News

Exclusive: Keeley Hawes and key cast are on board Miss Austen Returns, a follow-up to Masterpiece period drama Miss Austen, and which is in the works from Bonnie Productions.

Miss Austen was adapted from Gill Hornby’s novel of the same name. Christine Langan, whose Bonnie Productions made the series, tells Deadline that Hornby’s recently published follow-up, ‘The Elopement’, forms the spine of a new series Bonnie is working up with the title Miss Austen Returns.

Miss Austen writer Andrea Gibb is currently penning scripts. As with the earlier series, the show is expected to be a co-production with Masterpiece in association with Federation Stories and the BBC, which showed the first series in the UK.

With the new drama, plus Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s Berlin Film Festival competition title Hot Milk and Miss Austen already under its belt, Bonnie has worked up notable credits in film and TV. It was founded in 2020 by Langan,...

Updated: Masterpiece on PBS has released a new trailer for Miss Austen, its four-part miniseries based on Gil Hornby’s novel, which takes a deeper look at Cassandra Austin’s (Keeley Hawes) bond and loyalty with her late sister, famous author Jane Austen.

The miniseries premieres May 4. Watch the new trailer above.

Previous, Jan. 21: Masterpiece on PBS has released the first trailer for Miss Austen, ahead of its May 4 premiere.

“I am not ready to let my beloved sister, Cassie, go,” begins the trailer for the television adaptation of Gill Hornby’s bestselling novel, starring Keeley Hawes and Rose Leslie.

Set in 1830, Miss Austen takes a literary mystery — Cassandra Austen (Hawes) notoriously burning her famous sister Jane’s letters — and reimagines it as a heart-breaking story of sisterly love.

“There is no greater comfort in this world than a sister,” concludes the trailer.

The television adaptation hails from BAFTA-winning writer,...

Paris-based European production and sales powerhouse Federation Studios has named Côme Chazal as group executive director of UK strategy as it further expandsits footprint in English-language film and TV content.

Chazal has relocated from Paris to the London office, which is home toFederation Stories, set up in 2021 and run by managing director and producer Polly Williams.

Tasked with coordinating and developing the company’s activities in the UK, he will also work alongside Vertigo Films, acquired by Federation Studios in 2022.Chazal will report to Lionel Uzan and Marco Chimenz, the group’s co-managing directors.

“The UK is a crucial territory...

The drama series Miss Austen, which explores why Jane Austen letters were burned after her death by her sister Cassandra, is ready for its debut on the BBC this coming Sunday, and it features some big British names. The cast of the show, launching in the year marking the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth, includes Keeley Hawes (Bodyguard, Line of Duty, It’s a Sin) as Jane Austen’s sister Cassandra or Cassy, Synnøve Karlsen (Last Night in Soho, Clique) as young Cassy, Patsy Ferran (Living, Hot Milk) as young Jane, Liv Hill (The Serpent Queen, Elizabeth Is Missing) as young Mary Austen, Madeleine Walker as young Eliza Fowle, Jessica Hynes (Life After Life, Years and Years) as Mary Austen, Rose Leslie as Isabella Fowle (The Good Fight, Downton Abbey, Death on the Nile, Vigil), Phyllis Logan (Downton Abbey, Shetland) as Mrs. Austen, Max Irons (Condor, The Wife) as...

The BBC released a trailer for upcoming drama series Miss Austen, with Keeley Hawes (Bodyguard, Line of Duty, It’s A Sin) starring as Jane Austen’s sister Cassandra, on Tuesday and unveiled a Sunday, Feb. 2 launch date.

In the U.S., the series will air on Masterpiece on PBS from Sunday, May 4.

All four episodes will become available on its BBC iPlayer streaming service from 6 a.m. London time that day, and the series will begin airing weekly episodes on BBC One that evening. Adapted from Gill Hornby’s best-selling novel of the same name, the drama is produced by Bonnie Productions for Masterpiece, in association with the BBC.

