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Michael Dorn's Worf has appeared in more Star Trek television shows and films than any other character, and he remains one of the franchise's most beloved characters. Lieutenant Worf first appeared in Star Trek: The Next Generation and spent most of the show's run serving as Security Chief on the USS Enterprise-d commanded by Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). As the only Klingon in Starfleet, Worf often struggled to reconcile his Klingon heritage with his Starfleet duties. Most of Worf's Tng stories reflect this tension and explore Worf's involvement in Klingon politics.

While mapping out Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry envisioned that the United Federation of Planets had achieved peace with the Klingon Empire by the 24th century. Worf was included among the Enterprise-d crew to reflect this partnership. Despite this, Worf was not originally intended to be a major character, as Roddenberry wanted...

Technically, Star Trek: The Next Generation's Lt. Worf (Michael Dorn) was the son of Mogh, but he was raised on Earth by Russian parents. Worf was one of Tng's original cast members, and he served for several years as the Chief of Security on the USS Enterprise-d under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). Because Worf was raised by human parents and was the only Klingon in Starfleet, he felt disconnected from his Klingon heritage and sought out ways to honor his Klingon roots.

In Star Trek: The Next Generation season 4, episode 2, "Family," Worf's adoptive parents, Sergey (Theodore Bikel) and Helena Rozhenko (Georgia Brown), visited him aboard the Enterprise following his discommendation from the Klingon Empire. Somewhat ironically, Worf eventually came to embody the Klingon ideal of honor better than many Klingons who had been raised among their own kind. After Tng came to an end, Worf...

In the next episode of Harlem Globetrotters: Play It Forward, titled “Sweet Georgia Brown”, airing at 11:00 Am on Saturday, November 23, 2024, the team takes viewers on a journey of inspiring outreach. The episode follows the Globetrotters as they visit the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Flea’s Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles. Flea shares how he keeps the love for music alive in the community, particularly for children, showing how music can be a powerful tool for education and self-expression.

Later in the episode, the Globetrotters visit Speedy, a beloved community figure, at a local center where he runs a youth basketball league. The team joins Speedy as he trains young athletes, offering their own tips and motivation along the way. It’s an episode filled with heartwarming moments as the Globetrotters give back to the communities that inspired them, and viewers get a glimpse of the positive impact of...

ScreenSkills, the U.K.’s screen industry skills body, has unveiled an ambitious five-year strategy aimed at developing a robust workforce to support the nation’s £13.48 billion ($17.4 billion) screen sector.

The organization’s blueprint, which follows recommendations from the Screen Sectors Skills Task Force in 2023, emphasizes data-driven decision making and strategic partnerships with industry heavyweights including the BBC and Channel 4.

The strategy addresses five core areas: skills needs identification, access to training, strategic partnerships, equity and diversity initiatives, and future-proofing the workforce. Special attention will be paid to emerging technologies and the games industry, with ScreenSkills partnering with U.K. Interactive Entertainment (Ukie) to build crossover skills between gaming, digital media, and TV.

In the West Midlands, ScreenSkills has partnered with the BBC and Create Central on a Skills Accelerator cluster program, now entering its second year. The BBC is also collaborating with ScreenSkills on research to better understand industry entry points and career pathways.

Star Trek's Captain Worf (Michael Dorn) and Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) shared a common tragedy. As a prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: Discovery season 1 depicts the start of the Klingon-Federation War, with flashbacks to the acts of violence that the Klingons perpetrated against citizens of the United Federation of Planets. Tension between the Klingons and Federation would continue to grow through Tos, and a tenuous alliance between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire was finally sealed with the Khitomer Accords in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

The longest periods of conflict between the Federation and the Klingons in the Star Trek timeline are bookended by the lives of 24th-century Worf and 23rd-century Michael Burnham. Star Trek: The Next Generation's Lieutenant Commander Worf was the first and to this day, only full-blooded Klingon in Starfleet, proving that tensions between the Klingon...

Georgia Brown, the former head of Amazon Studios in Europe, has joined the board of UK production hub Garden Studios.

Brown will sit alongside board members including chair Heather Rabbatts, and non-executive director Vanessa Cowling.

Brown’s other roles include voluntary chair of the UK Skills Task Force, appointed by the BFI, which convened major industry players to develop the Sustainable Skills for the Future framework aimed at driving growth and sustainability in the UK’s creative industries.

While at Amazon from 2017 to 2022, Brown was involved in establishing and scaling operations across seven European production hubs, and commissioning films and series for the UK,...

