Global Entertainment Supply Chain Digest (March 2023 #1)

March 1, 2023

Global Entertainment Supply Chain Digest (March 2023 #1)

Global Entertainment Supply Chain Digest (March 2023 #1)

The entertainment value chain globally is massive, fragmented, and complex! It begins with content stories & IP and ends with the theatrical, streaming, broadcasting, and inflight devices that deliver content to consumers. We keep a track of all the global action, in the supply chain across content development, production, post-production, VFX, animation, localization, promotions, distribution, and delivery… so you don’t have to!

Vitrina AI is the global sourcing hub for the entertainment supply-chain marketplace. Our mission is to enable worldwide partner and content discovery with our proprietary AI-powered search, daily market intel, and business platform.

Companies Making Headlines

IP Deals

Hottest IP [Stories, Formats, Books, Games, Podcasts] to be turned into the next big blockbuster

>> Inside Vitrina: 3000+ global adaptation deals

- Karsten Stöter’s ROW Pictures to adapt Domenico Müllensiefen’s debut novel Aus unseren Feuern into a series. The story revolves around the coming-of-age of a lost generation growing up in Leipzig in the early 2000s 🇩🇪
- The graphic novel Tête de mules, on the real-life story of five young women from Alsace who defied the Nazi occupation and helped in the liberation of more than 1,000 prisoners of war in WWII, is being adapted into a series by Leonis Productions 🇫🇷
- Paradiso Media and Cinefrance to collaborate for the film adaptation of Paradiso’s moving podcast En Tongs au pied de l’Himalaya (In Flip-Flops at the Base of the Himalayas) 🇺🇸 🇫🇷
- TV3 has ordered the first ever Estonian version of the BBC Studios game show Mastermind, which is renowned for its tough questions and iconic black chair, ahead of the BBC Showcase in London 🇬🇧 🇪🇪
- Indian actor Saif Ali Khan’s Black Knight Films to partner with Endemol Shine India to produce and star in the Hindi adaptation of the Scandanavian noir crime format, Bron/Broen 🇮🇳

New Global Arrivals

Recent biggest releases across the globe!

>> Inside Vitrina: 1 million+ global content titles

- The First Slam Dunk a 2022 Japanese animated movie, based on the hit basketball manga series, Slam Dunk, has become a box-office success in the Asian markets since its release, collecting over US$ 75Mn 🇯🇵 🇰🇷 🇭🇰 🇹🇼
- Ukrainian film, Do You Love Me?, emerging as a potential favorite at the Berlin International Film Festival 2023 among streamers and distributors is a semi-autobiographical feature about the coming-of-age of a Ukranian girl during the collapse of the USSR
- Paramount and Spyglass Media’s Scream VI released in Feb 2023 is on track to become the highest grossing film in the franchise 🇺🇸
- Rom-com Ostrov, the first Czech production shot primarily in Thailand, released in theatres in Feb 2023 🇹🇭 🇨🇿
- French director Nicolas Philibert won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival for the documentary On the Adamant, based on a day-care center in Paris that welcomes adults suffering from mental disorders.

Production Deals

A sneak peak into recently announced production projects, worldwide

>> Inside Vitrina: 30,000+ global production projects

- Nippon TV and Netflix have agreed to produce a new comedy series, Ariyoshi Assists, which will be exclusively available on Netflix and not aired or streamed on Nippon TV 🇺🇸 🇯🇵
  Genius Brands International has announced Kidaverse Fast Facts, its first AI-generated children’s series, which uses several AI technologies, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT 🇺🇸
- The Lift Entertainment to produce a 8-part series Harina based on the popular YouTube sketch comedy series Tiente Harina for Comedy Central and Amazon Prime Video 🇲🇽
- Indiana Production Company is set to produce the 8-part crime series Fort Apache, which will be included in The Séries Mania Forum’s Co-Pro Pitching Sessions 2023 🇮🇹
- Chile’s Storyboard Media has partnered with La Jauria Cine, Mexico’s Baremo Films, Argentina’s Murillo Cine and HDArgentina for the co-production of the psychological thriller Quizas es cierto lo que dicen de nosotras. This marks the first collaboration between Storyboard Media and Baremo Films 🇲🇽 🇨🇱

Distribution Deals

Distributors securing worldwide content across different genres, languages and format types

