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Fremantle has signed a first look and development deal with Fudge Park, the British scripted comedy company founded by “The Inbetweeners” creators Iain Morris and Damon Beesley.

Under the arrangement, Fremantle will become the primary home for all of Fudge Park’s upcoming scripted projects, with the indie working closely with Fremantle’s global drama and international distribution divisions to help develop its drama and comedy slate and expand globally.

The deal was brokered by Jill Kellie, Fremantle’s vice president of commercial strategy, commercial and international, and Jonathan Blyth, Fudge Park managing director, and follows the success of The two company’s recent collaboration on BBC comedy “Daddy Issues.” Starring Aimee Lou Wood and David Morrissey, the series debuted in August, becoming BBC Three’s biggest new comedy series launch of the year and the biggest comedy series for the channel since it relaunched in 2021.

“We’ve loved working...

Fremantle is getting into business with Fudge Park, the indie behind Aimee Lou Wood’s BBC comedy Daddy Issues.

The pair have struck a first look and development deal, which will see Fremantle become the primary home for all of Fudge Park’s upcoming scripted projects. The UK indie will also work closely with Fremantle’s global drama and International sales divisions to help develop its drama and comedy slate.

Fudge Park’s latest is Daddy Issues, which is sold by Fremantle and was recently re-upped for a Season 2. Starring Sex Education breakout Wood and David Morrissey and created by Danielle Ward (Brassic), Daddy Issues follows Stockport-based Gemma (Wood), who discovers she’s pregnant after a random hook-up. The show is the top-rated BBC Three comedy since the channel’s 2021 relaunch, according to the national broadcaster.

Fudge Park was founded a decade ago by The Inbetweeners creators Damon Beesley and Iain Morris.

In a first-look and development deal, Fremantle will become the primary home for all of Fudge Park’s upcoming scripted projects.

The news was unveiled Tuesday following the success of BBC Three’s Daddy Issues, starring Aimee Lou Wood (Sex Education) and David Morrissey (The Walking Dead, Sherwood), which debuted on BBC iPlayer in August and has already been green-lit for a second season.

The U.K. indie will work closely with Fremantle’s Global Drama and International Distribution divisions to help develop its drama and comedy slate, with an aim to break ground in new territories. The deal was brokered by Jill Kellie, vp commercial strategy, commercial & international, and Jonathan Blyth, managing director at Fudge Park.

Set in Stockport, Daddy Issues sees Gemma (Wood) discover she’s pregnant after a one-night stand. With her sister Catherine (Sharon Rooney) in prison and her mum Davina (Susan Lynch) traveling around the world,...

The man who struck major Channel 4 deals for the likes of The Handmaid’s Tale and The Great is headed to BBC Studios to head up commercial for scripted.

Nick Lee is exiting Channel 4 after a decade to join the BBC’s commercial production and distribution operation as Commercial Director, Drama and Comedy. He replaces Caroline Stone, who was promoted to oversee all scripted at the start of this year, and also takes on most of the responsibilities of recently-departed Commercial Director for Comedy Jonathan Blyth, with some of the existing team taking on added responsibilities.

Reporting to Scripted Productions COO Saul Venit, Lee will be responsible for developing the commercial strategy for BBC Studios’ overall portfolio, which includes the likes of prison drama Time, Daisy May Cooper’s Am I Being Unreasonable? and Nicolas Winding Refn’s upcoming Famous Five reboot. He will lead on key partnership deals and drive new business.

Ted Lasso‘s Nick Mohammed and After Life‘s Diane Morgan have struck scripted development deals with BBC Studios.

The deals with comic actors and writers were unveiled at the BBC Studios Showcase today in London, and will see both stars develop and co-produce content with the BBC’s commercial wing. BBC Studios will sell the resulting content internationally.

Mohammed is known for playing Nate in Apple TV+’s Emmy series Ted Lasso opposite Jason Sudeikis and is also the creator, writer, executive producer and co-star of Sky comedy Intelligence, acting opposite David Schwimmer. On the feature side, he is starring alongside Jon Hamm and Tina Fey in the upcoming film Maggie Moore(s), directed by John Slattery.

He also performs a comedy character called Mr Swallow, who appears regularly on Channel 4 show 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown.

Morgan recently appeared in Netflix’s Ricky Gervais comedy-drama After Life.

“Cunk on Earth” star Diane Morgan and “Intelligence” creator Nick Mohammed have each inked independent deals with BBC Studios.

Both comedians, who act and write, have signed deals for development, co-production and distribution of new scripted material, which BBC Studios will rep and distribute internationally.

Mohammed is a double Emmy nominee who created and co-starred in “Intelligence” alongside “Friends” star David Schwimmer. He is perhaps best known for his role as Nate in “Ted Lasso” and will be seen in the upcoming feature “Maggie Moore(s)” opposite Jon Hamm and Tina Fey. Mohammed is also an associate of the Inner Magic Circle. Morgan recently had a hit with “Cunk on Earth” in which she starred as professional dim-wit Philomena Cunk. She is also known for comedy show “Mandy,” which she created, wrote and directed, and has starred in shows including “After Life” and “Motherland.”

“We are big fans of Nick...

British comedian, actor and screenwriter Jamie Demetriou, winner of four BAFTAs for Channel 4/HBO Max sitcom “Stath Lets Flats,” has inked a creative partnership with BBC Studios.