Fears over the future of the UK’s film and high-end TV inquiry have emerged due to the upcoming general election.

Culture, Media & Sport Committee (Cmsc) chair Caroline Dinenage has written today to Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer urging the Cmsc’s “successor committee” to keep up its work exploring the issues impacting the industry.

When a general election is called, committees such as the Cms are dissolved. Once a new government is in place, a different chair and group of cross-party MPs will be appointed to the new committee but it is under no obligation to continue the work of the previous one.

“We hope that the next government will continue to champion and support all facets of our screen industries,” wrote Dinenage. “Given the huge value that film and Hetv contributes, and the deep questions that remain about its resilience, we strongly urge our successor committee to revisit the...

“Throwing money” at the “workforce crisis” in UK film and TV will “exacerbate the problem” rather than solving it, according to the former boss of Amazon in Europe.

Georgia Brown, who now chairs the UK’s Screen Sectors Skills Task Force, delivered a passionate plea for the industry to take a holistic approach to resolving the “crisis” during an appearance in front of the UK’s British Film & High-End TV Inquiry this morning, which was titled “How can the UK film industry combat its workforce crisis?”

According to Brown, the industry is now comfortably meeting a BFI-set demand to spend 1% of production budgets, or £100M ($127M), on training, but that this spending is far too fragmented.

“We know we are collectively spending more than 1% but I will keep coming back to the fact that it’s not a money question,” she added. “Throwing more money won’t solve this, it will exacerbate the problem.

There were multiple crossovers between the original "Star Trek" and "Star Trek: The Next Generation." This first happened in the 1987 pilot episode of the latter, wherein DeForest Kelley appeared as a very elderly — 137! — Dr. McCoy. Then in 1991's "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country," Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and Dr. McCoy were put on trial in a Klingon court, and their Klingon defense lawyer was played by "Next Generation" Worf actor Michael Dorn. There is some debate as to whether or not Dorn was playing an ancestor of Worf's in that film. What's more, Sarek (Mark Lenard) appeared on "Next Generation" in an episode devoted to him.

Later still, Spock (Leonard Nimoy) appeared in a two-part episode of "Next Generation" as a rogue diplomat trying to reunify the Romulans and the Vulcans. Luckily, Vulcans are very long-lived. And finally, Scotty (James Doohan) appeared on an episode of "Next Generation," having...

The Beatles made their first of three appearances on CBS’ “The Ed Sullivan Show” on Feb 9, 1964. Sullivan knew he had a really big “shew” that night, telling the audience mainly of teeny-boppers and teenage girls that “our theater’s been jammed with newspapermen and hundreds of photographers from all over the world. And these veterans agree with me that the city never has witnessed the excitement stirred by these youngsters from Liverpool…Now tonight you’re going to be twice entertained by them…Ladies and gentlemen, The Beatles.”

Their fans screamed, cried and grabbed their hair when John, Paul, George and Ringo performed “All My Loving,” “Till There Was You” and “She Loves You.” They came back 35 minutes later in the show to sing “I Saw Her Standing There” and their No. 1 hit “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” The ratings for the episode scored to 23.24 million households. Beatlemania was sweeping America before Feb.

The British Film Institute (BFI) is seeking a partner organisation to help its Good Work Programme for Screen – a project that seeks to improve working practices in the screen sector, with £1.5m of National Lottery funding available as part of the BFI Skills Fund.

The programme aims to provide advice, training and support, focusing on small and medium sized businesses, industry leaders and heads of department. The deadline for applications is April 3 2024.

“The UK’s screen sector makes world leading content, but our operational management practices fall below par,” said Sara Whybrew, the BFI’s director, skills and workforce development.

Howdy, Insiders. Jesse Whittock with you to run through another week in international film and TV news.. Don’t forget to sign up to the newsletter here. And a fair warning here, this newsletter does include The Crown season 6 spoilers.

‘The Crown’ Arises A Final Time ‘The Crown’

The build up: It’s the television event of the year and it was always going to come with controversy. The sixth and final season of The Crown began yesterday on Netflix, with four episodes dropping. Final warning: Here’s where the spoilers really begin — turn away/scroll past this block if you want to remain innocent. For those still with me, there’s been plenty of trepidation around screeners, spoilers and early reviews at the Netflix end, understandably so for the most part, as the season deals with the untimely deaths of Diana Princess of Wales and her boyfriend, Dodi Al-Fayed,...

A plan has been laid out to close the “burgeoning disconnect” between the UK’s physical production workforce and demand for skills.

