News

Body & Soul has had a terrible effect on Johnny Dimera. Since joining the reboot as director, he’s acted like a jealous fool. He cheated on Chanel. Now, he’s doing what he can to keep his secret. He’s even letting his dad take care of the situation for him. At the end of the Friday, December 6 episode of Days of Our Lives, Chanel walks in on a volatile and damning conversation.

No Time for Cheaters

It was a self-care day for Lani (Sal Stowers — who speaks out on a potential Days return), Chanel (Raven Bowens), and Paulina (Jackée Harry). Obviously, Chanel’s problems were going to come up. Paulina clearly harbors anger towards Johnny (Carson Boatman), and who can blame her? Chanel still seems a bit conflicted, but she’s doing her best to move past the way her husband acted and what he called her.

Lani...

In his over half-a-century-long Hindi film career, he sang more than a thousand songs, but just three serve to demonstrate his position in the industry’s scheme of things – the madcap “Ek Chatur Naar” where Kishore Kumar beats him; the enchanting qawwali “Na to karvaan ki talash hai” where Mohammed Rafi emerges triumphant eventually; and the classical contest “Ketaki gulab juhi”, where he beats Pandit Bhimsen Joshi.

This was part of the misfortune of Prabodh Chandra ‘Manna’ Dey, born on this day (May 1) in 1919 in Calcutta. His classical training, innate talent, and “masculine” voice made him perfect for all shades of songs – romantic (including those for the vintage-aged), folk ballads, philosophical musings, and more, but he was never deemed a top-notch singer.

A nephew of gifted blind singer-composer Krishna Chandra Dey, who paved his way into music and films, Manna Dey’s forte was challenging, classical-based songs, especially those that his contemporaries considered difficult,...

Exclusive: An actress who featured in the final season of The Crown and a series regular in Jack Whitehall’s Bad Education have said they are owed thousands in unpaid fees by scandal-hit agency Bodhi Talent.

Thea Beyleveld and Jack Bence were both loyal Bodhi clients but said they discovered that the agency had withheld money from them following the publication of a Deadline exposé on the company. Beyleveld also alleged that Bodhi “skimmed” money from her paycheck.

Beyleveld and Bence are among around eight Bodhi clients in contact with acting union Equity as they attempt to secure their money. Equity believes the cases are actionable and the union will go through civil courts to fight for cash. It is unlawful for UK agents to pay actors later than 10 days.

Bodhi founder Archie Purnell has not responded to requests for comment. He has previously denied paying actors late, telling Deadline...

Hunt is renowned for her vast experience in the UK TV landscape.

In Jay Hunt, the BFI has landed one of the most experienced UK media executives of her generation as its new chair, appointed by the government’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport.

Hunt has run three of the UK’s biggest TV channels at the BBC, Channel 4 and Channel 5, and also has US streamer experience from leading the European team of Apple TV+.

“Whatever space Jay is working in, she brings incredible energy, spirit and creative rigour to her role,” said Piers Wenger, A24’s Europe head of TV,...

The Apple TV+ exec will take over from Vue CEO Tim Richards.

Jay Hunt, AppleTV+ European creative director, has been confirmed as the next chair of the British Film Institute (BFI).

She will take over from Vue CEO Tim Richards for a four year-term on February 16.

The BFI chair is appointed by the UK government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Dcms) and ratified by culture secretary Lucy Frazer.

Australia-born Hunt will be the first female chair since Joan Bakewell, who was in post from 1999-2002, and the first chair to come from a streaming platform.

“The BFI plays...

Channel 4 boss Alex Mahon has said the government’s new plans for the “It’s a Sin” broadcaster spans “a decade or more” but that the spectre of privatization can never fully disappear for a public organization.

Speaking to Variety a mere hour after the U.K. government formally called off its plans to sell Channel 4, Mahon said: “This is a plan that takes us through a decade or more because there are big commitments here, particular around funding in the nations and regions and making a difference with young people and bringing people into the industry. Those aren’t things you can achieve in 10 minutes; we need time to achieve them.”

Mahon noted that Rishi Sunak’s government is “thinking about this for the medium to long term,” but that “they’ll always have the right as government, or as governments change, to look at these things — as they should have.

Veteran actor Dharmendra talked about the character of Dr Piramal Tripathi and how he wore a monkey cap and sweater in the movie to disguise himself as a watchman. After looking at ‘Indian Idol 13’ contestant Shivam Singh’s rendition of ‘O mere Mehbooba’ from the 1977 film ‘ Dharam-Veer’ starring Zeenat Aman opposite him, he praised him for his performance and also his look reminded him of his dressing style in one of his blockbuster films ‘Chupke Chupke’.

