CASTING
Casting for the beloved “Famous Five” stories ofEnid Blyton, whichare being reimagined for theBBCand ZDF byNicolas Winding Refn, has been revealed.
Diaana Babnicova is playing the role of George, alongside Elliott Rose as Julian, Kit Rakusen as Dick, Flora Jacoby Richardson as Anne, playing George’s cousins who come to stay at Kirrin Cottage.
Making up the fifth member of the “Famous Five” is Kip, the Bearded Collie Cross playing Timmy the dog. The cast also includes Jack Gleeson (“Game of Thrones”), Ann Akinjirin (“Moon Knight”), James Lance (“Ted Lasso”) and Diana Quick (“Father Brown”).
The 3 x 90′ series is based on the 21 “Famous Five” novels and short stories Blyton wrote between 1942 and 1963. The series follows five daring young explorers as they encounter treacherous, action-packed adventures, remarkable mysteries, unparalleled danger and astounding secrets. It is created for television and executive produced by Winding Refn (byNWR) and Matthew Read (Moonage Pictures), in co-production with ZDF in Germany.
The first episode is directed by Tim Kirkby (“Fleabag”), Asim Abbasi (“Churails”) will direct the second episode and Bill Eagles (“Beautiful Creatures”) will direct the third episode. BBC Studios, who have a minority stake in Moonage, will oversee international distribution and has presold the series to France’s TF1.
Filming is currently underway across the southwest of the U.K.
TRADE DEAL
ITV and U.K. producers’ body Pact have revealed a new terms of trade deal designed for the streaming era. Under the new terms, producers continue to own the underlying IP to their ideas, while benefiting from a more favorable net position, streamlined processes and enhanced tariffs – particularly for independent producers new to ITV. The terms are also designed to help maximize exposure for producers’ programs by giving ITV the flexibility to improve their availability and discoverability across ITV1 and ITVX, including premiering on ITVX without the need to negotiate rights separately, show by show.
The new terms will allow ITV to enhance ITVX with flexible windowing, improved series stacking and increased box set availability – delivering all previous series of a title on ITVX and allowing viewers to catch up from the beginning in its entirety before a new series starts. The new terms apply to programs with an intended transmission on ITV1.
COMMITTEES
Anna Higgs, managing director of Casarotto Ramsay & Associates, has been re-elected as chair of BAFTA’s Film Committee, having held the position of chair for the previous two years, and deputy chair two years prior. Higgs will serve alongside Emily Stillman, senior VP at Warner Bros. Studio Leavesden, who has been newly elected deputy chair. Hilary Rosen, director of commissioning at UKTV, has been newly elected as chair of BAFTA’s Television Committee. Christine Healy, COO of Keshet Productions U.K., has been newly elected deputy chair. As previously announced, Sara Putt was appointed by the board as chair of BAFTA in June. Tara Saunders continues as chair of the Games Committee, alongside deputy chair Des Gayle.
THAILAND IN MEXICO
Thai auteur Apichatpong Weerasethakul will deliver a masterclass at the Cineteca Nacional de México on July 29. The masterclass will be followed by a screening of Weerasethakul’s “Memoria,” after which he will participate in a Q&A. After the public events, Weerasethakul will begin a lab (Aug. 2-11) with 50 emerging talents from 25 different countries, who will develop a short film each under a methodology created by Abbas Kiarostami, adapted by Werner Herzog and now revisited by the Thai auteur. The methodology will be implemented in an environment designed by the PlayLab Films team.
AWARD
The Zurich Film Festival (Sept. 28 –Oct. 10) will honor the German composer Volker Bertelmann, Oscar winner for “All Quiet on the Western Front,” with its career achievement award. He will receive the award on Sept. 30 during the 11th International Film Music Competition at which he is this year’s jury president.
COUNCIL
Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, co-founder of U.K. Black Pride and Tunde Banjoko, founder of Making The Leap and the U.K. Social Mobility Awards, have joined the Sky Diversity Advisory Council. Announced in January 2021, the council consists of diversity and inclusion leaders who advise Sky’s leadership on the development and implementation of inclusion initiatives impacting corporate governance, workforce, and supplier diversity.
STREAMING
Season 2 of Amazon Prime Video‘s hit, International Emmy nominated Indian series “Made in Heaven” will premiere Aug. 10. Set against the canvas of lavish Indian weddings, the seven-episode series features returning cast Sobhita Dhulipala, Arjun Mathur, Jim Sarbh, Kalki Koechlin, Shashank Arora, Shivani Raghuvanshi and Vijay Raaz with the new additions of Mona Singh, Ishwak Singh and Trinetra Haldar. It is directed by Alankrita Shrivastava, Neeraj Ghaywan, Nitya Mehra, Reema Kagti and Zoya Akhtar, and produced by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar’s Excel Media & Entertainment and Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti’s Tiger Baby.
RELEASE
Indian auteur Anurag Kashyap will present the theatrical release of Splendid Films’ U.S.-India-U.K. film “Goldfish,” which premiered at Busan in 2022. The film will be released theatrically in India and the U.S. on Aug. 25. Set in London and directed by Pushan Kripalani, the film follows Anamika (Kalki Koechlin), the child of a mixed marriage, who returns home to her estranged mother Sadhana (Deepti Naval) because she is suffering from the onset of dementia. Anamika returns to a neighbourhood she barely remembers, to a woman who sometimes doesn’t remember her.
SAUDI MENTORSHIP
Pioneering Saudi director Haifaa Al Mansour(“Wadjda,” “The Perfect Candidate”) and U.K. production companyVertigo Films(“Monsters”) have joined Saudi Arabia’s Film AlUla program to mentor emerging female Saudi filmmakers.
The program, called AlUla Creates, was unveiled during the Cannes Film Festival where it was announced that Katie Holmes is also involved. Vertigo, Al Mansour and Holmes will jointly select and support three emerging Saudi female filmmakers. Submissions for the program are open until August 31.
