There’s a crisis at the border: migrants stranded in desperate conditions, steel and barbed wire barriers thrown in their path.
11.09.2023 - 10:25 / variety.com
K.J. Yossman The true story of a dolphin sex scandal in the North of England in the early 1990s is the subject of a new Wondery podcast. “Hooked on Freddie,” from transatlantic production company Blanchard House, is set to launch on the platform on Sept.
19, with the first three episodes available on that day. It tells the story of animal rights activist Alan Cooper, who developed an unusually close friendship with a wild bottlenose dolphin (nicknamed Freddie by locals) when the mammal appeared in Amble Harbour, in Northumberland, in the mid 1980s. But after feuding with an animal trainer at a local marine park, Cooper found himself accused of molesting Freddie.
By 1991, Cooper was facing criminal charges of sexually assaulting a dolphin — setting off a tabloid storm. It took the jury just an hour to clear him unanimously of the charge, but the unfounded accusation ended up changing the course of Cooper’s life. The six-part podcast series is hosted by Becky Milligan (“The Home Babies”), who first covered Freddie’s appearance in the North Sea as a student journalist.
Milligan, who once swam with Freddie herself, draws on original interviews from the late 1980s and early 1990s as well as new reporting — including interviews with both Cooper and the animal trainer who first accused him — to tell the tale. Laurence Grissell (“The Californian Century”) exec produces the series with additional production by Seren Jones. “It’s unbelievable what happened here,” said Rosie Pye, co-founder and creative director at Blanchard House.
There’s a crisis at the border: migrants stranded in desperate conditions, steel and barbed wire barriers thrown in their path.
Sex Education and Heartstopper has responded to criticisms about the role they play on film and TV sets.An intimacy coordinator works with directors, cast and crew to help plan intimate scenes and ensure the wellbeing of actors.Conversations about the role intimacy coordinators play have become more common in recent years. This summer, Aidan Turner criticised the lack of intimacy coordinators on past projects that he has been involved in.
Sex Education creator Laurie Nunn has opened up about cast departures from the show as the final season airs on Netflix.Actors to have departed the show ahead of its final season include Patricia Allison (Ola), Tanya Reynolds (Lily), Simone Ashley (a member of The Untouchables) and Rakhee Thakrar (Emily Sands).Speaking about some of the cast departures, Nunn explained that it was down to the character’s storylines reaching their natural conclusion.Speaking to LADbible, Nunn said: “Those storylines felt like they had just come to a really lovely ending in series three, and I felt like the characters of Lily and Ola just really felt like they ended in a really happy place.“Particularly because they’re a lesbian couple, I wanted them to not have any more pain or trauma, and just be left happy together. So that felt like a very organic place place to leave them.” The show’s final season picks up as Otis (Asa Butterfield) and Eric (Ncuti Gatwa) face setting up a new sex clinic at Cavendish Sixth Form College.New cast additions for the final season include Schitt’s Creek star Dan Levy, Thaddea Graham, Lisa McGrillis, Marie Reuther, Jodie Turner-Smith and Eshaan Akbar.Fans have also been reacting to the surprise addition of Jack Gleeson to the show, who played Joffrey in Game of Thrones.
Game of Thrones appeared in the new series of Sex Education.Gleeson played the evil Joffrey Baratheon in the hit television show before the character met his demise in season four.Eagle-eyed fans spotted Gleeson, who looks unrecognisable from his Thrones character, in the news season as Dodgy Mo, a friend of Sean, the brother of Maeve Wiley (Emma Mackey).One fan wrote of the appearance, “Joffrey, what are you doing here?” while another added, “what’s Joffrey doing in sex education?!” See more of the fan reaction here:You can see some more of the fan reaction to Gleeson’s appearance here:Joffrey, what are you doing here? HaHa
All good things must come to an end, and after a two-year wait, Netflix‘s “Sex Education” returns for its fourth and final season. It’s always bittersweet when a fan-favorite show wraps up, but in the case of a series as inclusive, intelligent, and big-hearted as this one, it’s an end particularly hard to take.
Ezra Furman has shared her new EP ‘Sex Education: Songs From Season Four’ which features tracks from the Netflix series’ final season.Furman has worked closely with the creative team on every season of the series to provide original songs for the show. She has returned one last time for the last season with three new tracks, ‘You Like Me’, ‘Tether’ and ‘Honeycomb’.
And the plot thickens??
the summer, “Barbie,” and he snagged the coveted role as the “Doctor Who’s” latest Doctor. Co-star Connor Swindells was also in the “Barbie” movie, as was Emma Mackey. Mackey was also in talks to be the next Lois Lane on the big screen – she ultimately lost the role to Rachel Brosnahan, but she snagged high-profile roles (she was in “Death on the Nile” and she played Emily Bronte in “Emily”).Now streaming, the fourth and final season of “Sex Education” showcases why this series was such a career-launcher.
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italy’s Fandango Sales has taken international distribution rights to quirky comedy “Volare” about the fear of flying that marks the directorial debut of actor Margherita Buy. Buy is known internationally for frequent roles in Nanni Moretti movies, most recently in “A Brighter Tomorrow” that launched from Cannes. Her smart concept movie is being lead-produced by Simone Gattoni for Kavac Film, the company founded by veteran auteur Marco Bellocchio.