Miss Austen has been adapted for television by BAFTA-winning writer Andrea Gibb (Elizabeth Is Missing, Mayflies). It “takes a literary mystery – Cassandra Austen notoriously burning her famous sister Jane’s letters – and reimagines it as a fascinating, witty and heart-breaking story of sisterly love,...

Federation Appointment

Federation Stories U.K. has appointed Beth Warin as the new head of development for the company. Warin will work alongside Polly Williams, managing director, and will be responsible for the company’s international drama production slate.

Warin joins from the BBC where she was drama commissioning executive, supporting commissioning editors Jo McClellan and Gaynor Holmes editorially across their slates including “Lockerbie” and “The Night Manager” Season 2.

Federation Stories’s recent credits includes “I, Jack Wright,” a British family drama series created by Chris Lang and starring John Simmy. The banner also has projects in development with broadcasters in the U.K., the US and Europe.

Created three years ago, Federations Stories is the U.K. office of European production studio Federation Studios. The U.K. outpost was set up by two former eOne executives Arielle Gottlieb and Williams. Gottlieb exited the company in February as part of a restructure.

Federation Stories U.K.’s creative director Arielle Gottlieb has exited the company following an internal restructure, Variety has learned.

Gottlieb and fellow former Entertainment One exec Polly Williams set up the U.K. office of European production studio Federation Studios three years ago with the aim of working with top drama creatives, especially female ones, to make high-end content for a global audience.

Gottlieb, who was previously VP of scripted at eOne where she worked on shows including “Dublin Murders” and “The Sister,” took on the mantle of creative director at the new shingle while Williams, eOne’s fomer head of scripted, became managing director.

”Following an internal re-structure, Arielle Gottlieb has stepped down as creative director of Federation Stories to pursue other projects,” Williams told Variety in a statement. “Polly Williams continues to lead the company as managing director. Sarah Best remains an executive producer at the company...

Exclusive: John Simm and Nikki Amuka-Bird are leading a mystery thriller series titled I, Jack Wright for Federation Stories and UKTV.

Gemma Jones (Bridget Jones) will also feature.

The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe scribe Chris Lang is penning I, Jack Wright, which Federation is producing and distributing via its UK arm. A number of deals have already been struck for Scandi public broadcasters Yle, Dk, Nrk and Srk. Deadline understands a deal with the BBC is close.

Shooting will begin this month on the series that stars double-bafta nominee Simm as Gray Wright. When the provisions of Jack’s final will and testament are made known, his third wife Sally (Amuka-Bird) and sons are shocked to discover they have been largely cut out of his enormous fortune. As Dci Morgan and DC Jones delve further into the case, they realize Jack’s cause of death was in fact murder.

Update: The project’s title has been changed from “I, Jack White” to “I, Jack Wright.”

“Unforgotten” creator Chris Lang is working on a new drama titled “I, Jack White,” Variety has learned.

The six-part series, which will start shooting in London later this month, tells the story of a man named Jack White who dies by suicide — or so his sprawling family are led to believe.

But when his numerous wives and children stumble across White’s secret last will, the document throws a grenade into their lives and leads them to question whether how well they knew Jack White after all.

Federation Stories is producing the project for BBC Studios-owned U.K. network UKTV.

Tom Vaughan (“What Happens in Vegas”) is set to direct while Federation’s Polly Williams and Arielle Gottlieb are exec producers.

Lang previously wrote ITV thriller “The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe...

“Sex Education” producer Eleven has revealed a cast of rising stars for upcoming BBC and Netflix horror series “Red Rose.”

Created by the Clarkson Twins – Michael and Paul, the eight-part series explores the relationship between teenagers and their online lives. Set over a long hot summer following high school, the teens’ friendships are infiltrated by the Red Rose app, which blooms on their smartphones, threatening them with dangerous consequences if they don’t meet its demands. The app exposes the group to a seemingly supernatural entity and the seductive power of the dark web.

The cast includes Amelia Clarkson, Isis Hainsworth, Ali Khan Ellis Howard and Ashna Rabheru alongside Adam Nagaitis, Natalie Gavin and Samuel Anderson. Making their television debuts are Harry Redding, currently in “To Kill A Mockingbird” on London’s West End, and Laurence Olivier Bursary winner Natalie Blair.

