BBC Studioworks Inks Scottish Studio Deal
BBC Studioworks, the BBC’s commercial studio and facilities outfit, has been named as the operator of Scotland’s soon-to-open 10,500 sq ft Kelvin Hall studio. Kelvin Hall will open late next year, hosting a range of entertainment shows following £7.9M ($10.4M) investment from the Scottish government. BBC Studioworks was initially going to take over BBC Scotland’s Pacific Quay facility but the move was cancelled amid Scottish government concerns that it would lead to redundancies. Studioworks said the Glasgow facility deal is “in direct response to growing demand to make more TV shows in Scotland” and that it plans to “open” additional studios across the UK.
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Front Row Agency Investment
MENA-based distributor Front Row Filmed Entertainment has acquired a stake in creative agency Operation Unicorn. Founded in 2010, Middle East outfit Operation Unicorn has worked with campaigns for Front Row’s production arm Yalla Yalla and the companies are said to be developing several projects including a slice-of-life comedy series titled From The Bathroom; a couples dramedy spanning various Arab countries called Heads Or Tails; as well as a feature film and a docu-series that is due to be unveiled next year. The teams are also working on the Arabic remake of Intouchables, with an aim to start shooting in May 2022. OU founder Nathalie Masri said on the partnership: “The key to successful content is creative, honest storytelling. We want to inject meaningful, insightful stories into local content, stories that will resonate for an audience that feels mostly shut-out or detached from current content.” Front Row recently shot the Arabic adaptation of Perfect Strangers in Beirut. The Nadine Labaki and Mona Zaki starrer is set for release in Q1, 2022.
