Ed Meza Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Ed Meza @edmezavar The 18th Zurich Film Festival kicks off Sept. 22 with a muscular lineup that includes some of the year’s most anticipated international pics while also putting the spotlight on Swiss and German-language cinema. In addition to a strong selection of U.S. films, including Oscar-winning writer-director Florian Zeller’s “The Son” and Neil Jordan’s “Marlowe,” Zurich is also honoring Sony Pictures Classics’ Michael Barker and Tom Bernard for their contribution to cinema. “We are very proud that this year about one-fourth of our program are world or European premieres, which – especially when it comes to American films – are quite hard to get because there’s a lot of competition,” says ZFF artistic director Christian Jungen.

Ed Meza @edmezavar Director Edward Berger and producer Malte Grunert are set to follow up their new adaption of Erich Maria Remarque’s harrowing war novel “All Quiet on the Western Front” with a much more upbeat work, a remake of the rollicking 1967 French-Italian pic “The Last Adventure,” which starred Alain Delon, Lino Ventura and Joanna Shimkus. Grunert and Berger had been working on the remake and were already in development when “All Quiet on the Western Front,” which makes its world premiere at the Toronto fest Sept. 12, came along. They are now planning to return to the project after Berger finishes his next pic, the Vatican-set thriller “Conclave,” based on the Robert Harris novel and set to star Ralph Fiennes, John Lithgow, Stanley Tucci and Isabella Rossellini. Berger goes into prep on “Conclave” in October in Rome, with production scheduled to start in January.

Ed Meza @edmezavar Mediatoon Distribution has seen a slew of sales for a number of new and upcoming animated series, including a new adaptation of a beloved property. The company unveiled three new titles at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous TV market in Biarritz this week, two of which have already found early buyers. “Nicholas’ Fantastic Summer” follows the mischievous adventures of a boy and his friends as they get the most out of their summer beach holiday. Switzerland’s RTS, MTVA in Hungary and Poland’s TV Puls have already acquired the show, an adaptation of the bestselling books by late writer René Goscinny and cartoonist Jean-Jacques Sempé (who died Aug. 11). It was produced by Media Valley (“Zoom the White Dolphin”) for M6/Gulli, Warner Bros. Discovery’s Boing; and Belgian broadcasters RTBF and VRT.

Ed Meza @edmezavar The natural world, wildlife, the legacy of war and the beauty of culture has proven to be in big demand for Paris-based documentary distributor Terranoa. Attending this year’s Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Biarritz, the company presented a diverse lineup that ranged from history and ancient civilizations to science, wildlife, arts, culture and current affairs. Among its popular new titles is “Top of the Rocks,” produced by Haut et Court Doc with Franco-German pubcaster Arte and French channel Ushuaïa. The ambitious 4K, five-part series takes viewers around the world to examine how stones – specifically granite, limestone, sandstone, basalt and clay – have not only shaped the planet but also inspired human civilizations.

Ed Meza @edmezavar Hard-hitting documentaries centering on some of the world’s most critical geopolitical flashpoints have proved hot sellers for Java Films. The Paris and London-based distributor closed a number of deals this week at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous TV market in Biarritz for provocative works that examine life in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian city of Gaza, the causes of the Ukraine war, and rising tensions between the U.S. and China over the vital supply of semiconductors. Chiara Avesani and Matteo Delbò’s “Erasmus in Gaza” follows Riccardo, an Italian final-year medical student who wants to be a trauma surgeon and travels to war-torn Gaza on an Erasmus exchange program in order to receive battlefield training and write his thesis on explosive bullet wounds. The young medic is not prepared for the brutality of war, however.

Ed Meza @edmezavar French animation group Xilam continues to book sales of hit toon series while enticing buyers with new offshoots of flagship properties. Xilam’s most popular shows remain “Oggy and the Cockroaches,” about a lazy cat who is constantly pestered by three roaches, and “Zig & Sharko,” which follow the adversarial relationship between a ravenous brown hyena and a good-natured great white shark. The company’s highlights at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous TV market in Biarritz include two new “Oggy” shows. “’Oggy’ has been on the market for almost 25 years,” explains Morgann Favennec, Xilam’s executive vice president of distribution. “It’s been broadcast everywhere. It’s still huge in India, for instance, which is why we will be launching a new Oggy called ‘Oggy and the Cockroaches: Next Generation,’ introducing a new character, which is an Indian elephant.”

