August 12, 2024

Marvel New Lineup, Netflix India Partnership, Iyuno Mega Dubbing Studio, UTA-Banijay Deal, ITV Expansion, Getty Images with NVIDIA, and More!

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Join us in this week’s edition of the Entertainment Supply Chain Digest, as the past week has brought some groundbreaking developments. From the Marvel new lineup in Phase 6 of the MCU to Netflix India exciting partnership for their first action-fantasy series, the industry is buzzing with fresh news. Iyuno has unveiled a massive dubbing studio in Mexico City, promising to elevate Latin Spanish localization, while UTA and Banijay have joined forces in a strategic partnership set to reshape branded content. ITV Studios is expanding its portfolio with a major acquisition, and Getty Images is pushing boundaries by partnering with NVIDIA for AI-driven image generation. Let’s dive into these stories and more, highlighting the key moves that are shaping the future of entertainment.

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IP Deals

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

Marvel has unveiled the lineup for Phase 6 of MCU, including: Fantastic Four: First Steps (July 25, 2025), Blade (November 7, 2025), Avengers: Doomsday (May 1, 2026), and Avengers: Secret Wars (May 7, 2027). Major changes include Doctor Doom replacing Kang. Russo Brothers to Direct Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.(🇺🇸)
Justin Simien and Tawny Newsome are developing a new Star Trek series for Paramount+. Set in the 25th century, the workplace comedy follows Federation outsiders on a resort planet. Simien, Newsome, and Alex Kurtzman are executive producers, with the series produced by CBS Studios.(🇺🇸)
Netflix India has partnered with Raj & DK for its first action-fantasy series, “Rakt Bramhand – The Bloody Kingdom.” The series will feature action and visual effects set in a fictional kingdom, directed by Rahi Anil Barve and written by Sita R. Menon.(🇮🇳)
IFC Films and Shudder are developing a sequel to “In a Violent Nature,” announced at San Diego Comic-Con. The sequel will continue the slasher saga of Johnny, echoing classic horror themes.(🇺🇸)
James Morosini, known for I Love My Dad, will direct the psychological horror film Mommy’s Home for Lionsgate. The film centers on a young father whose life spirals into chaos when his mother, cryogenically preserved for decades, is revived.(🇺🇸)

Production Deals

Sneak peak into recently announced production projects worldwide

David F. Sandberg’s Until Dawn film adaptation, starring Peter Stormare, starts shooting. Based on the 2015 horror game, it promises a suspenseful ski lodge thriller. Expected to release in 2025.(🇺🇸)
Movistar Plus+ and Secuoya Studios have started filming Terra Alta, a police thriller based on Javier Cercas’s novel. Starring Miguel Bernardeau, the series explores a Mossos d’Esquadra agent’s personal and professional struggles.
Filming takes place in Catalonia and the Canary Islands over 14 weeks, with a cast including Ivan Massagué and Marta Etura. (🇪🇸)
Globoplay, Globo’s streaming service, has renewed its flagship series “Dissident Archangel” for a fourth season. In recent times, Globoplay is finding success with stylish crime action thrillers that question their own brutality.(🇧🇷)
Solar Opposites has been renewed for Season 6 at Hulu, as announced at San Diego Comic-Con. Season 5 premieres on August 12, featuring aliens adjusting to Earthly family life. A Halloween special is also planned. (🇺🇸)
Prime Video has renewed the Colombian series Betty La Fea, La Historia Continúa for a second season. The series achieved record-breaking viewership, becoming the most-watched Latin American title on Prime Video globally and the top series in Colombia. (🇺🇸)

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Distribution Deals

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

beIN Media Group has renewed its multi-year deal with Front Row Filmed Entertainment for three more years, securing exclusive Pay 1 window rights for up to 300 titles. The agreement includes films like Better Man, Priscilla, and Mother’s Instinct. (🇶🇦)
Justin Kurzel’s The Order, starring Jude Law and Nicholas Hoult, has secured key international deals with AGC International. Prime Video holds bulk rights, with Vertical Entertainment distributing in the US. (🇺🇸)
Kazakh thriller Steppenwolf, directed by Adilkhan Yerzhanov, has secured North American and UK distribution with Arrow Films. The film, premiering at Fantasia International Film Festival, won the Golden Raven at Brussels.(🇬🇧)
Fred Media has secured new international sales for factual titles, including Bondi Vet and Paramedics. Foxtel, TVNZ, More4, StudioMed TV, and True Corp are among the new partners. (🇦🇺)
Minerva Pictures has secured the Italian distribution rights for Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s thriller Cloud from Nikkatsu Corporation, with a September 2024 release. International sales launched at EFM. (🇮🇹)

Did you recently participate in a Development or Production deal or about to announce a production deal? If yes, submit it here!

