International

UK smash hit comedy Fleabag has broken into the Academy with 11 nominations for its second season after being passed over last year. Creator, EP and actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge earned nods for the series, her writing and her role as the bereaved and beleaguered Fleabag, while Olivia Colman and Sian Clifford made the…

Lionsgate has upped executive vice president of production Erin Westerman to Motion Picture Group president of production in its latest rejig of the film division. Motion Picture Group chairman Joe Drake and Motion Picture Group president Nathan Kahane made the promotion public today. Westerman joined Lionsgate in…

Disaster drama Chernobyl swept up 19 Emmy nominations including a nod in the limited series category, making it the third most nominated show after Game of Thrones and The Marvelous Mrs Maisel. The drama, which is a co-production between HBO and Sky Atlantic, is up against Escape At Dannemora, Fosse/Verdon, Sharp Objec…

Kew Media-backed UK outfit Awesome Media & Entertainment, the IP and production company founded by writer-producer Jeff Norton, is launching a graphic novel ‘studio’ with the ambition to develop stories into film and TV properties. Awesome’s fiction publishing imprint Awesome Reads was launched in 2018. Comic book…

EXCLUSIVE: David Foster, the 16-time Grammy Award-winning producer, songwriter and composer, is set to be the subject of a feature documentary, David Foster: Off the Record. Barry Avrich (The Last Mogul, Prosecuting Evil) is directing the pic, which is now in postproduction from Canada’s Bell Media Studios and Melbar…

Immersive theater and alternative cinema experiences have been all the rage in recent years thanks to canny producers such as Punchdrunk and Secret Cinema. The latest buzzed-about production in this space is based on a familiar Hollywood movie. UK immersive theater experience The Wolf Of Wall Street will take place in…

EXCLUSIVE: Jade Albany Pietrantonio, who starred in Amazon original American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story, is to star in Netflix's Japanese drama The Naked Director. She becomes the first non-Asian actor in a major series role for a Netflix original in the region. The Italian born actor, who was raised in Australia…

The Favourite and The Room producer Element Pictures is bolstering its nascent TV division with the hire of former Channel 4 exec Jonny Richards as head of TV development, effective immediately. In the newly created role Richards will oversee Dublin and London-based Element Pictures' continued push into small screen…

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has revealed a £25M ($30M) plan to “transform” its London headquarters at 195 Piccadilly. According to the UK org, the redevelopment, designed by Benedetti Architects, will double the building's capacity, install state-of-the-art technology and create a floor…

The London Film Festival has set Armando Iannucci’s (Veep) comedy-drama The Personal History Of David Copperfield as its opening film. The 63rd edition of the UK festival will kick off on Wednesday 2nd October with the film’s European premiere, indicating that the movie will likely get a world premiere at Venice…

Netflix has ordered five new originals out of India with Hollywood producers including Blumhouse and Chernin Entertainment getting in on the action. The SVOD service is doubling down on its scripted drive in the region – following the success of titles such as Delhi Crime and Selection Day. Over the next twelve…

EXCLUSIVE: Paul Auster novel In The Country Of Last Things is getting a Spanish-language movie adaptation from Argentine filmmaker Alejandro Chomski (Asleep In The Sun). Shoot is underway at Pinewood Dominican Republic Studios on the feature starring Argentine newcomer Jazmín Diz, Mexican actor-singer Christopher Von U…