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Exclusive: Game of Thrones alums Kristofer Hivju and Harry Lloyd have boarded Iris, the Sky thriller from Luther creator Neil Cross.

Hivju will play Jensen Lind, a tortured genius and brilliant scientist, while Lloyd is Hugo Pym, an immaculately composed mystery man who takes on a senior position within The Money, the group that bankrolled lead Cameron McIntyre’s project.

The pair, who played Tormund Giantsbane and Viserys Targaryen respectively in Game of Thrones, are joined in Cross’s series by Marco Leonardi, Angela Bruce (Silver Haze, Doctor Who) and Lorenzo De Moor (A Simple Favor 2, Dolce Fine Giornata). They join the previously announced Tom Hollander and Niamh Algar, who will play the title character and Cameron McIntyre respectively, along with Meréana Tomlinson (The Trials), Sacha Dhawan, Maya Sansa, Peter Sullivan and Debi Mazar (Younger,...

Storied UK labels Talkback and Thames are merging once again. Around six roles will be impacted, we understand.

Deadline revealed last year that plans were in place from super-indie owner Fremantle to bring the two together under a restructure that has now been rubberstamped with the exit of Talkback boss Jonno Richards.

The new TalkbackThames outfit will be led by current Thames MD Charlie Irwin. Fremantle said it will create a “single entertainment super-label.” Between them, the two produce the likes of Britain’s Got Talent, Too Hot to Handle, Blankety Blank, Family Fortunes, Qi and Never Mind the Buzzcocks. Upcoming shows include Netflix double Bear Hunt with Bear Grylls and Holly Willoughby, and Battle Camp.

In an internal email to staff sent out this afternoon, seen by Deadline, Fremantle UK CEO Amelia Brown said “whilst this is a positive move for the company, I do understand that with any change...

Exclusive: More change at Fremantle with veteran unscripted sales boss Angela Neillis exiting after more than a decade.

Her departure follows a Fremantle review of the global docs and non-scripted businesses, we are told, and the two will be brought closer together under Jens Richter, the CEO of Commercial and International. New global docs chief Mark Reynolds will also support the non-scripted team within Fremantle’s sales arm.

Neillis has been with Fremantle for more than a decade as SVP, Non-Scripted Content, running unscripted sales in London and LA. Having joined from then-Sky Vision in late 2013, she oversaw juggernauts such as X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent, along with doc series including Planet Sex with Cara Delevingne and Expedition with Steve Backshall. Last year, she worked across a Ukrainian documentary series spotlighting stories of Got Talent contestants in the nation, which featured Simon Cowell. She also managed relationships with the likes of Jamie Oliver,...

Nicola Maccanico, the ex-ceo of iconic Italian studio Cinecittà, is heading to Fremantle to run its Italian division.

Maccanico resigned over the summer from the studio that hosted work from the likes of Roland Emmerich, Joe Wright, Edward Berger, Angelina Jolie and Luca Guadagnino during his tenure. He left after his three-year term at the government-owned facilities had ended. Past roles include EVP Programming at Sky Italia, CEO at Vision Distribution and Managing Director of Theatrical at Warner Brothers Italy.

At Fremantle he will oversee a portfolio that includes Wildside, The Apartment Pictures, Lux Vide and Fremantle Italy, with their CEO’s Sonia Rovai, Annamaria Morelli, Luca Bernabei, and Marco Tombolini respectively reporting into Maccanico.

The role is newly created. At the same time, France boss Bruno Fallot has been promoted to oversee Fremantle’s production biz in France, Spain, Portugal and Israel. Both will join Fremantle’s global senior leader team.

Fremantle is moving its North America scripted business under Christian Vesper, the CEO of global drama and film, who will now up all drama and film operations for Fremantle across both the U.S. and Europe.

As part of the shift, Dante Di Loreto — who served as Fremantle’s North America president of scripted entertainment since 2017 and helped built the banner’s drama slate (including the award-winning Showtime series “Fellow Travelers”) — will transition to a producer deal with Fremantle.

Fremantle’s North America scripted business and labels will now report directly to Vesper, who will continue to report to Andrea Scrosati, Group COO and CEO Continental Europe.

The executive shuffle reflects an ongoing restructuring of Fremantle’s global business. In the U.K., the group recently laid off all the staff at drama producer Euston Films and documentary label Undeniable. The labels have not yet been technically shuttered, despite having no staff.

Tom Hollander and Niamh Algar are set to lead “Iris,” a new Sky Original drama from “Luther” creator Neil Cross. It is a Sky Studios and Fremantle co-production.

“‘Iris’ is a sun-drenched chase thriller about a rootless and enigmatic genius, Iris Nixon who steals a code from charming philanthropist Cameron McIntyre and goes on the run,” reads the logline. “Armed only with her lethal intelligence and chameleonic charm, the clock is ticking for her to work out what the code could unleash before she is found.”

Algar (“Mary & George”) stars as Nixon, a social media manager and puzzle addict who spends her free time solving complex riddles. When she stumbles across a post online about a highly secretive code, she puts herself forward to try and crack it – leading her straight to Cameron McIntyre (Hollander). But all is not as it seems and — realizing she has unwittingly unlocked a powerful...

Niamh Algar (Mary & George) and Tom Hollander (Feud: Capote vs. The Swans) are leading a Sky thriller series about a code-breaking genius from Luther creator Neil Cross.

Described by its creator as “unapologetically exciting,” Iris will start shooting later this month in Sardinia and follow the titular character, a rootless and enigmatic genius who steals a code from charming philanthropist Cameron McIntyre (Hollander) and goes on the run. Armed only with her lethal intelligence and chameleonic charm, the clock is ticking for her to work out what the code could unleash before she is found.

