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Another week, another International Insider. This one has been packed with big stories, exclusives and more developments from the international film and TV worlds. Jesse Whittock here to guide you through. Sign up to the newsletter here.
YA Is A-Okay At PV
Coming straight ‘Tuya’: Stewart revealed that Spanish young adult movie Culpa Tuya is Prime Video’s biggest-ever international launch this week. Critics aren’t too impressed (the show has a 20% Rotten Tomatoes rating), but fans certainly do. In 170 countries, it became the streamer’s top show in the month since its December launch. “We can put a film like Culpa out in Spain, and within weeks, even the countries that weren’t planning on promoting it are seeing it jump up to the top of the algorithm,” James Farrell, VP International Originals, Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios, told Stewart. “You just don’t see that fandom with content that skews a little older.” The second instalment of the Culpables trilogy is, however, only part of Amazon’s YA story. Deadline also got a sneak peek at the streamers’ roster of top-10 non-English-language shows of 2024 and YA was the genre in vogue. German juggernaut Maxton Hall: The World Between Us featured, as did a pair of YA-skewed Korean dramas, Marry My Husband and No Gain No Love. Amazon is doubling down on YA in 2025, with more Culpables projects as well as new Maxton and We Were Liars. There are short odds on the adaptation of Dímelo Bajito, the latest from Culpables writer Mercedes Ron, making the 2025 most-watched list. Intriguingly, our story also marked one of the first times Amazon has cracked open the safe guarding its viewing data. The figures felt all the more legitimate given the tech giant discounted home countries in its reporting, meaning that those with huge populations didn’t automatically outrank the real breakouts from smaller countries. Speaking of local hits, the second season of Prime Video India crime drama Paatal Lok was our Global Breakout this week.
Drama Funding Woes
“Limbo” land: The UK’s drama sector has been somewhat in a state of paralysis for several months now, as once-reliable U.S. co-production money dries up, causing a much-publicized funding crisis at several British networks. Most notably hit has been the BBC, whose financial difficulties were laid bare during the ongoing government inquiry into high-end TV production and film. This has left a number of projects the BBC had greenlit in a unique state of development hell — or “stuck in limbo,” as the BBC put it last week. Max revealed the identity of the first of these high-profile projects: A24’s adaptation of Booker Prize winner ‘Shuggie Bain‘. Meanwhile, the adaptation of James Graham’s love-letter play to the England national soccer team Dear England is expected to shoot this summer despite facing similar funding issues, with Sony, which owns Dear England producer Left Bank, understood to be deficit financing. There’s no obvious way out of the mess, but avenues are being explored and the famously-scrappy UK production sector will back itself to find the route through. “We are as creatively ambitious as ever,” Salt told us.
Federation On The Block
Official stamp: That Federation Studios has been looking for some serious investment has been one of the worst-kept secrets in TV over the past year, but this week we were first with the official account from the French indie giant. Federation bosses Pascal Breton, Lionel Uzan and Marco Chimenz confirmed the Around the World in 80 Days maker is after hundreds of millions of euros for a minimum 40% stake, valuing their company at up to €600M ($625M). They’ll be heading to the U.S. with Morgan Stanley bankers at their side to explore interest. “The potential for growth is extremely strong, especially in Europe,” said Breton, who launched Federation just over a decade ago after selling his company Marathon to Zodiak Media. While not quite the size of French compatriot Banijay or as capitalized as the RedBird IMI-backed All3Media, new investment would propel Federation forwards at a time when cash-strapped businesses are feeling the heat. Back in home country France, Federation launched a JV with producer-director Jérôme Salle named Syzygy, indicating it is business as usual as the sales process rumbles on.