‘Chupke Chupke’ is a 1975 comedy-drama which was a remake of the Bengali film ‘Chhadmabeshi’. It stars Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Sharmila Tagore, Jaya Bachchan, Om Prakash, Usha Kiran, David Abraham Cheulkar, Asrani and Keshto Mukherjee. It is directed by one of the greatest filmmakers Hrishikesh Mukherjee. The movie was a perfect entertainer and it is always remembered for Dharmendra and Amitabh Bachchan’s comic timing and their on-screen friendly masti.

He said: “There was a...

Channel 4 Welcomes Wonderhood Studios’ ‘Fur Babies’

Channel 4 has commissioned David Abraham’s Wonderhood Studios to produce a four-part doc series following Britain’s pet owners through the pregnancy and birth of their pets. In Fur Babies (working title), vet practices across the UK have been rigged to capture the initial ultrasounds and pregnancy checks, labors, complications, and the final heart-warming moments when the offspring are rehomed. Wonderhood, whose founder Abraham was once Channel 4 CEO, is producing in association with All3Media International.

France’s 440Hz Launches Music Supervision Arm (Exclusive)

French music rights management platform 44oHz has launched a music supervision branch aimed at aiding producers and directors. Among its focuses, it will recruit composers or bands to facilitate rights clearance or executive production. Initial projects include assisting on, Une zone à défendre which is Disney+’s first feature film produced in France, directed by Romain Cogitore with a cast...

BBC Studios Science Unit Names First Creative Director

The Anthrax Attacks and Dinosaurs: The Final Day producer BBC Studios Science Unit as named its first Creative Director for UK Unscripted. Emma Lorenz has joined from Wonderhood Studios and will responsible for the domestic creative strategy and growing the unit’s UK slate in documentaries, formats and returning series. The BBC production division is led by Andrew Cohen and Director of Development Nicola Cook. Along with big ticket titles for Netlflix and the BBC, it has produced advertiser-funded programming series Cook Clever, Waste Less with The Great British Bake Off Judge Prue Leith for Channel 4. At Wonderhood, which former Channel 4 CEO David Abraham runs, she was Deputy Creative Director, working on shows such as BBC Three’s Trump in Tweets, Channel 4’s Baby Surgeons: Delivering Miracles, the recent Super Surgeons: A Chance at Life and BBC One’s The Airport: Back in the Skies.

Blue Planet III and Gladiators are coming to the BBC. The Junior Eurovision Song Contest will also air on the network for the first time.

The Sir David Attenborough-presented landmark was revealed at the Edinburgh TV Festival this afternoon by BBC commissioners, described as “using the very latest in underwater filming techniques to reveal brand new and untold stories from magical underwater worlds.”

The show from the prestigious BBC Studios Natural History Unit will take on the legacy of 2017’s Blue Planet II, which led to a sea change in plastics pollution and the perception of life in our oceans. Blue Planet II was one of the most-viewed BBC shows of the decade, coming a few years after the first Blue Planet.

The third series will focus on the five major underwater habitats: the Tropical Seas; Temperate Seas; Polar Seas; High Seas; and Deep Seas, while the sixth episode...

BBC Chief Content Officer Charlotte Moore has hit back at Channel 4’s Ian Katz’s view on TV reboots by stating “well, Channel 4 bought The Great British Bake Off back.”

Katz used his Edinburgh TV Festival session this morning to describe the current penchant for reboots as “depressing” but Moore said reboots take “creativity and are challenging.”

Questioned on Katz’s comments, she reminded the Edinburgh audience that Channel 4 had commissioned Great British Bake Off, it’s top-rated show, soon after the show stopped airing on the BBC last decade.

The issue has become a key talking point at Edinburgh and reboots were also criticized by former Channel 4 CEO David Abraham a day before Katz.

“I don’t think it’s easy to bring titles back and make them successful,” said Moore. “It would be a problem if it was all we were doing but if you’re going...

Channel 4 Chief Content Officer Ian Katz has said “there is something depressing” about the number of UK TV reboots currently in production.

The topic of reboots has been raised a number of times at the Edinburgh TV Festival already this year and Katz used his session to back up former Channel 4 CEO David Abraham’s comments yesterday that the situation with reboots is “profoundly depressing.”

Katz was responding to a question on Big Brother returning to ITV, Banijay’s format’s third UK network in 20 years, and he acknowledged Channel 4 has also rebooted shows such as Changing Rooms.

“I do think there is something depressing about this microwave issue in TV, with so many old dishes being reheated,” he said. “If Channel 4 is about anything it is looking for the new dish and that’s what we need to keep focusing on.”

