Love Is Blind is officially coming to the UK. The Netflix UK Twitter account has in the past hour posted a tweet stating “Big News: Love is Blind is coming to the UK” with a link to apply to the show. Married at First Sight indie CPL Productions will produce the UK version. Produced by Kinetic Content, the U.S. version of Love is Blind has been hugely successful across three seasons and 40 episodes. A Brazilian adaptation and Japanese adaptation have already aired. The show involves 15 men and 15 women from the same area hoping to find love who meet in purpose-built “pods” where they can’t see each other. They talk during several dates and then decide whether they want to propose marriage. From there, the couple can meet in person if a marriage proposal is accepted, and the series follows their life as they move in together and prepare to wed. The UK version would follow similar Netflix reality hits that originated in the nation such as The Circle and … [Read more...] about ‘Love Is Blind’ UK Version Confirmed By Netflix From ‘Married At First Sight’ Producer CPL Productions
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BFI Sets $16m Cash Award To Fund New UK-Wide Film Education Strategy
The BFI today announced that it will hand out $16m (£14m) of National Lottery ‘good cause’ funding over three years to enhance film education for 5-18 year-olds across the UK. The cash award will be given to two UK-wide partners to deliver three targeted initiatives: BFI National Lottery Teaching with Film, BFI National Lottery Young Creatives, and BFI National Lottery Careers and Progression. Into Film, receiving $15m (£12.4m) over three years will work across all three programs, and National Saturday Club will receive $1.8 (£1.5m) for the same period to collaborate with Into Film to deliver Young Creatives. The BFI has said the $6m (£5m) award for Teaching with Film will result in a change of strategic focus for Into Film, the film education charity, seeing it prioritize introducing film education as a learning tool to be utilized across the entire school curriculum. Meanwhile, the $7m (£6m) Careers and Progression program will aim to provide and bolster the access … [Read more...] about BFI Sets $16m Cash Award To Fund New UK-Wide Film Education Strategy
Microsoft Activision Deal Could Bring Harm To UK Gaming Community, Rules Regulator
Microsoft ’s proposed $69B acquisition of Activision could bring harm to the UK’s 45M-strong gaming community, the nation’s competition body has ruled. In a provisional finding delivered in the past hour, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said that Microsoft “buying one of the world’s most important game publishers would reinforce [its] strong position and substantially reduce the competition that Microsoft would otherwise face in the cloud gaming market in the UK.” Both companies can respond to the ruling, which will conclude in April. Microsoft already accounts for an estimated 60% to 70% of global cloud gaming services, said the ruling, and corners the market in other ways via its ownership of Xbox, Windows and Azure. A small number of Activision’s flagship games such as Call of Duty play an important role in driving competition between consoles, added the CMA, which said Xbox and Playstation’s competition would “weaken competition” and “in turn … [Read more...] about Microsoft Activision Deal Could Bring Harm To UK Gaming Community, Rules Regulator
Eugene Lee Dies: Longtime ‘SNL’ Production Designer, Tony-Winning Broadway Scenic Designer Was 83
Eugene Lee , the Emmy-winning production designer for Saturday Night Live since 1975 and a multiple Tony Award-winner for such Broadway hits as Wicked, Sweeney Todd and Candide, died yesterday in Providence, Rhode Island. He was 83. Additional information was not immediately available. As this production designer of SNL since the year of its debut, Lee was the longest-serving members of the NBC show’s production staff. He also served as production designer for T he Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon from 2014-2018 and numerous SNL specials. Among the numerous Broadway production for which Lee were Sweeney Todd in 1979, Gilda Radner – Live From New York (1979), Merrily We Roll Along (1981), Seussical (2001), Wicked (2003), A Streetcar Named Desire (2012), Glengarry Glen Ross (2012), and, most recently, Amazing Grac e (2015). Lee was also instrumental in founding Trinity Rep in Providence, and remained its resident set designer until his … [Read more...] about Eugene Lee Dies: Longtime ‘SNL’ Production Designer, Tony-Winning Broadway Scenic Designer Was 83
EFM Hot Package: Steve Coogan Stars In Peter Cattaneo-Helmed ‘The Penguin Lessons’
EXCLUSIVE : Steve Coogan is set to star in The Penguin Lessons , with The Full Monty ’s Peter Cattaneo to direct the Jeff Pope -scripted adaptation of the Tom Michell nonfiction bestseller. The management/production company 42 partners Rory Aitken and Ben Pugh will produce alongside Robert Walak. Rocket Science is handling international sales and will introduce the film at the European Film Market , with CAA Media Finance repping U.S. distribution rights. The Penguin Lessons is the true story of a disillusioned Englishman who went to work in a school in Argentina in 1976. Expecting an easy ride, he discovered instead a complicated and divided nation – and a class of practically unteachable young boys. When he finds a small penguin washed up on an oil-slicked beach, his life is turned upside down – and the penguin becomes not only a valued friend, but also a teacher of life’s most important lessons, for Tom, the boys and many others. “We were captivated by … [Read more...] about EFM Hot Package: Steve Coogan Stars In Peter Cattaneo-Helmed ‘The Penguin Lessons’
Mark Cousins’ Alfred Hitchcock Documentary Gets North American Deal