K.J. Yossman SPOILER ALERT: This story discusses major plot developments in the podcast “Hooked on Freddie,” currently available on Wondery, as well as the real tale it’s based on. Has there ever been a better elevator pitch than “dolphin sex scandal”? On the face of it, Wondery’s new podcast “Hooked on Freddie” is about precisely that. But the six-part series goes deeper, delving beneath the sensational headlines to investigate how a scurrilous rumor in the early 1990s nearly came to ruin a man’s life.
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italy’s Indiana Production – which has just become part of pan-European studio Vuelta Group – is staying true to its roots with production kicking off this month on gender swap movie “Romeo is Juliet,” directed by quality comedy specialist Giovanni Veronesi, just as the company expands its horizons. This latest title in Indiana’s slate stars A-lister Sergio Castellitto and Pilar Fogliati (“Romantiche”) who plays an actress named Vittoria who after being brutally rejected by a cynical stage director when she auditions to play Juliet in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” decides to reinvent herself as a man to audition for Romeo and gets the part.
Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Vuelta Group, the rising Paris-based European film studio which recently launched with the high profile acquisitions of France’s Playtime, Germany’s SquareOne and Scandinavia’s Scanbox, is expanding its footprint in Italy and France. Spearheaded by media finance veterans (and childhood friends) Jerome Levy and David Atlan-Jackson, Vuelta has bought Indiana Production, a leading Italian company founded by Benedetto Habib and Marco Cohen, which had Giorgio Diritti’s “Lubo” playing in competition Venice and just revealed its big-budget Netflix series project “The Leopard” and Sky’s “Unwanted.” Vuelta has also taken a stake in France’s Pan (formerly called Pan-Europeenne), the well-established production and distribution banner headed by Nathalie Gastaldo, Philippe Godeau and Camille Gentet, whose credits include the hit franchises “Largo Winch” and “Legendaries.” Vuelta Group bowed last year with more $100 million provided by a U.S.
fentanyl and alcohol overdose. The Hamilton County coroner in Ohio confirmed it to the U.S. Sun on Monday.
Tim Ballard, the real-life founder and onetime CEO of Operation Underground Railroad who is portrayed by Jim Caviezel in the indie hit , was the subject of sexual misconduct allegations and a related investigation involving seven women, according to a story published by Vice.
Meghan Markle's lavish wardrobe during the Invictus Games got people talking and has been deemed as a "calculated move" to put Prince Harry into the spotlight, according to a royal expert.
Sex Education has discussed the show’s ending, warning that it won’t be “wrapped up completely perfectly”.The fourth and final season of the hit Netflix show will hit the streaming service next week (September 21). Show creator Laurie Nunn previously confirmed the fourth season would be the show’s last in July, describing it as the “right time to graduate”.The final season picks up as Otis (Asa Butterfield) and Eric (Ncuti Gatwa) face setting up a new sex clinic at Cavendish Sixth Form College.As shown in a new trailer shared this week, Otis is also struggling with the distance between him and Maeve (Emma Mackey), who is studying at the prestigious Wallace University in the US.Speaking to The Guardian in a new interview, Nunn said that she hopes the finale satisfies fans, but that it may still leave questions.“I’m no longer on social media – my baby already knows how to use the phone with his little thumbs, and it freaks me out.
The prison where Lucy Letby is thought to be serving her life sentence has been home to a number of deadly women. It has not been confirmed where Letby has been sent for her life-long sentence.
Anna Tingley Get ready with Alix Earle to start a podcast. The 22-year-old TikTok star will host a podcast called “Hot Mess With Alix Earle,” produced by Alex Cooper’s Unwell Network. In the weekly episodes, Earle will invite her fans to listen in on a detailed recap of her life.
Naman Ramachandran Sony Pictures’ faith-focused label Affirm Films and Monarch Media have set a release date and launched a trailer for Christmas musical film “Journey to Bethlehem.” The film marks the feature directorial debut of Adam Anders, who was a music producer on “Glee.” A retelling of the the story of Mary and Joseph and the birth of Jesus, the film is a live-action Christmas musical weaving classic Christmas melodies with humor, faith and new pop songs. The cast includes Fiona Palomo (“Outer Banks”) as Mary, Milo Manheim (“Prom Pact”) as Joseph, Antonio Banderas (“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”) as Herod, Stephanie Gil (“Fatima”), Rizwan Manji (“Schitt’s Creek”), Geno Segers (“Perfect Harmony”), Omid Djalili (“Gladiator”), Joel Smallbone and Lecrae.
Marta Balaga In Giorgio Diritti’s film “Lubo,” based on Mario Cavatore’s novel “Il seminatore,” Franz Rogowski seduces as Lubo, a Yenish traveling performer, father and husband, who has to join the Swiss army in 1939. He is one hell of a charmer, although his passion has dark undertones. “Our take is more playful, but the book put more emphasis on the fact that this man impregnated over 100 women in Zurich.