The Screen Sectors Skills Task Force, chaired by former Amazon Studios Head of European Originals Georgia Brown and backed by everyone from Netflix to the BBC, has published its report into creating a sustainable future for a skilled workforce and made several recommendations to change the industry from the roots up.

The Task Force, originally known as the BFI Skills Task Force, was created was in response to a BFI Skills Review last year that set out several issues among the UK’s production sector. That report called for urgent action, including a demand the screen sector invests 1% of all production budgets into training and the need for an additional £104M ($129.5M) and 20,000 full-time jobs over the next three years for the industry to keep up with demand for high-end projects.

The task force, chaired by former Amazon exec Georgia Brown, has found that more than £100m was committed in 2022 to skills by Task Force member organisations alone.

The UK’s Screen Sectors’ Skills Task Force has unveiled a slew of recommendations following seven months of industry engagement, including a fresh remit for a pan-sector strategic skills body, apprenticeship reform, strengthening partnerships with the education sector and plans to develop a pan-sector funding model.

The task force has also revealed that its member organisations alone spent £100m on skills investment in 2022 – which is more than the 1% of production budgets recommended by the BFI Skills Review.

Amazon Studios is losing another executive in its U.K. office.

Frank Murray, the company’s head of scripted U.K. and pan-English production, has stepped down after two years in the role.

Murray, who oversaw the studio’s U.K. production output, plans to launch a transatlantic production label, which will be based in both London and New York.

Among the shows he worked on at Amazon were Peter Capaldi-starrer “The Devil’s Hour” and “Wilderness,” which is due to launch this week on the streamer and stars Jenna Coleman.

Murray previously worked as an independent producer, getting credits on projects including “22 Jump Street,” “Sisters” and “The Wrestler.”

The news of Murray’s departures follows that of Daniel Grabiner, head of originals for the U.K. and Northern Europe at Amazon Studios, who stepped down last week. He is set to be replaced by Tara Erer, head of...

Daniel Grabiner, Amazon’s head of originals for the U.K. and Northern Europe, has exited the company.

He is set to be replaced by Tara Erer, who is head of local original movies for Amazon Studios.

He will formally bow out in mid-October to set up his own production company, Orchard Studios, with ex-The Garden co-ceo Nicola Hill.

The move comes just months after Grabiner was given additional responsibilities and took on the Northern European territories including Germany, the Nordics and the Netherlands. Under his watch Amazon released shows including “Clarkson’s Farm” and the U.K. remake of “Call My Agent,” which was not renewed for a second season.

His boss, Georgia Brown, the former head of European originals, left the streaming platform last year and has not been replaced.

“The exciting news to share today is that Tara Erer will be stepping into Dan’s role, and...

Exclusive: Amazon’s UK content arm, which is behind series such as Clarkson’s Farm and The Rig, is saying goodbye to its boss.

Dan Grabiner, who is Head of UK Originals, UK & Northern Europe, Amazon Studios – Prime Video UK, will leave the company in mid-October. Amazon confirmed his exit to Deadline today and staff were informed this morning.

Grabiner is set to launch his own production business, according to an internal note from Amazon Head of International Originals James Farrell seen by Deadline.

Tara Erer, who is currently Head of Local Original Movies for Amazon Studios, will step into Grabiner’s role. She has been with the Local Originals team for four years, leading a centralized global team on films such as Culpa Mia, Sayen and Argentina 1985.

Grabiner, who was previously Head of Unscripted for Amazon Studios UK, was promoted to Head of UK Originals, UK in June 2021. He had...

“Call My Agent” U.K. — launched locally as “Ten Percent” — will not return for a second season, Variety can confirm.

The re-make of the hit French comedy, which starred Jack Davenport, Lydia Leonard, Prasanna Puwanarajah and Maggie Steed, launched on Amazon Prime Video in the U.K. in April 2022 to high hopes. In the U.S. it premiered on Sundance Now and AMC+.

The original series, titled “Dix Pour Cent” (“Ten Percent”) in France, was a sleeper hit, spawning four seasons and turning its cast, including Camille Cottin and Assaad Bouab, into international stars. Cottin will next be seen in Kenneth Branagh’s “A Haunting in Venice” and Guy Nattiv’s “Golda,” while Bouab recently had roles in “Inventing Anna” and “Bad Sisters.”

The self-referential show, set in the offices of a Parisian talent agency, was also known for its many celebrity cameos including Monica Belluci, Sigourney Weaver and Juliette Binoche,...

Exclusive: Marriage Story filmmaker Noah Baumbach has set his next project, but it’s not for the screen.

