Howdy, Insider crew. It’s the traditionally quiet summer season in TV and film land but European festivals, big-ticket M&A and Middle Eastern politics have ensured it’s stayed noisy. Jesse Whittock guiding you through.
Lionsgate Buys eOne
First out of the Gate: Sometimes, you’ve just gotta sell up and move on. Hasbro confirmed its week the news Nellie Andreeva and Mike Fleming Jr told you about in July — Lionsgate is the company buying the toy giant’s entertainment subsidiary eOne. Lionsgate had been competing with the likes of Fremantle and CVC Capital Partners but has won out with a $500M deal for eOne TV and film divisions, whose key titles include Yellowjackets and The Woman King. Hasbro bought indie giant eOne for $4B back in 2019, prompting comments about the financial loss in our comments section and from market watchers. That doesn’t tell quite the whole story, as Hasbro is keeping the cash-generating family unit, which includes Peppa Pig and PJ Masks. The music division was also sold off in 2021 for $385M. However, it’s hard to consider it a successful union, with eOne undergoing multiple rounds of layoffs over recent months to reduce headcount by 20%. Internationally, the UK theatrical team was cut and we hear many on the international TV distribution side are also exiting. has The Rookie maker’s leaders will be hoping life under Canadian compatriot Lionsgate is happier.
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“An incredible ride”: Speaking of eOne’s leaders, Nellie yesterday reported President of Film & TV Steve Bertram and President of Global Television Michael Lombardo are both exiting the company following news of the deal. “With the business transitioning to a new owner, the time is right for me to move on,” wrote Bertram, who’s been with eOne since 2014. “Over the past decade, eOne Film & TV has grown into a leading independent production and distribution company, and we’ve celebrated so many wins. For me, this has been an incredible ride,” he added. Former HBO program exec Lombardo helped set up series such as the Dungeons & Dragons show at Paramount+. EOne’s Film boss Nick Meyer had exited earlier in the summer when his contract expired.
“Asset-lite”: It’s easy to say now, after the fact, but eOne — the distributor of The Walking Dead — never felt a perfect fit at Transformers toy maker Hasbro. Following the sale, Hasbro will switch to an “asset-lite” strategy for live-action entertainment going forwards — basically using the brands they own to make TV and film. For example, see the aforementioned D&D series or the upcoming animation Transformers One, also made with Paramount. Toy companies have always had a slightly troubled relationship with entertainment, as the licensing and merch model isn’t front and center of mind for the creatives who make screen productions. That said, Hasbro rival Mattel is celebrating one of the biggest movie triumphs of recent memory in Barbie, so maybe there’s hope for them all.
On Location In Locarno
Zac never stops travelling and this week he’s in continental Europe, reporting from Locarno…
Rizky business:Switzerland’s Locarno Film Festival kicked off Friday with a subdued opening-night ceremony and without its main attraction: UK actor-producer Riz Ahmed. The Sound of Metal actor pulled out of an appearance at the fest where he was set to receive a lifetime achievement award to stand in solidarity with striking actors. On opening night, festival head Giona A. Nazzaro still went ahead with the award presentation but instead handed the gong to director Yann Mounir Demange, who worked with Ahmed on the short Dammi, which screened as part of the ceremony. Before the screening, Demange (‘71, White Boy Rick) read a short letter from Ahmed. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be with you today. I’m out on strike with my union, taking a stand for rights and recognition due to us for our artistic contributions, which will safeguard the most vulnerable amongst us. It’s a very important fight, and I hope you all understand,” Ahmed wrote.
Blanchett cuts: Hours before the festival opened, Cate Blanchett also pulled out of an appearance, telling Deadline exclusively that she would not accompany the pic Shayda, which she exec produced, out of support for the SAG-AFTRA strike. There had been much speculation on the ground over whether Blanchett would turn up with the film, which closes the festival. The two-time Oscar winner was also set to host a discussion between director Noora Niasari and lead actor Zar Amir Ebrahimi. As an exec producer, Blanchett technically wouldn’t have been bound by SAG-AFTRA regulations. However, in her statement, she said: “As a dedicated member of the SAG-AFTRA Foundation Actors’ Council, I have made the difficult but necessary decision not to attend at this crucial time. Dirty Films wholeheartedly supports Noora Niasari’s resonant, heartbreaking film, and with our fellow producers we are thrilled that the Piazza Grande audience will have the opportunity to connect with its humanity.”
Punchy: This year Locarno runs until August 12. Playing in Competition is Golden Bear winner Radu Jude. The festival’s Piazza Grande lineup features Ken Loach’s last film The Old Oak and Palme d’Or winner Anatomy Of A Fall. Read our suite of coverage here, including a report on why former Amazon movies chief Ted Hope provocatively told delegates “the indie film system is f*cked.”
