Film and TV Briefing: Friday 3 May 2024
Welcome to this week’s round-up of news, commentary and industry announcements that you may have missed from the past week.
If you are looking for advice in relation to any of the issues mentioned, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
In the news
Paramount Global CEO, Bob Bakish reportedly steps down as merger talks continue (The Hollywood Reporter)
Meryl Streep set to receive honorary Palme D’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival (Variety)
Pact’s response to Channel 4’s statement regarding nations quotas (Pact)
Ted Sarandos and the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 chiefs set to speak at RTS’s London Convention (The Hollywood Reporter)
‘Fallout’ receives 65m views in its first 16 days, the second-best start for any series on Amazon Prime (IndieWire)
Paramount+ reaches 71 million subscribers (The Hollywood Reporter)
‘The Green Planet’ contributed £7.4m to the UK economy (BBC)
Emma Stone to produce film about a chess scandal with Nathan Fielder and A24 (Variety)
Free streaming platform backed by the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 is launched (The Hollywood Reporter)
Fox reportedly looks to receive $7m for each advert at the 2025 Super Bowl (Variety)
Skepta enters the film world with a short called ‘Tribal Mark’ (Variety)
Features and commentary
Could Netflix’s new scripted series on Ayrton Senna become the ‘Squid Game’ of Latin America? (IndieWire)
Sex scenes in major films decline by 40% since start of the millennium (The Guardian)
Jeff Bridges on his reluctance to become an actor (The Hollywood Reporter)
Stephen King on ‘Baby Reindeer’ (The Times; subscription required)
Industry announcements
Nicole Kidman receives life achievement award from American Film Institute (The Guardian)
The winners of this year’s BAFTA Television Craft Awards (BAFTA)
BAFTA announces more than £125,000 in grants for 69 creatives (BAFTA)
The BFI Southbank Studio is to be renamed NFT4 from June (BFI)
Resources
Pact’s upcoming sessions on diversity and inclusion (Pact)
Legal updates
Harvey Weinstein to face retrial in New York after 2020 rape conviction overturned (The Guardian)
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