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Acquisition Deals

Streamers & channels acquiring latest content across the world

Paramount+, A+E Networks, Sky, and Channel 4 have acquired a range of content from Cineflix Rights. Paramount+ picked up Girl in the Video and Abducted off the Street, while A+E Networks’ Crime+Investigation pre-bought Spring Break Murders and Somebody’s Hiding Something. Sky secured Murder Uncut, and Channel 4 acquired RPA: Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and Killer Cases. (🇺🇸)
The BBC has acquired Miriam Margolyes: Impossibly Australian from Southern Pictures. The three-part series, airing as Miriam Margolyes: A New Australian Adventure on BBC Two, follows Margolyes through Perth, Broken Hill, and Byron Bay.(🇬🇧)
The docuseries Fugitive: The Mystery of the Crypto Queen, exploring Ruja Ignatova’s disappearance and OneCoin scam, has been acquired in 31 territories. Fremantle is handling global sales outside the U.K. and Germany. (🇬🇧 🇩🇪)
Banijay Rights has secured a premium drama package deal with Spain’s Movistar Plus+, featuring over 60 hours of content. Highlights include Wolf Hall, This Town, The Hardacres, Marie Antoinette, The Sixth Commandment, and My Mad Fat Diary.(🇬🇧)
International buyers have acquired the Flemish crime series Chantal. MHz Choice (US), SBS (Australia), Radio Canada, TF1+ (France), and Canal+ (Slovakia and Czech Republic) will air the show. France TV Distribution secured the third season of the series, which follows a cop and her daughter starting anew in a rural Belgian town.(🇫🇷 🇺🇸 🇦🇺 🇸🇰 🇨🇿)

Global Entertainment Leaders Speak

Vikram Arumilli – Senior VP-Streaming & Consumer Technology

Bringing the IMAX Experience to Streaming: Deep Dive with Vikram Arumilli

Joseph Bell – Founder, Principal Consultant-HDRI Consulting

Spotlight on VFX Trends: Insights from Industry Veteran Joseph Bell

Renard T. Jenkins – SMPTE President-HPA Board Member

Standards, AI, and Audience Engagement: Insights from the President of SMPTE

To publish your company news about new slate, services, catalog, facilities, email updates@vitrina.ai. These news items will appear in our newsletter, reports and on Buyer Dashboards on Vitrina.

Partnerships / M&A

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

Basilic Fly Studio invests in One of Us, acquiring a 70% stake. This merger combines resources and talent from Chennai, London, and Paris, enhancing VFX services for film and TV.(🇮🇳)
CANAL+ has partnered with 4iG to introduce a Canal+ branded streaming service in Hungary. This launch is part of Canal+’s broader expansion into European markets, including Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and the Netherlands.(🇭🇺 🇦🇹 🇨🇿 🇸🇰 🇳🇱)
ITV Studios has expanded its portfolio by acquiring a majority stake in Hartswood Films, renowned for its high-quality scripted series. This acquisition increases ITV Studios’ market share, global reach, and production capabilities. (🇬🇧)
UTA partners with Banijay Entertainment as a marketing consultant for Banijay Branded Entertainment, aiming to boost brand-funded content by leveraging Banijay’s global expertise.(🇫🇷)
3Point0 Labs has signed Latinx production house Eclectic Media, led by Nicole Pritchett and Maria Betania Fernandez. Eclectic, with offices in L.A. and Miami, focuses on bilingual, cross-cultural storytelling.(🇺🇸)

