Actualités

Exclusive: Pródigo Films, the Brazilian production company behind Paramount+’s International Emmy Award-nominated Mma series Anderson Spider Silva, has signed with Independent Artist Group for representation.

Boasting an unmatched reputation in their native country, along with unrivaled access to top tier local crew and understanding of the Brazilian landscape, Pródigo produces scripted and unscripted formats for both theatrical and SVOD distribution, their main partners being Netflix, HBO, Disney+, Paramount and Amazon. The company produces original content all around the country, from the most remote locations to hectic urban centers. The Emmy nom for Anderson Spider Silva aside, their work has also been noted this year with a win at the Giornate Degli Autori in Venice for their independent film Manas.

Stated Gabriela Matarazzo, Director of Development at Pródigo, “Signing with Iag marks a key milestone in Pródigo Films’ strategy to expand our international footprint. We are strong advocates of positioning...

Miami– Gaumont USA, producer of “Narcos,” is powering up new series from both Oscar-winning “Birdman” co-writer Armando Bó and also Spain’s Manuel Martin Cuenca, director of Toronto winner “The Motive,” as well as multiple other talents. It is also readying it first movie slate.

Gaumont USA already co-produced the Bó showrun Amazon Original “El Presidente,” with Pablo and Juan de Dios Larraín’s Fabula and Argentine powerhouse Kapow, both partners on “La Jauría.”

News of new series projects comes as Gaumont USA is advancing on Lucía Puenzo’s near future android family saga “Futuro Desierto” (“Desolate Future”), part of a 2020 multi-project development pact with the Argentine writer-director.

Gaumont USA is currently developing titles with Jimena Montemayor (“Wind Traces”), Pedro Amorim (“The Dognapper”), Sebastian and Emiliano Zurita (“How to Survive Being Single”), Katina Medina Mora, Belen Macias (“Verano en Rojo”), among other top-level filmmakers. Other projects are from screenwriters Ruth García...

Exclusive: Pródigo Filmes, the Brazilian production company behind Paramount+’s Anderson Silva drama series Spider, is developing a film based on Stênio Gardel’s award-winning novel The Words That Remain.

Pródigo, which produced Netflix’s 2021 drama series Invisible City, is working with the Brazilian arm of international content and advertising production group Iconoclast to co-produce the film, which is ready to go into production.

Armando Praça has developed a script based on the novel, with Fernando Nogari attached to direct. Emerging filmmaker Nogri is known for his music video work with the likes of Selina Gomez and Tove Lo. Pródigo co-CEOs Francesco Civita and Beto Gauss are producing.

The book follows a gay man’s journey to self acceptance in the hinterlands of northeastern Brazil. In November, author Gardel and translator Bruna Dantas Lobato were honored with the U.S.’s National Book Award fort Translated Literature for the novel.

Exclusive: Adding to its roster of local-language remakes, Sony Pictures International Productions is teaming with Biônica Filmes on a Brazilian redo of 2011 romantic comedy, Friends with Benefits which starred Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis. The Brazilian version, Amizade Colorida, is directed by Rafael Gomes and stars Maria Bopp and Ícaro Silva.

Bopp plays Julia, a headhunter from Sao Paulo who recruits Daniel (Silva), an art director from Salvador, for a job interview at a major technology company. Initially skeptical about leaving his family and a house overlooking the sea in Bahia, he accepts the job after a day exploring the allure of Sao Paulo, guided by Julia. In a short time, their friendship turns into a casual friends-with-benefits relationship until they both realize that inevitably they are in love.

Gisele Fróes, Tuca Andrada, Luiz Pepeu and Daniel Furlan also star. Mariana Zatz and Gomes wrote the script. Producers are Bianca Villar,...

Universal International Studios has appointed former Netflix executive Tesha Crawford as senior VP of global scripted series.

Based in London, Crawford will report into Uis president Beatrice Springborn and focus on expanding the studio’s scripted slate in the U.K. and Europe. Crawford will be responsible for scouting and packaging new projects for Uis and supporting its portfolio of deals, talent and projects. She will also head up the studio’s U.K.-based creative team.

Crawford joins from Netflix, where she spent the last six years working across international original series and was one of the first content executives hired on the Netflix International Originals team.

The exec started in Latin America, building the platform’s slate of originals including “La Casa De Las Flores” (“The House of Flowers”), “Ingobernable,” “3,” “Coisa Mais Linda” (“Girls from Ipanema”) and “Sintonia.”

She later relocated to Amsterdam to lead the company’s first Nordics series team,...

Photo: ‘The Secret Diary of An Exchange Student’ Netflix is known for its inclusivity of shows and movies about different nations and cultures. In fact, before the premiere of ‘The Secret Diary of an Exchange Student,’ Netflix had many Brazilian titles for streaming, ranging from flicks to long-term series like, ‘Double Dad,’ ‘Rich in Love,’ ‘Girls from Ipanema,’ to name a few. The interesting and diverse Portuguese stories brought a level of richness to the expanding platform that didn’t exist before, something ‘The Secret Diary of an Exchange Student,’ is contributing to now! Related article: ‘In the Heights’ – Behind the Scenes and Full Commentary/Reactions from Cast & Crew Related article: The Hollywood Insider’s CEO Pritan Ambroase: “The Importance of Venice Film Festival as the Protector of Cinema” The film is about two Brazilian teenagers coming to America, a faraway and foreign land that plunges them into a...

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,...

Don’t know what to do with your life today? Well, you can always watch Netflix, as they’ve added a bunch of new content to their collection, just in time for the weekend.

First up is a drama called Feel the Beat. Produced in 2020 and directed by Elissa Down, it tells the story of a dancer who, after failing to make a career for herself on Broadway, returns to her hometown to teach young kids instead – a job which, though devoid of glitter and glamour, is actually a lot more meaningful than she dared hope. Kind of like School of Rock, but with dance – and without Jack Black.

Up next we have a comedy series called Floor Is Lava. Have you ever seen the Community episode in which they play this children’s game? If you enjoy watching adults act like little toddlers, this reality series may be for you.

Since its launch in May 2016, the São Paulo Film Commission (Spcine) has assisted on over 2,700 productions: Features, shorts, TV and TV commercials. Those numbers put the metropolis alongside Mexico City as one of Latin America’s most utilized shooting destinations. It currently hosts more than 1,000 productions per year.

In industry terms the city is well equipped to handle major domestic and international productions, and has become a favorite for Netflix Originals including the Wachowskis’ “Sense8,” and Brazil’s “3%” and “Most Beautiful Thing.” The area boasts 3,000 audiovisual dedicated companies, 1,500 production companies and 70 companies devoted to film and TV sound, image, mixing and soundtrack work.

São Paulo rates as one of Latin America’s most global communities as well, with huge populations of citizens from across the globe that have brought their architecture, food, music and art with them. The diversity of the city allows for São Paulo to be used as...