Katz flagged new Channel 4 reality formats Alone,...

Love Island’s “extraordinary success” drove ITV to commission its Big Brother reboot, according to content boss Kevin Lygo, who said duty of care is being considered for the upcoming reality show but “I don’t think we should stop allowing the public on TV.”

Lygo told the Edinburgh Television Festival that Love Island, which has now run for eight seasons, had “defied current logic” by regularly topping 3M viewers per night across its eight-week run for multiple seasons.

“More young people watch it than any other and we should all take joy in the fact that if you get the right show, they will watch,” he added.

Lygo said Banijay’s Big Brother reboot, which was unveiled during the Love Island finale, will likely skew older than Love Island, attracting audiences who watched two decades ago and “remember it fondly” from days on Channel 4 and Channel 5.

The...

All3Media CEO Jane Turton has said the debate around British public service broadcasting needs to be “reframed” as the biggest indie bosses in the country debate future Psb, privatization and the plethora of reboots.

These broadcasters are not “Netflix, Apple TV+ or YouTube,” Turton stressed during an Edinburgh TV Festival session on public service broadcasting, where she debated with Banijay UK Exec Chair Patrick Holland, Naked MD Fatima Salaria, Cardiff Productions Founder Pat Younge, Avalon Founder Jon Thoday and former Channel 4 CEO David Abraham.

“We have to concentrate on what PSBs do well and make more of that,” added Turton, whose company owns the likes of Gogglebox producer Studio Lambert. “I don’t think people celebrate their success enough.”

She called for a “reframing” of the debate around these broadcasters.

Other panelists pushed the PSBs to do more for young audiences, in a world in which younger people are...

Project Funding

The Asian Cinema Fund, a bursary scheme for film and documentary projects operated alongside the Busan International Film Festival, has announced six Korean recipients and seven hailing from elsewhere in Asia. The fund was put on hiatus during the two years of Covid, which also reduced the festival in size and turned the Asian Contents & Film Market into a virtual event. Three winners – “In the Land of Brothers,” by Raha Amirfazali, “Life I Stole,” by Putri Purnama Sugua and “Smart City,” by Rohin Raveendran – each receive KRW10 million for script development and are invited to participate in the Acfm’s Asian Project Market. Three films currently in post-production — “Birth,” by Yoo Jiyoung, “Juhee from 5 to 7,” by Jang Kunjae and “Mariam,” by Arvind Pratap — will receive in-kind support for digital intermediates, Dcp production, sound mixing and sub-titling, and are expected to premiere as finished works at the Busan festival.

‘Trump In Tweets’ Producer Wonderhood Bolsters Senior Team

Trump in Tweets producer Wonderhood Studios has bolstered its senior leadership team with the signing of The Apprentice indie Naked’s Head of Production and promotion of a Head of Factual and Head of Development. Fremantle-backed Naked’s Lianne Hickey will oversee production in the newly-created role, for the indie founded by former Channel 4 CEO David Abraham that has produced the likes of Channel 4’s Baby Surgeons: Delivering Miracles, Sky’s Devil’s Advocate: The Mostly True Story of Giovanni di Stefano and BBC Three’s Trump in Tweets. At Naked, Hickey oversaw big formats including BBC Three’s The Rap Game. “Good Heads of Production may sometimes be in unsung roles, but they are absolutely key to the success of any indie, and in Lianne we have one of the very best,” said Susie Dark, Wonderhood Managing Director. Meanwhile,...

In today’s Global Bulletin, a two-parter on the BBC’s controversial 1995 interview with Princess Diana sells around the world; “Catfish U.K.” plans to premiere four episodes on MTV U.K. this spring; See-Saw Films ups Simon Gillis to COO; Wirecard scandal film being developed; and Women in Film and Television U.K. is to expand its mentoring programs for mid-career women to Scotland and Wales.

U.K. production funding and distribution agency Drive has sold two-part documentary series “The Diana Interview: Revenge of a Princess” to Channel Nine in Australia, Reelz in the U.S., TV 2 in Norway, Servus TV in Austria, Rtl Netherlands and Tvnow in Germany, to broadcast this year.

Produced by Minnow Films for U.K. broadcaster ITV, the series focuses on the controversial 1995 interview when Diana, Princess of Wales, poured her heart out on current affairs show “Panorama” to BBC journalist Martin Bashir.

Chad cheated on Abigail with Gwen, Jake dumped Kate, Eli and Lani named their twins, and all of Salem rung in the New Year!

