News

Seriesly Berlin, a new series festival, has revealed the first topics and speakers of its two-day conference program. The conference will take place on Sept. 16 and 17 at Fotografiska Berlin.

Topics to be covered range from storytelling in the age of AI, genre as a Trojan horse and flawed female characters, to person as property, and literary and podcast adaptations.

The festival will also include screenings of new shows, which will be open to the public over three days, Sept. 16-18.

Eike Faecks, director of Seriesly Berlin, said: “The industry doesn’t need another cookie-cutter TV event. We want to build a community of diverse, bold talent and visionary decision-makers, bridging culture and commerce. Real talks. Fresh voices and formats. No Bs or algorithms dictating creativity.”

In her opening keynote, titled “Real Imagination,” creative consultant Tatjana Samopjan of Fractal Volcano in Stockholm will examine authentic, impactful storytelling.

The opening panel, “All Eyes on Me,...

Spanish star Miguel Ángel Silvestre is set to topline in miniseries “Lucio’s Treasure,” a real-life inspired project co-produced by Spain’s Vértice360 and Friki Films with Red Arrow International Studios.

Silvestre will play the leading role of Lucio Urtubia, considered a modern Robin Hood who nearly bankrupted Citibank of America in the 1980s. Whether he was caught is another matter.

Structured as a six-episode, one-hour drama, the series is scheduled to lens in English by 2025.

Created by brothers Hugo and Roger Menduiña, “Lucio’s Treasure” is produced by Friki’s CEO Ana Manresa and Alberto Rull, Vertice’s EVP production and content.

The U.K.’s Anthony Alleyne (“Sunburn”) has joined the series as co-creator, writer and executive co-producer.

Defined by Rull as “an ambitious series, both creatively and in terms of budget,” “Lucio’s Treasure” is set in Paris and New York, “aimed at being a world-class co-production...

Red Arrow International and leading Spanish indie producer-distributor Vértice360 have taken a co-production stake in real-life inspired series project “Lucio’s Treasure,” set up at Barcelona-based Friki Films.

Also handling international sales rights, Red Arrow co-produces the project. An English-language shoot is scheduled by 2025.

The project has been selected to feature at the next edition of Mia’s drama co-production market and pitching forum, which takes place in Rome Oct. 9-13.

The six-episode, one-hour drama, created by brothers Hugo and Roger Menduiña, is produced by Friki’s CEO Ana Manresa and Alberto Rull, Vertice EVP production and content.

The U.K.’s Anthony Alleyne (“Sunburn”) has joined the series as co-creator, writer and executive co-producer.

“This is an ambitious series, both creatively and in terms of budget. We are building a world-class co-production with an international cast and creative team with great appeal for global audiences,” Rull told Variety.

“Our...

French-Argentinian actress Anais Weill and Spain’s Dariam Coco are set to star in Spanish-u.K. sci-fi thriller series “Border Station.”

Top Spanish indie producer-distributor Vertice 360 is teaming with Madrid’s Anacaona Productions and London-based Born Wild to co-produce the project, which is at development stage.

The six-episode, one hour TV drama was created by Born Wild founder Anthony Alleyne (“Sunburn”). Anacaona’s Vianessa Castaños has been tapped to serve as showrunner and lead writer, alongside France-based author Geoff Dupuy-Holder (“Dark Sense”).

A historical spy thriller, with time-travel elements, “Border Station” will follow Beatriz (Dariam Coco), a struggling black jazz singer from Zaragoza who feels her luck is about to change when she’s booked to perform at an opening ceremony of the Canfranc International Station.

A strategic point during WWII, set in the Spanish Pyrenees, near the French border, Canfranc was frequented at that time by Nazi, Francoist...

Top Spanish indie producer-distributor Vértice 360 is joining forces with U.K.-based Born Wild to co-produce YA drama series project “Motorway.”

European sales company Eccho Rights is handling international distribution rights.

“Motorway” has been created by Spanish writer-cartoonist Víctor Santos, the creator of graphic novel “Polar” whose film adaptation, starring “Hannibal” Mads Mikkelsen, was produced by comicbook-based media company Dark Horse Entertainment and Germany’s Constantin Film and released by Netflix.

The new project is set up at Vértice 360, the ambitiously relaunched content division of Madrid-based conglom Squirrel Media, headed by Spanish entrepreneur Pablo Pereiro Lage.