EXCLUSIVE : Cohen Media Group has acquired all North American distribution rights to filmmaker Mark Cousins ’ Alfred Hitchcock doc My Name Is Alfred Hitchcock . The film premiered at Telluride and examines the Psycho and Vertigo director’s vast body of work, exploring his techniques, themes and obsessions. The plan is for a theatrical release later this year. Cousins, who utilizes actor and impressionist Alistair McGowan to portray Hitch in voiceover, connects the stylistic dots running through the director’s 50-plus films, from revered classics like North by Northwest, Psycho and Rear Window to less frequently discussed but intriguing works such as The Paradine Case, Sabotage and more, stretching all the way back to his silent films. The deal, announced by Cohen Media Group Chairman and CEO Charles S. Cohen, was negotiated by CMG Senior Vice President Robert Aaronson and Cleo Veger, Head Sales at London-based film sales company Dogwoof. Among … [Read more...] about Mark Cousins’ Alfred Hitchcock Documentary Gets North American Deal
Ralph Fiennes’ ‘Four Quartets’ Gets North American Distribution Deal Ahead Of Stateside Bow At Santa Barbara
EXCLUSIVE : Kino Lorber has acquired all North American distribution rights to Four Quartets , the film version of the Ralph Fiennes -starring stage adaptation of T.S. Eliot’s seminal poem. Directed by Sophie Fiennes, the film will get its U.S. premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival later this week followed by a theatrical release this spring. One of the giants of modern literature, the poet, playwright, critic, and editor T.S. Eliot is best known as one of the central figures of the Modernist movement in poetry. Consisting of four poems published over a six-year period – Burnt Norton, East Coker, The Dry Salvages , and Little Gidding , each titled after the landscape that inspired their writing – Four Quartets is widely considered Eliot’s masterpiece and the culminating achievement of his career as a poet, offering four interwoven meditations on the nature of time and the quest for spiritual enlightenment. Following the completion of Four Quartets … [Read more...] about Ralph Fiennes’ ‘Four Quartets’ Gets North American Distribution Deal Ahead Of Stateside Bow At Santa Barbara
Dana Walden & Alan Bergman To Oversee New Disney Entertainment Unit
Disney is moving back closer to how things used to be run on the content side with the creation of a new Disney Entertainment unit that will encompass TV and film. This new corporate division, which will sit separate to ESPN and the Parks, Experiences & Products unit, will be led by Dana Walden and Alan Bergman . The Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger just revealed the new structure on the company’s latest earnings call, as part of a “ significant transformation ” at the company that he said would “maximize the potential of our world-class creative teams”. It officially dismantles Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution, created by former CEO Bob Chapek and run by Kareem Daniel, who left last year. This unit separated the the way content and distribution decisions were made and took decision making power away from the creative teams. “Our new structure is aimed at returning greater authority to our creative leaders, and making them accountable for how … [Read more...] about Dana Walden & Alan Bergman To Oversee New Disney Entertainment Unit
Shudder Acquires YA Horror-Thriller ‘Influencer’ From Filmmaker Kurtis David Harder Ahead Of EFM
EXCLUSIVE : Shudder has acquired multiple territories for the indie thriller Influencer from Kurtis David Harder — the filmmaker with whom it’s previously been in business on titles like Spiral . The award-winning feature, which launched its festival run at last year’s Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, will bow on the streamer this spring in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Latin America. Influencer tells the story of Madison (Emily Tennant), a popular social media influencer who is having a lonely and uneventful trip in Thailand despite what she tells her followers on Instagram. While reflecting on her boyfriend canceling the trip, she meets CW (Cassandra Naud), a fearless and enigmatic traveler who offers to take her to some of the most Instagram-worthy locations. Together they share authentic meals and drinks with locals, discussing the differences between Madison’s online presence and CW’s lack of one. After showing Madison … [Read more...] about Shudder Acquires YA Horror-Thriller ‘Influencer’ From Filmmaker Kurtis David Harder Ahead Of EFM
Andrew Scott & Others Join Netflix’s ‘Back In Action’ With Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz
EXCLUSIVE : Netflix has added four to its action-comedy Back in Action , with Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz. The newest actors to sign on are BAFTA winners Andrew Scott (C atherine Called Birdy ) and Jamie Demetriou ( Cruella ), McKenna Roberts ( Euphoria ) and Rylan Jackson ( Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves ). Details as to the storyline and characters of Diaz’s first feature since 2014’s Annie are under wraps. But Kyle Chandler and Glenn Close are also aboard for roles, as previously announced. Seth Gordon ( Horrible Bosses ) is directing from his script written with Neighbors ‘ Brendan O’Brien. Producers are Jenno Topping, Peter Chernin and Sharla Sumpter Bridgett ( Ford v Ferrari , Hidden Figures ) for Chernin Entertainment, Beau Bauman ( Central Intelligence ) for Good One Productions, and Gordon for Exhibit A. Foxx, Datari Turner, O’Brien and Tim Lewis are serving as exec producers. Scott won his BAFTA for his work as the … [Read more...] about Andrew Scott & Others Join Netflix’s ‘Back In Action’ With Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz