Phoebe and her unicorn series

With Series Mania 2023 coming to a close, the event’s founder and general director Laurence Herszberg announced the winners of the Series Mania Festival today. ”We would first like to thank the public and the professionals who attended this edition, which brought together more than 85,000 participants for the Festival and 3,800 participants from 64 countries for the Forum. We are delighted to announce our prize list and figures that have far exceeded our expectations,” said Herszberg. With the rise of streaming across the world, Series Mania has become one of the most attractive events in the global TV calendar. It’s largely looked at as a place where writers, distributors and producers can liase with each other in a less formal setting than compared to a TV sales market. It includes not just the festival, the Forum, key conferences, keynotes, and pitching sessions. This year the festival screened 54 unreleased series, with 32 world premieres and 10 international … [Read more...] about Series Mania Festival 2023 Winners Announced

A dramatization of the life of Carlos Ghosn , the former Nissan/Renault CEO who escaped from arrest hidden in a music case, is in the works from Oscar winner Alfonso Cuarón and This England’s Michael Winterbottom . The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Monk star Tony Shalhoub is set to play Ghosn in the six-part TV series Fall of the God of Cars , which comes from Fremantle , Anonymous Content , Richard Brown’s Passenger and Winterbottom’s Revolution Films . Ghosn was the wealthy Brazilian-Lebanese CEO of Nissan and Renault whose world came tumbling down when he was arrested in Japan in 2018 on allegations of under-reporting his salary and gross misuse of company assets. One year later, he orchestrated an escape to Beirut, hidden in a music case on a private jet, and, with multiple warrants out for his arrest, he has remained there ever since. The big-budget series was originally developed by Winterbottom, four-time Oscar winner Cuarón and Anonymous Content. … [Read more...] about Tony Shalhoub To Lead Carlos Ghosn Series In The Works From Michael Winterbottom, Fremantle & Anonymous Content

EXCLUSIVE: Noma Dumezweni ( The Undoing ), Gabby Beans (Succession) and Sarunas J. Jackson ( Insecure ) have joined the cast of the Apple TV+ limited series Presumed Innocent . Inspired by Scott Turow’s courtroom thriller, Presumed Innocent is the story of a horrific murder that upends the Chicago Prosecuting Attorneys’ office when one of its own is suspected of the crime. The book was published in 1987 and was turned into a 1990 feature starring Harrison Ford in the role Jake Gyllenhaal is taking on. As reimagined by David E. Kelley, Presumed Innocent will be exploring obsession, sex, politics, and the power and limits of love, as the accused fights to hold his family and marriage together. Dumezweni will recur as ‘Judge Lyttle,’ a formidable legal mind, she’s been on the bench for decades, and now she’s overseeing one of the most highly publicized trials in Chicago’s recent history. She knows the players and must call a fair game in what will prove to … [Read more...] about Noma Dumezweni, Gabby Beans & Sarunas J. Jackson Board Apple TV+ Series ‘Presumed Innocent’

EXCLUSIVE: D.K. Uzoukwu, Telma Hopkins , Jay Wilkison and Norah Murphy have joined the cast of Amazon Freevee ’s Clean Slate as series regulars. They join previously announced stars Laverne Cox and George Wallace. Clean Slate follows old-school and outspoken car wash owner Harry Slate (Wallace), who is thrilled his estranged child is finally returning home to Alabama after 17 years away. However, he has a lot of soul-searching to do when the child he thought was a son returns as the determined, proud, trans woman Desiree (Cox). Uzoukwu will play Louis, a closeted gay choir director at the local church who the older female congregants insist on trying to fix up. He’s a close childhood friend of Desiree, and the only person who gives her a genuinely heartfelt welcome home. Hopkins will play Ella, Louis’ mother, a no-nonsense jack-of-all-trades who has known Harry for much longer than either of them would like to admit. She lives with Louis and is fully aware … [Read more...] about Freevee’s ‘Clean Slate’ Adds D.K. Uzoukwu, Telma Hopkins, Jay Wilkison & Norah Murphy As Series Regulars

EXCLUSIVE: CBS Studios is developing The Mysterious Mortons , a detective drama series for CBS from Amy Rardin ( Charmed ), George Northy ( Charmed ), and Laurie Zaks ( Castle) , Deadline has learned. The show follows a homicide detective who enlists his quirky family of mystery writers to assist him in cracking the cases that perplex the authorities. Rardin and Northy will serve as writers and executive producers; Zaks executive produces under her banner Rosewood TV. Rardin is currently an executive producer/writer on Amazon/Temple Hill’s Teton . She previously served as head writer and co-executive producer on Marvel/Disney+’s Echo , and co-creator/executive producer on the reboot of Charmed for the CW.  She also served as co-executive producer and writer for four seasons of Jane The Virgin for the CW and began her staffing career on ABC Family’s Greek . Rardin is repped by Verve and Sugar23. Northy sold Ozma to Netflix, a series set in … [Read more...] about Detective Drama Series ‘The Mysterious Mortons’ In The Works At CBS From Amy Rardin, George Northy & Laurie Zaks

