BBC Studios Boss Talks “Excellent” ‘Doctor Who’ Deal, M&A & International Growth

Naman Ramachandran A galaxy of A-list talent will participate in SXSW’s inaugural South Asian House initiative. Panel discussion Creating South Asian Content for a Global Audience, will feature actor Rizwan Manji (“Schitt’s Creek”), Emmy-winning producer/writer for Vice, Falguni Adams (“Dateline NBC”) and Apoorva Bakshi, producer of International Emmy-winning series “Delhi Crime,” moderated by CEO of Jingo Media and producer of South Asian House Jitin Hingorani. Another panel, Investing in the Future of Our South Asian Stories, will feature CEO and co-founder of URL Media S. Mitra Kalita and actor Kausar Mohammed (“The Flash”), moderated by co-founder of Box Office Guru Media Gitesh Pandya.

The daughter of an alleged serial child abuser has said she cannot bear the fact his “blood is inside me” after hearing claims brought by BBC presenter Nicky Campbell. Hamish Dawson worked at the Edinburgh Academy in the 1970s and was accused of multiple instances of both emotional and physical abuse on young boys. Last year the Long Lost Family host, 61, who attended the Scottish private school during that time, alleged he had both witnessed and been the victim of abuse that had “profoundly changed my life”.

The director-general of the BBC has reportedly remarked on how UK households are “happy” paying a forced licence fee saying it's “truly amazing”. According to The Daily Telegraph, Tim Davie told fellow staff members that the broadcaster had “better budgets than some commercial operators”, which he then described as “glorious”.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent In “Joan Baez: I Am a Noise,” which is premiering on Feb. 17 at the Berlin Film Festival, the folk icon with a supple soprano voice and a long history of activism, takes a disarmingly candid look on her life as she faces the end of her 60-year musical career. The immersive doc is co-directed by Karen O’Connor, Miri Navasky, and Maeve O’Boyle. They interweave Baez’s 2018 Fare Thee Well final concert tour with her early years, her rise to fame, struggles with drugs that ensued, and a darker psychological thread involving a form of child abuse on the part of Baez’s father. A surprising level of intimacy is reached thanks to a wealth of material obtained from Baez’s meticulously preserved personal archives comprising home movies, diaries, artwork, therapy tapes, and audio recordings of voice letters to her family. Some, while Baez was on tour in England in 1965 with Bob Dylan whom, she confesses in the doc, “broke my heart.”

Three of the UK’s most sought-after creatives – James Graham, Michael Sheen and Adam Curtis – are combining on a BBC drama that imagines a civil uprising beginning in a small industrial town.

Angelique Jackson Following their collaboration on “I Want You Back,” Amazon Studios is re-teaming with filmmakers Jason Orley and Isaac Aptaker on a yet-to-be-titled comedy. Orley will direct the new project from a script by Aptaker, based on a story they wrote. While plot details are being kept under wraps for the film, Amazon Studios landed the project in a preemptive deal based on the success of “I Want You Back,” from Orley, Aptaker and producer Elizabeth Berger. Aptaker and Berger will produce the new film via their The Walk-Up Company production banner, with the company’s head of development Adam Londy executive producing alongside Orley.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Leonis Productions, the Newen Studios-owned French banner created by Jean-Benoit Gillig, is developing a raft of international shows on the heels of “Liaison,” Apple TV+’s first French original. The company reached a milestone with “Liaison,” a thriller series created and entirely penned by Virginie Brac (“Spiral”) and directed by Stephen Hopkins. Vincent Cassel and Eva Green lead a cast that includes Peter Mullan, Gérard Lanvin, Daniel Francis, Stanislas Merhar, Irène Jacob, Laëtitia Eïdo, Eriq Ebouaney, Tchéky Karyo, Bukky Bakray and Thierry Fremont. “It’s a sprawling French-British thriller set against the backdrop of Brexit, and there’s a metaphor between the love tragedy playing as the primary plot and the political tragedy embodied by Brexit unfolding in the background,” said Gillig.

Chloe Sims appears to be living her best life in America after recently taking the plunge and relocating to Los Angeles. The Only Way Is Essex favourite Chloe, 41, officially swapped Essex for sunny California in January, after jet setting between the US and UK for several months prior to the big move.The mum-of-one, who has moved with her daughter Madison, 17, appears to be making the most of the sunshine over in the US, and was recently snapped enjoying a day out at Miami Beach, Florida.

BBC Drama Director Lindsay Salt has assembled her commissioning team with a triple hire including the EP on Candice Carty-Williams’ Champion and a former Doctor Who script editor.

The BBC’s offices in Mumbai and New Delhi have been raided by income tax authorities.

Naman Ramachandran India’s income tax department is conducting searches of the BBC’s offices in the country’s capital New Delhi, according to the Associated Press. Three BBC staffers informed AP about the searches, the agency said. Meanwhile, a team from the tax department also surveyed the BBC’s Mumbai offices, per the Press Trust of India quoting unnamed sources. Variety has reached out to the BBC for comment. The searches come in the wake of the Indian government blocking the controversial two-part BBC documentary “India: The Modi Question.” The documentary was described on the BBC website as: “Narendra Modi’s premiership has been dogged by persistent allegations about the attitude of his government towards India’s Muslim population. This series investigates the truth behind these allegations and examines Modi’s backstory to explore other questions about his politics when it comes to India’s largest religious minority.”

EXCLUSIVE: The BBC has defended its decision to produce glossy adverts for Huawei and Chinese state media, saying the contracts are important to funding its international journalism.

Huntington Beach banned flying the Pride flag at City Hall during a sometimes heated City Council meeting earlier this week. It’s an abrupt about face from 2021 when the City Council voted 6-0 to hoist the Pride flag for six weeks to coincide with LGBTQ Pride Month in June. Photo: City of Huntington Beach

Candace Cameron Bure is giving her thoughts on “cancel culture” months after she received backlash over the reason she made the move to Great American Family from Hallmark.

Sharing their favorites — in and out of the kitchen! Celebrity chef Judy Joo chatted with restaurateur Melba Wilson about food, famous customers and pairing late-night snacks with her favorite TV shows.

EXCLUSIVE: Robert Walak and Alisa Tager will be leaving their posts as Presidents of Film & Television at AC Studios, the independent film and TV production studio that sits inside Anonymous Content, when their contracts are up in a couple of months.

Expanding TV universes is the hottest trend right now. Bosch, one of the early adopters with Bosch: Legacy, is forging ahead with two police dramas inspired by the work of bestselling author Michael Connelly, which are in development at Amazon Studios.

EXCLUSIVE: Jude Law (Fantastic Beasts) and Nicholas Hoult (X-Men franchise) have been set to lead true crime movie The Order, which acclaimed Australian filmmaker Justin Kurzel (Macbeth) will direct.

There have been plenty of words written about the cancellation of the “Batgirl” movie, which was one of the biggest news stories of 2022. At the time, it seemed unfathomable that a studio would cancel such an expensive project during post-production and shelve it without anyone ever seeing it.

Good afternoon Insiders, Max Goldbart here. It’s Oscar noms week, and we’d be rude not to bring you the latest headlines and analysis from the Academy and beyond. Read on.