“Red Rose” is directed by Ramon Salazar (Netflix thriller...

Entertainment One has hired Left Bank executive producer Sharon Hughff to serve as creative director of scripted television out of the U.K.

In her new role, she will oversee the scripted team and pipeline from the U.K., while spearheading efforts to expand the slate into buyers in the U.K. as well as Europe and Asia. Based out of London, she will report into Pancho Mansfield, president of global scripted television for eOne.

A 20-year drama veteran, Hughff has spent the last nine years as executive producer at “The Crown” producer Left Bank Pictures. During her tenure there, she was responsible for the development and delivery of “The Halcyon” (ITV), “Strike Back” (Sky and HBO), “White Lines” (Netflix), “Three Pines” (Amazon) and, most recently, “The Fear Index” (Sky and Showtime).

Previously, she was an executive producer at Shed Media, producing the long-running series “Waterloo Road.” Her past producing credits include “EastEnders,...

Federation Entertainment has taken a majority stake in Jean-Yves Robin’s Robin & Co, signaling the first major Euro M&a deal of 2022.

Around The World in 80 Days and The Bureau producer Federation is on a growth path that saw it launch a France-based TV and film label with Anonymous Content late last year, set up a management and production company in the U.S. and open in the UK with former eOne execs Polly Williams and Arielle Gottlieb, all within a few weeks of each other. It has more than 20 subsidiaries and associated companies worldwide.

The Robin & Co deal will see the coming together of two of France’s larger players.

Robin & Co was founded in 1998 by Robin and has a number of subsidiary labels including Xavier Matthieu’s Calt Studio, Calt Production, Calt Story, Hope Production, Monkey Pack Film and Robin Production, responsible for the likes of Amazon’s...

A host of heavyweight European execs have debated the difficulty of competing with US streamers on big budgets, while criticising these players for failing to nurture local talent and buying up studio space.

Many of the panellists involved in today’s Getting Your Projects Financed session at the Mia Rome Market are involved with the European Alliance, which aims to co-produce programming such as the upcoming Around The World In 80 Days adaptation between European networks France Televisions, Italy’s Rai and Germany’s Zdf.

Manuel Alduy, France Televisions Head of Cinema and International Development, cited the complexities of co-producing with streamers who “want to discuss almost everything, from your position in the room to editorial to rights to IP.”

“Finding blockbusters like Around The World In 80 Days is therefore so important,” he added.

And deep-pocketed streamers like Amazon and Netflix are keener to take local rights than ever, according...

Casting

BBC One original series “Casualty” has announced its first transgender character, Sah, to be played by newcomer Arin Smethurst. Sah joins the series’ popular existing team of paramedics including Jan (Di Botcher), Teddy (Milo Clarke) and Iain (Michael Stevenson). “Casualty” is Smethurst’s first time working on a TV series, and the first episodes featuring their new character will begin airing later this month.

“I am honored to be joining the spectacular ‘Casualty’ family as a shiny new paramedic! I’m so excited to portray this transgender, non-binary, salty but fiercely compassionate character and hope they are not only well-received, but also a source of awareness for those who have never met someone like me,” said Smethurst in a release.

Development

Ard Degeto is developing “Oderbruch,” a new drama series destined for the company’s Ard Mediathek online platform. The series will be co-produced with Syrreal Entertainment and CBS Studios,...

Author Jackie Collins’ bestselling novel Lovers & Gamblers is to be reworked for TV by Sarah Phelps, the writer of a host of BBC Agatha Christie adaptations.

Lovers & Gamblers is also being exec produced by Phelps alongside The Bureau producer Federation UK’s Polly Williams and Arielle Gottlieb. eOne is onboard as co-producer.

The drama is adapted from the New York Times bestselling 1977 novel of the same name, which examines the harrowing void of greed and complex ideas around self determination, success, fame, independence and intimacy.

