PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
Rest In Power: The Trayvon Martin Story, a 6-part docu-series telling the story of the 2012 shooting that helped spur the Black Lives Matter movement, is in the works from Paramount Network and exec producer Shawn Carter. Show premieres in July.
Actor/writer/director Noel Clarke (Mute) has launched production company Unstoppable Film and TV, based in London and backed by All3Media, with actor/producer Jason Maza. Clarke had previously produced films via his Unstoppable Entertainment.
Who will be the breakout TV stars from the Winter Games? “The Winter and Summer Games consistently provide a great platform for breakout stars wishing to carry there Olympic exposure into reality TV,” JUMA Entertainment president Robert Horowitz, who specializes in creating TV formats for sports personalities, tells Cynopsis. “Over the years, no other reality show has benefitted more from the Olympics than Dancing with the Stars. Hands down they win the Gold, with Olympians Kristi Yamaguchi, Shawn Johnson, and Apolo Anton Ohno all winning DWTS titles to go along with their medals.” Coming out of PyeongChang, Horowitz expects Chloe Kim, Adam Pippon, Shaun White and Mirai Nagusu could make a post-Olympics TV run. And, “I’d love to figure out the fish out of water TV idea for the USA Men’s Curling Team who won Gold,” adds the exec. “That could be a hit.”
Insight TV greenlit social influencer adventure show Urban Explorers, featuring two teams of YouTube creators creating handheld footage of their journeys to places off the beaten track.
Netflix ordered supernatural drama Jinn, its first Arabic original series, from VFX specialists Elan and Rajeev Dassani (Justified), Lebanese director Mir-Jean Bou Chaaya and Theeb writer Bassel Ghandor. A 2019 debut is planned.
Disney|ABC chose 10 writers for its 2018 Writers Program, entering its 29th year. Among the participants are a Wall Street analyst, a former wedding videographer, a computer repair consultant and a professional poker player. “I’d heard how great the Disney|ABC Writing Program is for its participants, but the truth is that diversity is just good for the show,” said Cleopatra and Quantico EP Michael Seitzman. “New voices, different voices, fresh points of view – that’s what we want. We’ve selected two very talented writers from the program this year and added them successfully to our writers’ rooms and both have turned out to be great assets to our staff.”
COMING UP
Shoo the little ones – FX is airing the TV premiere of Straight Outta Compton, unedited and R-rated, on Thursday, March 1 at 7p. To make sure viewers are aware of adult content, FX will run audio and visual warnings into and coming out of every commercial break. In TV-speak, the rating will be TVMA-LSV.
The second annual Split Screens Festival, a celebration of the art of television at NYC’s IFC Center, has been set for Thursday, May 31-Sunday, June 3. A major focus will be diversity, from platforms to gender and race. Full lineup will be announced in April.
Coinciding with International Women’s Day, Fuse is airing She Started It on Thursday, March 8 at 8p. The 2-hour doc looks at the lives of 5 young women entrepreneurs. Girls in Tech, a global organization focusing on the engagement, education and empowerment of girls and women who are passionate about technology, and Girls Who Code, which works to close the gender gap in technology, will both serve as a resource for the Fuse audience.
HDNET Movies will feature a weekly “Tough Guy Tuesdays” event in March, starting on March 6 at 9p with Viggo Mortensen in 2007’s Eastern Promises, followed by Michael Caine in 2009’s Harry Brown.
Nickelodeon star JoJo Siwa will perform a medley of hits at the 2018 Kids’ Choice Awards on Saturday, March 24 at 8p. Siwa’s “Boomerang” has racked up over 500 million views on YouTube.
Former Yankee Alex Rodriguez will be on an SXSW panel for CNBC’s Back in the Game, moderated by CNBC chairman Mark Hoffman, on Monday, March 12.
Among the performers for the 2018 Annual Stellar Gospel Music Awards will be sister act Mary Mary (Erica Campbell and Tina Campbell) and Snoop Dogg, performing songs from his new gospel album. Telecast will premiere on TV One on Friday, March 30 at 9 pm and air in broadcast syndication on 130 stations March 31-May 6, 2018.