Joining the cast alongside Algar and Hollander are newcomer Meréana Tomlinson (The Trials), Sacha Dhawan, Maya Sansa, Peter Sullivan and Debi Mazar (Younger, Entourage).

Algar is well known to Sky viewers having recently appeared as Sandie in period drama Mary & George. Hollander...

Exclusive: HBO is developing a series adaptation of nonfiction book Empty Mansions, about a wealthy recluse.

The Warner Bros. Discovery-owned premium network is working on the project with The Ticket filmmaker Ido Fluk, Atonement and Darkest Hour director Joe Wright and The Mosquito Coast producer Fremantle.

The story follows Huguette Clark, an elderly, fabulously wealthy recluse who is hospitalized for a number of seemingly minor ailments and a series of events is set into motion regarding her fortune and an unsigned will.

Fluk will write and exec produce, Wright will direct the potential pilot and exec produce alongside Fremantle.

At the Rtl-owned producer and distributor, the project comes from Dante Di Loreto, President of Scripted Programming in the U.S. Di Loreto, in fact, previously worked closely with Ryan Murphy, exec producing series including Glee and American Horror Story. Murphy had optioned the book back in 2014, a year after it was published.

Montreal-based Rezolution Pictures, behind Sundance winner “Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World,” and Winnipeg-based Op Little Bird have partnered with Fremantle International on Jennifer Podemski and Hannah Moscovitch’s original drama series “Little Bird,” which is set to premiere on Crave and Aptn in Canada.

The series, which stars Darla Contois and Lisa Edelstein, follows the life of Bezhig Little Bird, a victim of the Sixties Scoop in Saskatchewan wherein First Nations children were abducted and placed in foster homes before being put up for adoption by white families.

Told in parallel timelines, “Little Bird” quickly contrasts Bezhig’s childhood with her engagement party – only this time as Esther Rosenblum, a woman in her 20s on the cusp of life, and suddenly wracked with repressed memories. As a showrunner, Podemski, who is herself both Indigenous and Jewish, is perfectly positioned to give authenticity and meaning to the matter. She...

Exclusive: It’s a big week for high school mariachi bands.

Fremantle is developing a drama series set in the world of competitive mariachi bands in the United States.

It comes as Going Varsity in Mariachi, a documentary directed by Sam Osborn and Alejandra Vasquez stars a talented group of students at Edinburg North High School in South Texas who compete for the title of the state’s best mariachi band, is hitting the Sundance Film Festival.

The Mosquito Coast producer Fremantle has been bolstering its scripted business in recent years and has splurged 270M on 11 companies, many of which are helping this drive.

The company is basing its drama series on Cecilia Ballí’s reporting in the New York Times article, A Championship Season in Mariachi Country.

The series will explore the complex world of the Mariachi community. The series showcase the bonds that exist among Latino youth as...

Click here to read the full article.

The Sundance Institute has eight new fellows.

The institute revealed today the latest crop of participants for its episodic program, inviting Britt Adams, Gianmarco Giacomelli, Naomi Ko, Ricardo Pérez González, Samantha Clay, Stephanie Adams-Santos, Sylvia Batey Alcalá and Tea Ho to join the six-day immersive program.

The episodic lab brings together fledgling writers with an original series IP that has not yet been produced and offers them the chance to work under the guidance of established showrunners, producers and executives. The 2022 installment begins today and will see the eight fellows workshop their pilot and participate in story meetings, case study screenings, panels and writers’ rooms.

Creative advisors this year include Daniel Chun (The Office), Shalisha Francis (The Wilds), Dara Resnik (The Horror of Dolores Roach), Erica Rivinoja (Clone High) Sanjay Shah (Central Park), April Shih (Fargo), Brandon Sonnier (S.W.A.T.) and Graham Yost (Justified...

The Sundance Institute has set the eight Fellows and projects for its 2022 Episodic Program, which will further the development of four live-action dramas, two live-action comedies, one adult animated comedy and one adult animated sci-fi thriller. The participants are Britt Adams (Onyx), Gianmarco Giacomelli (To Kill a Pope), Naomi Ko (The 20-Year Curse), Ricardo Pérez González (Orlando), Samantha Clay (The Growth), Stephanie Adams-Santos (Sad Girl), Sylvia Batey Alcalá (Blue Neptune) and Tea Ho (Oriental Town).

Sundance’s six-day program brings together writers in the early stages of their career with original series IP that has not yet been produced, allowing them to work closely with established showrunners, producers and executives. Starting today and throughout the next week, Fellows will workshop their pilot and participate in one-on-one story meetings, as well as case study screenings, panels and writers’ rooms focusing on their scripts.

Support from the Institute will continue after the Lab,...

Poster for ‘P-Valley’ season 2 (Photo Credit: Starz)

Starz has officially confirmed that P-Valley will be returning for a third season. The renewal announcement was expected given the series’ incredibly popularity and the fact it ranks as Starz’s most popular show in the United States.

Season two, which premiered in June 2022, increased the show’s viewership by 23 over season one. The second season averaged 10.3 million viewers, enough to earn it the title of Starz’s “biggest show.”

Created by Pulitzer Prize winner Katori Hall, season two starred Nicco Annan (“Uncle Clifford”), Elarica Johnson (“Autumn Night”), Brandee Evans (“Mercedes”), Shannon Thornton (“Miss Mississippi”), J. Alphonse Nicholson (“Lil’ Murda”), and Parker Sawyers (“Andre”). The cast also includes Harriett D. Foy (“Pastor Woodbine”), Dan J. Johnson (“Corbin”), Morocco Omari (“Big L.”), Dominic DeVore (“Duffy”), and Tyler Lepley (“Diamond”).