“Lovers & Gamblers is a searing scabrous masterpiece,” said Phelps, who has also adapted Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, The Witness for the Prosecution, Ordeal by Innocence, The ABC Murders and The Pale Horse for BBC1 and Amazon as part of a seven-show deal.

“Jackie Collins was ahead of her time, her unflinching eye trained mercilessly on the filthy machinations of politics and...

Eight-part drama was among 15 projects pitched in Series Mania’s Co-Pro Pitching Sessions.

Russian producer Alexander Rodnyansky and UK writer Matt Jones clinched the main €50,000 project prize at French TV festival and industry event Series Mania on Monday (August 30) for Lgbtqia+ period drama Red Rainbow.

It was among 15 drama projects pitched at Series Mania’s Co-Pro Pitching Sessions, a key strand of the event’s industry-focused Forum programme, taking place within the framework of the TV festival unfolding in Lille from August 26 to September 2.

Inspired by true events in the late 1970s, the eight-part drama revolves around three gay activists...

Red Rainbow, a drama series with Lgbtqia+ elements set in 1979 Soviet Union, has been selected as the winner of the Series Mania Forum Best Project Award to kick off European TV confab’s annual Co-Pro Pitching Sessions. A check for €50,000 was presented Monday to producer Alexander Rodnyansky of Ar Content/Non-Stop Production and writer Matt Jones for the eight-episode series, which was selected by a jury who heard pitches from 15 projects.

Based on a true story, Red Rainbow follows three young gay activists from West Berlin who are invited to the Ussr for an official visit. They are thrilled to see the country of their socialist dreams, not realizing that being gay is a crime there.

“We were incredibly impressed with all of the pitches, yet it was the strong story and Lgbtqia+ elements of Red Rainbow that helped us to reach a unanimous decision,” said jury president Polly Williams of Federation UK.

Russia’s Alexander Rodnyansky, producer of high-level Cannes hits such as “Leviathan” and “Loveless,” has added another prize to his illustrious career, winning the Series Mania Forum Best Project Award for the Soviet-era period drama “Red Rainbow.”

Presented Monday at the Forum, Series Mania’s industry arm, as one of 16 projects at its Co-Pro Pitching Sessions, “Red Rainbow” beat a strong field of other contenders to take the Award, which comes with a €50,000 cash prize for development, a considerable sum to help a series project advance.

Written by Matt Jones, and based on a true story, “Red Rainbow” is set in 1979 and turns on three young German gay activists from West Berlin who, through a series of blunders and misunderstandings, are invited by Soviet Central Committee Secretary Kaptinov to join an official visit to the Ussr, despite homosexuality being illegal in the country.

Once there, their translator, Larissa, is given...

Happy Friday International Insiders. Tom Grater here delivering you a round-up of this week’s international news. To get this sent to your inbox every Friday, sign up here.

Edinburgh TV Fest 2021

High-profile gathering: One arguably positive impact of lockdown life has been how efficient international industry events have become, admittedly after a few bumps in the road. Hats off to organizers of the Edinburgh TV Fest, who this week put on a jam-packed procession of high-profile panels, not just one after the other but even at times overlapping. It was hard to keep up with it all, but no doubt that the overall quality of discussion was high.

Highlights: Where to begin? Jack Thorne set the tone for the event in the prestigious MacTaggart Lecture slot. The National Treasure scribe called out the TV industry, saying it had “failed disabled people. Utterly and totally.” His words echoed throughout the following days,...

Entertainment One executives Polly Williams and Arielle Gottlieb have departed the company to set up the U.K. office of European production studio Federation Entertainment.

The outfit will be based in London with Williams as managing director and Gottlieb as creative director. They will also be partners in the operation.

Their remit will be to work with top drama creatives — particularly female creatives — making high-end content for a global audience.

Before jumping ship, Williams was head of scripted at eOne where she developed “Run” and “Red Rose,” while Gottlieb was VP of scripted, where she worked on “Dublin Murders” and “The Sister.”

Federation Entertainment, whose hits include “The Bureau” and “In Treatment,” now boasts production companies in territories including France, Los Angeles, Tel Aviv, Rome and Berlin. The company’s upcoming slate includes the ambitious “Around the World in 80 Days,” co-produced with Slim Film + Television.

