STREAMING
Prime Video and BBC Studios have launched BBC Player and BBC Kids on Prime Video Channels in India. The subscription-based service will provide Indian viewers a curated line-up of popular British content spanning dramas, comedy, documentaries, factual shows, entertainment, lifestyle programming and children’s shows. Prime members can purchase an annual add-on subscription to BBC Player for INR 599 ($7.30) that includes full access to BBC Kids. Alternatively, members can also subscribe to BBC Kids only for INR 199 ($2.42) annually.
Title available at launch on BBC Player include “Six Four,” “The Diplomat,” “Chivalry,” “Citizen Khan,” “Sherlock,” “Unforgotten,” “Happy Valley,” “Top Gear,” “The Great British Bake Off,” “This is Going to Hurt,” “Small Axe” and “Strictly Come Dancing.” BBC Kids will feature “Hey Duggee,” “Go Jetters,” “JoJo & Gran Gran,” “Sarah & Duck” and “Junior Bake Off.”
Stanley Fernandes, VP distribution BBC Studios, South Asia, said: “These brands will offer a curated, multi-genre content line-up, offering the best of British entertainment to the discerning Indian audience.”
Vivek Srivastava, head – Prime Video Channels, Prime Video, India, added: “Their [BBC Studios] wide range of programming is highly renowned and enjoyed by audiences world over. With the launch of BBC Player and BBC Kids, Prime members in India too, will be able to enjoy their favourite British content on a single destination for the first time.”
With the addition of the BBC services, there are now 20 Prime Video Channels in India, which also include Lionsgate Play, Discovery+, Eros Now, Stingray All Good Vibes, Curiosity Stream, AMC+, ManoramaMAX, VR OTT, Hoichoi, MUBI, Docubay, Shorts TV, iWonder, Animax+GEM, My Zen TV, Acorn TV, Museum TV and Nammaflix.
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Meanwhile, Lionsgate Play has unveiled its revamped brand identity across Asian markets including India, Indonesia, Philippines and Malaysia. The streamer is also focusing on an advanced user interface with seamless navigation, faster app loading time and an overall increase in stability.
Rohit Jain, president, Lionsgate Play Asia, said, “As a brand, Lionsgate Play not only provides opportunities for a range of voices to be expressed, but it seeks to present characters with complexity and depth. The new identity represents innovation, energy and excitement; the perfect embodiment of all that we aim to achieve for the brand. Through this refreshed identity, our goal is to provide premium content that is consistent, original and bold. We hope our efforts appeal to the viewers and showcase the true essence of what Lionsgate Play is about.”
SALES
Hasbro studio Entertainment One (eOne), has signed a deal with the BBC to broadcast season 1 of hit animated series “Transformers: EarthSpark.” The first 10 episodes will launch July 24 July on CBBC and also be available to stream on BBC iPlayer. The series, co-produced by Paramount, centers on two human kids as they forge a connection with Transformers bots and work alongside Optimus Prime and Bumblebee.
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Paramount+ has acquired action-comedy series “Twisted metal” for Canada from Sony Pictures Television. The live-action adaptation of the PlayStation classic game series premieres in Canada exclusively on Paramount+ with all 10 episodes dropping Aug. 10.
based on an original take by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (“Deadpool” and “Zombieland”) and written by Michael Jonathan Smith (“Cobra Kai”), the series follows a motor-mouthed outsider offered a chance at a better life, but only if he can successfully deliver a mysterious package across a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
SHORT FILM
“When the Clapping Stops,” a short film about the desperate state of the U.K. care sector, written by care worker Sam Briggs, is releasing publicly online on July 31. Featuring “Holby City” actor Miles Mitchell, the film follows Matty, a young and dedicated care worker who meets his match when his agency assigns him to middle-aged firecracker and epilepsy sufferer, June. Despite struggling to access support from a sector stretched thin, Matty must also provide unpaid care for his terminally ill grandfather.
The film won gold at the 1.4 Awards; was screened at BAFTA-qualifying Bolton Film Festival; and was also selected at five BIFA-qualifying festivals, including Wimbledon Shorts where director Cameron Perry won the best young filmmaker award.
Briggs said: “As a care worker, I’ve seen the U.K. social care sector being brought to its knees first-hand, the global pandemic making an already dire situation worse. Stories like Matty and June’s are not unique, they are happening up and down the country, in an endless cycle of burnout and abandonment.”
Perry added: “Hopefully the film can feed into a conversation around providing carers with the support they deserve, in return for the support they give.”
FORMAT
NPR and LG U+, a Korean mobile network operator owned by LG Corporation, are launching “Tiny Desk Korea,” the first-ever international TV format version of NPR’s “Tiny Desk Concert” series, which will spotlight emerging and established K-pop artists. Up to 52 episodes will be produced, released weekly, and in the same intimate style of the original U.S. series. This is the first format licensing deal for both NPR and LG U+., and the deal was brought together in part by Korean format agency Something Special who will also serve to develop and expand the “Tiny Desk Korea” brand. Tiny Desk Korea will premiere in August on LG U+ owned platforms.