Additional season two stars include Jordan M. Cox (“Derrick”), Skyler Joy (“Gidget”), John Clarence Stewart...

P-Valley is sticking around at Starz.

The premium cabler has ordered a 10-episode third season of the critically acclaimed drama series, which is created and executive produced by Pulitzer Prize winner Katori Hall.

According to Starz, P-Valley Season 2 currently averages nearly 10.3M viewers across linear, VOD and streaming platforms domestically, up +23 vs season one in the same time frame.

The cabler notes that viewing has catapulted P-Valley to the top spot as Starz’s biggest show.

“‘P-Valley’ continues to keep viewers on the edge of their seats as it captures the nuances of the Mississippi Delta with an unprecedented level of humanity and artistry,” said Kathryn Busby, President of Original Programming, Starz."

"This layered drama gets beyond the glitz through authentic and complex characters that have captured the hearts of critics and audiences alike."

"We cannot wait to see what Katori has in store for us in season three.”

"I...

“P-Valley” has been renewed for a third season consisting of 10 episodes at Starz. The critically acclaimed strip club-set drama is currently the cable network’s biggest show in the U.S.

The sophomore season of “P-Valley” — created and executive produced by Pulitzer Prize winner Katori Hall — averages nearly 10.3 million viewers across linear, VOD and streaming platforms domestically, the network reported.

“‘P-Valley’ continues to keep viewers on the edge of their seats as it captures the nuances of the Mississippi Delta with an unprecedented level of humanity and artistry,” said Kathryn Busby, president of original programming at Starz, in a statement. “This layered drama gets beyond the glitz through authentic and complex characters that have captured the hearts of critics and audiences alike. We cannot wait to see what Katori has in store for us in season three.”

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“P-Valley” has been renewed for Season 3 at Starz, Variety has learned.

Like Season 2 of the Lionsgate-produced drama series, the third season will consist of 10 episodes. Season 2 of the show debuted on Starz in June and wrapped up in August.

“‘P-Valley’ continues to keep viewers on the edge of their seats as it captures the nuances of the Mississippi Delta with an unprecedented level of humanity and artistry,” said Kathryn Busby, president of original programming at Starz. “This layered drama gets beyond the glitz through authentic and complex characters that have captured the hearts of critics and audiences alike. We cannot wait to see what Katori has in store for us in season three.”

“P-Valley” was created by Pulitzer Prize winner Katori Hall, based on her play “Pussy Valley.” The show is set at The Pynk, a strip club in the Mississippi Delta, and follows the employees as they try...

Click here to read the full article.

Starz is going back to the valley.

The Lionsgate-backed premium cable network has handed out a third-season renewal for its critically praised drama P-Valley.

The renewal for the series from creator-showrunner Katori Hall arrives more than two months after the sophomore season wrapped its 10-episode run. According to the cabler, season two averaged nearly 10.3 million viewers per episode when combining domestic linear, VOD and streaming. That’s up an impressive 23 percent from its eight-episode freshman order, making P-Valley the most watched U.S. series on Starz.

“P-Valley continues to keep viewers on the edge of their seats as it captures the nuances of the Mississippi Delta with an unprecedented level of humanity and artistry,” said Kathryn Busby, president of original programming at Starz. “This layered drama gets beyond the glitz through authentic and complex characters that have captured the hearts of critics and audiences alike.

Exclusive: Wolfe Releasing has acquired worldwide rights to Charles Busch and Carl Andress’ comedy The Sixth Reel, and to the late director Mark Rucker’s cult comedy Die, Mommie, Die!, slating the former film for release in theaters and on digital this fall. The latter will hit theaters in 2023, subsequently making its streaming debut.

In The Sixth Reel, a down-on-his-luck movie collector (Busch) discovers a legendary lost film and becomes entangled in an outrageous adventure to deliver it to the right hands before it is lost forever. Longtime collaborators Busch and Andress directed the pic from their script, with Julie Halston (And Just Like That…), Patrick Page (In the Heights), Tim Daly (Life & Beth) and Margaret Cho (Fire Island) rounding out the cast. The film was produced by Jamie Buckner and Alex Peace-Power of Derby City Productions, and the late Ash Christian of Cranium Entertainment. It won a Special...

Click here to read the full article.

Starz’s P-Valley had a big return for the start of its second season, driven by record growth on the premium cable outlet’s streaming app.

The June 3 premiere for the critical favorite, created by Katori Hall, gathered 4.5 million viewers across platforms in the United States over its first three days, Starz says. The bulk of those viewers came from the Starz app, where viewing of P-Valley grew by more than 11 times — 1,018 percent, to be precise — compared to the series premiere in 2020.

The premiere’s on-air audience was just 243,000 viewers (in line with the 261,000 who watched the series debut on July 12, 2020). Replays over the weekend bumped up the linear total some, but as is usually the case with premium cablers in recent years, the great majority of P-Valley’s audience came via other means.

“Katori and the entire P-Valley team have done an...

Updated with latest additions: Additional speakers have been added to the 13th annual Produced By Conference, the Producers Guild’s annual confab that is set for June 11-12 on the Fox studio lot.

Newly announced participants in the weekend of panels, sessions and network events include Peter Friedlander, DanTram Nguyen, Megan Colligan, Mark Resteghini, Devin Griffin, Barry Jossen, Mark Gill, Aaron Hart, Catherine Tait, Chris Thomes, Yvette Nicole Brown and more.

They join previously announced names including Viola Davis and Julius Tennon, Seth MacFarlane, Charles D. King, Dan Lin, Stephanie Allain, Betsy Beers, Jason Richman, Mark Kimsey and Aml Ameen.