“The U.K.

Exclusive: Pascal Breton and Lionel Uzan’s Federation Entertainment, the production company behind Canal Plus’ cult spy series The Bureau, is extending its reach to the UK. The prolific indie player is partnering with former eOne Head of Scripted Polly Williams and former eOne VP of Scripted Arielle Gottlieb to launch a new London-based production outfit. The company has yet to be named.

Williams, who will join as Managing Director, and Gottlieb, who will join as Creative Director, will focus on working with premium drama creators to create ambitious English-language content for a global audience. The duo will also aim to bring more female-led content to the Federation slate.

The new venture currently has a slate of high-profile projects currently in development, which are expected to be announced shortly. The company will develop, produce and invest in drama for TV and film and says it will offer flexibility for creators...

Samantha Strauss on the set of ‘The End.’

Two days ago Samantha Strauss spent much of the day under the doona, literally crying about the state of the world.

Yesterday Strauss, one of the country’s most successful screenwriters, was back at her computer, working on multiple projects in development for Made Up Stories and Nicole Kidman’s Blossom Films, Joanna Werner and See-Saw Films, including a second season of The End.

“I’m incredibly lucky but it is such a time of unparalleled shitness. I still have some scripts to deliver so that will tide me over for a while.” she tells If.

“It does feel like there’s a responsibility for us content makers to work our arses off right now and have a whole lot of local content ready to be made, just as soon as this hell is over.”

Meanwhile writer Shaun Grant is at home in Los Angeles,...

Richard Finlayson and Jude Troy.

Former director of ABC television Richard Finlayson has joined Jude Troy’s Wooden Horse as director and joint CEO.

The duo is developing a raft of projects including an adaptation of Jp Pomare’s novel In the Clearing, a psychological thriller about two women who belong to a cult in rural Victoria, inspired by the infamous Australian cult The Family.

Troy and Finlayson plan to meet with the Kiwi-born, Victorian-based Pomare next week and are yet to attach a writer.

The slate includes a UK-Australian co-production created by Giula Sandler and projects scripted by Jane Allen, Sarah Lambert, Tim Lee, James O’Loghlin, Alison Bell, Tristram Baumber and Natesha Somasundaram.

Founded in 2018 by Troy, the former executive VP of TV production and acquisitions for eOne Australia, Wooden Horse co-produced with Aquarius Films the second series of Matt Okine’s comedy The Other Guy for Stan.

The...

Exclusive: Netflix has secured the U.S. and international rights to Red Rose, the BBC horror drama created by identical twins Michael and Paul Clarkson, who have worked on shows including The Haunting Of Bly Manor and See.

Deadline can reveal that Netflix has picked up Red Rose from Entertainment One, which is repping the eight-part drama internationally under a co-production deal with Sex Education producer Eleven.

Sources tell us that eOne and Eleven, which made Timothy Spall horror The Enfield Haunting, are preparing to go into production on Red Rose from June, with filming taking place around Manchester and Bolton in the UK.

Originally commissioned by youth channel BBC Three last year, the series follows a group of British students as they discover the sinister Red Rose app, which encourages them to undertake a set of increasingly dangerous challenges.

One of the group, Rochelle Jackson, downloads the app and...

Paris — “Narcos” showrunner Chris Brancato and “Godfather of Harlem” star Giancarlo Esposito, actors Carole Bouquet and Zabou Breitman, and the cast and crew behind the Canal Plus series “The Bureau” will be among the many guest of honor at this year’s Series Mania, which will kick off its 11th edition on March 20.

Returning to the north-eastern French city of Lille, Series Mania will once again offer a broad cross-section of international scripted dramas, with a selection culled from 25 different countries including Chile, Peru, Niger, Senegal and South Korea, alongside high profile productions from the U.S., the U.K. and France.

Among the 38 productions world premiering in Lille, the BBC/Tvnz literary adaption “The Luminaries,” with Eva Green, will play as opening series while the closer remains unannounced.