We understand the writer-director is working on his first book, a memoir, which is currently untitled, and has been snapped up in what we hear was a highly competitive auction.

Knopf has taken North American rights. Jordan Pavlin, Knopf SVP and Editor-in-Chief acquired the book from Byrd Leavall and Albert Lee at United Talent Agency. Knopf will publish the book in hardcover, e-book, and in audio by Penguin Random House. UK Commonwealth rights were sold by Sophie Lambert of C&w on behalf of Byrd Leavell and Albert Lee, and acquired, at auction, by Jocasta Hamilton Publisher at John Murray.

Specific details about the book are being kept under wraps, but we understand the work will, in some way, chart the Barbie co-scribe’s life and career through key experiences and his relationship with cinema.

The fight against the U.K.’s critical skills shortage — one that experts have said threatens to impact the ongoing growth of its film and TV industry — is getting a shot in the arm thanks to new funding initiative from the British Film Institute.

The BFI unveiled on Wednesday that it will dedicate £9.6 million ($12 million) of funding from the U.K.’s National Lottery over three years to support skills development and training, a move made in response to the BFI’s own Skills Review in 2022 that said an additional 20,770 full-time employees were needed in the sector by 2025, and calls for greater accessibility and representation.

Of the $12 million, $10 million is being divided across the U.K. to six so-called BFI Skills Clusters, through which partners will identity skills shortages and coordinate training opportunities for below-the-line production crew, while also helping people — especially those from underrepresented backgrounds — find viable routes into the screen industry.

Screen Yorkshire, Film London, Screen Scotland and Northern Ireland Screen are among the six partner organisations to receive National Lottery funding.

Screen Yorkshire, Film London, Screen Scotland and Northern Ireland Screen are among the six partner organisations to receive National Lottery funding under the British Film Institute (BFI) renewed skills funding strategy.

The BFI has named Sara Whybrew as head of National Lottery Skills programmes, to oversee and align funded activity. Whybrew joins from ScreenSkills, where she worked as apprenticeships and policy consultant. She has previously held key posts at Creative & Cultural Skills and Arts Council England.

National body ScreenSkills...

Exclusive: Long-serving Amazon exec Martin Backlund has become MD for Prime Video Nordics, we’ve learned.

He is exiting his post as Prime Video’s Head of Content for the UK and Nordics to take the post. Replacing him in the UK is Tushar Jindal, who is being upped from his Head of Movies for Prime Video UK role.

Backlund now has a remit to lead the Prime Video teams across the Nordics in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland. He’ll work closely with Karin Lindström’s Nordics originals team, Andreas Hjertø’s content acquisitions division and Amazon’s channels business, and on future customer features.

He’ll have control of investment, programming, marketing and partnerships. Prime Video Nordic’s line up includes U.S. titles such as The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, The Boys and The Grand Tour and Nordic originals.

Prime Video Nordics has been...

In his last keynote address as U.K. Film Distributors’ Association president, veteran producer David Puttnam struck a sombre note highlighting a number of critical issues the country’s media industry is facing.

Addressing a rapt audience at the BAFTA headquarters in London on Tuesday, Puttnam identified skills shortage and lack of investment in skills as a “major crisis” hanging over the industry. According to Puttnam’s calculations, a committed annual investment of £40 million ($50 million) in skills could result in production savings of well over £100 million ($125 million). New data commissioned by Puttnam from accountancy firm Saffery Champness shows that underinvestment, leading to scarcity of talent, has resulted in significant wage inflation for mid-level production roles, with spikes of between 7-15% above the cost of living.

Puttnam said that inward investment in the film and high end TV sectors, currently at a record height of £6.27 billion, could move out of the U.

“We are pissing money down the drain at the moment in wage inflation as a direct result of having scarcity of production personnel.”

In his final keynote speech as president of the Film Distributors’ Association (Fda), industry stalwart David Puttnam has issued an impassioned rallying cry for further investment in UK film skills and training.

Puttnam was speaking this morning at Bafta at the launch of the 2023 Fda Yearbook. He confirmed at the end of his speech that he would be standing down shortly from his position as Fda president.

Puttnam warned that a lack of investment in this area...

Exclusive: The BFI is to involve Bectu with its Skills Task Force after being criticized for the “disappointing” decision to initially exclude the union.

Deadline understands Bectu will play a role with the Task Force going forwards.

Chaired by former Amazon Studios Europe boss Georgia Brown, the Task Force was unveiled earlier today to address major skills shortages in the UK film and TV sector over the next five years.

