Film and TV Briefing: Friday 30 July 2021
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
Scarlett Johansson sues Disney for alleged breach of contract over ‘Black Widow’ release (Guardian)
Lucasfilm’s effects division hires deepfaker (BBC)
Universal to pay $400m for rights to new trilogy continuing “The Exorcist” (Guardian)
Film and TV Production Restart Scheme enables 640 productions in the last 12 months (BFI)
Olympics viewers frustrated by reduced BBC coverage (Guardian)
ITV has no plans for further series of “The X Factor” (Variety)
Comedian Mo Gilligan launches ‘The Lateish Accelerator Programme’ (Channel 4)
Netflix becomes first Hollywood studio to announce mandatory vaccination for US productions (Variety)
‘Sky Showcase’ to become Sky’s flagship brand from September (Televisual)
‘Arthur’ cartoon to end after 25-year run (Guardian)
IMAX CEO sees Disney’s hybrid releases as a pandemic experiment (Deadline)
Welsh media sector to benefit from £22.2m government funding (Pact)
Features and commentary
Opinion: A look at the current trend for gender-swapped TV roles (Guardian)
Cannes 2021: An overview of this year’s offering at ‘Un Certain Regard’ (BFI)
Industry announcements
HETV Skills fund introduces two-tier cap on contributions (ScreenSkills)
ScreenSkills funding for mentoring initiatives for talent from under-represented groups (ScreenSkills)
Resources
Updated guidance in relation to IR35 and presenters (Pact)
Updated Covid-19 guidance (British Film Commission)
Legal Updates
Ofcom launches consultation on review of how it regulates the BBC (Pact)