The multi-year agreement will see Demetriou co-develop and co-produce new projects through BBC Studios’ production scripted portfolio and his own People Day Limited.

In “Stath Lets Flats,” written by and starring Demetriou, he plays a chaotic but well-meaning Greek-Cypriot lettings agent. BBC Studios is the international distributor of the show and has introduced it to audiences in markets like the U.S., Canada, Australia and Greece.

Jonathan Blyth, director of commercial and partnerships for comedy at BBC Studios, said: “Jamie is one of the most gifted and sought after comics in the country. We’re thrilled that he has chosen to develop his next scripted projects with BBC Studios and that we will play an active role in bringing his creative ideas to...

Quadruple BAFTA-winning Stath Lets Flats creator Jamie Demetriou has struck a multi-year partnership with BBC Studios to co-develop and co-produce projects.

Demetriou, one of the rising stars of British comedy who is featuring in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Disney+’s Pinocchio, will develop the shows for both BBC Studios and his own outfit People Day Limited.

He is the creator of Channel 4’s Stath Lets Flats, the comedy he also stars in about a hapless Greek-Cypriot London-based estate agent that has won him four BAFTAs and garnered critical acclaim.

Stath has catapulted him to stardom and, along with Barbie and Pinocchio, he has starred in Cruella, The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, Apple TV+’s The Afterparty and Netflix’s Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga.

BBC Studios is international distributor for Stath Lets Flats, which is currently being taken out to the U.S. market by producer Roughcut TV.

As BBC Studios gears up for its annual showcase, where it introduces its upcoming hot projects to international buyers, U.K.-based Jonathan Blyth, BBC Studios’ director of comedy, and Kelly Miller, BBC Studios’ Los Angeles-based senior VP of scripted strategy, sat down with Variety to discuss what’s on their comedy slate, working with streamers and the biggest challenges they’re currently facing.

What do you look for in a comedy?

Kelly Miller (Km): It’s all about authentic storytelling, that lived-in experience, a talent who has something to say. Those are the comedies and the shows that are most resonant with audiences around the world, but particularly here in the U.S.

Jonathan Blyth (Jb): Talent is very much at the heart — front and centre. If you look at our showcase slate, we’re working with some of the best in the industry, whether that’s...

Christopher Walken series “The Outlaws” has been renewed for a second season. Walken will also return as Frank Sheldon.

Created by Stephen Merchant (“The Office”) and Elgin James (“Mayans M.C.”) the comedy thriller follows seven convicts completing community service in Bristol, U.K.

The second season, which has already wrapped and is due to air next year, follows on directly from season 1. Both seasons were filmed back to back. The show is a BBC One/Amazon Studios co-production.

Returning alongside Merchant (who both stars in and writes the series) and Walken are Rhianne Barreto (“Honour”), Gamba Cole (“Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle”), Darren Boyd (“Killing Eve”), Clare Perkins (“EastEnders”), Eleanor Tomlinson (“Poldark”), Jessica Gunning (“Back”), Charles Babalola (“Bancroft”), Nina Wadia (“Goodness Gracious Me”), Tom Hanson (“Brassic”) and Aiyana Goodfellow (“Small Axe”).

Julia Davis (“Sally4Ever”), Dolly Wells (“Dracula”), Ian McElhinney (“Game of Thrones”) and Claes Bang (“Dracula”) guest star.

London Film Festival Lineup Revealed

The Lff has revealed its industry program, with speakers including Ava DuVernay, Jane Tranter, Ted Hope and Sundance director Tabitha Jackson. James Schamus will be take part in a panel discussion as part of the production finance market and there will also be spotlights on first films and new UK producers. All talks and events will take place digitally between October 7-18. Below is the lineup in full.

· Spotlight conversation – Ava DuVernay and Array

· Spotlight conversation – Jane Tranter from Bad Wolf

· Taking Black Writers Seriously pitching event with Ida Rose and the Young Vic

· Telling Black Stories on Screen – Kemp Powers and Kwame-Kwei-Armah in conversation

· From Big Screen to Small Screen, How Film Producers Navigate the World of Television with Ed Guiney and Allon Reich

· In Focus – Independent Producers with Ameenah Ayub Allen, Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly, Matthew Wilkinson, Joy Ghatoro-Akopojotor, Elhum Shakerifar and Helen Simmons...

Will Arnett and Chris Geere will star as the chairman and coach of an English soccer team, respectively, in “The First Team,” a new comedy for the BBC from the producers of “The Inbetweeners.”

The series will follow the off-the-field misadventures of three young soccer players played by Shaquille Ali-Yebuah (“The Feed”), Jack McMullen (“The Souvenir”) and Jake Short (“This Is the Year”).

The six-parter is being written by Iain Morris and Damon Beesley through their Fudge Park shingle. It is their first projects as co-writers since “The Inbetweeners” series and films. Emmy Award-winning producer Tom Werner (“Roseanne”) and Caroline Leddy (“Derry Girls”) are exec producing. Sam Pinnell (“Motherland”) is producing.

The cast also features Tamla Kari (“The Inbetweeners”), Vadhir Derbez (“How To Be A Latin Lover”), Phil Wang (“Task Master”), Neil Fitzmaurice (“Peep Show”), and Yetunde Oduwole (“Enterprice”).

Morris and Beesley said: “We’re so lucky to be working with such an incredible bunch,...