Our TV Fanatics, Jack and Christine, are joined by Stephanie and Kathy from MyHourglass, a Days of Our Lives fan forum, to debate Chad's behavior, Jake's decision, if Ben should leave Salem, which characters they'd love to see return, and more…

Chad cheated on Abigail with Gwen because he thought Abigail was cheating on him with Jake. React!

Stephanie: Chad deserves to reap whatever consequences are coming his way. He did nothing to further investigate whether his theory about Jake and Abigail was correct and instead, only relied on circumstantial evidence and Gwen's lies as proof.

He also proved that he had no faith or trust in Abigail when he told Gwen that he thinks she uses her mental illness as a way to do what...

Production company was founded by Celine Rattray (‘The Kids Are Alright’) and Trudie Styler (‘American Honey’).

Celine Rattray and Trudie Styler’s Maven Screen Media is moving into TV production and short-form digital content after securing investment from the UK Creative Content Eis Fund, launched last year in association with the BFI.

London and New York-based Rattray has produced more than 45 films, including Oscar-nominated The Kids Are All Right, and set up Maven Pictures in 2011 with Styler, producing Cannes jury prize winner American Honey and Sundance award winnerThe Kindergarten Teacher. The company recently rebranded as Maven Screen Media.

The undisclosed...

The UK Creative Content Eis Fund has invested an undisclosed sum in Celine Rattray and Trudie Styler’s Maven Screen Media.

Rattray (The Kids Are Alright) and Styler (Moon) recently rebranded their ten-year-old film and TV company Maven Pictures to Maven Screen Media as the company looks to focus more on UK film projects, TV and digital content. The company, whose credits include Skin, the remake of The Kindergarten Teacher and American Honey, said going forward it is aiming to increase its work with female content creators and on female-centered stories, which it says has already been a priority for the firm.

The Maven team also includes EVP Film, Jenny Halper and EVP Operations and Production, Nic Marshall. As we revealed last week, the company is currently in production on starry lockdown anthology film With/In.

This is the fourth investment by the UK Creative Content Eis Fund following recent investments in Raindog Films,...

The best weddings always end way too quickly.

This was especially true for Lani and Eli's wedding on Days of Our Lives during the week of 6-29-20.

All of the uninvited guests and assorted nonsense dominated nearly two days of airtime, only for the actual ceremony -- which was beautiful -- to be over in five minutes.

Days of Our Lives weddings are always dramatic, but this one set the standards for years to come.

We didn't need quite so many interruptions.

Tamara fainting seemed pointless, although it did give her the opportunity to come back at the right moment to convince Lani to go on with the nuptials.

Gabi's 9000th speech viliffying Lani was also unnecessary.

Vivian's entrance dwarfed Gabi's pathetic attempts at causing trouble, and it might have been more dramatic had Vivian cut into the couple's relief that Gabi didn't try to interfere after all.

I...

ViacomCBS’s Smithsonian Channel is to take an intimate look at lockdown life in China in a documentary co-produced by former Channel 4 chief executive David Abraham’s Wonderhood Studios.

Wonderhood has teamed up with advertising creatives Yu Kung and Crystal Liu, who run Campfire Productions and found themselves confined to their apartment block in Shanghai at the epicenter of the Covid-19 outbreak.

The pair decided to film their experiences and those of their neighbors for one-hour documentary Covid: Our Lockdown In Shanghai, which will premiere on Smithsonian in the U.S. and UK on May 25.

Stories include those of Tiffany D. White, whose wedding plans were thrown into question by the pandemic, and Jasmine, a doctor working grueling 24-hour shifts.

Covid: Our Lockdown In Shanghai is produced and directed by Yu Kung and Crystal Liu. Executive producers for Wonderhood Studios are Rebecca Templar and Samantha Anstiss, while Luke Korzun Martin...

Investment will expand gaming experiences around ‘Doctor Who’ and ‘Peaky Blinders’.

UK digital entertainment studio Maze Theory is to develop gaming experiences around Doctor Who and Peaky Blinders after securing investment from the UK Creative Content Eis Fund, which was launched last year in association with the BFI.

The London-based firm, known for its work in virtual reality gaming, will also use the funding to invest in new and original content, which will be made available across PC, console and mobile devices.

The undisclosed investment marks the third from the UK Creative Content Fund, launched last year to take advantage...

The UK Creative Content Eis Fund, which was set up last summer to back independent production companies and is endorsed by the BFI, has made its third investment, I can reveal.

Following previous investments in former C4 boss David Abraham’s Wonderhood Studios and Colin Firth and Ged Doherty’s Raindog Films, the Fund has now taken a step in a different direction by backing digital entertainment studio Maze Theory.