Anger In Israel
“The livelihoods of tens of thousands of families”: Israel’s controversial judicial reforms, which have sparked nationwide protests for months on end and were rubberstamped last week, have been grabbing all the headlines but there is much more to come. Max’s deep dive Tuesday morning focused on a planned shake-up to a thriving TV sector that has brought the likes of Fauda, Shtisel and Tehran to the world. Championed by controversial Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, the bill, which will likely pass early next year, includes the significant reduction of local original content quotas, the creation of a new regulator whose members would largely be chosen by the government and which could meddle with Israeli content, and the cancellation of the requirement for networks to obtain independent licenses in order to broadcast news content. Alarm bells have been ringing inside local networks and production companies, who fear that the broadcasting system and free expression will be depleted, while the reduction of the quotas will have a major impact on local content. “We are talking about the livelihood of tens of thousands of families,” said producers association boss Tzvika Gottlieb. A spokesman for Karhi shot back, claiming that those opposed are “media monopolies who have a vast interest to keep the market closed.” Israeli parliament has entered recess for now but this will be picked up in October, and we’ll be bringing you the latest. Dive deeper here for now.
All3 Back On The Block
Money matters: The future of All3Media is one of the various questions that sprung out of the Discovery-WarnerMedia merger last year. In 2014, Discovery became co-owner the super-indie, which counts The Traitors maker Studio Lambert and The Tourist producer Two Brothers Pictures among its ranks. After it emerged WBD and co-owner Liberty Global were planning to sell All3, UK network ITV stepped up and announced its interest. (Liberty is a connection between both companies, being ITV’s largest single shareholder.) As it turns out, it was way more than interest and ITV got deep into due diligence stage, we understand. Execs from both sides had even met to discuss structures on the international side — both have successful distribution divisions. However, ITV then pulled out without reason, with CEO Carolyn McCall last week saying only “it’s not scale for scale’s sake.” This week, we’ve spoken to several people close to the sales process and we hear the £1B ($1.3B) valuation and debt pile of around £750M is spooking potential buyers. It was believed competition concerns scuppered ITV’s potential deal but we hear execs were confident they could find solutions to the dominant position a merged company would have had in UK production — particularly on the ITV network. It seems the money is the real issue. With the global economy struggling, TV ad market down, commissioning frozen in several countries and two industrial strikes going on, anyone doing a deal will be less than willing to pay anything that looks over the odds. The formal sales process starts again imminently so we’ll be updating as developments emerge. Read on.
Dreaming Of A U.S. Deal
BBC comedy’s ascent: Every so often a show comes along that is simply a joy to watch grow. Deadline’s exclusive on Showtime picking up breakout BBC comedy Dreaming Whilst Black from Big Deal Films and A24 capped off an incredible few years for Adjani Salmon’s BAFTA winner, and was a timely reminder of why the best content sometimes needs a little time and a little love. Dreaming stans will have fond memories of the raw web series that aired more than five years ago, before the phrase ‘Covid-19’ had even entered the everyday lexicon. The show has since graduated little-by-little, first to BBC pilot, then BBC series, A24 distribution pickup and now U.S. sale, with more territory deals understood to be close. Max spoke to EPs Dhanny Joshi and Thomas Stogdon, who had no qualms with the pace in which Dreaming has grown. “We got given that space and time to home in on the creative and really make it what it could be,” said Joshi. The deal also represents one of the highest-profile program acquisitions to be struck since the writers and actors strikes kicked off. As the subsequent production hiatus rolls on and on, it won’t be much of a surprise to see U.S. networks looking to British network’s strong comedy slates to help populate their players. Expect more of these deals in the coming months.
The Essentials
🌶️ Hot One: The BBC and Netflix will challenge Sky and Peacock’s Lockerbie bombings drama with one of their own. Jake with the scoop.
🌶️ Another: Cineverse snapped up North American rights to body-swap thriller Devils following its international premiere in Montreal at Fantasia. Liz got this one.
🌶️ A third for good luck: Dynamic Television is lining up TV adaptations of Jodi Picoult and Mario Giordano novels and a Concorde drama out of France.
🍿 Box Office: Barbie is headed towards $1B globally, Anthony D’Alessandro reported Tuesday.
😡 Ticking off: Not all was plain sailing for the doll and WBD, however, as Warners’ Japanese arm criticized insensitive Barbenheimer tweets showing an atom bomb on Barbie‘s official Twitter account. The U.S. branch apologized.
🚪🚶🏽♂️ Exiting: Raw’s long-serving commercial chief and executive producer Piers Vellacott.
🚀 Skyrocketing: Streamer revenues in the UK, despite subscriber plateau.
🏪 Opening up shop: Ex-Legendary and Starz boss Chris Albrecht and Jane the Virgin producer Jorge Granier launched Rubicon Global Media, as Nancy revealed.
🪓 Axed: Apple TV+’s Suspicion, a drama remake of Israeli scripted series False Flag.
👁️ First Look: At Radu Jude’s Locarno competition pic Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World.
🏢 100 acres: The size of the giant production studio Abu Dhabi’s twofour54 is planning to build in the Gulf by 2025.
🗣️ Baz on Baz: Our roving Editor-At-Large Baz Bamgboye in convo with Baz Luhrmann over West End and Aussie hit musical Moulin Rouge!.
Zac Ntim and Max Goldbart contributed to this week’s Insider.
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