NEW & RETURNING SERIES
Amazon renewed horror anthology series Lore for season 2. Sean Crouch (The Exorcist) will replace Glen Morgan as showrunner, exploring “global, real-life horror stories that make this series unlike anything else on television,” said Propagate Content’s Ben Silverman and Howard Owens.
Also coming back for a sophomore run is Science Channel’s Mysteries of the Abandoned, taking viewers to engineering wonders left to crumble. New season starts off at a bizarre pyramid in North Dakota on Tuesday, March 20 at 9p.
And it’s a trend – Comedy Central ordered season 2 of Corporate. “We’re absolutely thrilled to continue selling our souls making some more anti-corporate comedy for one of the biggest corporations in the world,” said creators Jake Wiesman, Matt Ingebretson and Pat Bishop. Season 1 finale airs Wednesday, March 14 at 10p.
Exec producer Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson dropped the premiere of his new scripted drama, The Oath, on his Facebook page for 24 hours on Monday, ahead of its March 8 debut on Crackle. “This s*** is too damn good so why wait?” said Jackson.
DEALS (AND NO DEAL)
AMC Networks, an investor in RLJ Entertainment, is set to acquire the RLJ shares it does not already own. Founded by BET founder Robert L. Johnson in 2012, RLJ owns Acorn TV and Urban Movie Channel.
Francisco Partners, a global technology-focused private equity firm, agreed to acquire majority ownership of Discovery Communications’ Discovery Education, provider of digital content for classrooms, for cash consideration of $120 million. The transaction represents an “incredibly exciting opportunity,” said Bill Goodwyn, president and chief executive at Discovery Education. “This investment allows us to further expand our reach and impact both domestically and around the world.”
The Weinstein Company board announced the company is filing for bankruptcy, and pinned the blame on prospective buyers Mara Contreras-Sweet and Ron Burkle. Their $500 million plan to buy the company was “illusory and would only leave this company hobbling toward its demise,” said the board in a letter to Contreras-Sweet and billionaire backer Burkle. The office of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, which had filed a civil rights lawsuit, issued a statement on Monday saying that over the past two weeks, they had “very productive” discussions with both parties about compensating victims, protecting employees, and rooting out enablers of sexual abuse at the company. “We are disappointed that despite a clear path forward on those issues – including the buyer’s commitment to dedicate up to $90 million to victim compensation and implement gold-plated HR policies – the parties were unable to resolve their financial differences,” said the AG. “We will continue to pursue justice for victims in the event of the company’s bankruptcy, and our investigation into the pattern of egregious abuse by Harvey Weinstein and his enablers is ongoing.”
DIGITAL DATA
YouTube announced new features for viewers watching live streams, including automatic English-language captions. The captions will use YouTube’s live automatic speech recognition technology. YouTube will also preserve and replay chats that occurred during a live stream, and creators streaming live from their smartphone can geotag the location where they’re recording. Finally, creators can add a location tag to mobile live streams and video uploads, making them easier to find.
FilmStruck is expanding its streaming movie library to offer classics like Casablanca, Citizen Kane and The Thin Man through a partnership with Warner Bros. Digital Networks. A new selection, TCM Select, will feature offerings of iconic films, with intros from TCM host Ben Mankiewicz, archival content and bonus material.
CBS is going over the top again, with the launch of CBS Sports HQ yesterday. The free 24/7 streaming net, modeled on streaming news service CBSN, offers live sports news reporting, game previews, post-game analysis and highlights and (of course) stats. DVR functionality will allow viewers the flexibility to control what they watch, and jump from previous segments and live programming. “From CBS All Access to Showtime OTT to CBSN, we are creating best-in-class direct-to-consumer streaming platforms that are positioning us to be leaders in the future of premium content distribution,” said CBS CEO and chairman Les Moonves.
CBS isn’t the only broadcaster eyeing OTT. Disney head Bob Iger said at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference that ESPN Plus, launching in March or April, will start at $4.99/month, but prices will rise with augmented service. “We have the opportunity to enable customers to buy seasons, teams, weekends,” said Iger, as well as enable out-of-market packages of MLB and NHL games.