Here is the full list of participants so far, with a working schedule of events available here.

Stephanie Allain

Aml Ameen

Trevor Baker

Amanda Beggs, Cas

Betsy Beers

Xavier Bernasconi

Alison Brower

Yvette Nicole Brown

Elle Roth-Brunet

Rick Champagne

Kesila Childers

Steven B. Cohen

Megan Colligan

Jesse Collins

Simon Crownshaw

Viola Davis

Dante Di Loreto

Sabrina Ehlert

Mike Farah

Stephen Feder

Erica Fishman

Ashley N. Flores

Peter Friedlander

Mark Gill

Amy Gravitt

Marsha Greene

Devin Griffin (EVP & General Manager of BET+)

Aaron Hart

Melody Hildebrandt

Erica Huggins

Steve Jelley

Valerie Johnson-Redrow

Barry Jossen

Jennifer Kawaja

Mark Kimsey

Charles D. King

Mike Larocca

Karen Baker Landers, Mpse

Dan Lin

Seth MacFarlane

Michael Minkler, Cas

Jordana Mollick

DanTram Nguyen

Arnold Pinnock

Mark Resteghini

Jason Richman

Joel Sloss

Curt Sobel, Mpse

Christina Lee Storm

Rabia Sultana

Catherine Tait

Julius Tennon

Chris Thomes

Nikola Todorovic (Co-founder & CEO at Wonder Dynamics)

Diana Williams

Tonya Williams

Philipp Wolf

David W. Zucker

Previously, May 13 Pm: After being on hiatus for the last two years during Covid, the Producers Guild of America (PGA)’s 12th annual Produced By Conference has announced its first round of speakers. The event is taking place on Saturday, June 11 and Sunday, June 12 at the Fox Studio Lot in Century City.

Those panelists include Oscar winner Viola Davis; veteran producer Julius Tennon (President and Co-Founder of JuVee Productions; The First Lady); animation heavyweight Seth MacFarlane; pioneering producer Charles D. King; tentpole-maker Dan Lin; legendary producer Stephanie Allain; master of television Betsy Beers; comedy leader Mike Farah; IP chief Jason Richman; producing innovator Mark Kimsey (Co-CEO of Electromagnetic Productions); actor and producer Aml Ameen (Executive Producer/ Actor – The Porter; Actor – I May Destroy You; Producer/ Actor – Boxing Day) with more to be announced soon.

Produced By will feature panels, Q&As, a networking reception, its Mentoring Roundtables, and the return of the Pitch Perfect session, during which a handful of pre-selected attendees pitch their projects live in front of an audience of leading producers and executives.

The confirmed participants in the Mentor Roundtables are: Insecure producer Deniese Davis; producing legend Gary Goetzman; Academy Award-nominated producer Fred Berger; Daniels producer Jonathan Wang; James Lopez; and Farah, with more to be announced.

New for this year’s conference is the Producers One-on-One engagement, which connects PGA members with an experienced producer for a one-on-one conversation. This is designed for members to seek thoughtful advice about specific projects they are producing. Additionally, for the first time, PGA Create, the Producers Guild’s program supporting emerging and mid-career creative producers from underrepresented backgrounds, will bring together its 35 PGA Create scripted and documentary fellows for a day-long set of networking opportunities supported by the program’s lead sponsor, Google.

Exclusive: Sarah Condon, who has exec produced series including HBO’s Bored To Death and USA Network’s Dare Me, has struck a development deal with Fremantle and has set her sights on her first couple of projects.

Condon, via her Fair Harbor Productions banner, will work with the American Gods and The Mosquito Coast producer to adapt two international series – British police dramedy No Offence and Israeli comedy Matchmaker – for the U.S. market.

No Offence comes from Shameless creator Paul Abbott.

The series follows an iron-willed cop with a tough love approach to leading her team of detectives. After uncovering links between a murder, a drowning, and a disappearance, the team must work to identify the assailant before more vulnerable young women fall victim, while continuing to solve their day-to-day cases.

Set in Manchester and starring Joanna Scanlan, best known for her role in Armando Iannucci’s The Thick Of It,...

Exclusive: Misha Osherovich, who starred alongside Vince Vaughan in Freaky, has co-created a drama series about the troubled-teen industry.

Osherovich co-created and co-wrote Troubled with screenwriter Skylar Landsee, who has worked on The Americans and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.

The series explores the problematic troubled-teen reform industry, which was in the headlines again last year after Paris Hilton revealed her own struggles.

It is based on Osherovich’s experiences and survival story in the underground world of tough-love programs for rebellious youth. The darkly comedic drama series will expose the corrupt multimillion-dollar industry that has gone unnoticed and unchecked for decades and highlights the hopeful bonds these teens forge in the worst of circumstances.

The troubled-teen industry is a network of private youth programs, therapeutic boarding schools, residential treatment centers, religious academies, wilderness programs and drug-rehabilitation centers, often run by private companies, nonprofits or faith-based groups,...

The Pynk is turning red thanks to a whole lot of new blood.

Starz’s hit series “P-Valley” returns for Season 2 June 3, with the teaser trailer promising a “whole new dance” for the top spot at the Mississippi strip club. Check it out below.

Creator and executive producer Katori Hall helms the kaleidoscopic story of a club enduring the dark days of the Covid-19 pandemic, all while untangling a noir-ish murder plot.

Per an official synopsis, Season 2 picks up when darkness descends upon Chucalissa and everybody must fight to survive. While some take flight to perilous new heights, others dig in their stilettos and stand their ground no matter the cost. Back at The Pynk, Autumn (Elarica Johnson) and Uncle Clifford (Nicco Annan) grapple for the throne as new blood shakes up the locker room. Meanwhile, with the casino’s fate hanging in the balance, the local political machine kicks into overdrive.

