Dish customers were at risk of losing access to NBCUniveral-owned NBC and Telemundo affiliates in markets including New York, LA, Chicago and Miami, and cable channels including USA, Bravo, CNBC, MSNBC and Syfy. But, DISH Networks will continue to carry NBCUniversal channels for the time being although the contract negotiation deadline has passed. Per the FCC, a notice requesting arbitration for the carriage dispute begins a 10-day cooling off period.
European pay TV broadcaster Sky has launched Sky VR Studio, a virtual reality production company with the goal of creating immersive video content for VR devices and platforms. It will begin with sports content before branching off to entertainment and news. The first piece of VR content, two films shot during Formula One testing in Barcelona, will put viewers in the pit lane and out onto the track.
UK producer Damian Jones has signed a two-year, first-look deal with Fox Searchlight for his DJ Films LTD banner. The two are currently collaborating on the feature adaptation of the TV series Absolutely Fabulous which will reunite the original cast with Jennifer Saunders, Joanna Lumley and Julia Sawalha. Jones’ was also behind the feature adaptation of the classic UK TV series Dad’s Army, grossed more than $10 million at the UK box office. Ariadne Kotsaki has been hired by DJ Films as a Development Executive.
China’s Huayi Bros Media has launched a new animation division, Wink Animation. The company will produce animation initially for the Chinese market, where local and imported animated content is a growing business. Joe Aguilar has been named the CEO and will work out of their Shanghai location. He was formerly the Chief Creative Officer at Oriental DreamWorks. VFX supervisor Markus Manninen has signed on as their artistic director. The two have worked on such titles as The Croods and Kung Fu Panda 3. Wink will release its first film in 2017.
Film and finance company Night Fox Entertainment is opening an acquisitions arm. The four-year-old company is behind the films Z For Zachariah and Headlock. The goal of the division is to diversify their revenue streams, build their content library and provide a distribution outlet for projects that cannot get distributed through the normal studio channels. They will search for films up to five million in the urban, horror, romantic comedy and action genres. New hires for the office will be through their Omaha office. The company is currently financing East Texas Hotlinks with Samuel L. Jackson as the executive producer.
Per Exec Shuffle, Warner Bros. TV Group has reached a template agreement that grants ABC full in-season stacking rights to all episodes of new series, giving the network both the on-demand and streaming rights to all new episodes of series debuting next season, as well as from 2017-2018. Previously, Warner Bros. has only granted ABC a slate of five rolling episodes at a time to use across its platforms.
Producers Stacy McKee and Bill Harper have each signed a new two-year overall deal with ABC Television Studios. The two are the executive producers and co-showrunners on Grey’s Anatomy. ABC is the studio behind the long-running series. Under the deal the two will continue on Grey’s, which was recently renewed for next season, its 13th. They will also work under creator/executive producer Shonda Rhimes on Grey’s and develop new projects for network, cable, and streaming services.
Lantica Media and AMBI Group have signed a multi-picture co-production and co-financing deal. The two will make three features over the next three-to-five years which they will fully finance. AMBI Distribution, will oversee worldwide sales. Lantica’s interests include Pinewood Dominican Republic Studios and Lantica Pictures which develops, finances and produces original content for English- and Spanish-speaking audiences. Recently it was behind the Jonas Cuaron-helmed Z which shoots this summer. AMBI and Lantica are also joining forces in a new VFX and 3D conversion post-production facility that will be based at Pinewood Dominican Republic Studios. That company will fall under AMBI’s Toronto-based AIC Studios banner.
Per Exec Shuffle, Plimsoll Productions now owns a minority stake in specialist distributor Magnify Media. Under the deal, Magnify will have exclusive rights to distribute Plimsoll’s catalogue. The company will also continue to work with third-party content. Plimsoll is a UK and U.S.-based factual entertainment and wildlife producer that currently producing 23 series and over 125 hours of programming for both domestic and international networks.
Fox International Productions and FOX Networks Group Asia have will join forces to develop and co-produce Chinese-language content, including films and TV series for distribution internationally. The deal will cover the development of originals as well as remakes of existing Fox titles. The first title under this pact will start production in 2017. In a statement FIP President Tomas Jegeus, commented, “Greater China, and Asia overall, represent a very significant portion of our strategic focus on the production of feature films globally. FIP joining forces with FOX Networks Group Asia will now solidly position us as a go-to, one-stop shop for our local partners, and amongst the creative community overall in the region.”