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EXCLUSIVE : StudioCanal is returning to the UK television production investment scene as it finalizes a deal with an outfit co-founded by a Vigil and Downton Abbey director. The French production group will back Strong Film & Television, which was co-founded by BAFTA-winner James Strong and Matt Tombs, a former BBC and Paramount executive. Strong Film & Television was established in late 2020 and appears to have added Loretta Preece to its ranks. Preece was most recently the series producer on Casualty , the long-running, BAFTA-winning BBC continuing drama. StudioCanal is close to finalizing an announcement for the investment, which would mark one of its first notable television deals in the UK for years. In 2016, the Canal+ Group company took stakes in Urban Myth Films , producer of Fox’s ​​War of the Worlds , and SunnyMarch , co-founded by Benedict Cumberbatch. StudioCanal has not been inactive in the acquisitions space but has focused on … [Read more...] about StudioCanal Returns To UK Production Investment By Backing ‘Vigil’ Director

Joe Cornish ’s teen ghosthunter drama Lockwood and Co. launches on Netflix globally today. The show, the streamer’s latest young-adult scripted series from the UK, stars Ruby Stokes ( Bridgerton ) and newcomers Cameron Chapman and Ali Hadji-Heshmati as a teen trio who run an independent ghost fighting agency in London while competing with adult-run corporate rivals. The eight-part series, from Cornish’s Complete Fiction banner, is based on Jonathan Stroud’s books about an alternate modern world in which murderous ghosts have been attacking people since the 1960s, and only teenagers have the ability to see and repeal them. Netflix ordered it as one of seven British originals announced in December 2020. Several of these have been canned but anticipation around Lockwood has grown and reviews this week have been sparkling. “We have these brilliant books to draw on,” said Cornish in an interview with Deadline this week. “The challenge is to get it on screen with the … [Read more...] about Joe Cornish Talks Netflix Ghost Hunter Series ‘Lockwood & Co’ & Updates On ‘Attack The Block 2’

CNBC is dropping Jay Leno ’s Garage , the classic car series that capitalized on the comedian’s prized collection, after seven seasons. The network chose not to renew the series after seven seasons, a source confirmed. KC Sullivan, named president last year, has chosen to focus on business oriented reality shows in the primetime lineup, including Shark Tank and Undercover Boss . But Jay Leno’s Garage , which started as a special in 2014 and became a series the next year, drew attention given Leno’s status as a former host of The Tonight Show and his ability to draw marquee guest stars, including President Joe Biden, who taped an appearance last year. In an earlier appearance, when he was serving as vice president, Biden appeared with former Secretary of State Colin Powell. Sullivan also dropped Shepard Smith’s high profile newscast The News with Shepard Smith , which aired at 7 PM. The Hollywood Reporter was the first to report on the cancellation of … [Read more...] about CNBC Drops ‘Jay Leno’s Garage’ From Primetime Lineup

EXCLUSIVE: Amelia Brown, Managing Director of Britain’s Got Talent , The X Factor and Too Hot to Handle producer Thames , is leaving after two decades to set up an entertainment production company. Brown handed her resignation in several weeks ago and will exit in July. She has been with Thames since 2003 and became MD when the company merged with Talkback in 2017 – a merger that was undone two years later at which point she kept her post. She will launch her own production company later this year and becomes the second Fremantle label boss to be revealed to be leaving in the past fortnight, following Fatima Salaria , who is exiting The Apprentice indie Naked in the spring . During her lengthy stint with Thames, Brown has shepherded ITV stalwarts The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent , for which she was a key creative on almost every series. The Simon Cowell creations are co-produced with Cowell’s Syco shingle and while The X Factor has not … [Read more...] about Amelia Brown To Exit ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ Label Thames & Launch Indie