Göteborg Blues
Over to Zac Ntim, who’s been in Sweden this week…
Frosty reception: Everyone I’ve met this year at the Göteborg Film Festival is depressed — and not because of the arctic weather conditions (It fell to -4C the night I landed). The collective melancholia is rather a symptom of what Göteborg Artistic Director Pia Lundberg described in our pre-festival interview as the “financial crisis” hitting Swedish cinema. Budgets have been cut, local films are harder to make and audiences aren’t turning up for Swedish-produced films. It’s the negative trifecta. Even worse for Sweden is Scandi neighbors to the east (Norway) and south (Denmark) are booming and have even started poaching talent. Göteborg native Magnus von Horn is busy awards campaigning with his Danish-backed Girl with the Needle. It didn’t help that in her opening night speech, Swedish Culture Minister Parisa Liljestrand taunted local filmmakers, telling them it wasn’t her job to be their friend or endlessly cut checks for their projects. Liljestrand was booed by festival-goers and two-time Palme d’Or winner Ruben Östlund described her as “embarrassingly uneducated” in an Instagram post. Liljestrand’s comments are probably a precursor to a government report into the local industry, which is set for publication in March. Away from politics, there have still been some film-related highs, as the festival opened with Eirik Svensson’s latest film Safe House. There were also visits from Thomas Vinterberg, hosting a screening of his new film Festen, and Julie Delpy, who won honorary awards. The festival, which now includes the TV Vision Drama sidebar, ends Sunday. More Göteborg coverage over here.
Who Survived ‘Til 25?
Taking the temperature: Last year was an annus horribilis for many TV producers around the world, as tariffs fell, co-production money dried up and expansive ideas were rejected at the door in favor of more conservative fare led by big names. Storied production companies closed and others were forced into special measures as their business models groaned under the weight of an industry that lacked the cash to prop them up. The mantra became ‘Survive ‘Til ’25,’ so Max and I decided to check out who managed to make it through, and how the economic situation had impacted six territories around the world, namely the UK, India, Canada, South Africa and Spain. The result? A mixed picture of panic over the proposition of another tough year, optimism for the future, and a sense that a new post-mega spend normal is setting in. Read our report here.
The Essentials
🌶️ Hot One: David Tennant and Toby Jones will star in an ITV and Stan drama series about phone hacking in the UK.
🌶️ Another One: Juliet Stevenson has boarded Anton Corbijn’s thriller Switzerland, as shooting gets underway in Rome, sources close to production told Mel and Andreas.
🌶️ Hotter: Morfydd Clark and Ariyon Bakare are set to lead UFO thriller Arctic Skies, which Independent Entertainment is attached to sell.
🎭 Treading the Big Friendly boards: Breaking Bazmundo broke the news Roald Dahl’s kids classic ‘The BFG’ is to become a spectacular stage show in the UK.
✌🏼 Two-pic deal: Bollywood director Kabir Khan will make a duo of films with Applause Entertainment, I revealed.
🏆 Kicking ass and taking noms: The Count of Monte Cristo led the nominations for France’s César Awards.
🧥 New outfit: Capstone and Signature Entertainment teamed to launch sales agency Capture, as EFM draws closer. Andreas scooped it.
🇫🇷 Ooh la la!: Disney+ signed a landmark agreement with France’s film and TV guilds that commits the streamer to invest 25% of local annual turnover in exchange for shorter release windows.
🔦 Probe: The BBC said sorry after an internal investigation revealed staff in LA had “joked” about an alleged incident in which presenter Russell Brand exposed himself to a woman.
🛑 Dropped: Neil Gaiman was scrubbed from Casarotto Ramsay & Associates’ website amid ongoing allegations around his sexual conduct. Jake with the story.
📋 Netflix slate: A Grenfell Tower fire doc and dramas from Germany and Italy were among new shows announced in Europe this week.
🍿 Box Office: The Chinese box office went off with a bang, as nearly $250M was generated in cinemas on day one of the country’s holiday period.
International Insider was written by Jesse Whittock and edited by Max Goldbart. Stewart Clarke and Zac Ntim contributed.