Once again, Netflix makes a strong showing this year. Beyond bringing the cast and crew of their Paris-set drama “The Eddy,...

If you are a fan of the Netflix series The Haunting of Hill House, you’ll be interested in learning about another horror project being developed by the writers of that series for the BBC.

Michael and Paul Clarkson are writing an eight-part series called Red Rose for Sex Education andThe Enfield Haunting producer Eleven Film and eOne.

Red Rose follows “a disparate group of teenagers, adrift in the long hot summer following GCSEs, hanging out on the Bolton moors with little sense of direction or purpose now that school is over. Rumours circulate of the Red Rose app, an urban legend that blooms on the smartphones of teenagers, encouraging them to undertake a series of challenges increasingly dangerous in its demands. On the fringes of her group of friends, Rochelle Jackson downloads the mysterious app, naively inviting darkness into her life. What she sets in motion is a series...

The BBC is teaming with Michael and Paul Clarkson, the twin brother writers behind the second season of Netflix series “The Haunting of Hill House,” for a new horror thriller, the U.K. pubcaster announced Thursday at the Edinburgh TV Festival. “Red Rose” is being produced for the BBC’s youth-skewing online platform BBC Three.

The new show is being co-produced by Eleven Film, the producers of another Netflix hit, “Sex Education,” alongside eOne Entertainment.

The eight-part story follows a group of teenagers from the northern town of Bolton who download a mysterious app, Red Rose, setting in motion a series of events that take their town by storm, and bring the friends together to battle the unseen forces of a seemingly supernatural entity.

The Clarkson brothers said: “We’ve been working in L.A. for a while now, so the opportunity to return to the U.K. for our own show is incredible.

Wheel of Time and The Haunting of Hill House writers Michael and Paul Clarkson are writing an eight-part horror series for the BBC.

The British broadcaster’s youth-skewing network BBC Three has commissioned Red Rose from Sex Education and The Enfield Haunting producer Eleven Film and eOne. The Clarkson twins have also recently written on Apple drama See.

The series follows a disparate group of teenagers, adrift in the long hot summer following GCSEs, hanging out on the Bolton moors with little sense of direction or purpose now that school is over. Rumours circulate of the Red Rose app, an urban legend that blooms on the smartphones of teenagers, encouraging them to undertake a series of challenges increasingly dangerous in its demands. On the fringes of her group of friends, Rochelle Jackson downloads the mysterious app, naively inviting darkness into her life. What she sets in motion is a series...

Exclusive: Lady Macbeth director William Oldroyd and How To Talk To Girls At Parties screenwriter Philippa Goslett have signed on to eOne and King Bee Productions’ TV adaptation of Ann Patchett’s novel State of Wonder.

Novelist Maile Meloy, who has written books including Liars and Saints and The Apothecary, has also signed up to the drama project to serve as a consultant.

Goslett is coming off the back of Rooney Mara-fronted Mary Magdalene, while it is the first high-profile TV project for Oldroyd, who scored a number of BAFTA noms for his debut feature, the Florence Pugh-fronted Lady Macbeth.

The Designated Survivor studio and Emily Mortimer and Alessandro Nivola’s indie have locked in the creative team after securing the rights to the project, in a competitive situation, last year. They are developing it as an event series.

In State of Wonder, Dr Marina Singh journeys into the...

Flightplan writer Peter A. Dowling has penned a six-part submarine drama for ITV from His Dark Materials producer Bad Wolf and Entertainment One.

Tenacity, which is inspired by the eponymous J.S. Law novel, follows disgraced military detective Danielle ‘Dan’ Lewis, who is sent to investigate a case when a dead submariner is discovered aboard the British nuclear submarine Tenacity. But when the case turns to murder, it puts her in conflict with Tenacity’s crew, her Navy superiors, and into the crosshairs of an assassin who has infiltrated her nuclear base with an agenda that will not only destroy national security but kill Dan and everyone she loves.

Tenacity will start filming in 2020. It marks the first major ITV drama for eOne as well as Bad Wolf’s first commission from the British commercial broadcaster.

