News

David Smick’s documentary America’s Burning, executive produced and narrated by Michael Douglas, explores the causes and consequences of America’s income inequality. Those consequences include anger and division, but Smick and Douglas are hopeful that the country will come together to resolve its differences, and the film reflects that hope.

“I predict 70% of the country, maybe 80%, hasn’t lost its mind,” Smick said. “The others I’m not going after, but I’m just not mentioning them. I just said I’m going to go and do something for that 70% or that 80% and speak to them. [Cable news] can go back and forth with the other 20% to 30% because I do think most people know that we have a history of pulling together, and we have to go back to that.”

America’s Burning opened in August. After the re-election of Donald Trump in November, Douglas predicts not catastrophe but rather a period of thoughtful reconnection.

Acclaimed Australian actress Asher Keddie is reprising her leading role in the critically acclaimed drama series “Strife” as filming commences on the second season in Sydney. Inspired by Mia Freedman’s memoir “Work, Strife, Balance,” the Binge original examines the journey of digital media pioneer Evelyn Jones (Keddie) as she navigates the evolving landscape of women’s media.

Season one was a breakout hit for Binge last year, becoming the streaming platform’s biggest original series premiere to date with record-breaking viewership. The character-driven drama resonated deeply with audiences through its portrayal of Jones’ ambitious rise in a male-dominated industry and the personal sacrifices demanded by her career.

In the upcoming season, Jones’ growing media company relocates to new offices while expanding into podcasting. However, the emergence of a formidable new rival website and persistent online trolling threaten her hard-won success. Viewers can expect more complex interpersonal dynamics as Jones...

Binge’s record-setting drama series Strife has begun shooting its second season.

The Asher Keddie-starring show became Australian streamer Binge’s biggest original series premiere last year, prompting execs to set up a writers’ room for Season 2, as we revealed in January. Production is now underway in Sydney.

The comedic drama follows Evelyn Jones (Keddie), a modern, imperfect woman and publisher, on her journey from lounge room blogger to becoming a force in women’s media. It was inspired by Australian media personality and journalist Mia Freedman’s memoir Work, Strife, Balance, and is written by Australian screenwriter Sarah Scheller (The Letdown).

In Season 2, Evelyn’s empire is threatened by the arrival of a new women’s website and a troll who calls out her hypocrisy and privilege, making her double guess her instincts when she needs to be on her A game. Her company moves to new offices and ventures into podcasting,...

Binge has announced the start of production in Sydney for the second season of its critically acclaimed series Strife, starring Asher Keddie. Alongside Keddie the returning cast includes Matt Day, Tina Bursill, Emma Lung, Maria Angelico, Rhys Mitchell, Olivia Junkeer, BeBe Bettencourt, Bryony Skillington, Darcy Tadich, Willow Speers, Jonathan Lapaglia, Alex Dimitriades, Lucy Ansell, and […]

Strife Season 2: Production Begins in Sydney – Binge’S Biggest Original Series Returns with Asher Keddie...

Exclusive Update 4.17am Pt, July 2: We’ve got more details on Jodi Matterson’s new indie, Silent Firework.

The indie has developed partnerships with a pair of execs that Australian exec Matterson worked with at former company Made Up Stories, and another with a key exec behind kids series Bluey. Additionally, we hear Matterson has raised a capital fund on the financing side.

Matterson will work with Wolf Like Me writer, creator and director Abe Forsythe and Glendyn Ivin, who directed all seven episodes of Prime Video drama series The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart. It is also in development on projects with Libbie Doherty, who is an executive producer of Bluey and ex-Head of Children and Family at Australian pubcaster the ABC.

Forsythe is an actor, producer and director whose credits include 2019 horror comedy Little Monsters, which starred Lupita Nyong’o and Josh Gad. More recently, he created and...