Are you ready for the return of the thrilling Starz drama P-Valley?

The premium cabler has released the new teaser trailer for of its critically acclaimed series, "a kaleidoscopic story of a little-strip-club-that-could located down deep in the Mississippi Delta, and the big characters who enter its doors."

The hit drama from creator and executive producer Katori Hall, premieres Friday, June 3 at midnight on the Starz app, Starz streaming, and on-demand platforms and internationally on the Starzplay premium streaming platform across the UK and Latin America.

On linear, it debuts on Starz at 9 pm Et/Pt in the U.S. and Canada.

"The upcoming sophomore season reveals a whole new Pynk as it struggles to remain open during a pandemic, a battle for the throne, and the possibility of some new blood shaking up the locker room," the logline promises.

"Season two also takes audiences deeper into the lives of...

Ben Stiller’s former production partner Nicholas Weinstock has struck a first-look deal with Fremantle.

Weinstock’s Invention Studios, which he founded at the back end of 2021, will develop and produce TV, new media and podcasts under terms of the agreement.

Lorenzo De Maio, whose De Maio Entertainment counts Fremantle as a backer, will be a strategic advisor and partner across the Invention slate.

Fremantle will also support Weinstock’s other venture, Craft Services, an online network and support system for emerging writers and directors.

Weinstock was the creative head of Stiller’s Red Hour Films, developing and exec producing Showtime’s limited series Escape at Dannemora among other projects.

He is also producer of Hulu movie Plus One, Netflix films Alex Strangelove and The Package and Paramount+’s Queenpins and developed and executive produced Apple TV+’s series Severance and EPed its upcoming High Desert, starring Patricia Arquette.

“Nicky...

We’ll be seeing more of Big L, Duffy and Derrick on the upcoming second season of Katori Hall’s Starz series P-Valley. Morocco Omari (Empire), Dominic DeVore (The Ride) and Jordan M. Cox (The Outsider), who recurred as the characters, respectively, in Season 1, have been promoted to series regulars for Season 2.

Based on Hall’s play Pussy Valley, P-Valley Season 2 returns to the Mississippi Delta, where lies an oasis of grit and glitter in a rough patch of human existence where beauty can be hard to find. The hourlong drama tells the kaleidoscopic story of a “little strip club that could” and the big characters who come through its doors — the hopeful, the lost, the broken, the ballers, the beautiful and the damned. Trap music meets film noir in this lyrical and atmospheric series that dares to ask what happens when small-town folk dream beyond the boundaries of the Piggly Wiggly and the pawnshop.

Starz is expanding the crew at The Pynk as Katori Hall’s P-Valley adds Psalms Salazar (Girl Lost: A Hollywood Thriller) and Gail Bean (Paradise Lost) to the Season 2 cast. They will join returning cast members Nicco Annan, Elarica Johnson, Brandee Evans, Shannon Thornton, Parker Sawyers and more.

Based on Hall’s play Pussy Valley, P-Valley Season 2 returns to the Mississippi Delta where lies an oasis of grit and glitter in a rough patch of human existence where beauty can be hard to find. This Southern-fried, hour-long drama tells the kaleidoscopic story of a “little strip club that could” and the big characters who come through its doors — the hopeful, the lost, the broken, the ballers, the beautiful and the damned. Trap music meets film noir in this lyrical and atmospheric series that dares to ask what happens when small-town folk dream beyond the boundaries of the Piggly Wiggly and the pawnshop.

Fremantle has expanded its scripted department. The American Gods producer has hired Nyanza Shaw and Jerry Jacobs.

Shaw joins as EVP, Scripted Business and Legal Affairs, and Jerry Jacobs joins as EVP, Scripted Productions.

In her new role, Shaw will oversee all dealmaking pertaining to the development, production, and financing of Fremantle’s scripted series and new media content produced for the U.S., her purview spanning business strategy, IP acquisition, and production financing, along with production business and legal affairs.

Jacobs will oversee all aspects of production for Fremantle’s slate of scripted entertainment, including the hiring of key production staff, the sourcing of production locations, and the setting and maintaining of overall project budgets.

Shaw comes to Fremantle with more than 20 years of experience in entertainment, business, media, technology, and intellectual property matters. She formerly owned the firm Shaw Esquire and served as its managing attorney, developing relationships with various distributors,...

Exclusive: Sundance Institute has announced the 21 fellows and 18 projects they have selected for their first-ever, multi-track Episodic Lab, which is being held virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Fellows chosen include Justin Calen-Chenn (The Cavi), Lauren Glover (A Dignified Death), Andrew Lopez (Emotional), Jessie Barr and Lena Hudson (Fantasia for You), Elissa Blount Moorhead and Ericka Blount Danois (fiftyTWO), Stacy F. McDonald (Gone But Not Forgotten), Zach Gonzalez-Landis (The Great Impasta), Mansoor Adayfi and Antonio Aiello, Yvonne Hana Yi (Hannah with the Dogs), Carly Woodworth (Lasting), Jackie Katzman (Loons), Terrance Daye (Mandingo), Jess dela Merced (On Soul), Shirin Najafi (Regulars), Johnny Alvarez (Somewhere Else), Rom Lotan (Tehran Disco), Melody Cooper (Those Who Kill) and Nicole Saad (Tinderbox).

The 2021 Lab, hosted on Sundance Collab, has been designed as an immersive two-part experience. Fellows were divided into either the “Idea to Pilot Track,” in which they developed an...