The series was commissioned by ITV’s Head of Drama Polly Hill. Bad Wolf...

Emily Mortimer is to reboot classic British series Rumpole of the Bailey – the legal drama originally created by her father John Mortimer.

The Newsroom and Mary Poppins Returns star is in the early stages of development with the remake, which will be produced by her own indie King Bee and eOne.

The series, which ran on ITV predecessor Thames Television between 1978 and 1992, starred Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, an elderly barrister in London who defended a weird and wonderful mix of clients. It started as a radio play on the BBC before making the move to television.

The reboot was revealed at a Deadline-moderated Banff Connect event in London by Polly Williams, eOne’s head of scripted development in the UK. The Designated Survivor studio has a first-look deal with Mortimer’s company, which she runs with her husband Alessandro Nivola.

Williams told Deadline that Mortimer has “reimagined” the series...

Entertainment One (eOne) has struck a first-look deal with British scripted producer Mam Tor Productions.

The Designated Survivor studio has inked a multi-year deal with the company, which is run by Tally Garner.

Mam Tor is currently developing a number of projects including two projects that made it on the Black List UK; Autumn, a post-prison drama written by UK scribe Emily Marcuson (Doctors) and femme fatale drama series Full Front from by Hania Elkington, who is writing for Netflix’s The Innocents.

eOne will serve as the studio and handle international rights on all projects coming out of the partnership.

Garner previously set up Cuba Pictures with Curtis Brown, where she developed BBC and AMC drama McMafia and produced Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.

“Tally’s creative ambitions and proven track-record, deep industry relationships and sharp instincts make her the ideal partner for eOne,” said Polly Williams, eOne’s Vice President,...

In a competitive situation, Entertainment One has acquired the television rights to bestselling author Ann Patchett’s novel State of Wonder to develop as an event series. Emily Mortimer and Alessandro Nivola’s King Bee Productions will produce the project with Lucy Donnelly.

Mortimer led the pursuit of the title for eOne, who will serve as the studio and handle international rights. Polly Williams and Jacqueline Sacerio will oversee the project for eOne. There are no current plans for Mortimer or Nivola to act in the series.

In State of Wonder, Dr Marina Singh journeys into the depths of the Amazon rain forest in search of her former mentor, veteran scientist Dr Annick Swenson, who has vanished while conducting research into the prolonged fertility of the women of an isolated Amazonian tribe. As Marina embarks upon this uncertain odyssey, she will be forced to surrender herself to the lush but...

The creator of hit drama series “Skins” and the team behind popular BBC show “People Just Do Nothing” are joining forces on “GARY1987,” a new comedy set in the world of virtual reality.

“Skins’” Bryan Elsley and “People Just Do Nothing’s” Steve Stamp, Allan Mustafa and Jack Clough will develop the series for the international market. Entertainment One is the studio partner and will produce and the series alongside Elsley’s Balloon Entertainment. Distribution will also be handled by eOne.

The series will follow unemployed Gary, who becomes involved in the world of Vr with an eye to making money, but gets in over his head.

“Bryan is a brilliant force in the creative landscape, which is why we couldn’t be more excited to be teaming up with his production company…as well as the talented team behind the original breakout hit U.K. series ‘People Just Do Nothing,...

The team behind hit British mockumentary People Just Do Nothing have teamed with Skins creator Bryan Elsley and Entertainment One (eOne) for a new comedy.

Steve Stamp and Allan Mustafa, two of the creators and stars of the BBC Three series, which follows a group of DJs in London, and director Jack Clough, are working with the Designated Survivor studio as well as Kiss Me First producer Elsley on Gary1987 (w/t).

The comedy, which is set in the world of virtual reality, tells the story of unemployed Gary, a Vr novice, who enters the Vr world initially to make money and ends up way over his head. Stamp and Mustafa are also in talks to star in Gary1987 as well as work behind the scenes.

It will be produced by eOne and Elsley’s Balloon Entertainment with eOne’s Polly Williams and Elsley exec producing. It is one of...