The 20-plus delegates sitting on the body includes streamers, U.S. studios, UK broadcasters and a number of trade bodies, but has no union representation. The group has met once already without Bectu.

Philippa Childs, who heads up the union, described this decision as “disappointing” but said it is “pleased to confirm we have been invited to the next Task Force meeting” after “making clear to the BFI how critical workers’ representation on the Task Force is.”

If the Task...

Exec was previously chief of staff at global production and distribution group.

Global production and distribution group Banijay has appointed Frédéric Balmary to the newly devised role of chief business officer.

The move sees Balmary step from chief of staff to a more business-oriented strategic position.

Reporting directly to Banijay CEO Marco Bassetti, Balmary will continue to work with him and the group’s executive team to steer the business’ strategy, and to broaden innovation and growth opportunities. Balmary will remain a business development partner to the central scripted team, soon to be led by Christian Wikander.

Balmary started working...

Former Amazon Studios Europe boss Georgia Brown is to chair the BFI’s Skills Task Force, which has been assembled to address major skills shortages in the UK film and TV sector over the next five years.

The Task Force has buy-in from streamers including Netflix, Prime Video, Apple TV + and Disney, U.S. studios including NBCUniversal and Sony, UK broadcasters and other bodies.

Born from last year’s BFI Skills Review, the Task Force’s first focus will be on physical production skills in film, high-end TV, scripted comedy and cheaper drama, along with unscripted and children’s.

Members of the plus-20-strong body will come up with an action plan and contribute to a series of meetings, identifying areas where the industry can work with the government to improve the current situation. Three focused workstreams have been established: industry training and investment; improving access to the Apprenticeship Levy...

Over 20 senior representatives from all the major broadcasters, studios and streamers will join the task force.

Georgia Brown, the former head of Amazon Studios, Europe, is to chair the Skills Task Force, an industry-led group addressing the critical skills labour shortages within the UK’s production screen sectors.

The group will build on work undertaken by ScreenSkills and is a response to the recommendations from the BFI Skills Review, commissioned by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Dcms) and published in June of last year.

The Task Force, which will comprise more than 20 senior representatives from all the major...

Grabiner’s new title is head of originals, UK & Northern Europe.

Dan Grabiner has been given creative responsibility for some of Amazon Prime Video’s key European territories, Screen’s sister Broadcast has learnt.

Under his new title of head of originals, UK & Northern Europe, Grabiner will continue to oversee the British team but will also take on responsibility for Germany, the Nordics and the Netherlands.

He will also lead on any future endeavours in Eastern Europe.

Grabiner’s promotion follows the departure of Georgia Brown from the streamer in August 2022, though his new role is not a direct replacement.

Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) in Star Trek: Discovery and Worf (Michael Dorn) in Star Trek: The Next Generation have some key similarities, but the biggest thing they have in common no longer matters to their respective stories. Both Burnham and Worf were orphans who were raised by parents from alien cultures; Michael was raised by the Vulcan Ambassador, Sarek (James Frain), and his human wife Amanda Grayson (Mia Kirshner), while Worf was raised by Human foster parents Sergey (Theodore Bikel) and Helena (Georgia Brown) Rozhenko. Their blended upbringings gave them unique insights into both their native and adoptive cultures.

For example, when Worf left the USS Enterprise-d to fight for the Klingon Empire in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 4, episode 26, "Redemption", Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) noted the Klingon's humanity as one of his strengths. Worf's Tng Klingon Empire problems were often rooted in the clash between his loyalty to the Federation,...

Warning: Spoilers for Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 2 - "Disengage"The Klingon warrior Worf (Michael Dorn) has finally made his triumphant return in Star Trek: Picard season 3, but many questions still linger about the son of Mogh. A cornerstone of Star Trek: The Next Generation over seven seasons, Worf is by far the most iconic Klingon in all of Star Trek. The first Klingon in Starfleet, Worf was constantly torn between his Klingon heritage and the humans that would become his friends and family. After Tng ended, Worf joined the cast of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, where he became an even richer and more interesting character.

Like most of the Tng cast, Worf was not a part of the first two seasons of Star Trek: Picard. His last canonical appearance before Picard season 3 was in Star Trek: Nemesis, the failed final Tng film, where he was manning the...

Prime Video is restructuring its international business along regional lines in Emea, Apac and the Americas.

Kelly Day, VP of Amazon’s Prime Video, has rejigged the Bosch and The Boys streamer with expanded roles for Barry Furlong and Gaurav Gandhi.