The production co is most known for its work in virtual reality gaming, having created experiences for franchise including Doctor Who and Peaky Blinders. The Fund said the money will allow it to significantly grow its user base.

“A key aspect of this investment is the enormous potential for Maze to develop Vr (and other experiences) for premium film and TV franchises,” Fund head Stephen Fuss explained to Deadline. “This will create new revenue streams for those franchises and an exciting experience for fans.

Regardless of whom you ask in the U.K. television industry, the astronomical feat of expanding public service broadcaster Channel 4 outside the safety of its edgy, central London home and across three new locations in various corners of the country could only have been carried out by Alex Mahon — a would-be astronaut turned supersonic television executive.

Mahon, chief executive of the “Leaving Neverland” and “The Circle” broadcaster across the pond, discusses high-energy physics as if she’s delivering a Starbucks order. She’s attended space camps in Russia, South Korea and Japan; worked at the European Organization for Nuclear Research; and has a doctorate in medical physics. If anything has brought her down to Earth, it’s television.

“You could say it took me quite a long time to work out what I like doing, or you could say I know a lot about physics,” says the London-born Scot,...

The door slams shut today on applications for one of the biggest jobs in global broadcasting: running the BBC. Resumes have been dusted off and the BBC’s headhunters have been courting interest as the corporation seeks to replace Tony Hall as director general after he announced his departure in January.

It’s not been the most electrifying of races to date, with a number of industry insiders observing that the recruitment process has been quiet. There have been no shock candidates, no big pitches for the job. But that could all change in an instant as the BBC chairman Sir David Clementi edges closer to a decision.

Hall’s successor faces a gargantuan task. The to-do list includes, but is not limited to: Grappling with a government that seems determined to undermine the BBC’s funding, slashing costs, securing the success of commercial arm BBC Studios, cleaning up a rumbling equal pay dispute,...

The company is run by Ged Doherty and Colin Firth.

Colin Firth’s Raindog Films is moving into high-end TV drama and documentaries after securing investment from the UK Creative Content Eis Fund, launched last year in association with the BFI.

Firth co-founded Raindog with former Sony Music CEO Ged Doherty in 2012 and has produced projects including Gavin Hood’s Official Secrets, starring Keira Knightley, Jeff Nichols’ Loving, which earned Ruth Negga an Oscar nomination, and Eye in the Sky, directed by Hood and starring Helen Mirren and Aaron Paul.

The undisclosed investment will see the indie move into TV drama,...

Raindog Films, the UK-based production company co-founded by Colin Firth and music industry veteran Ged Doherty, is moving into TV, hiring writer and producer Trish D Chetty.

“I have always admired the films that Raindog make, each one of their films is bold and ambitious and the diversity of their work speaks for itself. I am excited to be joining Colin and Ged at this key stage of the company’s development,” said Trish D Chetty, who will oversee the expansion into high-end series, music content and documentaries.

The company has received backing from the UK Creative Content Eis Fund, which launched last summer to raise capital to back UK indie companies. Eis, or ‘Enterprise Investment Scheme’, is a government-backed program that allows emerging companies to raise capital from investors whose financial commitment is offset by tax relief. The scheme was created to encourage the economy of startup ventures but...

U.K. broadcaster Channel 4 has commissioned Wonderhood Studios for a documentary series with the working title “Baby Surgeons.”

The series will explore the journeys parents go through to save their babies during complex pregnancies and will feature cutting-edge baby surgeries, some performed inside the womb. It will also use CGI, Mri and Ultrasound to enhance the view of babies during these procedures.

Channel 4 documentary commissioner Alisa Pomeroy commissioned the series. James W. Newton (“Heart Transplant: A Chance to Live”) will direct. Wonderhood’s chief creative officer Samantha Antiss and in-house producer Katharine Patrick will serve as executive producers.

Pomeroy said: “The series will no doubt offer up both a fascinating and emotionally challenging insight into the extremely delicate and highly complex medical support that is provided to all those concerned.”

Wonderhood has secured access to London’s St. George’s Hospital, a center for specialist fetal care.

Newton said: “It’s sensitive access,...

“We have had two and a half years of hell” but the situation is now improving.

Relations between film financiers and the UK’s inland revenue department Hmrc came under focus at Screen’s Film Finance Forum in London on Thursday (December 5).

“We have had two and a half years of hell,” said accountant and film finance expert Dave Morrison, a partner at Nyman Libson Paul. He was talking about the great difficulty many have had in securing approvals and clearances from Hmrc since the changes to the rules governing the tax-based Enterprise Investment Scheme (Eis) were introduced in 2018.

