Yahoo Finance Global Bulletin: BBC Buys Anna Kendrick HBO Max Comedy ‘Love Life’
In today’s Global Bulletin, BBC acquires Anna Kendrick HBO rom-com “Love Life”; Rainmaker sells lockdown comedy “Staged” globally; Wooden Horse hires Coeli Cutliffe; Zinc launches Red Sauce label; Marrakesh workshop goes online; and Edith Bowman hosts BAFTA Scotland awards.
The BBC has acquired romantic comedy anthology series “Love Life,” featuring Oscar-nominee Anna Kendrick, from Lionsgate Television. The series has been one of the top performers on HBO Max, streaming in the U.S., and will be imminently on BBC One and BBC iPlayer as a boxset.
Stars also include Zoë Chao (“Downhill”), Peter Vack (“Someone Great”), Sasha Compere (“Miracle Workers”) and Jin Ha (“Devs”).
The series was acquired for the BBC by Sue Deeks, head of program acquisition. It is produced by Lionsgate Television and Feigco Entertainment. The series is from creator Sam Boyd “(In A Relationship”), who co-showruns with Bridget Bedard (“Transparent”). Boyd and Bedard serve as executive producers alongside Anna Kendrick, Paul Feig (“Bridesmaids”) and Dan Magnante (“Someone Great”).
COMEDY SALES
International distributor Rainmaker Content has sold lockdown comedy “Staged,” starring Michael Sheen and David Tennant, to Hulu for U.S. SVOD, Shout! Studios for North American home entertainment, Netflix for U.K. secondary rights, ABC in Australia for TV, and to Huanxi Media Group for all China rights.
The 6 x 22′ series created by Simon Evans and Phin Glynn and written and directed by Evans, debuted on BBC One in June. It is an Infinity Hill and GCB Films Production.
APPOINTMENT
Australian production outfit Wooden Horse has hired Coeli Cutcliffe as development manager. Cutcliffe will report into CEOs Jude Troy and Richard Finlayson.
Cutcliffe will be responsible for expanding the Wooden Horse slate, developing Australian stories for global audiences. She was most previously development executive for Porchlight Films (“True History of the Kelly Gang”).
Wooden Horse has shows in development with Stan, ABC and SBS. The company recently secured the adaptation rights from Curtis Brown for award-winning young novelist J.P. Pomare’s psychological thriller “In the Clearing,” while their upcoming slate includes a feature film adaptation of Matt Okine’s debut novel “Being Black n’ Chicken n’ Chips,” in partnership with Aquarius Films.
LABEL LAUNCH
U.K. factual company Zinc Media Group has launched a new label, Red Sauce, to drive growth in factual entertainment and popular factual. The label will be led by former BBC Factual commissioning editor and diversity champion Tom Edwards (“Hugh’s War on Waste”) as creative director.
“Red Sauce is popular TV. As well as being distinctive and playful, it will make great TV for the broadest possible audiences, from digital-first, binge-factual to linear audiences,” said Greg Sanderson, director of television, Zinc Media London.
Edwards takes up his role immediately, with other members of his team to be announced in the coming weeks. Red Sauce becomes the fifth label in Zinc’s reshaped portfolio alongside Blakeway, that focuses on history, archaeology, natural history, arts and music; Brook Lapping, the home of current affairs and investigations; Films of Record, specializing in access documentaries; and Tern Television, the factual producer that covers Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS
The third edition of the Marrakech Film Festival‘s talent development program Atlas Workshops will take place online Nov. 30-Dec 3. The festival foundation is launching a call for projects in development and films in post-production by filmmakers from Morocco, the African continent and the Arab world. Workshop participants benefit from personalized mentoring, and support in scriptwriting, production, distribution, editing and/or scoring, as well as from presentation of their projects at a digital co-production market. The Workshop is supported by Netflix.
The 19th edition of the festival, originally scheduled to take place in November, has been canceled due to health concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.
AWARDS HOST
The British Academy Scotland Awards will take place on Dec. 8. in a closed studio and as a socially distanced show. Scottish DJ and presenter Edith Bowman will host the ceremony on BAFTA social channels, followed by a highlights show on BBC Scotland.
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