Furlong, currently VP of Prime Video Europe, is adding all Africa and Middle East businesses to his role and will lead Emea.

Gandhi takes on a new role as lead for the Apac region, adding Japan and South East Asia to his current role overseeing India. Sushant Sreeram, Director – SVOD Business, will become Prime Video Country Director for India to replace Gandhi.

Kari Roe remains in charge of the Americas (Brazil, Mexico, Latin America and Canada), Australia and New Zealand.

Director of International Expansion, Josh McIvor, who has overseen Prime Video’s expansion in Africa and South East Asia, will continue to own “priority international Prime Video initiatives that sit outside a regional remit.

Exclusive: Initial Co-Managing Director Cat Lynch is joining Amazon Studios in the UK.

She is set to take on the post of UK Unscripted Executive, working closely with Head of UK Originals Dan Grabiner and UK Unscripted chief Fozia Khan on a range of factual entertainment, entertainment and documentary titles.

Lynch, who has been with Banijay UK-owned Initial for a decade, will report into Grabiner when she begins the new role in early 2023. We’ve heard the switch has been on the cards for a while now, but has only just been made official.

It’s the first major change for Amazon Studios in the UK since the London-based Georgia Brown left her post as Head of European Originals at the end of August. News of the appointment closely follows the departure of Prime Video Germany Country Director Kaspar Pflüger, which we reported on Friday.

Lynch has been with unscripted...

Exclusive: Prime Video Germany’s Country Director Kaspar Pflüger has left the Amazon streamer after just six months in post, we’ve learned.

Pflüger, a well-known and widely experienced exec in Germany, joined from broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 in April and was in charge as Amazon unveiled a slate of originals for 2022/23 last month.

An Amazon spokesman confirmed his exit to Deadline, saying: “Kaspar Pflüger has left Prime Video to pursue other opportunities. We wish him the best for his future.”

Pflüger said of his spell at Amazon: “It was an exciting and impressive time and I am thankful for the warm welcome the German and international colleagues gave me.”

His departure comes soon after that of Amazon Studios Head of European Originals Georgia Brown, who exited at the end of August.

Pflüger’s role handed him some of Prime Video Germany CEO Christoph Schneider’s responsibilities, including overseeing the streamer in Germany,...

The SVoD giant is seeking a head of EU Originals, content strategy and analysis.

Amazon has begun the hunt for the successor to EU content chief Georgia Brown.

The SVoD giant is seeking a head of EU Originals, content strategy and analysis, to help build on a slate which includes Good Omens, The Grand Tour, Clarkson’s Farm and All Or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspur as well as forthcoming drama The Power and an array of live sports.

Reporting to Amazon Studios vice president of international James Farrell, the London-based position has overall responsibility for commissioning, as well as content business reviews and long-term strategy.

The inaugural launch was held at The Groucho Club, London

Screen celebrated the launch of the first Rising Stars Scotland with a party at The Groucho Club, London on Tuesday, September 27.

The 2022 cohort were in full attendance alongside guests including the BFI’s Mia Bays; former Amazon Studios exec Georgia Brown; Sundance Film Festival’s John Nein; and casting director Des Hamilton.

Rising Stars Scotland is a major new talent spotlight for Scottish filmmakers and actors and is an offshoot of Screen’s UK & Ireland Stars of Tomorrow programme. It was curated by Screen’s executive editor Fionnuala Halligan in association with Screen Scotland.

Exclusive: Amazon’s Head of German Originals Philip Pratt says an upcoming slew of films and TV series are the culmination of two years’ work, as Prime Video seeks to “stand out in the face of a flood of content” and plots a major local unscripted push.

Later this evening, Pratt and Amazon German Country Manager Kasper Pflueger will unveil several shows and films at a Prime Video Presents event in Munich, including Silver, which Deadline broke the news of earlier today.

In an exclusive interview with Deadline, Pratt said he sees the slate as a culmination of a period of development and production that will position the SVoD uniquely against a field of other global streamers and revitalized local broadcasters, all of whom are spending significant sums on their own original shows. “The last two years have been about building and development and now we’re ready to go.

Good afternoon Insiders, Max Goldbart here with your weekly runthrough of the biggest news as prequels launch and Venice gets underway. Do read on.

Rings Vs Thrones Goes Global

One prequel to rule them all: Two of the biggest tentpoles of all time are about to lock horns and this is going to be fun. It’s hard to tell if Amazon Prime Video and HBO set out to do this but when the highly-anticipated most expensive TV show of all time, Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, drops in dozens of territories today it will come just a fortnight after Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon debuted episode one. Both of the U.S. conglomerates have been busy stressing their global credentials and their international premieres were even at the same place, London’s Leicester Square Odeon Luxe, with Amazon’s taking place Tuesday night and yours truly in attendance.

