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Exclusive: Following the 2024 launch of The Darkness, the Icelandic series based on his Dimma novel series, author Ragnar Jónasson is expanding his partnership with Stampede Ventures and producer John-Paul Sarni via the launch of Dimma Pictures, a new venture to produce film and television projects from Jónasson’s catalogue of IP, as well as writers from across Scandinavia and Europe.

As of now, the company has several TV projects in motion. First up is a limited series adaptation of The Girl Who Died, Jónasson’s psychological thriller published in 2021. Set in the remote Icelandic village of Skálar, the story follows Una, a burned-out teacher from Reykjavik, who takes a job teaching two girls in the tiny village — though only one student appears. Isolated and unwelcome, Una is haunted by eerie dreams and strange singing at night. As tensions rise and tragedy strikes, she begins to suspect the village harbors dark...

Exclusive: Greg Silverman’s Stampede Ventures is moving ahead with its prestige adaptation of Max Seeck’s bestselling Nordic Noirbook seriesThe Faithful Reader featuring the detective Jessica Niemi.

CEO Stampede Silverman will produce the psychological thriller alongside John-Paul Sarni, Seeck, and G4C’s Gudrun Giddings. Amelia Mysko of Stampede will serve as co-producer.

The Faithful Reader, published as The Witch Hunter in US and UK, takes place in Helsinki, Finland, and follows Niemi as she investigates a copycat killer that forces her to confront the past as she uncovers a dark ancestral secret.

Writing team Chris Murray and Maria Ward...

Exclusive: Ordinary Angels and Space Cadet outfit Stampede Ventures has acquired the debut Lgbtqi+ coming-of-age novel Frenesia from author Flavio Nuccitelli for development as an Italian-language series.

The novel was originally published in 2021 by Italy’s Fandango Libri and was honored at Rome’s 2022 Rainbow Awards, which recognizes Lgbtqia+ works. Nuccitelli will collaborate with Stampede Ventures for the book-to-screen adaptation.

Frenesia (which translates as Frenzy in English) charts how one unexpected kiss, given as a joke, shatters the world of an 18-year-old boy and sets him on a reckless, psychedelic journey into his personal hell of excess, fantasies, and boundaries.

“Flavio has created a fantastic lead character in Valerio – who, like so many students his age, is caught between the beauty of ancient Rome and a darker underground side of the city. A place where family, religion, and politics are omnipresent. We saw incredible celebrations around the world during Pride...

English language series stars Lena Olin and will film in Iceland later this year.

Chocolat and The Cider House Rules director Lasse Hallstrom is making his first foray into TV drama series with Iceland-set mystery thriller The Darkness starring Lena Olin.

Based on the best-selling book by Icelandic author Ragnar Jónasson, the six-part English language series is a co-production between CBS Studios, Stampede Ventures and Iceland’s True North.

Icelandic broadcaster Síminn has boarded the project, which is being sold internationally by Paramount Global Content Distribution. The Darkness is written by Sam Shore, whose credits include Cbbc’s Mystic, and Jónasson serves as executive producer.

CBS Studios on Thursday unveiled new premium drama series The Darkness, a co-production from CBS Studios and Icelandic production firm Truenorth and executive producers Stampede Ventures, starring Oscar nominee Lena Olin (Enemies, A Love Story, Hunters, Chocolat, The Artist’s Wife, Hilma), which Oscar nominee Lasse Hallström (Chocolat, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Hilma) is set to direct.

The English-language six-episode series will start shooting in Iceland later this year for local broadcaster Síminn. The series reunites Olin with director Hallström in his first foray into television. The project was announced at Rome’s Mia Market.

Based on the best-selling thriller series by Icelandic author Ragnar Jónasson, The Darkness follows Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdóttir “as she investigates a shocking murder case whilst coming to terms with her own personal traumas,” according to a plot description. “Faced with an impending early retirement and forced to take on a new partner, Hulda is determined to find the killer,...

Exclusive: Stampede Ventures has promoted Cara Fano to Vice President of Content and Operations, Grant Torre to Vice President of Film Development and Production, and Amelia Mysko to Director of Development in International.

Both Fano and Torre have been with the global media company since its inception. Mysko, meanwhile, rapidly worked her way up at Stampede after joining the company as an intern.

