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Every Hollywood screenwriter knows that the way to ratchet up tension is to introduce a ticking clock. And that's just what ITV is doing with the next series of Who Wants To Be a Millionaire over here. Contestants will have just 15 seconds to answer the £500 and £1,000 questions. They'll have 30 seconds to answer…

Actors, directors and producers in Germany have united to fight broadcaster cuts in the amount TV invests in feature films. Talks are ongoing with Germany's public and private broadcasters. If nothing's resolved, Germany's filmmakers will write a joint letter of complaint. The percentage of the average film’s budget…

EXCLUSIVE: The X Files star has been cast as MI7 secret agent Pamela Head in Johnny English Reborn. The Working Title film starts shooting in September. Anderson stars opposite Rowan Atkinson, reprising his turn as the buffoonish spy. She's represented by CAA and Independent Talent in…

Jeremy Dyson, co-creator of cult BBC comedy The League of Gentlemen, won the Edge Hill Short Story Prize last night for The Cranes That Build Cranes. Ghost Stories, the sell-out play which Dyson co-wrote, is transferring to the West End following its sell-out run. Apparently, the play's really scary. Dyson is…

That’s a rise of 3% year-on-year. And the best is yet to come this month and next, with the release of Toy Story 3 – tipped to be the biggest movie of the year – adult must-see Inception and Twi-hard threequel Twilight: Eclipse. Around 25 million people are expected to go to the cinema in July and August alone, says…

EXCLUSIVE: The European TV producer Endemol will not be among those bidding for the UK's fifth terrestrial channel. ITV has also walked away from the auction, as has BSkyB and Time Warner. Endemol's founder John De Mol is bidding, as is Richard Desmond, owner of Express Newspapers. Endemol may still try and get its Big…

UPDATED: Summit Entertainment is disclosing that THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE had “an incredible start” overseas. Despite great weather and the World Cup, ECLIPSE launched with an estimated $19M from 22 markets. The only major territories that opened on June 30th were Italy, Brazil, and CIS. Other majors like Spain…

The talent agents point out the BBC needs their clients' permission to quote how much their clients earn. Which the stars are hardly likely to give. "What the BBC is doing is just a sop to the government," says one agent. Sir Michael Lyons, chairman of the BBC's oversight body BBC Trust, has called on the Beeb to…

Richard Desmond, owner of Express Newspapers, is seen as a frontrunner to buy UK terrestrial channel Five. Other bidders include John De Mol, founder of TV producer Endemol (Big Brother), and Endemol itself, which De Mol's investment company Cyrte Investments owns one third of. You may wonder, as I have, why De Mol…

The UK multiplex operator says total revenue, including ticket sales and popcorn, rose by 3.7% in the 26 weeks to July 1. Box office has increased by 4.1% including this month's World Cup month. But the ticket sales rise was offset by a 3.2% decline in popcorn and Coke sales. Other income rose by 31.4%. Cinema chains…

Liz Murdoch has talked about wanting to beef up comedy at her Shine Group and now she's done it. Shine has bought UK comedy producer Brown Eyed Boy from Motive Television. This is Shine’s 5th new UK-based production company alongside Dragonfly (factual), Kudos (drama), Princess Productions (entertainment) and Shine <a href="https://deadline.com/tag/tv/" id="auto-tag_tv_3"…

The former ITV chairman has survived a shareholder rebellion at this morning's annual general meeting of the company that owns Pinewood and Shepperton film studios. Crystal Amber, an activist investment fund with 18% of the shares in Pinewood Shepperton has attacked Grade's "poor stewardship" as chairman of the…