When Apple TV Plus agreed to pay Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon more than $1 million per episode to star in “The Morning Show,” the burgeoning service didn’t just enter the streaming wars with a bang — it blew up the template for how much stars were paid on new TV shows.

Aniston and Witherspoon were charter members of TV’s new $1 million club, but membership in that elite group is quickly expanding. Nicole Kidman in “Nine Perfect Strangers” (Hulu), Jeff Bridges in “The Old Man” (FX on Hulu), Witherspoon (again!) and Kerry Washington in “Little Fires Everywhere” (Hulu) and Steve Carell in “Space Force” (Netflix) have also secured paydays of at least $1 million per episode to grace the small screen with their latest projects. “At this particular moment in time there’s a feeding frenzy,” says Dante Di Loreto, Fremantle president of scripted entertainment for North America. “There’s a...

New members include filmmakers Lynne Ramsay, Haifaa al-Mansour, Fox Searchlight’s Kate Gardiner and Screen Scotland’s Isabel Davis.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (Bafta) has revealed its 2019 intake of new members drawn from the film, TV and games industry.

Among the record 558 new members are filmmakers and writers Haifaa al-Mansour (Wadjda), Laszlo Nemes (Son Of Saul), Lynne Ramsay (You Were Never Really Here), Lee Unkrich (Coco) and former Screen Star of Tomorrow Rose Glass (Saint Maud).

New executives on the list include Kate Gardiner (head of Fox Searchlight UK); Jason Maza (Unstoppable), Emma Hewitt (BBC Films...

Ryan Murphy has named longtime associate Alexis Martin Woodall as president of his Netflix-based company, Ryan Murphy Productions, effective immediately. She will manage Murphy’s production company while remaining hands-on executive producer on all of Rmp’s TV series as well as a producer on all the company’s films.

Murphy had not had a president-level executive at his company since Dante Di Loreto exited as president of Ryan Murphy Television in early 2015. With Ryan Murphy Productions, already among the most prolific production companies in town, undergoing further expansion under Murphy’s blockbuster overall deal at Netflix in both TV and features, running Rmp had been a sought-after job, with a number of top TV executives rumored for it. Instead, Murphy reached internally to promote Woodall, who knows Rmp inside and out, having spent her entire career working for Murphy and his company starting from the lowest level to now reaching the top.

Showtime has given a script-to-series commitment to “Gormenghast,” based on Mervyn Peake’s book series. The adaptation will be executive produced by Akiva Goldsman and “American Gods” author Neil Gaiman.

The books center on the inhabitants of the city-sized castle Gormenghast. Its denizens are only vaguely aware of how or why the castle came to be, but over the course of the series the powers that have held the castle in place are challenged and the ensuing disruptions reveal its fantastical secrets.

“Being Human” creator Toby Whithouse will serve as executive producer and showrunner. Along with Gaiman and Goldsman, Dante Di Loreto, Oliver Jones, Barry Spikings, and David Stern will serve as executive producers. Showtime will co-produce the series with Fremantle, which also is a producer on Gaiman’s “American Gods” adaptation for Starz.

Also Read: Neil Gaiman's 'The Sandman' Gets Series Order at Netflix

The book series...

Showtime is developing an adaptation of fantasy drama Gormenghast from Doctor Who writer Toby Whithouse, Good Omens and American Gods’ Neil Gaiman and A Beautiful Mind’s Akiva Goldsman.

Deadline understands that the premium broadcaster has handed the adaptation, which is a co-production between American Gods producer Fremantle and the ViacomCBS-owned network, a script to series commitment and has opened a writers’ room.

This comes after we revealed last year that the drama was being developed by showrunner Whithouse alongside exec producers Gaiman, Goldsman, Dante Di Loreto, Oliver Jones, Barry Spikings (The Deer Hunter) and David A. Stern (Howards End).

It marks the first television adaptation of the books since the BBC adapted the first two books – Titus Groan and Gormenghast – as a four-part series in 2000 with Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Christopher Lee starring.

The books follow the inhabitants of Castle Gormenghast, a sprawling, decaying, gothic-like structure with a raft of characters including Titus,...

The planned adaption of Mervyn Peake’s “Gormenghast” book series has found a home at Showtime.

The premium cabler has given the project a script-to-series order and will co-produce along with Fremantle, with a writers room set to be opened soon. Fremantle announced last year that they were developing a series based on the books.

The books center on the inhabitants of the city-sized castle Gormenghast. Its denizens are only vaguely aware of how or why the castle came to be, but over the course of the series the powers that have held the castle in place are challenged and the ensuing disruptions reveal its fantastical secrets.

Toby Whithouse will serve as executive producer and showrunner. Neil Gaiman, Akiva Goldsman, Dante Di Loreto, Oliver Jones, Barry Spikings, and David Stern will also executive produce.

Whithouse previously created the BBC series “Being Human,” with an American version airing on Syfy in the U.

Showtime is entering the fantasy realm.

The premium cable outlet is developing a series based on author Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast novels, with Neil Gaiman and Akiva Goldsman among the executive producers. The project has a script-to-series order and is opening a writers room under creator and showrunner Toby Whithouse (Being Human, Doctor Who).

Showtime will co-produce Gormenghast with Fremantle. Whithouse, Gaiman, Goldsman, Dante Di Loreto, Oliver Jones, Barry Spikings and David Stern are the executive producers.

The series will be based on Peake's trilogy of fantasy novels: Titus Groan, first published in 1946, Gormenghast and Titus Alone. The author was at work on a ...