>> Inside Vitrina: 20,000+ global distribution projects

- Dogwoof, a UK-based docu specialist, has sold the feature documentary My Name is Alfred Hitchock that premiered at the prestigious Telluride Film Fest to several territories in Asia & Europe. The film has been acquired by Synca, I Wonder, A Contracorriente, Kismet, Alliance, Against Gravity, Canal+, and Zero em Comportamento 🇯🇵 🇮🇹 🇪🇸 🇦🇺 🇳🇿 🇮🇳 🇵🇱 🇵🇹
- Sphere Films International’s film Riceboy Sleeps, which won both the TIFF Platform Prize and Busan Audience Award, has been picked up for distribution in global markets by 1091 Pictures, Icon, Pancinema, Yoda Films, September Films, Creative Century, Lighthouse Film, Lev Films 🇺🇸🇦🇺 🇳🇿 🇰🇷 🇪🇸 🇧🇪 🇹🇼 🇸🇬 🇮🇱
- Arbelos, a LA-based distributor, has acquired the North American rights to the 4K restoration of György Fehér’s Hungarian film Twilight (Szürkület). The film premiered at the Berlinale’s Classics stand and was sold by Hungary’s National Film Institute 🇺🇸 🇭🇺
- Reel Suspects, Paris-based sales agency, has onboarded Ma Xue’s erotic drama White River, and will be making its marketing debut at EFM 2023 🇫🇷 🇰🇷
- Australian distributor Palace Films has bought 4 titles Tobacco Barns, Alfonso Albacete’s comedy My Father’s Mexican Wedding, Felix Viscarret’s Staring At Strangers and Carlos Saura’s Walls Can Talk from Mexican distribution giant Latido Films at EFM. 🇦🇺 🇲🇽

Acquisition Deals

Streamers & channels acquiring latest content across the world

>> Inside Vitrina: 15,000+ global content acquisitions

- Fashioned Reimagined, Becky Hunter’s debut feature documentary, has been sold to multiple companies, including Sky (🇬🇧 🇩🇪 🇮🇹), NonStop Entertainment (🇫🇮 🇩🇰 🇸🇪 🇳🇴 🇪🇪 🇱🇻 🇱🇹), Avrotros (🇳🇱), Flag Co. (🇯🇵), LevelFilm (🇨🇦), Movistar (🇪🇸), and DBS (🇮🇱), at the European Film Market
- Indonesian broadcaster, RTV, has obtained the rights to show the CG-animated film, Ejen Ali: The Movie, from Malaysia’s WAU Animation and Primeworks Studios for its linear channel and VOD platform 🇮🇩 🇲🇾
- Brazilian streamer, Encripta, has acquired rights for Mikel Gurrea’s San Sabatian award winning drama Suro 🇪🇸 🇧🇷
- Jackie Chan-starring film Ride On scheduled to release in April 2023, has been acquired by Turkish boradcaster ATV from Hong-Kong based sales agent Golden Network 🇹🇷 🇭🇰
- Future Today, an AVOD operator, has acquired the Season 2 of Bat Pat and Atlantyca Entertainment’s animated series Berry Bees for its family and kids platform, HappyKids 🇺🇸 🇨🇦

Partnerships/M&A

Cross-Border Collaborations, Joint Ventures, M&A and Partnerships!

- U-Next Co., a popular Japanese streaming service provider, has announced its plan to absorb Paravi, an OTT service run by Premium Platform Japan Inc., in March 2023. This merger will make it the second-largest paid video streaming service in Japan, after Netflix 🇯🇵
- Fremantle acquired a minority stake in Artists, Writers & Artisans Inc. (AWA), following their partnership in April 2022. AWA Studios, led by Zach Studin, will receive strategic inputs and investments from Fremantle, leveraging the latter’s international distribution footprint and expertise 🇺🇸
- The Middle East’s MBC Group has joined forces with Vuz, an immersive social app that enables users to stream in the metaverse and extended reality, to expand its video library and XR experience. Vuz will be featured across MBC’s various channels in the region 🇦🇪 🇸🇦 🇪🇬 🇺🇸 🇶🇦
- Shemaroo Entertainment and blockchain platform Polygon Labs have partnered to introduce Virtasy.io, a new NFT marketplace that offers an exclusive community for Bollywood enthusiasts. It aims to make Bollywood and art accessible to everyone and help connect fans with their favorite IPs 🇮🇳 🇺🇸
- TelevisaUnivision has broadened its reach in Latin America with the help of Brazil’s Globoplay. The 3-year deal allows Globoplay to premiere TelevisaUnivision’s productions from its Mexican free-to-air channel Las Estrellas and streaming platform ViX+. Globoplay also gets access to Televisa’s most successful television programs as part of this deal