However,...

Fund invests in Wonderhood Studios, headed by former Channel 4 CEO David Abraham.

Wonderhood Studios, headed by former Channel 4 CEO David Abraham, is the first company to secure investment from the BFI’s UK Creative Content Fund, managed by Calculus Capital, which launched in June.

Wonderhood specialises in TV and factual entertainment and was founded by Abraham in April 2018.

The investment is reportedly in the region of £1m. Wonderhood will use the money to scale up with staff, develop new productions and “begin to explore genres such as drama sooner” than previously planned, according to Abraham.

In the last year...

Exclusive: Donald Trump’s obsession with Twitter is to be explored in a documentary for the BBC.

Wonderhood Studios, the production company established by former Channel 4 CEO and TLC boss David Abraham, is making Trump In Tweets (w/t), the company’s second commission for the British public broadcaster.

It comes as the President of the United States of America lands in the UK for a three-day visit that includes a Nato meeting to mark the 70th anniversary of the defense alliance and a reception for world leaders hosted by the Queen.

Trump In Tweets will examine Potus’ love affair with social media. Using his tweets, it will tell how he came of age on Twitter, from a technophobe to a serial tweeter, as well as documenting the impact of his social media across the world.

Using first-hand testimony from people in his inner circle, interviews with experts and journalists,...

Exclusive: Wonderhood Studios, the production and advertising company launched by former Channel 4 CEO David Abraham, is cooking up its first commission – a BBC format featuring Michelin star chef Heston Blumenthal.

This comes a year after Abraham, who also used to run U.S. cable network TLC, set up the company.

Eat The Years will see The Times’ food critic and television presenter Giles Coren challenge Blumenthal, who has presented a slew of cooking shows for Channel 4 including How To Cook Like Heston and Heston’s Fantastical Food, to re-create the 2001 tasting menu from the latter’s revered The Fat Duck in Maidenhead outside of London. The documentary will feature a range of chefs that have worked with Blumenthal as well as front of house staff, food experts and celebrity guests for a one-off event.

The format has the potential to return with different chefs and restaurants.

Eat The Years...

Apple is expected to shed some light on its new video streaming service today during an anticipated livestreamed event from the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, CA. The event gets underway at 9 a.m. Pt.

The streaming service rival to Netflix is expected to carry original content from the likes of Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey, Jj Abrams, Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston. It’s not clear yet what third-party content will be included on the service or on which devices it will be made available. Sports are not expected to feature in the offering for now, but Apple is also expected to reveal some kind of subscription news service today.

Speaking this morning on BBC radio, Wonderhood Studios founder David Abraham, ex-ceo of UK broadcaster Channel 4 and U.S. cable network TLC, said the launch was a watershed moment both in the U.S and internationally, “This is a...

Wonderhood Studios, the production company-meets-advertising agency set up by former C4 and TLC boss David Abraham, has scored its first commission and is working with Netflix on an advertising campaign. Abraham, who set up the company last year, said that the “walls” between advertising and original content “need to come down” to fix “stretched storytelling” and the problem of “too much content”.

Speaking at Intv, he said, “Over the last few years there’s been too much content created and too much of it is not really content that will attract the audience, but the challenge for brands is not just to create videos but create ideas that can draw the audience, our challenge is to come together to see if this cross-disciplinary approach to get to better ideas, it’s all about the ideas.”

Wonderhood hired BBC creative director Samantha Anstiss and Emma Lorenz, previously director of development at All3Media’s Lion Television,...

Amazon’s European originals chief Georgia Brown and Bodyguard creator Jed Mercurio are among the A-list names added to Keshet’s Intv conference.

Ari Greenburg, President of Wme, Steve Golin, founder and CEO of Anonymous Content and COO Matthew Velkes, Erin Keating, Senior Development Manager of Snap Originals, Liza Chasin, Founder of 3dot Productions, Jonathan Baruch, Founding Partner, Rain Management and Sally Riley, Head of Scripted, Australian Broadcasting Corporation have also been added to the line-up.

The event, which is hosted and curated by Keshet Media Group and co-produced by Deadline, takes place March 11-12 in Jerusalem.

There will be a CBS panel – From the Good Wife to Star Trek – CBS Executives Discuss the Power of Programming in a Multi-Platform Universe – where David Stapf, President, CBS Television Studios, Julie McNamar, Evp, Original Content, CBS All Access and Deborah Barak, President, Business Operations, CBS Entertainment, CBS Television Studios and CBS News...