Companies Making Headlines

Launch and Expansions of facilities, studios, services & technologies

Digital Domain will invest US$26 million in an R&D center at Hong Kong Science Park, to focus on AI-powered virtual humans and video production technology, with completion expected by 2029.(🇺🇸)
Nippon TV’s ClaN Entertainment has partnered with Sanrio in a capital and business alliance to expand their VTuber and Metaverse presence. The collaboration, marked by the launch of “Nyantasia!”, aims to create transformative global content. (🇯🇵)
IndiaCast Media Distribution has launched Viacom18’s Hindi FAST channel, DesiPlay TV, on Pluto TV across the UK, Ireland, Italy, Switzerland, and Nordic countries. This expansion broadens access to Hindi entertainment and supports the channel’s global growth strategy. (🇮🇳)
Streamland Media has expanded its portfolio with the acquisition of Ghost VFX, known for its work on the Star Wars series and The Book of Boba Fett, and Picture Shop, a post-production color services company.(🇺🇸)
PhantomFX has expanded into Bengaluru with Spectre Post, solidifying its position in the VFX industry. This new facility aims to boost VFX capabilities and support global projects.(🇮🇳)

To publish your company news about new slate, services, catalog, facilities, email updates@vitrina.ai. These news items will appear in our newsletter, reports and on Buyer Dashboards on Vitrina.

Featured New Specializations

Global innovations & breakthroughs in the Entertainment supply-chain

Getty Images partners with NVIDIA to launch an AI Image Generation Service, integrating high-quality content. It will ensure commercial safety, and will compensate creators while maintaining scalability. (🇺🇸)
Avid’s Media Composer 2024.6 update introduces a new Transcript Tool with Avid Ada AI for PhraseFind, improved Pro Tools integration with sub-frame automation and metadata export, and expanded Avid Huddle for real-time remote collaboration. (🇺🇸)
Zibra AI introduces ZibraVDB, an AI-driven Unreal Engine plugin that compresses OpenVDB volumetric data, enabling real-time VFX simulations like smoke and fire in UE5. (🇺🇦)
Kiri Engine 3.9 updates its 3D scanning app to include auto-rigging for models, improved AI-based scanning, and increased photogrammetry photo capacity. (🇨🇦)
Bleank releases Black Ink 2023.6, which adds a Radial Symmetry operator to its GPU-accelerated digital painting software, providing innovative tools for creating professional-quality artwork. (🇫🇷)

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Localization & Post-Production

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

Creative Outpost launches CO-STREAM, a high-resolution, lag-free grade and VFX streaming service, allowing up to six remote users and featuring virtual reception and breakout rooms. (🇬🇧)
LightWave Digital has launched LightWave 2024, their second major update, which introduces RHiggit rigging, new liquid simulation tools, and improved procedural geometry and rendering capabilities.(🇺🇸)
NVIDIA introduces fVDB, a deep learning framework built on OpenVDB and NanoVDB, enabling AI architectures for large-scale, reality-scale applications like digital twins and generative AI. (🇺🇸)
NeuralGarage’s VisualDub revolutionizes dubbing with advanced AI, synchronizing lip movements with dubbed audio for a seamless, authentic multilingual film experience. This technology maintains original resolution and color, ensuring a true-to-language cinematic experience.
Iyuno unveils its new 2,000 sqm dubbing studios in Mexico City, featuring 11 recording rooms, 3 mixing rooms, and 12 post-production suites for superior Latin Spanish localization. (🇺🇸)

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Animation, VFX & Virtual Production

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

Autodesk launched Maya 2025.2, featuring ML Deformer for character rigs, and updates to LookdevX, Arnold, and USD plugins, including USD blendshape import. (🇺🇸)
Pigeon Shrine launches AiMation Studios, integrating AI with human creativity for film and TV. The first project, Where The Robots Grow, features innovative production methods and a fresh approach. (🇬🇧)
Clear Angle Studios, DI4D, and TexturingXYZ revealed their 4D facial performance capture service at Siggraph 2024, producing ultra-realistic digital human faces with precise per-frame mapping and detailed skin textures. (🇺🇸 🇬🇧 🇨🇦 🇿🇦 🇭🇺 🇬🇷)
Basefount’s Animcraft 5.0 introduces AI-based markerless motion capture, real-time facial mocap for 3ds Max, and new MetaHuman editing tools for versatile animation libraries. (🇨🇳)
Adobe Photoshop 25.11 introduces the Selection Brush Tool for intuitive object selection, supports lists in the Type Tool, and includes the stable Generate Image feature. (🇺🇸)