Thriller to premiere on September 15.

Andrew Herwitz’s The Film Sales Company (Fsc) has acquired worldwide sales rights to Amy Redford TIFF thriller Roost.

The film gets its public world premiere on September 15 after press & industry screenings on September 9 and 11 and centres on a teenager who meets a man online masquerading as someone younger than his years. Scott Organ wrote the screenplay.

Grace Van Dien, who plays Chrissy in Season 4 of Stranger Things and is the great-granddaughter of Robert Mitchum, stars alongside Summer Phoenix, another actor from a distinguished cinema family.

Redford, the daughter of Robert Redford who made her...

Brown joined the company five years ago in 2017.

Amazon Studios’ Georgia Brown is stepping down from her role as director of European Originals.

Brown joined the company five years ago in 2017, where she spearheaded the Amazon Europe commissioning team and was the first executive hired to lead originals in the region.

According to an internal memo seen by US trade paper Variety, Brown said: “To the EU Originals team: you are outstanding. The best in the business. Your commitment and drive to raise the bar has delivered exceptional, award winning and genre-defining series and movies in the last five years,...

Amazon Studios Europe’s content chief Georgia Brown is leaving the streamer after five years in the role.

She will exit the business Wednesday, Amazon reps have confirmed. She is expected to land a new role, it is understood, though details aren’t forthcoming. The surprise move comes just a week after she presented Amazon’s latest UK content strategy at the Edinburgh TV Festival.

Brown has been with the streamer since February 2017, when she joined from Fremantle’s international division to become Amazon’s first original content hire in the region. She has been the face of Amazon’s European commissioning strategy since that point and is credited with largely building the streamer’s strategy in the continent, hiring local teams and broadly setting the agenda.

Notable orders under her watch have included British fantasy drama Good Omens, high-profile unscripted shows The Grand Tour and Clarkson’s Farm, upcoming UK shows The Power,...

Georgia Brown, head of Amazon Studios in Europe, is stepping down after five years in the role, Variety can reveal.

The executive’s last day at the business is Wednesday (Aug. 31), though her departure is understood to have been in the works for some time. Brown is believed to be moving on to another opportunity, though it’s not yet clear what or where her new role will be.

Brown has been a strong and prominent ambassador for Amazon Studios in Europe, and was the first executive hired to lead originals for the continent. In the 2016 to 2018 period, when a number of the global streaming services were first setting up shop internationally and kept their executives largely out of view, Brown was always front and center for Amazon, keen to discuss her local-first strategy.

News of her departure may come as a surprise to some in the U.K. who...

There was a sense of excitement and, dare it be said, even joy permeating the first in-person Edinburgh International TV Festival since 2019, which came to a close on Friday. Panels were packed, dinners were back and even a garbage collection strike and wet weather couldn’t put a dampener on proceedings as producers, commissioners, executives and talent reunited under one roof to take stock of the industry. It’s been a turbulent few years and signs suggest the ride isn’t over yet. This year’s festival was a chance to take stock, reconnect and look forward.

Below are Variety’s top takeaways from the three-day festival:

1. Make Content Local, But Not Parochial

Local content is big business and the U.S. streamers are committed to projects that reflect the countries they’re operating in. “What we saw when we launched globally in 2016 was all our audiences were crying out for local content,...

Amazon’s push into true crime continues with several new UK originals unveiled here at the Edinburgh TV Festival today.

Fake Sheikh and The Greatest Show Never Made come from Voltage TV and Factual Fiction, respectively, and will launch on the streamer next year. They will be joined by a previously announced ITN Productions doc, whose titles been revealed as The Confession, Firecrest Films’ three-part series Three Mothers (working title), a film about YouTuber Ksi and Ben Stokes: Phoenix From the Ashes.

Fake Sheikh tells the story of maverick British reporter Mazher Mahmood, whose exposés generated headlines by his use of false identities to ensnare royals, sports stars, politicians, celebrities and members of the public. The three-part documentary series will track his meteoric rise (he was twice winning Reporter of The Year at The British Press Awards) and subsequent downfall and imprisonment.

Members of Mahmood’s inner circle are among...

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Amazon Studios remains committed to local original productions as its audiences are demanding them in addition to popular U.S. programming, but will never be about targeting pure content volume, but a “slow and steady, very curated approach,” Georgia Brown, head of European originals at Amazon Studios, told a television industry gathering in Scotland on Wednesday.