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In her new role, Fano is overseeing Stampede’s social, marketing, PR, and brand collaborations, as well as all of its Joint Venture partnerships including HappyNest, the Jv with UTA that incubates and produces animated kids and family content. Fano will also be...

‘Tango’, a limited event series based on the tumultuous events surrounding the making of Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1972 erotic drama ‘Last Tango in Paris’, is in the works by CBS Studios. Lisa Brühlmann and Jose Padilha will co-direct the series, with Greg Silverman and Jp Sarni of Stampede Ventures executive producing. CBS Studios will co-produce under […]...

Last Tango In Paris is getting its own The Offer-style making of drama series.

The tumultuous events surrounding the making of the 1972 erotic drama, directed by Bernardo Bertolucci and starring Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider, is to be turned into a television series by CBS Studios and Stampede Ventures.

The series comes from Entourage and Boston Public writers Jeremy Miller and Daniel Cohn with Killing Eve’s Lisa Brühlmann and Narcos’ José Padilha to co-direct.

The project, set in Italy, France and the U.S., will span the 18 months before, during and after the production of the film and will explore questions of identity, fame, and artistic ambition. Told through the lens of those at the center of the events – Schneider, Brando and Bertolucci – the series will begin with Bertolucci traveling to Los Angeles in 1971 to convince a broken-down and bankrupt Brando to take a role in his upcoming...

CBS Studios is backing Tango, a limited event series based on the tumultuous events surrounding the making of Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1972 erotic drama Last Tango in Paris.

Lisa Brühlmann (Killing Eve) and José Padilha (Narcos) will co-direct the series, with Greg Silverman and Jp Sarni of Stampede Ventures executive producing. CBS Studios will co-produce under its international first-look agreement with Stampede, with SVP of international co-productions and development Meghan Lyvers overseeing the project for the studio.

Based on a script by Jeremy Miller and Daniel Cohn, Tango traces the 18 months before, during and after the production of Last Tango in Paris, exploring the story through ...

CBS Studios is backing Tango, a limited event series based on the tumultuous events surrounding the making of Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1972 erotic drama Last Tango in Paris.

Lisa Brühlmann (Killing Eve) and José Padilha (Narcos) will co-direct the series, with Greg Silverman and Jp Sarni of Stampede Ventures executive producing. CBS Studios will co-produce under its international first-look agreement with Stampede, with SVP of international co-productions and development Meghan Lyvers overseeing the project for the studio.

Based on a script by Jeremy Miller and Daniel Cohn, Tango traces the 18 months before, during and after the production of Last Tango in Paris, exploring the story through ...

Exclusive: Annabel Abbs’ period cookery novel Miss Eliza’s English Kitchen is set for a television adaptation after CBS Studios and Stampede Ventures optioned the rights.

The two companies struck a deal for the screen rights to the book, which is being published by William Morrow and Simon & Schuster UK. It is the latest project to emerge out of Stampede Ventures’ first-look deal that the companies signed last September.

The book tells the story of an English poet, Eliza Acton, who dreams of seeing her words in print. However, when she takes her new manuscript to a publisher, she’s told that “poetry is not the business of a lady.” Instead, they want her to write a cookery book.

England in 1837 is awash with exciting new ingredients, from spices to exotic fruits, and that’s what publishers want from women. Despite never having cooked, Eliza is determined to learn. To assist her,...

Eva Longoria is set to star and direct “Spa Day,” a female ensemble action comedy film at Sony Pictures, according to an individual with knowledge of the project.

Longoria will also produce the film, alongside Ben Spector under their UnbeliEVAble Entertainment banner with Greg Silverman and Jon Berg also producing through Stampede Ventures. Jp Sarni will serve as Associate Producer.

Currently in development, UnbeliEVAble Entertainment commissioned “Telenova” creators Christine Pietrosh and Jessica Goldstein to write the screenplay, which is based on their original idea. Plot details about “Spa Day” are being kept under wraps.

Longoria will soon make her feature directorial debut with the Searchlight biopic “Flamin’ Hot” and workplace comedy “24/7” for Universal Pictures. Longoria’s other past directing credits include the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary “Versus,” as well as episodes of “Black-ish,” “The Mick,” “Telenovela” and “Devious Maids.”

