Jamie Lee Curtis ‘Halloween’ Watch Party; Endemol Shine & Plex Deal; BBC Studios Promotion – Global Briefs

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment is planning a series of Twitter ‘watch parties’, encouraging audience to stream a selected title at a set time and discuss it online, alongside special guests. The series kicks off May 16 with a screening of Halloween (2018), involving director David Gordon Green and Jamie Lee Curtis. On May 23, former NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly will host a screening of Apollo 13, followed by a screening of The Breakfast Club on May 30.

Endemol Shine Group (ESG) has sold a raft of programming to Plex, which the ad-funded streamer will carry in the U.S., UK, Canada, Australia, Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Shows that form part of the deal include Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, Bananas in Pyjamas, City Homicide, Deal or No Deal and MasterChef. Peaky Blinders will also be made available on Plex in Italy and Spain. Kasia Jablonska, ESG’s head of digital distribution and monetization, said: “Plex is a unique platform, combining more types of content in one solution than any other streaming service in the industry, including a media storage solution and an original media player experience with a vast media library. We are looking forward to working and growing our business together.”

BBC Studios has promoted Siân O’Callaghan to the newly-created position of director of production operations in Wales, the production base that houses shows including Doctor Who. O’Callaghan will report to Lisa Opie, the managing director of UK production, having been the production arm’s head of change in Wales for the past six years. “Siân has the perfect mix of skills for this role as we look to grow our production business in Wales,” Opie said.

WarnerMedia Entertainment Networks & Sales has hired Fox executive Athreyan Sundararajan as its vice president of marketing and brand services in Southeast Asia and the Pacific region. Brands under his watch will include Cartoon Network, Boomerang, HBO, Cinemax, Warner TV and Oh!K after WarnerMedia brought together Turner and HBO under one roof. Previously Sundararajan was SVP of marketing and commercial strategy for Fox Networks Group, Hong Kong & Southeast Asia.