AWARD
Zurich Film Festival will honor the chief executive of German film and TV company Leonine Studios, Fred Kogel, with its Game Changer Award, which is presented to a leading personality from the film industry whose “extraordinary efforts serve to advance the sector.”
Kogel set up Leonine four years ago, and it has grown rapidly to become Germany’s leading independent film company, as well as a major TV producer. Its successes as a film distributor have included the release of “The School of Magical Animals,” “Knives Out” and the “John Wick” franchise. This autumn, Leonine will release in-house productions like “Weekend Rebels” and “Girl You Know It’s True.”
“Fred Kogel has built Leonine from the ground up, a new entertainment company for the digital age that brings together the most exciting artists and successful producers, allowing them to focus on their core strengths while the studio takes care of services such as HR, marketing and sales,” said Zurich’s artistic director Christian Jungen. “He has given fresh impetus with this professional outfit to the German film and TV industry, and co-produced such movie theater hits as ‘The School of Magical Animals.’ Kogel is an inspirational and visionary entrepreneur who ensures that German productions get the international recognition they deserve.”
Kogel will accept the award during the Zurich Summit industry conference on Oct. 1.
STREAMING
Former Netflix executive Erik Barmack‘s Wild Sheep Content, Passion Pictures and Run-Up Records have teamed on four-part Prime Video documentary series “AP Dhillon: First of a Kind.” Enjoying exclusive access, the series delves into the life of Amritpal Singh Dhillon and tells the story of the popular musician known globally as AP Dhillon, tracing his journey from Gurdaspur, in the Punjab, India, to the mountains of British Columbia, Canada.
Aparna Purohit, head of India originals, Prime Video, said: “’AP Dhillon: First of a Kind’ is the first ever docu-series to dive into the dynamic world of Punjabi hip-hop and explore the origins of one the most prominent faces of the musical zeitgeist we’re currently witnessing.”
Amy Foster, executive producer, Passion Pictures, added that the series “dives into the making of the music, the challenge of putting on a tour, and the heart of the man himself,” while Barmack said that the “story and the trajectory of AP Dhillon’s success is nothing short of remarkable.”
The series streams from Aug. 18.
CASTING
Indian veteran Mithun Chakraborty will play the title role in Bengali-language film “Kabuliwala,” based on an 1892 short story by Nobel literature prize winner Rabindranath Tagore that has been adapted several times for the screen over the years. Busan film festival regular Suman Ghosh (“Aadhaar”) who previously directed Chakraborty in “Nobel Thief.”
“Kabuliwala” tells the tale of Rahmat, a fruit seller from Kabul, Afghanistan, who visits Calcutta (present day Kolkata), India each year to sell dry fruits. In India, he develops fatherly affection for a five-year-old girl, Mini, from a middle-class aristocratic family, who reminds him of his own beloved daughter back home in Afghanistan.
The 1965-set film, from Mukesh Ambani’s Jio Studios and SVF Entertainment, is now in principal photography and is produced by Jyoti Deshpande, Shrikant Mohta, and MahendraSoni. It will release during Christmas 2023.
CHINA SALES
Independent TV distributor All3Media International has appointed Tony Tang Ziran as VP of sales in its Asia-Pacific office. Reporting to Sabrina Duguet, EVP Asia Pacific, he will handle sales and co-productions and the formats portfolio in China, Korea and Japan. He was previously with BBC Studios in China and before that was development producer at non-scripted production company Sparkling Media in China.