Ed Meza @edmezavar Paris-based documentary distributor Lucky You is finding plenty of international buyers for its wide-ranging titles that span history, travel, wildlife and science. Part of French production group Bonne Pioche, Lucky You has seen a slew of recent sales for hit titles like “Science of Emotions,” which examines the impact emotions have not only on people’s well-being but also their entire life. Commissioned by French broadcaster Planète Plus, the doc sold across Europe and North America, including to ZDF in Germany, RAI in Italy and Curiosity Stream in the U.S. Likewise commissioned by Planète Plus, “Science & Sports” looks at the science, engineering and technology that are helping athletes maximize their performance. A Bonne Pioche title co-produced with Japan’s NHK, it likewise sold throughout Europe and beyond, including sales to the BBC in the U.K., Belgium’s RTBF and Canadian channel Ici Explora in addition to deals in China, Western Asia, Switzerland, Czech Republic and Sweden.

Ed Meza @edmezavar Isabelle Adjani is re-teaming with “The King’s Favorite” director Josée Dayan on the six-part mystery thriller “Belphégor.” The acclaimed actress stars as the enigmatic 16th-century noblewoman and courtier Diane de Poitiers in “The King’s Favorite,” which premiered at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous on Monday. The €7.6 million ($7.5 million), four-part series, produced by Dayan’s Passion Films and sold internationally by France TV Distribution, examines de Poitiers’ complicated relationship with the young French king, Henry II (played by Hugo Becker), that lasted more than two decades. The large ensemble cast also includes Samuel Labarthe, Virginie Ledoyen and Gérard Depardieu.

Ed Meza @edmezavar “Musk vs Bezos: The New Star Wars,” about the space race between the two richest men in the world, is attracting plenty of attention from broadcasters in Europe, where new TV documentary has secured multiple sales. Commissioned by France 5 from French documentary production shingle Magneto, “Musk vs Bezos” examines the intense competition between Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezo’s Blue Origin as they vie for the top spot in the U.S.’s burgeoning space travel business and the potential consequences for the world if the two billionaires develop the capacity to monopolize all future terrestrial communications. “When Musk first tried to buy a Russian rocket back in 2001, the chief engineer of the Russian Space Agency thought it was a joke,” Java Films notes. “By 2008 SpaceX had a contract with NASA to supply flights to the International Space Station.”

Ed Meza @edmezavar Worldwide sales of French TV content set an all-time record last year despite severe challenges caused by the continued pandemic, according to the annual report on domestic programming exports by the National Center for Cinema and the Moving Image (CNC) and film and TV promotional org Unifrance. The COVID-19 crisis, the report notes, had many ramifications on international distribution of TV content that continued to be felt in 2021, including the absence and then gradual recovery of physical markets; an influx of projects in post-production; delays in the delivery of programs and difficulties in supplying new shows; and economic uncertainties among broadcasters.

Ed Meza @edmezavar France TV Distribution is ratcheting up global sales for the hit Gallic crime series “Bright Minds,” with deals ranging from Japan to the U.S., Canada and Latin America. In its third season, the show, which airs on France 2, follows a police detective who finds a brilliant partner in a young autistic woman with encyclopedic knowledge of criminal investigations who works in the police records bureau. Together, they realize their complementary skills are the key to solving cases. France TV Distribution, which is presenting its current lineup this week at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous market in Biarritz, sold the show to Japanese public broadcaster NHK, which has been airing it since July.

Ed Meza @edmezavar The French TV industry’s Rendez-Vous market is again taking place in the picturesque seaside town of Biarritz, bowing Sept. 4 with a showcase of this year’s top TV content after being forced online the past two years due to the pandemic. This year also marks the event’s relaunch under the Unifrance banner following the merger last year of the film and TV promotional organization and TV France International, the Rendez-Vous’ previous organizer. With more and more directors and actors moving increasingly from film to television, Unifrance’s new role is a natural evolution that reflects that development, said Unifrance vice president Hervé Michel.