Rbg director Julie Cohen, eOne’s Chief Strategy Officer Peter Micelli, Channel 4 CEO Alex Mahon and HBO’s former entertainment chief Sue Naegle, who is now Annapurna Pictures’ Head of TV, are among the latest tranche of A-list names speaking at Keshet’s Intv conference.

The event, which is hosted and curated by Keshet Media Group and co-produced by Deadline, takes place March 11-12 in Jerusalem.

The foursome will be joined by Channel 4’s Drama Commissioning Editor, Lee Mason, Lauren Anderson, Chief Content Officer Lauren Anderson of NBC/Snapchat joint venture Indigo Development and Entertainment Arts, who previously oversaw scripted hits including Parks and Recreation and The Office, lawyer Victoria S. Cook, partner at Frankfurt Kurnit and a member of the Entertainment Group, Gil Goldschein, Chairman and CEO of Keeping Up with the Kardashians and The Real World producer Bunim/Murray Productions, ITV Entertainment’s Commissioner Joe Mace, and Storied Media Group...

Abigail divorced Stefan, Chad found out Charlotte was his daughter, Gabi got caught and Salem celebrated the Christmas holiday on Days of Our Lives.

Our TV Fanatics, Jack Ori and Christine Orlando, are joined by Sportsgirl from MyHourglass a Days of Our Lives fan forum to debate the missing tree ornaments, if Abigail should forgive Chad, Jennifer playing the blame game, and if Jj’s doing the right thing by hiding Haley’s secret.

There were several Christmas ornaments missing this year? Whose did you miss most?

Jack: I didn't notice whose was missing because the ornament ceremony itself was so lacking, and I was annoyed that Jj was missing from the party.

Bo and Zack's ornaments were shown in a blink-and-you-miss-it moment and Ciara should have hung her father's. There should have been an ornament made for Charlotte and for Holly. Giving of new ornaments is the best part...

Mark Burnett is the latest A-list Hollywood exec to sign up to speak at Keshet’s Intv conference.

The Apprentice creator and Chairman of MGM Worldwide Television Group will give a keynote speech at the event, which is hosted and curated by Keshet Media Group and co-produced by Deadline, takes place March 11-12 in Jerusalem.

He will speak alongside the likes of Cindy Holland, Netflix’s Head of Original Programming, Greg Berlanti and former Channel 4 CEO and founder of Wonderhood Studios, David Abraham, who were both announced earlier this month.

Elsewhere, CNN’s Amy Entelis, former StudioCanal UK chief Danny Perkins and Zdf’s Simone Emmelius will speak at the event, which takes place at the Ymca Jerusalem.

Entelis, who is Executive Vice President for talent and content development at CNN Worldwide and also oversees CNN Films and Original Series, was responsible for recent feature doc hits Three Identical...

Tech giants’ production spend predicted to overtake traditional players.

David Abraham has suggested that more UK content could be produced for the FAANGs than the public service broadcasters (PSBs) in just three to five years’ time.

Speaking at the Rts London Conference, the former Channel 4 chief executive outlined a scenario in the medium term when Amazon and Netflix have doubled their current spend with UK producers and Apple will be where Netflix currently is.

In the meantime, he said, the PSBs have a “three-to-five-year period where their relationship with audiences can evolve”.

“iPlayer, ITV Hub and All4 were all...

Entertainment One chief Darren Throop has stated that his company looking to be a “consolidator” rather than be consolidated.

Throop, speaking at the Royal Television Society London conference, said that “scale matters” when it comes to the next stage of growth in the entertainment business.

“Having that backdrop of support is very important.” But he added, “We have been fortunate enough to be a size and scale that we have a balance sheet that [allows us] to take the risks that we have to take as a company going forward. We’d rather be a consolidator than be consolidated.”

This comes eight months after the Peppa Pig owner and The Walking Dead distributor bought the remaining stake in Designated Survivor producer The Mark Gordon Company. In January, it paid $209M for the 49% of the company that it did not own, having paid $133M for a 51% in 2015.

In April, eOne bought a 70% stake...

David Abraham, former CEO of UK’s Channel 4 and boss of U.S. cable network TLC, has opened the doors of his new company Wonderhood Studios with two new hires and an aspiration to bring together the TV and advertising businesses.

Abraham has hired BBC creative director Samantha Anstiss and Emma Lorenz, previously director of development at All3Media’s Lion Television, to kick off its push into non-scripted television. Anstiss, who ran the BBC’s Auntie Productions, joins as Creative Director of Unscripted, while Lorenz joins as her deputy.

These hires come after Abraham unveiled the company in April, which he will lead as CEO, with Sachin Dosani, founder of media-focused investment bank Acf on board as managing director.