Companies Making Headlines

Launch and Expansions of facilities, studios, services & technologies

>> Inside Vitrina: 100,000 global entertainment companies

- In its aim to remain competitive as a filming location, Thailand’s cabinet approved a significant increase in production incentives and is to offer a 30% tax rebate for international productions 🇹🇭
- Pinewood Studios has received approvals from the Buckinghamshire Council for a 1.4 mn sq ft expansion, including 21 new sound stages, a backlot filming space, education and training hub and a publicly accessible nature reserve. Once completed, Pinewood will be the biggest studio complex in the world with a total of 51 purpose-built stages 🇬🇧
- British actor Idris Elba is investing in opening a major studio in Tanzania, according to Zuhura Yunus, the Director of Presidential Communications. The announcement came after discussions with President Samia Suluhu Hassan at the World Economic Forum in Davos 🇹🇿
- Mediawan Kids & Family has bought Wildseed Studios to fund content with international appeal 🇬🇧 🇫🇷
- CNN to go live from a new broadcast facility in Abu Dhabi. The state-of-the-art facility includes a fully robotic three-camera studio, four dedicated craft editing suites, and a modern, open-plan newsroom with sit/stand desks and dedicated monitoring tools in every position 🇦🇪

Featured New Specializations

Global innovations & breakthroughs in the Entertainment supply-chain

- The color capabilities of the ARRI Mini LF have been enhanced with the release of SUP 7.2 for ALEXA Mini LF, which enables the camera to make use of REVEAL color science, the new image processing chain 🌎
- Krikey.ai, which specializes in AI tools, has partnered with Stability AI, the parent company of Stable Diffusion, to unveil an AI Text to Animation tool 🌎
- Mo-Sys Engineering showcased a new hybrid ICVFX virtual shooting approach at HPA Tech Retreat, providing flexibility to directors and cinematographers while reducing costs and maintaining quality 🌎

Localization & Post-Production

Latest updates in the world of content Localization & Post-Production

>> Inside Vitrina: 1500+ Localization & 12,000+ Post-Production global companies

- Deepdub, a startup using AI technology to automate parts of the dubbing process, offers an end-to-end platform that reduces dubbing project time to weeks from months, satisfying the rising need for localized content 🌎
- LucidLink has attained SOC 2 Type I compliance, to meet the requirements of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants standards for SOC for Service Organizations (SSAE 21). This demonstrates third-party recognition of the enterprise-level security provided by LucidLink for safeguarding customers’ data in its system 🌎
- AI dubbing startup, Papercup, wins contract to localise Spanish content for Latin American and US audiences for Bloomberg’s YouTube channel using AI and synthetic voices. It will cover the translation and dubbing of global news coverage, financial market analysis, and documentaries 🌎

Animation, VFX & Virtual Production

Latest global updates in Animation, Visual Effects VFX & Virtual Production

>> Inside Vitrina: 4,000+ Animation & 2500+ VFX global companies

- New Blender Alpha add-ons lets creators reimagine virtual worlds and animate lifelike characters with ease within NVIDIA Omniverse, a platform for creating and operating metaverse applications
- Disguise has enhanced its Cloud platform by incorporating Previz, a web-based application utilized for importing, previewing, and distributing 3D interactive scenes 🌎
- DNEG increases its capacity by acquiring a production studio complex & production services assets in India. Clients will have access to 8 premiere soundstages, as well as a complete suite of services including Digital Intermediate (DI), camera equipment rental (EQR), sound and picture editing, 3D mastering etc 🇮🇳

FAST Channels

World of FAST channels & related market moves

- Plex, the worldwide streaming media platform, has teamed up with Fox Corp. to introduce four additional Fox FAST channels on their service, namely Fox Weather, Fox Soul, LiveNOW from Fox, and TMZ 🌎
- Quintus Studios, a Berlin-based channel operator and content distributor, has launched a new AVOD channel named Free Documentary – Engineering. The channel is part of a portfolio of free factual channels distributed through digital platforms 🇩🇪
- African Movie Channel (AMC), a UK-based broadcaster and international pay TV service provider, is partnering with Allen Media Group to launch Nolly Africa HD, it’s FAST channel, on US-based platforms TheGrio and Local Now 🇬🇧 🇺🇸
- Wedotv, an AVOD and FAST channel company based in Switzerland, is set to introduce its direct-to-consumer platform in Italy, which will feature its FAST channels: Wedo Movies and Wedo Big Stories 🇨🇭 🇮🇹
- Echelon Studios has partnered with HeroGo TV to add its content, which includes a-z FAST channels like a-z Action, a-z Documentary, a-z Asian Flix, and a-z Horror & Cult, to HeroGo TV’s library 🇺🇸

Cancelled Deal/Shows

Recently cancelled!

- After two seasons, Disney+ has decided to cancel two shows: the John Stamos-led sports comedy-drama Big Shot and The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers 🌎
- All five seasons of Arrested Development will be leaving Netflix in March at the end of the licensing agreement term 🌎
- HBO has canceled the space-set comedy Avenue 5, created by Armando Iannucci, after two seasons 🌎
- Broadcaster FX cancels the drama series, Mayans MC after five seasons 🇺🇸
  Superhero TV series, Doom Patrol, will not be returning to HBO Max after season 4 🌎