Entertainment One has acquired TV rights for adventure novel “They Came to Baghdad” by Agatha Christie. Carolyn Newman and Polly Williams will oversee the project for Entertainment One. James Prichard and Basi Akpabio are set to serve as executive producers of the series on behalf of Agatha Christie Limited.

Entertainment One will serve as the studio on the series, and will also handle international rights.

First published in 1951, “They Came to Baghdad” tells the story of Victoria Jones, whose ability to spin a good yarn gets her from place to place and keeps her employed, even if it’s only for a short stint at a time. After getting fired, a chance encounter with a stranger sees Victoria set her sights on the Middle East and she earns passage as a travel companion to a woman of wealth. In Baghdad, she encounters a small circle of ex-patriots. But things get...

Exclusive: Fresh from playing Hercule Poirot in Murder On The Orient Express, Kenneth Branagh is to re-team with Mark Gordon in Entertainment One’s television adaptation of A Gentleman in Moscow.

I hear the Dunkirk star is attached to star in and produce Tom Harper’s adaptation of Amor Towles’ novel, which tells the story of an man who is ordered to spend the rest of his life inside a luxury hotel.

Branagh will play the novel’s protagonist Count Alexander Rostov, starting in Russia’s turbulent early 1920s and spanning 30 years. When the Count is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, he is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. Having never worked a day in his life, he must now live in one room as history is being made outside.

Branagh, who has been nominated for five Academy Awards,...

Phoebe Waller-Bridge and producing partner Vicky Jones working on series.

Entertainment One has boarded a new series from Fleabag creators Phoebe Waller-Bridge and producing partner Vicky Jones.

Romantic thriller Run follows ex-lovers who made a pact 15 years ago that if they ever needed to escape life, they could text one another the word ‘run’ and disappear together. The story will follow the aftermath of the plan.

Jones and Waller-Bridge will exec produce for their DryWrite indie, alongside Emily Leo of Wigwam Films. The series will be spearheaded by eOne vice-president of scripted programming Carolyn Newman and vice-president of scripted development Polly Williams.

Waller-Bridge is the creative force behind BBC America’s forthcoming spy thriller Killing Eve, produced by Sid Gentle Films and co-written by Jones.

No broadcaster is yet attached to the project. Entertainment One will handle worldwide sales of the series.

Jones said: “In eOne, we found a team passionate about storytelling and committed to making...

Nordic Film Market includes debut films by Force Majeure actress, the screenwriter of A Royal Affair and director of viral hit Las Palmas; CAA, UTA and ICM agents among attending industry.Scroll down for full list

More than 40 Nordic films and works in progress will be presented at the fruitful Nordic Film Market in Goteborg, which runs Feb 4-7 during to the Goteborg Film Festival (Jan 29 - Feb 8).

Often a productive staging post for impressive upcoming regional features and emerging talent, the 2016 lineup includes 17 finished features and 20 works in progress, plus eight titles presented as part of the Nordic Film Lab Discovery programme.

The works-in-progress presentations (see full list below) include ten debut films from the likes of A Royal Affair screenwriter Rasmus Heisterberg, viral hit Las Palmas director Johannes Nyholm, Force Majeure actress Fanni Metelius and Cannes Cinefondation alumni Juho Kuosmanen and Shahrbanoo Sadat.

Other works in progress will be presented from directors Mads Brugger ([link...

British TV star Nigel Havers has won a legal battle over his late wife's $4.4 million estate, after claiming he was unfairly cheated out of a chunk of it. The 57-year-old A Passage To India star's wife Polly Williams died in 2004 from ovarian cancer, leaving most of her estate to her two sons from a previous relationship, Ben and William Bloomfield. Havers inherited a share of the couple's marital home but began a legal battle claiming the will, drawn up after they married in 1989, left him without "reasonable financial provision." A compromise that was reached last year - before the case went to Britain's High Court - and published now for the first time, awards Havers $712,000 and the two sons $445,000. The actor is also entitled to the proceeds from the sale of a number of items including his late wife's car and jewelry.