Producers Peter Chernin and Jenno Topping of Chernin Entertainment said in a statement Wednesday that their projects currently filming in Georgia, the Fox film trilogy “Fear Street” and the “P-Valley” TV series, will remain in the state, but they will be making a “significant donation to Aclu” in opposition to the anti-abortion “fetal heartbeat bill.”

“Our choice became pretty clear, we will stay in Georgia, stand shoulder to shoulder with the women of that state and the states under attack, and fight to win,” Chernin and Topping said in a joint statement. “In doing so will be making a significant donation to Aclu because whatever upside we have needs to be shared with the women everywhere who have the right as human beings to make medical decisions as sovereign individuals.”

Several Hollywood production companies have agreed to a boycott of the state of Georgia after Republican governor Brian Kemp signed...

Exclusive: Pablo and Juan de Dios Larraín’s Fabula, the company behind the Oscar-winning A Fantastic Woman, has inked a first-look deal with Fremantle to develop a slate of original English and Spanish-language dramas. Fremantle will distribute the projects worldwide.

The Fabula team will work with Fremantle’s Global Drama, Evp, Creative Director, Christian Vesper, and Fremantle’s President of Scripted for North America, Dante Di Loreto.

Fremantle and Fabula are currently collaborating on previously announced La Jauría, an eight-part Spanish-language psychological thriller directed by Lucia Puenzo. The series features A Fantastic Woman star Daniela Vega and co-star Antonia Zegers as well as María Gracia Omegna. Together they will play a specialist gender related crime police force who investigate the disappearance of student, Blanca Ibarra. Production on the series began in January.

“Working with world-class storytellers is key to Fremantle’s scripted strategy and Fabula have an...

Exclusive: Starz is rounding out it series regular cast for upcoming drama P-Valley (working title). Carolyn Braver (The Iceman Cometh), Parker Sawyers (Pine Gap), Elarica Johnson (Blade Runner 2049) and Harriett D. Foy (Law & Order: Svu) have been cast opposite Brandee Evans and Nicco Annan in Katori Hall’s strip club drama based on her play Pussy Valley. Peter Chernin executive produces.

Created by Hall, who also showruns, the drama is set down deep in the Mississippi Delta, where lies an oasis of grit and glitter in a rough patch of human existence where beauty can be hard to find. The Southern-fried hourlong drama tells the kaleidoscopic story of a little-strip-club-that-could and the big characters who come through its doors: the hopeful, the lost, the broken, the ballers, the beautiful, and the damned. Trap music meets film noir in this lyrical and atmospheric series that dares to ask what happens...

Do you remember Jim Henson’s 80s fantasy anthology series The Storyteller? Well, if you do, you’ll be happy to learn that The Jim Henson Company has teamed up with author Neil Gaiman to develop a reimagined version of the show!

The original series was inspired by Jim Henson’s daughter Lisa’s university studies in folklore and mythology. It told the stories of various European folk tales, “with a mysterious elfin storyteller (John Hurt). The world of The Storyteller was inhabited by various mystical and magical characters – heartless giants, enchanted beggars, white lions and human hedgehogs – exploring themes such as fear, desire, death and destiny, and challenging notions about good and evil.”

Henson directed several episodes and it featured creatures that were created by his legendary Creature Shop.

According to Deadline, the new incarnation will be written and executive produced by Gaiman, and it will “create a mystical...

Shortly after bringing the magic of Labyrinth to viewers in 1986, Jim Henson created the folk tale series The Storyteller, and more than 30 years after its initial airing, Fremantle, The Jim Henson Company, and Neil Gaiman (who will write and executive produce) are now teaming up for a reimagining of Henson's series that spanned multiple genres and featured his iconic puppet creations.

Press Release: Burbank, CA – Partnering with the most renowned family entertainment production company in the world, The Jim Henson Company, and with award-winning author Neil Gaiman writing and executive producing, Fremantle today announced that the company is developing a reimagined version of Jim Henson’s iconic 80’s anthology series The Storyteller for television.

A perfect creative partner to bring The Storyteller to a new audience, Gaiman is well-known for his far-reaching work in popularizing folklore and mythology. From the mythological basis of his best-selling novel American Gods to the African folklore of Anansi Boys,...

Starz has ordered to series its adaptation of Katori Hall’s stripper play “Pussy Valley” as well as Jerry Bruckheimer’s opioid crisis show “Hightown.”

“Hightown,” formerly called “P-Town,” comes from Rebecca Cutter (“Gotham”), Gary Lennon (“Power”) and Jerry Bruckheimer TV. That name change can probably be attributed to the fact that Hall’s TV version is now tentatively titled “P-Valley” — wouldn’t that have been confusing?

“P-Valley” takes an unapologetic look at the lives of strip club dancers working down in the Dirty Delta, per Starz. Down deep in the Mississippi Delta lies an oasis of grit and glitter in a rough patch of human existence where beauty can be hard to find. This southern-fried, hour-long drama tells the kaleidoscopic story of a little-strip-club-that-could and the big characters who come through its doors — the hopeful, the lost, the broken, the ballers, the beautiful, and the damned.

Also Read: Lionsgate...

Exclusive: The American Film Institute (AFI) has named veteran indie producer Lianne Halfon to be Producing Discipline Head of the AFI Conservatory. Producing is one of six disciplines in which the AFI Conservatory offers a two-year Master of Fine Arts degree, along with Cinematography, Directing, Editing, Production Design and Screenwriting. That job had been held for 14 years by Neil Canton, who retired from the post in June.

“Lianne brings a wealth of experience, taste and knowledge to the AFI Conservatory, and will no doubt take this pioneering program to the next level — and into the future,” said AFI Conservatory Dean Richard Gladstein.

