Channel 4 Acquires ‘After the Party’ From ITV Studios, Disney+ Starts Production on ‘Vienna Game’ – Series Mania Bulletin
‘After the Party’ in the U.K.
Channel 4 has acquired U.K. rights to the acclaimed New Zealand drama “After the Party” from Lingo Pictures.
The six-part series, co-created by and starring Robyn Malcolm (“Black Bird”), follows Penny Wilding, a mother, teacher and environmental activist, whose life imploded five years earlier after she accused her husband Phil, played by Peter Mullan (“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” “Mum”), of a sex crime and nobody believed her.
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When Penny’s now ex-husband returns to town, her daughter pressures her to let go of her accusations and move on. As her old furies rise to the surface, Penny must decide what’s more important – the truth or rebuilding her relationships with the people around her.
Co-created by Dianne Taylor, “After the Party” was produced by Australia’s Lingo Pictures (“Wake in Fright,” “Lambs of God”) and Luminous Beast in New Zealand as an original commission for New Zealand’s TVNZ in association with and distributed by ITV Studios.
Polly Scates, Channel 4’s head of acquisitions, said: “Full of twists, turns and stunning performances, this important series is sure to keep audiences guessing and stay with them long after the final episode.”
Disney+ Reconvenes Congress of Vienna
Production has begun on “Vienna Game,” Disney+’s latest locally produced, German-language original series.
Based on fact-based accounts surrounding the start of the Congress of Vienna in 1814, also considered the most opulent party of the 19th century, “Vienna Game” is produced by Austria’s Satel Film.
The six-part series, which is shooting in Austria and Hungary, chronicles the infamous Congress of Vienna, an opulent, nine-month-long, lavish celebration that led to a century of peace in Europe for the first time. Following Napoleon Bonaparte’s exile to Elba, kings and crown princes, ministers and spies, noble ladies and mistresses, soldiers of fortune, inventors, artists and concubines celebrate and negotiate in Vienna, where the fate of Europe is ultimately decided on the dance floor and in the boudoir.
The congress is led by delegations from England, Russia, Austria, Prussia and France – and steered by strong women who use their influence to support peace negotiations – in what is a high-stakes political game involving luck, money, love and power, set against the spectacular backdrop of Vienna.
“Vienna Game” stars Emma Nova, Daniel Donskoy, Vladimir Burlakov, Marlene Tanczik, Alexander Scheer, Fritz Karl, Erwin Steinhauer, Axel Milberg, Rufus Beck, Jakob Diehl, Trystan Pütter, Roxane Duran, Catrin Striebeck and Heike Makatsch.
The series is produced by Satel Film’s Bettina Kuhn, who co-created the show with writer Stefan Brunner (“Freud”), and directed by Hannu Salonen (“I Am Scrooge”).
BBC Primetime Taking Off in South Africa
BBC Studios and the South African Broadcasting Corporation are partnering on the launch of BBC Primetime on free-to-air channel S3. The content block will reach 13 million homes in South Africa, marking BBC Studios’ first block for free-to-air audiences in South Africa and its widest reaching branded service in Europe, Middle East and Africa.
BBC Primetime will feature a hand-picked selection of dramas, factual entertainment and documentaries from BBC Studios’ catalog, including the hit crime thriller “Luther,” starring Idris Elba; medical drama “Critical”; romantic comedy “Cheaters”; motoring show “Top Gear”; and documentary series “Louis Theroux: Forbidden America.”
BBC Primetime will air Monday through Friday between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. on S3 and on SABC+ from May.
SABC programming manager Sane Zondi said: “The deal allows us to bring back some of the iconic BBC titles to our viewers, which formed weekly habitual viewing, with ‘Top Gear’ being the most notable one.”
ARRI Showcases Live-Entertainment Tech
ARRI is presenting its latest tech portfolio of camera and stabilizer equipment for live entertainment and sports broadcast environments at the SportsInnovation trade fair, which kicked off Wednesday in Düsseldorf.
New to the roster of selected exhibitors at SportsInnovation this year, ARRI is demonstrating a bespoke lineup of tools and workflows.
Among the company’s latest offerings are its Multicam and Camera Stabilizer Systems, which it will showcase through live game demonstrations in partnership with the Deutsche Fussball Liga (DFL) and the National Football League (NFL).
“These real-life applications, featuring live soccer and American football matches, endorse the benefits of using ARRI technology for live sports entertainment and present various broadcast solutions that professionals can use today,” ARRI stated.
ARRI’s equipment includes a 12-camera ARRI Multicam System setup with ARRI Signature Zoom lenses and the camera stabilizer systems Trinity Live and 360 EVO. The ARRI Multicam System captures high-quality, high-precision images and allows for easy integration with third-party technology and industry-standard workflows.
ARRI’s collaborations with other industry players are also on display, including the rail camera system from Blackcam, the Panther dolly, and the SpiderCam fitted with ARRI’s new 360 EVO camera stabilizer.
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