Exclusive: Bruna Papandrea’s Made Up Stories has teamed with producer Monica Saunders-Weinberg to adapt Fiona McIntosh’s novel The Pearl Thief as a feature film. One Life screenwriter Nick Drake is attached to write.

The Pearl Thief is billed as a sweeping, epic story love and betrayal set between 1939 and the early 1960s. Saunders-Weinberg acquired the rights and took the project to Nine Perfect Strangers maker Made Up Stories, which then attached Drake to the project.

Synopsis reads: “The stakes are high in this gripping novel set between the city of Prague and its snowy woodlands on the cusp of World War II, and later in the streets of Paris, London, and the heather-covered moors of Yorkshire in 1963.”

The plot will follow Katerina, a museum curator determined to overcome the trauma of her past and avenge the pain inflicted upon those she loved and those she’ll never know.

Korean entertainment conglomerate Cj Enm has appointed Jung Jhong-hwan, as president of content, global business. He is expected to spearhead growth of global content production and distribution and continue the group’s multi-studio approach to business.

Jung previously served as the head of global integration, within Cj Group. He oversaw the establishment and growth of Cj Group’s global businesses, was a key player in creating synergy in core global businesses during his previous role, managed the acquisition deal of Schwan’s and was responsible for enhancing the structural efficiency of Cj.

He was also part of the team involved in Cj Enm’s acquisition of Fifth Season (previously Endeavor Content’s scripted business) and has been involved in its post-merger integration He is also currently a board member of Fifth Season.

Stepping into the new position, with immediate effect, Jung will be expected to bolster the production capacity for...

Exclusive: The team behind Binge’s newly-crowned biggest original, Strife, are headed back to the writers’ room.

The drama series — from Big Little Lies, Nine Perfect Strangers and Anatomy of a Scandal producer Made Up Stories in partnership with Fifth Season — has quickly usurped Colin From Accounts as Binge’s best-performing original for its first day and first week, according to the Foxtel-owned Australian streamer. The writing team, led by Sarah Scheller (The Letdown), are now reteaming to pen scripts for a second season.

The show stars Asher Keddie (Nine Perfect Strangers, Offspring) as imperfect, modern woman and magazine publisher Evelyn Jones, following her journey from lounge room blogger to becoming a force in women’s media. It launched on Binge on December 6.

In an interview with Deadline last year, Alison Hurbert-Burns, Executive Director for Binge and Foxtel Group Content and Commissioning, described the series as “the story of...

This year is shaping up to be yet another frenetic one in the international media landscape, with change incoming on numerous fronts. Here, our overseas team breaks down some of the issues we think will define the entertainment and news terrain in 2024.

How Low Can The Market Go? ‘The White Lotus’

After a year of industrial strife, many will be looking forward to seeing the back of 2023, but the question of where things head in 2024 has dominated chatter since the dual U.S. labor strikes came to their eventual conclusion. One two-word phrase has summed up predictions above all else: “market contraction.” TV execs from all walks of life forecast that 2024 will be a year of correction, with global levels of production slipping as the streamers desperately seek to turn profits while retaining subscribers, and traditional players continue to grapple with challenges ranging from ad contraction to streamer fever.

One senior source from the U.

Exclusive: Alison Hurbert-Burns, content chief at Colin From Accounts streamer Binge, has told Deadline “the proof is in the pudding” as the platform’s Australian pay-tv parent Foxtel unveiled its 2024 slate today.

In an exclusive interview ahead of the slate reveal, Binge Executive Director Hurbert-Burns talked up the reach of the streaming platform and Foxtel, which is Australia’s leading pay service.

“I’m a believer in the proof being in the pudding and the good content finding its way through,” she said. “The differentiator for us is we don’t do anything unless it’s exceptional, and we have nearly 30 years of proving that ambition.”

Foxtel launched in 1995 and has been in its current form, with News Corp as majority owner, since 2018. Binge launched during the pandemic in May 2020 and has quickly established itself as a major player in original content in Australia. The CBS Studios and Easy Tiger...