Halfon in 1988 co-founded Mr. Mudd with Russell Smith and John Malkovich and she has produced films that include Juno, Ghost World, Art School Confidential, Jeff, Who Lives At Home, Young Adult and The Perks of Being A Wallflower. She exec produced the documentaries Crumb and Which Way Home,...

Haven Entertainment has promoted Chanell Hardy to manager, and added Garrett Greer to its literary division.

Chanell, a Los Angeles native, began her career interning for entertainment companies Funny or Die, Gary Sanchez Productions, Red Hour Films, and Mosaic. Her first industry job was working for the egendary Barbra Streisand. She went on to pursue a career in management/production, working for Amy Slomovits and Brady McKay at Evolution, continuing on with them to Haven Entertainment. Her client Usama Siddiquee was just announced as one of the New Faces at Montreal Comedy Festival.

Greer began his career in television as an assistant at the Kaplan Stahler Agency, a boutique television literary agency in Beverly Hills. He later went on to work as a production fellow at ABC Studios, assisting President of Entertainment Kevin Reilly at Fox Broadcasting Company, and later as assistant to Dante Di Loreto at Ryan Murphy Television.

FremantleMedia North American with Random House Studio is partnering with best-selling fantasy novelist Brandon Sanderson to develop drama Dark One for television, part of a multi-pronged project. In addition to a TV series, Sanderson also is concurrently creating a graphic novel that will be published by Vault Comics. Sanderson is also penning a supplementary, multi-volume book series that will expand on the storyline from the show and further explore subsidiary characters. The multi-media project also includes a Dark One podcast, which will shed further light on the incidents leading up to where the TV series will begin.

Dark One will be a dramatic fantasy adventure spotlighting a young man who sees visions of strange and fantastical worlds, which he is told are just hallucinations. But this dark and deadly fantasy world that keeps coming to him is actually a real vision of another world – one where he has been prophesied...

Bob Cooper’s Landscape Entertainment has signed a first-look deal with FremantleMedia North America. Under the pact, Landscape will develop and produce scripted projects for the U.S. and international markets, starting with scripted drama Michelangelo, which has been put in development at Hulu.

Written by Richard Mason (The Drowning People), Michelangelo will detail the life of the brilliant and troubled artist, told through a modern lens that delves into the sexuality, relationships, alliances and betrayals in the volatile world of 16th Century Florence. Martha De Laurentiis will executive produce the series along with FremantleMedia’s Dante Di Loreto, and Landscape’s Cooper and Tom Lerner.

“Bob is a gifted producer whose depth of experience and keen eye for developing talent makes he and his team an important asset for us. I’m excited to have him, along with his production company, housed at FremantleMedia,” said Di Loreto, Fmna President of Scripted Entertainment.

Homeland executive producer Ron Nyswaner has signed a multi-year exclusive overall deal with FremantleMedia North America. His first project with the studio will be Bounty, a crime thriller drama based on Louisa Luna’s acclaimed novel Two Girls Down.

In Bounty, Alice Vega is a fearless and driven Recovery Agent, also known as a bounty hunter. She finds people for a price — violent criminals, on the run spouses, abducted children — working outside the law when necessary. When two girls disappear from a strip mall parking lot, in central Pennsylvania, Alice enlists the help of a disgraced former cop, Max Caplan, to find them. With her outsider personality and relentless need to pursue the truth, Alice makes dangerous enemies and exposes Caplan to the dark secrets of his community. Luna’s novel was published by Doubleday on January 9 to strong reviews.

Nyswaner will serve as executive producer and showrunner. Peter Gethers...

In today’s roundup, CBS All Access released a first look at the trailer and key art for “Strange Angel” and YouTube releases new clip from “Cobra Kai.”

Dates

“Carriers at War,” a new four-part series exploring the U.S. Navy’s fleet of aircraft carriers, premieres May 20 at 8 p.m. Et/Pt on Smithsonian Channel as a part of its Memorial Day programming. The series features an in-depth look at the construction and launch of the Navy’s latest generation of carriers, including the multibillion-dollar and controversial supercarrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford.

First Look

“Cobra Kai,” the new series coming to YouTube Red as a continuation of the “Karate Kid” story, has released a first look at the show, which includes never-before-seen footage from the 1984 film. The clips shows the iconic fight scene from Johnny Lawrence’s perspective, setting the stage for the series, which follows Lawrence (William Zabka...

Untitled show follows young priest on journey of self-discovery.

FremantleMedia North America (Fmna) has signed The Alchemist author Paulo Coelho to an exclusive deal to develop the first-ever TV drama series based on the work of the Brazilian novelist.

The deal – which also involves Fmna-owned Random House Studio and Dancing Ledge Productions, the UK company in which FremantleMedia has a stake – covers an as yet untitled series that will follow a young priest on a journey of self-discovery as he is ostracised by the church and hunted by a powerful crime family.

The project will explore themes and characters from...

Exclusive: Works by Paulo Coelho (The Alchemist) are headed to the small screen. American Gods producer FremantleMedia North America, Random House Studio and Dancing Ledge Productions have signed an exclusive deal with the famous Brazilian author to develop the first-ever TV drama series based on his books.

Exploring themes and characters from Coelho’s novels The Devil and Miss Prym, Brida and The Witch of Portobello, all published by Harper Collins, the crime thriller will explore the human condition, celebrating Coelho’s multi-layered and inspirational storytelling.

The yet-untitled TV series follows a young priest who embarks on a journey of self-discovery and redemption – ostracized by his church, a fugitive from the law, and hunted by a powerful crime family. Meanwhile, the CIA agent chasing him discovers mysterious powers, and a more profound connection to the priest than she ever thought possible.

Coelho, who is known for his deep connection with his audience,...