Consumers are growing increasingly frustrated with TV viewing options, according to a report by Hub Entertainment Research, “The Best Bundle: Consumer Preferences in a Peak TV World.” Forced to create their own bundles, only viewers who subscribe to at least 3 TV services are more likely than not to feel their viewing needs are “very well met.” Only 22% say the growing number of services makes it “easy to choose what’s best for me” – down 11 points from 2017 – and don’t get them started on paying for networks they don’t watch. “The novelty of having so many options for TV content is wearing off. Now consumers want simplicity and efficiency”, said Peter Fondulas, principal at Hub and one of the authors of the study. “Bundles that aggregate content from multiple sources are highly desirable – but only if those bundles include little or no content they know they won’t watch.”
Awards show viewership via streaming services is expected to jump 28% from last year, according to a survey from digital marketing agency Adtaxi. Of those watching on traditional linear or cable, 59% will be using secondary channels to consume related content. Among the findings: women are 34% more likely to use additional media platforms during awards shows than men, and 41% more likely to watch or listen to them.
ListenFirst did the math, and found the Olympian who scored the most growth on social was snowboarder Chloe Kim, with a fan footprint up 441%, to 1.14 million. Quote-worthy figure skater Adam Rippon grew 383% (to 1.05 million) and snowboarder Red Gerard increased his fan footprint 357% (to 294,385).
SHORT FORM VIDEO
Short form videos featuring Young M.A, Tinashe, MILCK, Jessie Reyez, Halsey, and Camila Cabello will roll out on Fuse during National Women’s History Month, starting Thursday, March 1.
ABC and The Academy are offering a 5-part daily digital series, The Oscars Insider, leading up to the big night. Sponsored by Walmart, episodes cover topics like a breakdown of the nominees, and what’s on the menu for the Governor’s Ball.
A white paper from Oath creative studio RYOT highlights the importance of taking 6-second video seriously. While online video consumption is growing for all video lengths, the share of short-form video is growing. 59% of consumers watch videos that are one minute or less every day, and 34% of advertisers say they are investing more in 6-second videos this year.
ADVERTISING
Interpublic Group and Nielsen inked a deal that allows Interpublic’s IPG Mediabrands division to match specific types of consumers with Nielsen data, identifying consumers most likely to want particular products. “You can look at people who purchase your product or who have not purchased your product, get into far more granularity around their likes and dislikes, their hobbies, all the other behaviors in their lives,” IPG Mediabrands global chief data and marketing technology officer Arun Kumar told Variety. “People who are watching are going to be far more likely to purchase your product than other people, who shouldn’t be seeing those ads.”
The Digital Marketing Association of Hong Kong is becoming the 46th national IAB licensee, known as IAB Hong Kong powered by HKDMA. Led by the HKDMA founding members comScore, Facebook, Google, Next Digital, Oath, Pixels and South China Morning Post, the trade organization will work with IAB to drive common goals, promote global standards and guidelines, create better ads and improve consumer experience, and advance social trust and the industry’s interests in the Hong Kong marketplace.
GOING GLOBAL
Two reality formats from GoQuest Media Ventures have been picked up for India. Optimysitox Entertainment optioned music reality format Sing-a-Songwriter and music entertainment format Dinner Karaoke.
CASTING
Betty Gabriel (Get Out) landed a series regular role in season 2 of Starz thriller Counterpart….Patti LaBelle (Daytime Divas) will recur on season 2 of OWN drama Greenleaf.
Pilot lights: Ellie Reed (Girlboss) and Humphrey Ker (Curb Your Enthusiasm) will play series regular roles in ABC comedy pilot reboot The Greatest American Hero….Joseph Morgan (The Originals) joins the Fox drama pilot based on best-seller Gone Baby Gone as the male lead….A series regular role in ABC drama pilot Staties went to Jennifer Aspen (Sharp Objects)….J.R. Ramirez (Power) scored a series regular role on NBC mystery pilot Manifest.
SOCIAL GOOD
Univision Communications has launched a campaign to promote the value of diversity, inclusion and the important role Hispanic culture and Spanish language play in the U.S. “Se Habla USA” will focus on empowering Latinos to be stronger advocates for themselves and their communities. Content will run across the UCI portfolio, including organic integrations and segments within shows, supported by social media through #SeHablaUSA.