Abraham told Deadline that he wanted to work with the top creative people and believes that he can “build a better mousetrap” than some of the other, heavily consolidated production groups.

David Abraham, the former boss of UK broadcaster Channel4, has launched Wonderhood Studios. The new TV production outfit will produce for traditional networks and streaming services but also includes a division that will serve as an agency for brands.

Abraham, who headed C4 between 2010-17, will serve as chief executive with Sachin Dosani, founder of media-focused investment bank Acf on board as managing director. Additional staff will be announced in due course. The new venture has seed backing from unspecified “UK and international” private investors and will work with “award-winning British creative talent.” The new operation will begin working on its first projects in June, including the development of new digital brands.

“We began our new creative company with a blank sheet of paper in order to align our thinking with the opportunities created by unprecedented levels of change,” Abraham said. “In a world of increasingly connected consumers, channels and...

David Abraham is back in the content business. The former boss of U.K. broadcaster Channel 4 has launched Wonderhood Studios, which will make programming for channels, digital and streaming services, and have a division that will serve as an agency for brands, with the aim of working across areas that have previously operated distinctly.

Abraham was at the helm of British pubcaster Channel 4 between 2010-2017. His new venture has seed money from unspecified private investors. Abraham will be chief executive of Wonderhood. Sachin Dosani, founder of media-focused investment bank Acf, has joined as managing director. Other staffers will be announced soon, a statement by Wonderhood said, noting that it has identified a team “of award-winning British creative talent.”

The new operation will start work on its first projects in June. It will also develop new digital brands, on its own or with partners.

“We began our new creative company...

Martin McDonagh’s Oscar-winning dramedy has so far grossed nearly $150m worldwide.

Channel 4 is set to make between £10m and £15m in revenue this year from Oscar-winning movie Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

Martin McDonagh’s film is a 50/50 joint production between Film4, the movie arm of Channel 4, and Fox Searchlight.

The film’s budget was around $15m (£10.7m) and it has so far grossed nearly $150m (£107m) worldwide.

C4 is not due to publish the revenues generated from the film until its annual report in May 2019, but sources have suggested that it could be worth around £10m-£15m to its bottom line.

Former Shine Group CEO Alex Mahon has been appointed as the next Chief Executive of the UK’s Channel 4. Mahon replaces outgoing C4 boss David Abraham who announced his departure from one of Britain’s top TV jobs in March. It also comes on the heels of Chief Creative Officer Jay Hunt’s announced exit last week.

Mahon is currently CEO of Foundry, a global developer of visual effects, 3D, virtual and augmented reality for the entertainment industry. She joined Shine as Managing Director in 2006 and was CEO from 2012-2015. She was part of the transition team during Shine’s joint venture with Endemol which formed Endemol Shine Group. Previous positions include COO at Talkback Thames; Director of Commercial Development and Strategy at FremantleMedia; and Senior Strategy Executive at Rtl Group. The exec was also a member of the government’s most recent advisory group on the BBC Charter Review.

Exclusive: It’s been a little over six months since respected 10-year Universal veteran David Kosse took over the reins at Film4, the prolific and award-winning movie division of the UK’s Channel4. Now, he’s in Cannes with five movies in the Official Selection — four in Competition alone. As Kosse sees it, though they were put into development before his arrival, their British-meets-international flavor is in some ways indicative of the future of the industry which Channel4 has a mandate to support and which the exec will continue and expand upon.

Meanwhile, the first film he greenlit at Film4, Lenny Abrahamson’s drama Room, has buyers clamoring off of a FilmNation promo reel here and, Kosse believes, is an awards-season contender. With strategic steps he’s taken since taking over the UK’s top movie job, Kosse’s given some indication of what’s to come. We sat down...

In its fifth recent investment in an indie outfit, the UK’s Channel 4 has taken a minority stake in drama, factual and comedy producer, Eleven Film. Co-founded by Jamie Campbell and Joel Wilson in 2006, Eleven’s credits include Cast Offs (Channel 4), Playhouse Presents: Mr Understood (Sky Arts), My Breasts Could Kill Me (Sky 1) and, most recently, the eight-part drama series Glue (E4). The London-based producer is currently shooting three-part Sky Living drama, The Enfield Haunting, starring Timothy Spall, Matthew Macfadyen and Juliet Stevenson. It also has the teenage Jesus drama series Nazareth in development at Fox with writer/executive producer David Franzoni.

“Jamie and Joel are young, dynamic TV executives who have worked themselves up from grassroots level to establish a multi-genre production company. We hope through our investment we can help them increase their stronghold in the UK and U.S. particularly in the competitive drama arena,...