Global Bulletin: Directors Now Initiative Gives Hope, Roadmap to Young British Filmmakers

In today’s Global Bulletin young U.K. directors get a powerful new resource in Director Now from “Humans” director Lewis Arnold, Endemol Shine Poland starts shooting “The Crack,” Starzplay gets “High Fidelity” in Latin America and parts of Europe, plus Australia Media House and Leonine announce major hires.

DIRECTORS

More than 100 emerging U.K. directors have joined together to launch Directors Now, a free downloadable document in which each shares their unique backstory, musings and anecdotes about working in the industry today.

Meant as a resource for the next generation of filmmakers, the document was put together in part to counteract the negative impact the COVID-19 situation has had on new filmmakers who might otherwise have been starting their careers if circumstances were more normal.

Directors Now was created and edited by director Lewis Arnold (“Humans,” “Broadchurch”), who also frequently teaches at the University of Gloucestershire and the National Film and Television School. According to him, the initiative comes from having witnessed the disappointment of graduating students and a desire to provide them with practical insight and hope.

“Due to the pandemic, students had found themselves in the difficult situation of graduating without making their final year film,” he said in a release. “They were also graduating into an industry that had shut down. They were all understandably anxious about their futures, and so I wanted to do something for them.”

Directors Now is supported by the National Film and Television School, which helped finance the website, run by Skim Media. Among the 105 participants are Oscar winner Chris Overton (“The Silent Child”) and BAFTA winners Paul Andrew-Williams (“Murdered for Being Different”), Euros Lyn (“Doctor Who”), Caroline Bartleet (“Operator”), Noel Clarke (“Brotherhood”), James Strong (“Doctor Who”) and Destiny Ekaragha (“The End of the F***ing World”).

SHOOTING

Endemol Shine Poland has announced that shooting has kicked off on “The Crack,” a drama series adaptation of Igor Brejdygant’s bestselling novel of the same name, destined for Sony Pictures Television Networks Central Europe and free to air network Polsat.

“The Crack” follows Monika Brzozowska (Julia Kijowska), a troubled cop working in Warsaw’s homicide department. While investigating a series of murders, she finds clues that potentially finger her as the guilty party, forcing her to revisit an unpleasant past.

“The Pact,” Brejdygant’s novel follow-up to “The Crack,” will also be included in the series, continuing Commissioner Brzozowska’s story.

DISTRIBUTION

StarzPlay will premiere the Zoe Kravitz-starring series adaptation of “High Fidelity” on Sept. 10 in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latin America, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and the U.K., with new episodes released weekly thereafter.

A genderbent reimagining of Nick Horby’s novel and the 2000 feature film, “High Fidelity” was developed for TV by Veronica West and Sarah Kucserka, known for their work on “Ugly Betty,” “Chicago Fire” and several other popular series. The two serve as executive producers along with Kravitz.

Midnight Radio’s Scott Rosenberg, Josh Applebaum, André Nemec, and Jeff Pinkner also executive produce, alongside original author Hornby, Jeffrey Reiner, and Jesse Peretz. Originally commissioned by Hulu in the U.S., the series is an ABC Signature production.

HIRING

Paul Macionis has been named as the new COO at Sydney-based company Australia Media House, where he will work across the company’s stable of companies under the Australian Production House (APH) banner. It’s a homecoming for the Sydney native, who left Australia three years ago for a senior legal and executive role at CNBC.

Most recently he was VP, legal and business affairs for Asia at NBCUniversal Media in Singapore. Before that, he filled several roles at pay TV broadcaster Foxtel.

At Australia Media House, he will have oversight of all commercial aspects of APH companies and work to build domestic and global strategic partnerships.

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Independent German media company Leonine has appointed Dr. Lisa Giehl as its senior manager for film funding.

Reporting to management board member and chief production officer Max Wiedemann, Giehl will develop and implement domestic and international funding strategies for all of Leonine’s fiction production companies. She will also coordinate funding activities in development, production, distribution and sales for all the company’s projects globally.

Giehl comes to Leonine from her role as project manager and Germany indie Constantin, where she worked primarily on film funding. She is also active in education, and lectures at several universities.