Global Showbiz Briefs: Way To Blue, G-Day USA, Keshet & ‘Girlfri3nds’, Sky Hire
Way To Blue Becomes Full-Service Agency
Brit-founded international digital marketing agency Way to Blue will go full-service with the hiring of teams dedicated to social and offline publicity. The web specialists run offices in London, LA, Paris, Madrid and Sydney, and have hired Daniel Heale, former Vue Entertainment head of marketing, and Laura Pettit, former head of film at Diffusion PR. Heale will become associate director of social, while Pettit takes up a post as UK entertainment director. “We believe that being able to offer clients an integrated service is the future for the film and entertainment industry,” said Adam Rubins, the company’s entertainment CEO. Way to Blue’s clients have included 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, The Walt Disney Company and Sony Pictures Entertainment. – Joe Utichi
Hugh Jackman, Glenn Close And Olivia Newton-John Set As Presenters At G-Day USA
Hugh Jackman, Glenn Close and Olivia Newton-John will present the awards at the 10th anniversary G’Day USA dinner on Saturday night at the JW Marriott at LA Live. The recipients are Paul Hogan for his pioneering work marketing Australia as a travel destination for Americans, Rose Byrne, who’ll get an excellence in film and TV award for her body of work, and John Travolta as a Goodwill Ambassador for Australia. Past honorees Nicole Kidman, Naomi Watts, Simon Baker, Mel Gibson, Toni Colette, Keith Urban, Anthony LaPaglia, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, Air Supply and Luc Longley will attend. Among those performing will be The Sapphires’ singer/ actress Jessica Mauboy, 15-year-old singer Jack Vidgen, singer and stage performer David Campbell and didgeridoo player William Barton. The G’Day USA Australia Week program will showcase Australian capabilities at events in LA, San Francisco, Sacramento, New York, Chicago, Houston and Boston. – Don Groves.
Keshet’s Girlfri3nds To Seek Mates In Germany
Israel’s Keshet International has sold dating format Girlfri3nds to ProSiebenSat.1 Media which will produce a local version and broadcast it for channels in Germany, Austria, Alto Adige, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg. Redseven Entertainment and Keshet Broadcasting will co-produce. A UK adaptation of the same format premiered in September last year on ITV2. The original Israeli version was a hit in 2011 and spotlights three single women as they go on a nationwide search for love. Starting with hundreds of auditions for potential mates, they must narrow down suitors until they find their soul mates.
Sky Appoints Chris Brogden To Entertainment Team
Britain’s Sky has hired Chris Brogden to expand its Entertainment team. Brogden will work across Sky’s portfolio of channels joining Phil Edgar-Jones’ team of commissioners which also includes Deborah Sargeant and Barbara Lee. Brogden was most recently exec producer of ITV’s I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here and I for Channel 4. He has also worked for Endemol on Celebrity Big Brother and spin-off shows Big Brother’s Little Brother and Celebrity Hijack. Sky has pledged to increase investment in home-grown programming to £600 million by 2014.
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