MipTV/Canneseries: Firebird Studios to Remake Korean Hit ‘Train,’ Newen Connect Takes Global Rights to ‘In the Shadows,’ Fox Entertainment Announces French, German Shows

When Jack Whitehall had his front door stolen in Fallowfield, he did what any self-respecting student would do. He taped a bin bag to the door frame and carried on as normal. Similarly, when a lightbulb went, he and his housemates just resigned themselves to that room being ‘just for the daytime’.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers struck back today, providing answers to the WGA’s talking points about the failed negotiations that led to the ongoing writers strike, which is now in its third day.

MBC Readies Arab ‘Million Dollar Island’

She may only be 17 years old, but Alabama Barker has already expertly learned her clap back skills from some of the very best!

EXCLUSIVE: Greenwich Entertainment has acquired North American rights to In the Company of Rose, a feature documentary about poet Rose Styron, widow of Sophie’s Choice novelist William Styron.

The Emmy winner looked like a goddess as she attended the iconic night.

. “As a result, a small number of roles will be eliminated on some teams. We will be supporting impacted employees through this transition and thank them for the work they have done on behalf of our customers.”The spokesperson noted that new roles will be added in areas for future growth. In addition to Amazon Studios and Prime Video, the tech giant has three other workforce cuts: One in November that impacted its Alexa unit, another in January that impacted 18,000 employees and another in March that impacted 9,000 employees.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director “The Flash” director Andy Muschietti recently told IGN that Michael Keaton was overcome with emotions on set when he first stepped into the Batcave, which the production design team created in full on the studio lot. The moment marked Keaton’s first time in the Batcave in nearly 30 years, as “The Flash” is his first time playing Batman/Bruce Wayne since 1992’s “Batman Returns.” “When [Keaton] arrived to the set, the Batcave was already finished and it was lit and everything,” Muschietti said. “He stayed like this [eyes wide] for a while. I didn’t want to interrupt him. I just wanted for him to take it in. Who knows what was going on there? But something was going on there.”

Ed Meza @edmezavar German broadcasters ZDF and ZDFneo are partnering with Berlin-based Pyjama Pictures to develop a high-end series about notorious scam artist Ruja Ignatova, also known as the Cryptoqueen and the most wanted woman on the planet. Tentatively titled “Take the Money and Run,” the six-part series will tell the story of Ignatova, who shot to fame in 2014 with the launch of OneCoin, which she described as a cryptocurrency for the masses that promised enormous profits. The Bulgarian-German Ignatova hyped the cryptocurrency at huge rallies and attracted millions buyers around the globe who invested billions of euros in OneCoin, believing claims that it would become the world’s biggest digital currency. Flush with cash, Ignatova threw lavish champagne parties and acquired luxury properties around the world. It was all a giant fraud, however.

DGA leaders have informed their members of their rights and responsibilities in the event of a writers strike against the studios.

Did anyone ask for a “White Men Can’t Jump” remake? Doubtful, but the ’90s classic gets the reboot treatment thanks to screenwriters Kenya Barris and Doug Hall. A property like this could be in worse hands, though.

Late last year, I forecast on these pages that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were well on the way to becoming the most hated-ever royal couple, inheriting with gusto that role from the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. So, I could but chortle this week when I saw Twitter hashtag "#WalmartWallace" trending in reference to Markle who has opted to forgo the biggest day of the life of her father-in-law, the king's May 6 coronation.

Ed Meza @edmezavar Warner Bros. Intl. Television Prod. (WBITVP) has appointed former Fremantle exec Harry Gamsu as new VP, creative, for format, development and sales. He will report to Andrew Zein, SVP creative, for format development and sales and oversee relations between WBITVP’s international division and the WB’s U.S. TV production units Warner Horizon, Telepictures and Shed. Gamsu will also evaluate formats in WB’s catalogue for international exploitation and format sales to Canada. He succeeds Adam Steinman, who ankled WBITVP earlier this year. In his previous role as VP of non-scripted content acquisitions at Fremantle, Gamsu managed the U.S. content acquisition team and working on factual and entertainment series.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Edward James Olmos, his son Michael Olmos and Morris Ruskin’s MoJo Global Arts have pacted with Ecuador’s 2bLatam to make an English-language premium TV version of the YouTube phenomenon, “Mortal Glitch.” This is the first project in English for the Ecuadorian company as it seeks to expand its global reach. To date, “Mortal Glitch” has been the only fiction series produced in Latin America for YouTube Premium. The web series has notched up to 37 million views, with 13.3 million views in Mexico, 5.1 million views in Colombia and 4.1 million views in Argentina. Produced by 2bLatam’s production arm 2bOriginals, the web series was written and directed by Christian Moya, a partner at 2bLatam and co-founder of 2bLatam’s Enchufe.tv, the leading Spanish-language comedy channel.

It's hard to overstate just how much Loreen changed the Eurovision Song Contest when she won in 2012 with Euphoria. 

Ed Meza @edmezavar Studiocanal has sold two new thrillers from Benelux to international buyers at MipTV in Cannes. The eight-part crime thriller “1985,” produced by Eyeworks for Belgian public broadcasters VRT and RTBF, follows three friends as they move to Brussels and get caught up in the horrifying events of Belgium’s most notorious unsolved crime spree that shocked a generation and left a scar on the entire country. The series went to SBS Australia; Filmin for Portugal and Spain; Canal+ for France, Czech Republic and Slovakia; TG4 in Ireland; and Free TV in Israel.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Netflix has swooped on “Vortex,” the event drama-fantasy series which recently launched on France Televisions and garnered stellar ratings. The limited series will be available on Netflix in 190 countries starting June 2. The mini-series was produced by Quad Drama, the banner behind “Women at War” and “The Bonfire of Destiny” — a pair of highly successful shows which were jointly commissioned by Netflix and TF1. Set in 2025, the show stars Sisley as Ludovic, the police captain in the French city of Brest who lost the love of his life, Melanie, 27 years prior in a tragic accident. 

Ed Meza @edmezavar Austrian television is awash with crime, mystery and historical drama, and the country’s biggest hits and new productions are heading to MipTV. Among this year’s most anticipated titles is the upcoming “Kafka,” starring Swiss actor Joel Basman (“KaDeWe,” “The Awakening of Motti Wolkenbruch”) as the famed Bohemian writer. The six-part series is currently shooting in Vienna and Salzburg and is set to premiere on Austrian pubcaster ORF and Germany’s ARD early next year, commemorating the 100th anniversary of Franz Kafka’s death. “Kafka” is produced by ARD, ORF and John Lueftner and David Schalko’s Vienna-based Superfilm. Schalko is directing and co-writing the series with bestselling author and screenplay writer Daniel Kehlmann (“Measuring the World”), based on the Kafka biography by Reiner Stach, who is alsoadvising the production.

ITVX Hits One Billion Streams After Five Months