BBC Studios Names Science Unit Creative Chief And Loses Matt Ford To Social Producer Cowshed; Banijay Asia To Adapt Keshet Formats; Lydia Ianni Joins Film Mode Entertainment — Global Briefs

Workerbee, the UK indie behind Idris Elba’s Fight School, is reshaping to focus on features and formats.

EXCLUSIVE: YouTuber and Strictly Come Dancing finalist Joe Sugg is among the talent signed up to appear at the TellyCast Digital Content Forum in London later this month.

Now that Yellowstone is back in action, Paramount+ is whetting the whistle of Dutton fans by dropping a teaser for 1923 — the prequel starring Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford.

BBC Studios is continuing its acquisitions spree in the UK. 

French powerhouse Federation Studios and its Empreinte Digitale are launching Federation MEAC, a production subsidiary devoted to the Middle East, Africa and the Caribbean. Co-founding chairman Joachim Landau, who has produced documentaries, unscripted programs and series with Empreinte Digitale, will lead the new outfit.

Eagle Pictures Seals Italy Distribution & Production Deal With Sony

EXCLUSIVE: BBC Studios Productions is pushing further into the ad-funded programing (AFP) space by hiring a dedicated Head of Branded Entertainment.

A VR executive and a seasoned Olympics broadcaster today unveiled BlueStar Studios, a $180-million, 53-acre campus in Forest Park, Georgia, the latest in a stream of projects to address booming demand for production space in the state.

The Great British Bake Off viewers were left divided by the unusual timing of this week's themes.

Meet any high-profile Indian director or producer these days, and the talk is all about bibles, writers rooms and showrunners, rather than making films. Driving down Mumbai’s main artery, the Western Express Highway, most of the billboards are promoting new premium drama series from Prime Video, Netflix and Disney+ Hotstar, rather than the latest Bollywood release.

For years, William Hurt was one of the familiar faces gracing various MCU projects. And it would appear, his character, General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, who debuted in 2008’s “The Incredible Hulk,” was set to continue to be a major player in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

BBC Studios Makes Pair Of European Hires

When you’re deep in among the cocktail parties and dinners or meeting up with much missed contacts at Mipcom this week, it might be easy to forget why everyone is there: the shows. To help you remember, we bring you Deadline’s The Hot Ones, our guide to some of the best TV being sold in Cannes in 2022. You may hear whispers along the Croisette about the next big global hit, and The Hot Ones is our pick of a wealth of programing, featuring some of the biggest names in television from the top players in distribution.

K.J. Yossman BBC Studios is set to wholly acquire Sid Gentle Films, the production company behind hits such as “Killing Eve” and “Ragdoll.” BBC Studios, the BBC’s commercial production and distribution arm, is intent on growing its portfolio of U.K. scripted labels. It already wholly owns Lookout Point (“Happy Valley 3”), Clerkenwell Films (“Somewhere Boy”), House Productions (“Sherwood”) and most recently Firebird Pictures (“Wahala”) and is the controlling shareholder in Baby Cow (“Chivalry”). In 2018 it acquired a 51% stake in Sid Gentle, which was founded in 2013 by Sally Woodward Gentle, with Lee Morris and Henrietta Colvin.