Her comments at the Edinburgh TV Festival came after Warner Bros. Discovery shared a change of strategy for its streaming business in Europe on July 4, saying that it would be “ceasing our original programming efforts for HBO Max in the Nordics and Central Europe” and had already ended “our nascent development activities in the newer territories of Netherlands and Turkey, which had commenced over the past year.” The decision came following the merger that created the new industry powerhouse and amid its “work on combining HBO Max...

Georgia Brown, head of European originals at Amazon Studios in the U.K., has said that even while the cost of living crisis continues to bite, and other streamers, such as HBO Max, have halted their local originals, Amazon Prime Video has no intention of cutting back.

“We’ve always had a very different strategy,” Brown said during a panel at the Edinburgh TV Festival, before saying she abides by head of Amazon Studios Jennifer Salke’s mantra of offering a “really curated” slate.

Brown emphasized her commitment to local productions, saying: “It was really critical to us that we have these local productions on the ground. Our strategy has always been ‘local for local.’”

“And actually, what we saw when we can launch globally in 2016 was all of our audiences were crying out for the content.”

“Our strategy in that sense hasn’t shifted and won’t shift,” she added.

Amazon relationships format Modern Love is taking that loving feeling into the Netherlands. A Dutch adaptation will premiere on Prime Video globally this winter.

The scripted anthology format, which is based on a popular column from The New York Times, began in the U.S. on Prime Video in 2019 before three Indian language versions and a Japanese remake were announced. The Dutch version, Modern Love Amsterdam, is the first in Europe.

Several high-profile Dutch directors and writers have collaborated on the series’ episodes, all of which take place in Amsterdam, in locations such as the city’s iconic train station to Amsterdam-Noord and Zuidoost.

Banijay Benelux-owned producer Nl Film is attached with Sabine Brian the producer and Robert Alberdingk Thijm as showrunner. The latter is a writer alongside Roos Ouwehand, Maud Wiemeijer, Anne Barnhoorn, and Esther Duysker and the directors are Mijke de Jong, Boudewijn Koole, Mischa Kamp, Mustafa Duygulu,...

Amazon Prime Video have given fans a first look at their upcoming U.K. original drama series “Jungle” with new images and a teaser trailer.

Prime Video released the clip tied to its day at the Television Critics Assn. press tour. Produced by Nothing Lost, “Jungle” is a six-part scripted series told with both rap/drill music and dialogue. It follows the lives of several strangers in inner city London, each dealing with their own unique struggles.

“Frequently misunderstood, it’s a world where one law governs everything: only the strongest will survive,” reads the logline. “As the strangers’ worlds begin to unravel around them, they come to the realisation that every action, no matter how small, has a consequence.”

Some of the U.K.’s top rap and drill artists feature in the series, including Tinie Tempah, Big Narstie, Unknown T, Jordan McCann, Jaykae, Iamddb, Double Lz, M24 and more.

The most exciting new actors, writers, directors, producers, and heads of department emerging across the UK and Ireland.

Screen International has revealed the 2022 edition of Stars of Tomorrow, our prestigious annual showcase of the UK and Ireland’s most exciting young actors, directors, writers, producers and heads of department.

The 2022 UK & Ireland Stars of Tomorrow are following in the footsteps of some of today’s biggest names in film and television, many of whom are now Bafta and Oscar winners and nominees.

From Benedict Cumberbatch and Andrea Arnold in the inaugural selection in 2004 to David Oyelowo, Ruth Negga, Abi Morgan (2005), Riz Ahmed,...

Some of the U.K.’s biggest TV and streaming stars are set to appear at the 2022 Edinburgh TV Festival. Among those who will be present at the in-person event in Edinburgh are “Succession” patriarch Brian Cox, “Heartstopper” star Kit Connor and “Strictly Come Dancing’s” Rose Ayling-Ellis, who will give this year’s Alternative Mactaggart speech.

Actor Ayling-Ellis, who was “Strictly’s” first deaf contestant and is a British Sign Language (Bsl) campaigner, is set to discuss her experiences in the industry in what is sure to be a no-holds barred speech that follows on from last year’s Alternative Mactaggart lecture by “His Dark Materials” writer and disability campaigner Jack Thorne.

Cox will appear in conversation to discuss his career, his scene-stealing role as Logan Roy and his working-class Scottish roots while the cast and creative team from Netflix hit “Heartstopper” will also be on hand to discuss the coming-of-age romantic drama,...