Primetime
The new reboot of Dallas debuted with three episodes on June 22 on France’s TF1, for an average 3.6M viewers. But the second set of episodes lost about 1M sets of eyeballs, leading the channel to move the rest of the first season out of the first part of primetime and relegating it to 11:15 PM starting July 6. The network has not commented on its plans for future seasons, though it has rights to the second and third for a total of 30 episodes. Per French trade Le Film Français, those seasons could be moved to a TF1 affiliate. The original Dallas was a phenomenon in France, where reruns have aired for years. It even had its own French lyrics to the famous opening theme song. Translated, they go like this: “Dallas, your ruthless world glorifies the law of the fittest; Dallas, under your relentless sun the only thing you fear is death; Dallas, homeland of the dollar and oil…” (Here’s a YouTube video for the curious.)
‘Behind The Candelabra’ To Kick Off Deauville Fest
The Deauville Festival of American Film has set Steven Soderbergh‘s Behind The Candelabra as its opening-night movie. Stars Michael Douglas and Matt Damon will be on hand as will Soderbergh, who will also deliver a masterclass at the French fest. Producer Gale Anne Hurd will be the subject of a tribute. The festival, which runs a competition for U.S. indies and helps launch the European campaigns of studio pics, runs August 30 to September 8 in Normandy.
Shyamalan Helps Chinese Brand-Management Start-Up Mingyian
M. Night Shyamalan is among the investors contributing seed funds to Chinese brand-management start-up Mingyian Inc. The micro-event platform, co-founded by Metan Development’s Larry Namer, helps celebrities host online events to grow and monetize their fan bases in China. Other investors in the first $500,000 round include RRE Ventures, #DominateFund, Foley Ventures, and energy exec Eric Yao. China’s online market it expected to have 800M users by 2015. But with most Western social media and content platforms blocked in China, U.S. celebrities are unable to communicate with their Chinese audience. “Mingyian helps celebrities and their teams replicate their marketing efforts, and with our micro-event platform, they can finally access Chinese fans and consumers in a way they never could before,” said co-founder and CEO Jenny Bai. “It’s a no-brainer.” The company’s celebrity roster includes Brett Ratner, Paula Abdul and NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas. The platform is set to launch in the fall.
Nathalie Lubensky Leads Sony’s Latin America Channels
Nathalie Lubensky has been appointed to manage Sony Pictures Television’s channels in Latin America. The exec will be responsible for the management of SET, AXN and Spin across Spanish-language Latin America. She most recently served as SVP Marketing at SPT Networks and previously was SVP Affiliate Marketing for media networks across Disney and ESPN.
UK’s Guild Of Location Managers Merged Into Producers Guild
The Production Guild of Great Britain is expanding its reach with an invitation to members of the UK’s Guild of Location Managers to join the org. The Production Guild already reps line producers, production executives and production accountants working across film and television. Fifty members of the locations managers guild will join the Production Guild, and the Guild of Location Managers will cease to exist as a separate entity. Alison Small, CEO of the Production Guild says, “The Guild’s focus is on ensuring that our world-renowned skills base is supported in a variety of ways so they can gain work and also so that the UK can maintain its competitive edge to capitalize on the opportunities that the tax breaks for high-end TV and film can generate and the private investment being made in services and facilities.”
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