Pietrosh and Goldstein created and executive produced NBC/Universal TV’s comedy series “Telenovela” starring Longoria.

Eva Longoria is checking in for “Spa Day,” an action comedy feature she will direct and co-star in at Sony Pictures.

Variety has learned that Longoria, who has two other films lined up as director at Searchlight and Universal, is also producing the project with her partner Ben Spector at their banner UnbeliEVAble Entertainment. Greg Silverman and Jon Berg are also producing for Stampede Ventures, with Jp Sarni as associate producer.

“Telenovela” creators Christine Pietrosh and Jessica Goldstein wrote the script from an original idea. Longoria, who just signed with WME, will pull double duty in front of and behind the camera.

While Longoria shot to fame on ABC’s primetime hit “Desperate Housewives,” the multi-hyphenate has a deep resume as producer and director in the TV space, with credits on the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary “Versus,” as well as episodes of “Black-ish,” “The Mick,” “Telenovela” and “Devious Maids.”

In a...

Exclusive: CBS Studios has struck a global first-look deal with Greg Silverman’s Stampede Ventures International and has set its first project – an adaptation of Ragnar Jónasson’s best-selling Nordic noir book The Darkness.

The two companies will work together to source, acquire and develop premium scripted content for the international market that is creatively anchored outside the United States.

The first project is a series adaptation of Jónasson’s The Darkness, from his Hulda series of crime novels. Rising writer Andrea Janakas, who wrote Amanda Seyfried-fronted short film Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves, is attached to write

The eight-part series is set in Reykjavik, Iceland, among the isolated fjords. It follows Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdóttir, who is given two weeks, before retirement to solve the cold case of a young Russian woman, whose body washes up on an Icelandic shore. Hulda discovers that another young woman vanished at the same time,...

Exclusive: Greg Silverman’s Stampede Ventures has acquired best-selling author Max Seeck’s thriller novel The Faithful Reader for a TV series adaptation. The novel, which was published in August in Finland, has been creating buzz internationally ahead of its U.S. release, with rights sold in 35+ countries. The Faithful Reader will be published as The Witch Hunter in the U.S., one of multiple countries where deals are in place for a sequel.

In the novel, Detective Jessica Niemi is called to investigate an extraordinary murder case. The wife of a famous writer, Roger Koponen, seems to have been killed in a bizarre ritual. As more ritual murders occur, it becomes obvious that Jessica is after a serial killer. But the murders are not random – they follow a pattern taken from Roger’s bestselling trilogy. Has a fan gone mad, or is this case more personal? How can Jessica...

(L-r): Kojo group MD Dale Roberts; Stampede Ventures head of international content and worldwide content acquisitions Jp Sarni; Kojo Entertainment producer Kate Butler and Kojo executive director post and VFX Marty Pepper.

Adelaide’s Kojo Entertainment has formed a new joint venture with Greg Silverman’s Us-based Stampede Ventures, aimed at developing a range of internationally marketable features and TV projects based on Australian IP, to be fully produced locally with Australian creatives.

Kojo group managing director Dale Roberts and non executive-director Jamie McClurg connected with Silverman, who used to head up creative development and worldwide production for Warner Bros, on a visit to La. Finding both a strategic and creative fit, the two companies have spent around six to eight months negotiating a new 50/50 business.

“We are very proud to partner with Dale and his team at Kojo for this international partnership,” said Jp Sarni head of international...

Exclusive: Greg Silverman’s Stampede Ventures’ International Division has partnered with Australian production company Kojo Entertainment to develop a slate of features and TV series geared for the international market. The projects will be fully produced in Australia with a focus on Australian Intellectual Properties with Australian writing and directing talent.

“We are very proud to partner with Dale and his team at Kojo for this international partnership,” said Jp Sarni, Head of International Content and Worldwide Content Acquisitions at Stampede Ventures. “Their studio has a terrific track record as creative, production and business partners across Australia, and we’re thrilled to help expand that vision worldwide with a bold slate of franchise properties from original voices. As Stampede Ventures looks to the global market, we are curating IP and original content for 20+ countries, and Australia is a major focus for us in Film, Television, Streaming and Audio.This country...