SPOILER ALERT! This post contains details from the finale of Prime Video ’s Daisy Jones & The Six. Daisy Jones & The Six have taken their final bow. The curtains closed on the Prime Video series Friday with the release of the final two episodes. They are two of the series’ most ambitious episodes, with the finale weaving together the band’s last performance and what went down to propelled them to the point of no return. Episode 9 begins on a tense note, as Daisy ( Riley Keough ) wakes up from her drug overdose with her husband Nicky by her side. But, of course, she remembers that Nicky wasn’t actually there for her in her time of need. She storms over to Billy’s (Sam Claflin) room to demand he tell her why Nicky wasn’t there to help her. While we don’t see exactly what Billy says, we can only assume he told her the ugly truth, since she leaves his room with rage in her eyes as she kicks Nicky to the curb. “It was a really kind of intense moment,” … [Read more...] about ‘Daisy Jones & The Six’: Riley Keough & Series Creators On Crafting Final Episodes Around The Band’s Last Performance

Our Boys creator Hagai Levi has said he was arrested briefly during a protest in Tel Aviv on Thursday. Following his return from the Series Mania confab, Levi attended a protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ’s planned overhaul of the Israeli judicial system during what was dubbed “rage day.” Many such protests have broken out across the country over the past few weeks. Levi said people started being arrested for standing in the road instead of sidewalks and he was stopped by police after stepping down from the sidewalk onto the street. According to Levi, he was grabbed by police and walked into a prisoners truck where he was detained in an arrest cell for a couple of hours and had his rights read to him. Levi and the other prisoners were driven to an unknown location and told to exit the vehicle on condition of leaving the area, he said. “I saw some violent arrests, was filming them with my iPhone and the police noticed and didn’t like it,” added … [Read more...] about ‘Our Boys’ Creator Hagai Levi Arrested Briefly At Israeli Protest

My guest this week is Sian Clifford . Her delicately balanced, tragi-comic portrayal of the brilliantly deadpan Claire in smash hit series Fleabag both won her a Bafta and allowed her to utter the immortal words, “I look like a pencil” in reference to Claire’s legendary hair mishap. In short, Clifford made an indelible mark on viewers. Among some of her post- Fleabag roles: starring opposite Matthew Macfadyen in Quiz , as one half of the couple accused of cheating on UK gameshow Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? ; playing mother to Thomasin McKenzie’s character in the BBC TV adaptation of Kate Atkinson’s novel Life After Life , and starring with Saoirse Ronan in the film See How They Run . Clifford’s latest role is in Unstable , a new Netflix comedy series created by and starring Rob Lowe and his son John Owen Lowe, executive produced by Victor Fresco of My Name is Earl fame. Her character Anna is the highly competent but desperately … [Read more...] about 20 Questions On Deadline Podcast: Sian Clifford On New Netflix Show ‘Unstable’, Her Secret Crush & Life After ‘Fleabag’

EXCLUSIVE: The BBC and PBS have set their latest landmark science series, an exploration of how modern humans came into being. In Human, which is in the process of crewing up, archaeology, travelog and reconstruction will be used to tell the story of the homo sapiens species that emerged around 300,000 years ago. There are no official records for the vast majority of this human history but the series will look to piece things together, using DNA sequencing and scientific tools, and showcasing fresh discoveries. BBC Studios Science Unit is producing Human, which is the latest factual landmark from the BBC and PBS following a long and fruitful relationship. The pair have combined in recent times on alien doc First Contact , BAFTA-nominated 8 Days: To The Moon and Back and The Planets. BBC Head of Science Tom Coveney said Human will “reveal the dramatic twists and turns of our species’ story, the secrets behind our success, and ultimately what makes us … [Read more...] about BBC & PBS To Explore How Modern Humans Came Into Being In Latest Landmark Science Doc

Ben Whishaw and Ambika Mod , the stars of This is Going to Hurt , have scooped the top acting prizes at this year’s Broadcasting Press Guild Awards , while Derry Girls picked up a double. This is Going to Hurt failed to even land a nomination in Best Drama Series, with that gong going to fellow BBC drama Sherwood, but Whishaw and Mod staved off competition from the likes of Anna Maxwell Martin, Leslie Manville and Gary Oldman to take the major prizes. Mod’s win will lead to more raised eyebrows at the BAFTA TV jury’s decision to eschew her from this week’s Best Actress nomination list in favor of the likes of Kate Winslet, Sarah Lancashire and Imelda Staunton. Whishaw picked up a BAFTA nod for Best Actor. Mod’s portrayal of struggling junior doctor Shruti won critics’ hearts, while Whishaw’s lead turn playing Adam has also won out for the Adam Kay-penned adaptation of Kay’s book. Meanwhile at the awards voted on by the UK’s media press, Lisa McGee’s … [Read more...] about ‘This Is Going To Hurt’ Stars Win Big At Broadcasting Press Guild Awards