Ed Meza @edmezavar U.S. streaming service Topic is expanding its roster of French content with such recent acquisitions as the Arte fantasy-thriller miniseries “The Rope,” picked up from Wild Bunch TV, and Season 2 of political satire “Parliament,” sold internationally by France TV Distribution. Launched by First Look Media in 2019, Topic specializes in crime and thrillers, including top Nordic shows like “The Killing,” “The Bridge,” “Arctic Circle” and “The Bridge”-inspired German thriller “Pagan Peak.” Jennifer Liang, Topic’s vice president of programming strategy, acquisitions and sales, is attending this year’s Unifrance Rendez-Vous TV programming market in Biarritz for the first time and on the lookout for titles that fit the niche streamer’s high standards.

Ed Meza @edmezavar Coming off a year of major international growth, Paris-based animation giant Cyber Group Studios is presenting a wide-ranging lineup of new and returning shows at this year’s Unifrance Rendez-Vous in the French seaside town of Biarritz. Among Cyber Group’s current high-profile titles is the new super-powered kid comedy series “50/50 Heroes,” which has sold to ITV in the U.K. and Discovery in Latin America. Commissioned by France Televisions and Disney, “50/50 Heroes” follows the high jinks of Mo and Sam, a half-brother and sister duo, aged 11 and 9, who share super powers. Cyber Group has been expanding its global operations over the past year with a number of major acquisitions, partnerships and joint ventures that have resulted in a number of new projects.

Ed Meza @edmezavarIn revisiting the tale of fugitive lovers on the run in California’s High Desert, the makers of “The Last Manhunt” sought to correct a story that has remained very much alive for the indigenous Chemehuevi people of the region for more than 100 years.Produced by Jason Momoa’s On the Roam and directed by Christian Camargo from a script by Thomas Pa’a Sibbett, “The Last Manhunt” opens this year’s inaugural Pioneertown International Film Festival, which takes place May 27-29. The historic movie-set town, home to the popular Pappy & Harriet’s music club, is located near the actual site of the events that transpired in 1909 in and around Twentynine Palms and Joshua Tree National Park.

Ed Meza @edmezavarWriter-director Tinna Hrafnsdóttir’s critically acclaimed Icelandic psychological-mystery drama “Quake” has sold to Juno Films for North America and the U.K. as well as to Njuta Films for Sweden.British-French production, distribution and sales company Alief is presenting the film at the upcoming Cannes Marché du Film.Anita Briem (“Beautiful Beings,” “Journey to the Center of the Earth”) stars as Saga, a single mother fighting to keep her young son while trying to piece together her life after losing her memory.

Ed Meza @edmezavarBlood Window, the Latin American genre film platform, returns to the Cannes Film Market this year with a selection of works in progress and completed films, including titles from Brazil and Mexico.Part of Ventana Sur’s genre industry platform, this year’s Blood Window Showcase screens Brazilian director Sabrina Greve’s film debut — still a work in progress — “The Basement of Scream Street” (“O porão da rua do grito”). The pic won Blood Window’s best work-in-progress competition at Ventana Sur last year, an honor that also granted it a world premiere at this year’s Sitges Film Festival in Spain.“The Basement of Scream Street” centers on siblings Jonas and Rebeca, who, haunted by guilt over their parents’ death, have developed an obsessive dependency on each other as they care for their grandmother and a child trapped in the basement.

Ed Meza @edmezavarInternational mobile advertising and digital media company Adsmovil is launching Nuestra.TV, an ad-supported video on-demand service targeting Hispanic audiences in the U.S.Based in Miami, Nuestra.TV comprises more than 40 channels and over 15,000 hours of content “reflecting the full breadth and diversity of the Hispanic population,” the company said. The downloadable content library includes premiere productions in both English and Spanish from the U.S., Latin America and Spain as well as original content from award-winning creators for bilingual and bicultural consumers.Unveiled by Adsmovil on Thursday at the the IAB NewFronts digital content virtual event, the service also offers educational programming, gaming, podcasts, user-generated content, news and music events.

Ed Meza @edmezavarIn his more than three decades at Constantin Film, Martin Moszkowicz has overseen the production of hundreds of films, including such box office successes as “Downfall,” “The Baader Meinhof Complex,” the hugely popular “Fack Ju Go­ehte” films and the hit “Resident Evil” franchise.This year’s CinemaCon is honoring Constantin’s longtime CEO for his work and continuing success at the global box office.Speaking to Variety, Moszkowicz looks back at his career and discusses Constantin’s current challenges, its diverse lineup, new productions and expanding film and television activities.Moszkowicz has headed Germany’s most successful production and distribution group since 2014. While Germany remains its main market, Constantin has had a global outlook since its beginnings, and it was due in part to Moszkowicz’s international experience that he landed his first job at the company.

Ed Meza @edmezavarPicture Tree International (PTI) has acquired Constantin Film’s hit comedy film series “Bavarian Rhapsody,” about a laid-back cop in a small town in southern Germany.The eight-part movie series, which PTI is presenting at the MipTV mart in Cannes this week, includes the latest installment, “Guglhupf Squadron,” which Constantin is releasing in theaters in August. PTI will screen a trailer reel of the series and part seven in the franchise, last year’s “Kaiserschmarrn Drama.”Based on Rita Falk’s bestselling book series that also celebrates Bavarian cuisine, the movie franchise began in 2013 with “Sweet Buns Blues” and also comprises 2014’s “Winterpotato Dumplings”; “Porkhead Al Dente” (2016); “Wheatnoodles Affair” (2017); “Sauerkraut Coma” (2018); and the sixth installment, “Leberkäs Junkie” (2019).

Ed Meza @edmezavarFilmax has acquired the international rights to Spanish helmer Hector Claramunt’s escape room comedy, “You Lie You Die.”The pic is based on Claramunt and Joel Joan’s hit stage play “Escape Room,” which has been seen by more than 200,000 people over the course of four seasons. Joen and Claramunt also penned the film’s script.Described as a “madcap” laffer, “You Lie You Die” follows two couples whose plans to have a fun night out at an escape room go south.

Ed Meza @edmezavarSpanish distributors, who have enjoyed a strong track record selling remake rights to local pics, have received a major boost this year with the Malaga Festival Industry Zone’s (MAFIZ) inaugural Remake Day event on Thursday.Leading film sales companies, among them Cinema Republic, Latido Films, Filmax and Feel Content, presented showcases of films considered particularly adaptable to foreign markets. Not surprisingly, comedies and genre pics made up most of the selections.David Castellanos’ Cinema Republic offered one strong example with Borja Cobeaga’s  hit 2009 romantic comedy “Pagafantas,” which has over the years sold to Germany, Italy and Mexico.Cinema Republic also touted Icíar Bollaín’s “Rosa’s Wedding” (“La Boda de Rosa”), about a woman in her mid-40s who decides to finally take charge of her life and fulfill her dream of starting a business.

Ed Meza @edmezavarDespite expectations to the contrary, the share of Europe’s audiovisual market controlled by U.S. players grew by only four percentage points from 1996 to 2020, reaching 31%, according to the European Audiovisual Observatory’s 2022 Key Trends report.It’s one of a number of surprising results identified by the study, which the Observatory presented on Thursday at a special event at Series Mania in Lille, France.When excluding European public broadcasting rivals, the share held by U.S.-owned companies climbs to 44%, with heavyweights Sky, Netflix, Amazon and Dazn accounting for two-thirds of that figure.Looking specifically at all SVOD subscriptions in Europe, however, Netflix, Amazon, Apple and Disney dominate, accounting for 72% in 2020, with 40 other players making up the remaining 28%.

Ed Meza @edmezavarFilmax has acquired international rights to Malaga Festival screener “Can’t Live Without You,” an erotic thriller from director Chus Gutierrez (“Return to Hansala”).A Spanish-Mexican co-production, the pic features huge Mexican stars Maite Perroni and Mauricio Ochmann as well as Spanish actors Alfonso Bassave (“I Love You, Stupid”) and Pedro Casablanc.The pic follows David, a successful businessman who who lives a peaceful life with his boyfriend, Alex, an attractive gym instructor. Their world turns upside down, however, when David’s sister Blanca comes back into his life.

Ed Meza @edmezavarWith its focus on Costa Rica, the Málaga Festival Industry Zone (MAFIZ) is showcasing the central American country’s bourgeoning film sector and talent with presentations of feature films, works in progress, projects in development and the country’s scenic locations and support opportunties.Costa Rican filmmakers and their projects are participating in MAFIZ’s various sections, including the Malaga Festival Fund & Co-Production Event (MAFF); Málaga Work in Progress; Málaga Talent and Hack Málaga.Nicole Chi’s documentary “Guián” and Daniel Ross Mix’s “El Zoológico de la Milla 70” (“70 Mile Zoo”) are the two Costa Rican projects taking part in the Work in Progress section. In “Guián,” Chi chronicles her own personal journey of discovery as she travels to China following the death of her grandmother Guián.

Ed Meza @edmezavarSpanish director Ángeles Reiné celebrates family, neighborhood friendships and soccer in her a feel-good comedy “Héroes de Barrio” (“Football Heroes of the Block”).The film, Reiné’s sophomore feature following 2019’s “Salir del ropero” (“So My Grandma’s a Lesbian!”), which screens at the Malaga Festival, follows financially-strapped Seville bar owner Luis, who seeks to impress his young daughter Paula by pretending to be pals with Joaquin, the beloved and charismatic real-life captain of the Real Betis football club. At the same time, he’s angling to get back together with Paula’s mom, the love of his life, who now lives with her new and much wealthier boyfriend.

Ed Meza @edmezavarBarcelona-based Filmax has picked up international rights to “We Won’t Kill Each Other With Guns,” by Spanish director Maria Ripoll (“Live Twice, Love Once”).Described as a generational tale, the film tells the story of a group of friends in their thirties who get together after years of not seeing each other. Ingrid Garcia-Jonsson (“Beautiful Youth”) leads a cast that also includes Elena Martin (“Julia Ist”), Lorena Lopez, Joe Manjon (“The August Virgin”) and Carlos Troya.While the village is getting ready for its annual fest, Blanca (Garcia-Jonsson) is organizing a get-together with all her old friends, whom she hasn’t seen in years.

Ed Meza @edmezavarIn his new documentary, “The Kaiser of Atlantis,” Argentine director Sebastián Alfie tells the story of composer Viktor Ullmann’s chamber opera, about a tyrant bent on waging endless war – written in 1943 in the Nazi concentration camp of Theresienstadt (Terezín) – and, more than 70 years later, a new production of the work in Madrid.Alfie plans to follow up “The Kaiser of Atlantis” — which premieres at the Malaga Festival — with a biopic about Ullmann and the two years he spent imprisoned in Terezín.The director first saw the opera by chance in 2006 at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. “When I read in the playbill that it had been written in a concentration camp, questions began to arise that are the germ of the documentary.

Ed Meza @edmezavarIn their new Spanish series “Días Mejores,” showrunners Adolfo Valor and Cristóbal Garrido explore the difficulties of overcoming the loss of a loved one and the challenges of being left a single parent.They were inspired by the story of an acquaintance who, after the death of her partner, sought help in a grief therapy group. Hearing about the intense dynamics of the group and the participants’ struggles to move forward, Valor and Garrido concluded that it would make for riveting TV.“Días Mejores,” which translates to “Better Days,” premieres in the Malaga Festival’s ever more important Pantalla TV sidebar.The dramedy follows Sara (“Velvet” star Marta Hazas), a mother who suddenly finds herself a widow and unable to comfort her troubled young son.

Ed Meza @edmezavarIn his latest work, which was being singled out for praise on the first day of Malaga’s Spanish Screenings, Imanol Uribe recounts the fateful story of Lucia Cerna, the only witness to the 1989 massacre in El Salvador of six Jesuit priests and two other people by a U.S.-trained death squad at a university residence in San Salvador.“What Lucia Saw” (“Llegaron de Noche”) focuses on the story of Lucia and her husband Jorge, who, with the help of church officials and Spanish and French diplomats, are spirited out of the country to Miami, where they hope to find safe haven. Once in the U.S., however, they fall into the clutches of the FBI and a Salvadoran colonel, who interrogate the couple in an effort to discredit Lucia’s testimony.