GAME SHOW RETURNS
The British version of the iconic reality TV series “Big Brother,” which first launched 23 years ago, is set to return to ITV screens on Oct. 8. The show is hosted by AJ Odudu and Will Best and produced by Initial, part of Banijay U.K. “Big Brother: The Launch” will air on ITV1, ITV2 and streamer ITVX, while the remainder of the series will be available nightly at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX, except Saturdays.
“Big Brother” will be followed each night by “Big Brother: Late & Live,” hosted live by Odudu and Best from the site of the Big Brother house in front of a studio audience, where evictees will be interviewed. Following this, “Big Brother: Live Stream” will stream live footage seven nights a week on ITVX.
The Banijay format is popular globally with some 500 seasons of the show having aired around the world in 64 countries and regions. In the U.K., “Big Brother” first aired on Channel 4 and ran for 11 seasons, plus seven seasons of “Celebrity Big Brother” and a final special edition season titled “Ultimate Big Brother.” The show subsequently aired for a further eight seasons on Channel 5, with an additional 15 celebrity seasons, before going on hiatus in 2018.
KUROSAWA’S LEGACY
Chinese director Gu Xiaogang and Indonesian director Mouly Surya have been named as recipients of the 2023 Kurosawa Akira Award. The prestigious award was revived by the Tokyo International Film Festival last year after 14 years in remission and was presented to Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and Fukada Koji. Gu has made just one film to date, the acclaimed 2019 title “Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains.” “We present this award in recognition of his unique talent and in the hope that he will make a substantial contribution to cinema culture in the future,” said the awards committee.
Surya has made three: 2008’s “Fiction,” 2013 title “What They Don’t Talk About When They Talk About Love,” which went to Tokyo and Sundance, and “Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts.” The latter won the Grand Prix at the Tokyo Filmex festival, was Indonesia’s Oscars contender and went on to be theatrically released in 14 countries.
SCREEN CASH
Six feature films, two television dramas and one children’s project will share in over A$10 million ($6.5 million) of production funding from federal body Screen Australia. The projects include: “The Fox,” which stars Jai Courtney and is from the producers of supernatural horror film hit, “Talk to Me”; “An Ideal Wife,” about the story of Oscar Wilde’s wife Constance Lloyd from writer-director-producer Sophie Hyde (“Good Luck To You, Leo Grande”) and starring Emilia Clarke (“Game of Thrones”); reimagined television drama “Ladies in Black,” adapted from the original novel “The Women In Black,” by Madeleine St John; and season three of ABC’s popular children’s show “Ginger and the Vegesaurs.”
ACTORS ON ACTORS
Korean actors Jung Woo and Han Yeri have been named as the jury members who will decide the actor of the year award at next month’s Busan International Film Festival. The award is presented to one male and one female actor appearing in a Korean independent film appearing in the New Currents or Korean Cinema Today – Vision sections. Jung has a filmography that includes “C’est Si Bon,” “The Himalayas” and 202’s “Hot Blooded.” Han is best known for her co-starring role in Oscar-winning U.S. film “Minari.” The 28th Busan International Film Festival runs Oct. 4-13.
ACQUISITION
France’s Federation Studios has acquired Anne de Galard and Eric Garnet’s Paris-based animation company GO-N Productions, known for animated series “Simon Super Rabbit,” “Lou!,” “Zip Zip” and “Tootuff.” Garnet and de Galard were accorded a Cartoon Tribute and named producer of the
year at the recent edition of Cartoon Forum. With the acquisition, GO-N content, which includes 11 series totalling 250 half hours of premium animation, joins the Federation Kids & Family catalog.
APPOINTMENTS
Studiocanal‘s Red Production Company – whose credits include the acclaimed “It’s a Sin” (Channel 4) “Years and Years” (BBC), “No Return” (ITV) and “Stay Close” (Netflix) – has appointed Patrick Schweitzer as CEO. Schweitzer previously spent five years at Tall Story Pictures working closely with writers and developing new shows and alongside this he executive produced ITV’S “Grace, Redemption” and the second seasons of “Bancroft” and “The Bay.”
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Mindhouse, the production company co-founded by Louis Theroux, Arron Fellows, Nancy Strang and Sophie Ardern, has appointed Aloke Devichand as head of documentaries. Devichand previously led Netflix’s original documentary slate across Asia where he was responsible for commissioning Oscar winner “The Elephant Whisperers” and International Emmy winner “Hope Frozen: A Quest to Live Twice,” as well as hit series “The Hunt for Veerappan” and “House of Secrets” and doc features including “14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible,” “Missing: The Lucie Blackman Case,” “Blackpink: Light Up the Sky” and “King of Clones.”
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Indian music label Tips Industries Limited has appointed Hari Nair as CEO. Previously, joining ByteDance in 2019, Nair led the South Asia region for music partnerships and licensing. He was then was entrusted with a larger role (Middle East, Africa, Turkey and South Asia) at the artist services division at TikTok.
SALES
All3Media International has sold five-part BBC drama “Better,” produced by Sister, to Hulu for the U.S., Pickbox for the Balkans, Sýn hf for Iceland, Binge and Foxtel On Demand for Australia, TVNZ for New Zealand, BritBox International for Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden, NPO for the Netherlands, VRT for Belgium and America Video Films S.A. in a pan-territory deal covering South America.
Written and created by Jonathan Brackley and Sam Vincent, “Better” follows the story of Lou (Leila Farzad), a high ranking police officer whose shared history with powerful criminal Col (Andrew Buchan) continues to bind her to him despite their separate paths.
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Meanwhile, ITVX has picked up Australian comedy-drama “In Limbo” from European distributor Newen Connect, marking the first international sale of the Bunya Productions title. Starring Ryan Corr (“House of the Dragon”), Bob Morley (“Neighbours”) and Emma Harvie (“Frayed”), the 6 x 30′ series explores the topics of male suicide and mental health, using humor to shine a light on an issue that has escalated in recent years. The series was created by Lucas Taylor (“Black Snow”), who also wrote the script alongside Tamara Asmar (“Love Me”). It is directed by Trent O’Donnell (“Colin From Accounts”) and David Stubbs (“Black Hands”).