Exclusive: Stampede, the indie media company founded by former Warner Bros Pictures President Greg Silverman, has acquired bestselling author Ragnar Jonasson’s Icelandic thriller The Darkness and will adapt it as a local-language series. The competitive acquisition heading into the London Book Fair marks Stampede’s first piece of development for its new international arm, which expands the duties of Worldwide Content Acquisitions Head, Jp Sarni.

The Darkness, which was published last year, is Jónasson’s first in a planned trilogy focusing on Reykjavik detective Hulda Hermannsdóttir. A dedicated investigator, she is being forced into early retirement and takes on a final cold case centered on a young Russian asylum seeker who died mysteriously one year prior.

Jónasson’s crime books have been published in more than 20 languages. His next novel, The Island, is set to be released later this year in the U.S. and UK.

“I am thrilled...

Entertainment outfit strikes first-look deal with Chinese vid game developer-publisher Snail.

Former Im Global COO Chris Bosco has been appointed president of Greg Silverman’s Stampede, the recently launched Los Angeles-based producer-financier that is at the Efm scouting for content.

The company formed by CEO and co-chairman Silverman and co-chairman and lead investor Gideon Yu has also struck a first-look deal with Chinese video game developer and publisher Snail.

The first project to emerge from the partnership is Ark: Survival Evolved, based on the hit game in which humans must try to escape a harsh primeval world populated by dinosaurs.

Exclusive: Stampede, the indie media company formed by former Warner Bros president Greg Silverman, continues to scoop up book deals for its growing slate. It has just acquired movie rights to Devastation Class, an unpublished sci-fi novel co-written by filmmakers Glen Zipper and Elaine Mongeon.

The novel follows an unlikely group of young cadets forced to mutiny aboard a revolutionary starship to save themselves from an annihilation force of invading aliens. When their escape transports them to a reality they don’t recognize and reveals unimaginably terrifying secrets, they must fight their way home to save not just everyone they love but also humanity itself. Standing in their way is an insurmountable enemy, a mystery eons in the making and the fabric of time and space itself.

“Zipper and Mongeon have created an incredible cast of brave young characters and a fresh approach to the classic space opera for a new generation,...

Exclusive: Greg Silverman’s Stampede has hired Jp Sarni as Head of Worldwide Content Acquisitions, a role in which he’ll negotiate deals and oversee the development of all IP for the film & TV production label, working closely with the former Warner Bros. Pictures president who serves as the company’s CEO, Co-Chairman and founder.

Sarni was previously the Head of Development at Laurence Fishburne’s Cinema Gypsy Productions, in which he served as an executive on ABC’s Black-ish and Freeform’s Grown-ish in addition to other projects under their first-look deals with ABC Studios and eOne. Sarni started his career in development at HBO, before moving on to Sam Martin’s aid+abet as an executive working on such films as Dee Rees’ Pariah (Sundance 2011) and Una Noche (Berlinale 2012). Sarni also formerly served as VP of Development & Literary Acquisitions at Sonar Entertainment, overseeing their slate of series, miniseries...

Exclusive: Laurence Fishburne will star alongside Royalty Hightower in Ruby In Murdertown, a crime thriller that marks the feature directorial debut of Leah Rachel, who wrote the script. Production on the indie is slated for next year. Fishburne is producing with Cinema Gypsy partner Helen Sugland and Jp Sarni, who heads development for Cinema Gypsy. Hightower, the 11-year old who had a breakout turn in the Sundance film The Fits (she was just nominated by the Gotham…...

The Third Annual First Time Fest took place over the past weekend in New York City, from March 5th to March 9th. The festival, which celebrates first time filmmakers, had numerous panels that discussed topics such as financing films to getting the right marketing for the film to even talks from established filmmakers sharing their advice. The festival concluded with the honoring of Harvey Weinstein, as a tribute for “his support of first time filmmakers.”

A purely New York City centric film festival, the festival’s founders of Johanna Bennett and Mandy Ward chose to show the films at the Core Club, the Village East Cinema, and the Wild Project, while the discussions and panels were featured at the B Bar and Grill. The festival allows for a five day competition among films that were completed by first time filmmakers for the chance to win international sales and theatrical distribution.