‘Parallèles’ Maker Empreinte Poaches Cinétévé’s Top Producer Thomas Saignes (EXCLUSIVE)

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorApple is looking for more streaming kicks from sports.The tech giant has struck a ten-year rights pact with Major League Soccer, in a deal that will make Apple TV app the exclusive place to see every single live MLS match beginning in 2023. The new rights deal will tie Apple to soccer until 2032, and is the second recent sports deal it has made in recent months, after unveiling a pact in April to show Friday-night games from Major League Baseball.“For the first time in the history of sports, fans will be able to access everything from a major professional sports league in one place,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of services, in a statement.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentKinology (“Annette”) has closed a raft of deals on two highlights from its slate, “Argonuts,” an animated feature produced by TAT Productions, the banner behind “The Jungle Bunch,” and Emmanuel Mouret’s “Diary of a Fleeting Affair” which premiered at Cannes. A Pixar/Dreamworks-style family film, “Argonuts” is a comedy adventure set in a magical yet hostile world of Greek mythology. It follows the journey of Pathie, a young, smart and daring mouse, and her mate Sam who set off to fight the most bizarre and dangerous creatures in Ancient Greece, including Poseidon himself.“Argonuts” reunites “The Jungle Bunch” director, David Alaux, and producer, Jean-François Tosti at TAT Productions.

Manori Ravindran International EditorKelvin Redvers, the Indigenous Canadian producer who fought the Cannes Film Festival dress code that prevented him from wearing moccasins on its red carpet, is launching a production company, Variety can reveal.Redvers’ new outfit is called Indigifilm, and will focus on developing and producing scripted and unscripted projects in collaboration with international and Canadian creatives.IndigiFilm has already completed filming on its first feature, “Cold Road,” in partnership with Bell Media’s streaming platform Crave. The thriller was written and directed by Redvers — who is part of the Deninu Kųę́ First Nation of the Northwest Territories — and revolves around an Indigenous woman’s harrowing road trip to be with her dying mother in a remote northern First Nation.

Lucy Mecklenburgh and Ryan Thomas recently headed to London for a romantic date night following the birth of their baby daughter last month. The former The Only Way is Essex star, 30, enjoyed a night out with her fiancé Ryan ahead of his 38th birthday, which falls on 10 June.

EXCLUSIVE: Universal International Studios’ SVP/Head of UK Creative Thomas Daley is leaving the company after two years, we’ve learned.

Shirley Halperin Executive Editor, MusicSpotify has revealed its performance and panel lineup for this year’s Cannes Lions Festival, taking place Monday, June 20 to Thursday, June 23.Back for an encore is Spotify Beach, which will make its home on the Croisette daily from dusk till dawn.Performances take place each night and will feature Kendrick Lamar, DJ Pee .Wee, aka Anderson .Paak, Kaytranada, the Black Keys and Post Malone, plus an as-yet-unannounced artist.DJ Henrie, the co-host of the Spotify Original Who We Be podcast, will be spinning as Spotify’s ‘House DJ’ throughout the week.Elsewhere on Spotify’s Lions agenda, founder and CEO Daniel Ek will sit for a talk on the future of media, creators and fandom, moderated by Sara Fischer of Axios.

New research shows almost a third of Netflix’s European content now hails from the continent, as the effects of quota regulations and its push into local original content kick in. An Ampere Analysis study suggests the streamer is at or above the 30% European content in “almost all” European markets, though the figure is slightly below this mark in the UK, Ireland and France.

“Top Gun: Maverick.”Revealing Cruise “really didn’t want to” make a sequel to the hit 1986 blockbuster, Kosinski met with the actor in Paris where he had just half an hour to pitch the project.“So I read the script, I had some ideas, and Jerry [Bruckheimer] liked those ideas. He said, ‘You know what, you gotta go pitch this to Tom directly,'” Kosinski told Polygon.“We flew to Paris, where Tom was shooting Mission: Impossible, we got about a half-hour of his time between setups.”“And I basically had 30 minutes to pitch this film, which I didn’t realize when we were flying over.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentIn the second big prize announcement by a Directors’ Fortnight partner, “The Mountain” (“La Montagne”), from emerging French auteur Thomas Salvador, has won the SACD Prize, awarded by France’s Writers’ Guild for the best French-language movie in the section.The second feature of the French actor-director after 2017’s promising “Vincent,” selected for San Sebastian’s prestige New Directors section, ”The Mountain” is sold internationally by Le Pacte which will also handle distribution in France.From a screenplay written by Salvador and Naila Guiguet, which was selected for Critics’ Weeks’ Next Steps 2020, “The Mountain” turns on Pierre, 40, played by Salvador, who makes a sales pitch for his company’s robotic arm in Chamonix, the capital of the French Alps. When his colleagues return to Paris, he stays on, pitching a tent just below the Aiguille du Midi cable car station, a spectacular pinnacle at 12,600 feet, in the lap of Mont Blanc.

Endemol Shine Finland Hires ‘The Woodcutter Story’ Line Producer Paria Eskandari

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent“The Three Musketeers,” Pathé Films’s $75-million two-part adventure epic saga based on Alexandre Dumas’s masterpiece, has been bought in major international territories rolling off a busy Cannes market. Pathé unveiled a sprawling 15-minute promoreel for both “The Three Musketeers” – D’Artagnan” and “The Three Musketeers – Milady” at Cannes Marché du Film. Both movies are directed by Martin Bourboulon and boast a star-studded cast, including Vincent Cassel, Eva Green, Vicky Krieps, Romain Duris, Pio Marmaï, François Civil, Lyna Khoudri and Louis Garrel.

Thomas Markle, Meghan Markle’s father, has been hospitalized.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent“CODA” producer Philippe Rousselet’s next movie “Maestro” has been sold to major territories by Orange Studio which hosted a market screening at Cannes. “Maestro” is adapted from Joseph Cesar’s Oscar-nominated, Cannes-prizewinning Israeli film “Footnote.” The movie is directed by Bruno Chiche and stars Yvan Attal, Pierre Arditi, Miou-Miou and Pascale Arbillot.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentGaumont has locked major territory deals on “Father & Soldier,” Mathieu Vadepied’s WWI action-drama about headlined by “Lupin” star Omar Sy. The movie world premiered on opening night of Cannes’ Un Certain Regard.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentREinvent Intl. Sales has scored sales across its slate, including Alex Herron’s horror film “Leave” and Sanna Lenken’s “Comedy Queen.”“Comedy Queen,” which world-premiered at Berlin and won the Crystal Bear in the Generation section, has sold to Benelux (In the Air), France (Les Films Du Preau), Spain (Yoda Films), Poland (Vivarto), Hungary (ADS Service), Lithuania (Scanorama) and the former Yugoslavia (Fivia).“Comedy Queen” follows Sasha, a 13-year-old girl who dreams of becoming a stand-up comedian.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentOscar-winning producer and activist Marion Cotillard is joining forces with filmmaker Cyril Dion and producer Magali Payen to launch Newtopia, a production company which will aim at delivering movies, series and shorts with socially relevant themes. The Paris-based company’s first slate of ambitious projects include Dion’s geopolitical thriller “Le grand vertige,” and “Francoise,” a prestige English-language mini-series about the flamboyant life of Françoise d’Eaubonne, a leading feminist writer and activist who created the concept of ecofeminism.