HONOR
Actor and screenwriter Meera Syal has been honored with a BAFTA Fellowship. The U.K. top film and TV org describes its fellowships as “the highest accolade bestowed by BAFTA upon an individual in recognition of an outstanding and exceptional contribution to film, games or television.”
Syal, who is known for her work in “Goodness Gracious Me,” “The Kumars at No. 42” and, more recently, “The Devil’s Hour,” has over 140 credits to her name over four decades of work. She has also been instrumental in bringing British-Asian stories to the screen.
As part of the Fellowship, which will be presented during the BAFTA TV Awards next month, Syal will take part in a number of BAFTA programs to nurture upcoming creative talent.
“Meera Syal has made an extraordinary impact on the screen and literary arts,” said BAFTA CEO Jane Millichip said. “As an actor and writer, she is an exceptional storyteller with enormous range, which means she is loved by peers and the public as much as she is critically acclaimed. At BAFTA, we very much look forward to working with Meera over the next year on her mentoring scheme. We couldn’t be more delighted to present her the BAFTA Fellowship and celebrate her next month at our BAFTA Television Awards with P&O Cruises.”
STREAMING
Indian streamer MX Player has inked a strategic multi-territory and multi-title deal with Thailand’s BEC World Public Company Limited to introduce Thai content to its audiences. Some 200 hours of Thai-language drama series will be dubbed in the Hindi language for the streamer’s MX VDesi content category. Titles include “Accidental Love,” “Dare to Love,” “World of Himmapan,” “The Blaze of Naga,” “Love Destiny” and “Nakee.” The deal marks BEC’s first multi-territory and multi-title deal with MX Player in India and extends to the territories of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
RELAUNCH
script training company The script Factory is relaunching with actor Kerry Fox (“Shallow Grave”), narrating a live performance of “Sumo Girls” written by org’s late founder, Lucy Scher and Justine Hart. Scher died of cancer in 2018. “Sumo Girls,” Scher’s final screenplay, is a comedy drama about Wales’ first accidental all-female wrestling team, which is currently in development as a feature film with Footprint Films (“Escape from Pretoria”).
Joining Fox in bringing “Sumo Girls” to life, in front of a live studio audience at London’s Soho Theatre, is a cast including Lizzie Bea (“Hairspray”) and Gwyneth Keyworth (“To Kill a Mocking Bird”). The reading is directed by the award-winning director Jane Gull (“My Feral Heart”), who is attached to direct “Sumo Girls” for the screen.