“Motorway” will be pitched during the upcoming 6th Conecta Fiction & Entertainment forum, as part of the High-End Series sidebar, a new section focused on higher-budget series and miniseries projects in search for co-production partners.

Written by Santos and Born Wild founder Anthony Alleyne, the six-seg, one-hour TV drama tells a dark fairy tale...

Theatre

The U.K.’s National Theatre has revealed a robust return to normal programming services with a host of plays and films scheduled through 2022, as the country limps back to normalcy post-pandemic.

Highlights include National Theatre director Rufus Norris’ new musical “Hex,” based on “Sleeping Beauty” which opens this Christmas in the Olivier Theatre, and The Lyttelton Theatre’s reopening in October with Ayub Khan Din’s “East Is East.” Anupama Chandrasekhar’s “The Father and the Assassin,” about Gandhi and his assassin, opens at the property’s Olivier Theatre in early 2022.

There are returns to Broadway for the acclaimed “The Lehman Trilogy” and tours across the U.K. and Ireland for “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” and “The Ocean at the End of the Lane.”

Clint Dyer directs and co-writes “Death of England: Face to Face” with Roy Williams, an original feature film from the Lyttelton Theatre,...

Moviehouse Entertainment has boarded “Sunburn” and is kicking off the international sales effort at Afm. The deal comes as work gets under way on a sequel to the British-produced horror movie.

Anthony Alleyne wrote, directed and produced “Sunburn” through his Born Wild banner, alongside Lee Cooper’s Proper Charlie Prods.; they working on the sequel. “Sunburn” film follows a young American backpacker following a friend who has ventured ahead of him to rural Spain. He soon realizes something is wrong while on the trail of his erstwhile companion.

“We set out to make something different, something that would be a fresh take on the genre, and here instead of the dark being where danger lurks, it’s the light,” said Alleyne.

“We’re delighted to have secured a deal with Anthony and Lee on ‘Sunburn’ for our Afm lineup,” added Moviehouse managing director Gary Phillips. “It’s a smart and...

Graphic novel “Under,” about mutant creatures lurking in the sewers beneath a major U.S. metropolis, is coming to the big screen, with Franco-Belgian comics powerhouse Media Participations Group, Titan Comics, and U.K. producer Born Wild bringing the project to life.

“Under” was created by prolific French writer Christophe Bec and his regular illustrator and collaborator, Stefano Rafael. It is published by Le Lombard, which sits within Media Participations Group’s stable of comic book publishers alongside the likes of Dargaud, and is represented by Mediatoon.

Set in the near future in the city’s vast sewer complex, which have become a war zone complete with mutant spiders and crocodiles, disgraced former detective Jericho leads a subterranean police force attempting to preserve a semblance of order. Sandra Yeatman, a young female scientist, embeds herself with Jericho’s team, to his disdain, and they battle to stop the underwater carnage from spreading above ground.

Hello and welcome to one of our shoutouts for projects casting around the U.K. As always there’s a mix of opportunities for all ages, abilities, and locations but do remember to check if you fit the bill before applying. Although we make every attempt to verify castings before we hit publish, please ensure that you do your own research before firing off those headshots and Backstage links. “Blood Red” Multi-award winning filmmaker and producer Anthony Alleyne is casting his upcoming feature “Blood Red.” This post-apocalyptic film is set in the U.S. but shoots in Georgia (the Eastern European country) this summer. The team is casting for the female supporting role of Ronda, a key character who brings tension to the story with her deadly mystery. The production needs non-white female talent, aged 20–26, for the role. Rehearsals take place in London this September ahead of the shoot in...

Exclusive: Anthony Alleyne directs low-budget horror film, which is the first part of a planned trilogy.

Principal photography is underway in Las Alpujarras, Spain on Sunburn, a low-budget horror feature from debut writer-director Anthony Alleyne.

Starring newcomers Ryan Tonkin, Helena Antonio and Carlos Martin, the cast also includes Ania Marson (Howl), who will feature in Denis Villeneuve’s forthcoming Blade Runner 2049.

The film follows an American backpacker who goes looking for his missing friend in an isolated Spanish village. There, he becomes entangled with an alluring but dangerous local woman.

Director Alleyne also produces for his company Born Wild with Lee Cooper, producing for his newly-formed outfit Proper Charlie, and Chiara Cardoso. Adrian Bellido is producing on location in Spain and also wrote the original story, which Alleyne developed into a screenplay.

Sunburn is the first part of a planned horror-thriller trilogy, with a further two films already in the early stages of development.

A three-week...