CAA Makes Layoffs In Global TV Division & Centralizes Operations To U.S. & UK

EXCLUSIVE: CAA Sports Media has made one of its first major signings under new UK and Europe boss Alex McGuire.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Global Screen, the Munich-based international sales outfit, has boarded worldwide sales on “The Trek,” the upcoming first feature from leading South African cinematographer and director Meekaaeel Adam. The film is a horror-Western, in which starvation, suspicion and madness plague a family as they cross the Kalahari Desert under the eyes of primeval spirits.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Asian TV channels operator Celestial Tiger Entertainment and myTV SUPER, the OTT platform of Hong Kong’s Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) are to launch PopC, a movie channel dedicated to Chinese online films, with content supplied by mainland China streamer iQiyi. It launches in Hong Kong from May 1. “The idea of PopC first came about when we saw the amount of great, high quality movies that were being produced for the online space in China.

Jack Dunn GKIDS and European animation distributor Anime Ltd. have acquired global rights to Naoko Yamada’s new film “The Colors Within.” GKIDS has acquired the film for North America, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand, while Anime Ltd. has acquired the film for the United Kingdom, Ireland, and all of Europe.

EXCLUSIVE: Nina Lederman, Sony Pictures Television’s (SPT) global scripted boss, is exiting amid the slowdown.

Rebecca Rubin Senior Film and Media Reporter A24‘s political thriller “Civil War” is resonating not just in red states and blue but overseas, too. Alex Garland’s film, starring Kirsten Dunst as a photojournalist who traverses a violently divided United States, has grossed $45.7 million in North America and $20 million internationally. Global ticket sales stand at $67.3 million through Monday, and it’s projected to cross $70 million on Tuesday.

Range Media Partners has secured a minority investment from a group including Liberty Global and TPG founding partner David Bonderman’s family office Wildcat Capital Management.

EXCLUSIVE: Noah Media, producer of Netflix’s 14 Peaks and Sky’s Villeneuve Pironi, has restructured to focus on international docs and laid off a small number of staff.

Challengers, or rather director Luca Guadagnino's Challengers, which stars Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O'Connor and . I've seen it, as well as several colleagues, and while everyone agrees that they were very much looking forward to Zendaya's “tennis love triangle movie,” half of those I polled hated it while others loved it.

BAFTA Unveils Special Award Winner & Host For 2024 Craft Gongs

EXCLUSIVE: NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), the Black List, the Redford Center, and the CAA Foundation today announced the recipients of the 2024 NRDC Climate Storytelling Fellowship and the Hollywood creatives who will mentor them. Along with new partner NBCUniversal, the organizations also announced the opening of the submission window for the 2025 cycle of the fellowship.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent In a big move to plant their flag internationally, leading Hollywood talent agency CAA has appointed Alex McGuire to oversee the firm’s sports media representation efforts throughout the U.K. and Europe.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd., the disappointed bride in the failed engagement between Zee and Sony India, has formally ended its quest for a merger. On Tuesday, it withdrew its application before the industry regulator National Company Law Tribunal and said that it will focus instead on internal growth.

Keanu Reeves and Alexandra Grant are enjoying a rare night out!

EXCLUSIVE: We understand that Marvel underwent a handful of layoffs Monday, with 15 employees impacted across Marvel Entertainment in New York and Marvel Studios in Burbank.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Leading European distributor Global Screen, part of Telepool, has secured further international sales of high-end drama “Davos 1917” at MipTV. New acquisitions of the six-part thriller include SBS Australia, TVP in Poland and Big Tree Entertainment in India and the subcontinent. “Davos 1917,” which launched at the end of last year on SRF in Switzerland and ARD in Germany, has already been bought by a strong lineup of premium international broadcasters and streamers across North America, Europe and Asia.

EXCLUSIVE: Israel’s Keshet International (KI) has struck its latest co-development deal, a partnership with British presenter Bettany Hughes‘ indie SandStone Global.

EXCLUSIVE: Embankment Films is making Garbo: Leave Me Alone, a feature documentary about the enigmatic movie star who died in 1990. The doc will have previously unseen archive material including personal photographs of Garbo and letters written by the iconic actress, who is regarded as one of the all-time greats.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Moved from its usual December berth last year, the 12th Panama International Film Festival (IFF Panama) runs April 4-7, replete with new industry activities and double the number of films since its previous edition. True to its mandate to serve as a showcase for Central American and Caribbean cinema, the festival’s program this year includes a bevy of acclaimed films from the region, including two Panamanian Indigenous-themed features, “Bila Burba” and “God is a Woman.” Recent years has seen the growing international recognition of pics from the region, with Nelson Carlo de los Santos becoming the first Dominican – and first Latin American – filmmaker to snag the best director Silver Bear at the Berlinale for his drama, “Pepe.” Costa Rican director Antonella Sudasassi Furniss’ sophomore feature, “Memories of a Burning Body,” clinched the Audience Award for best fiction film in the Panorama section of the A-list German festival.

One day after José Andrés’ World Central Kitchen confirmed that seven of its team providing food in Gaza were killed in an Israel Defense Forces strike, President Biden called Andrés personally to tell the celebrity chef he was “heartbroken” by the news.