Viaplay Turnaround Focused On Core Ops; Flight MH-17 Doc Deal; Anna Torv Cast In ‘Territory’; Locarno Juries — Global Briefs
Viaplay Results: Focus On Core Ops Working Slowly
Viaplay’s focus on doing what it does best willed out in its latest quarterly results, with total turnover down slightly but turnover in core operations increasing by a similar margin. Since the exit of former CEO Anders Jensen amidst financial turmoil last year, the Scandi outfit has been focused on making far less original content and supercharging sports rights. Today, Q2 turnover was shown to have declined a smidgeon to SEK4.49B ($424M), while core turnover rose by a similar amount to SEK4.29B. In further signs of green shoots a year on from Jensen’s departure, operating income, while still in the red, was only minus SEK70M, compared to minus SEK273M in Q2 2023. Jensen’s replacement as CEO, J?rgen Madsen Lindemann, said “our focused focused work to retransform Viaplay Group is progressing, with substantial changes being made across the business, and many more to come.” He pointed to new long-term sports partnership rights struck with Formula 1 and UEFA that will “drive increased viewing and further commercial opportunities.” While Lindemann said Viaplay films and shows such as Wisting are performing better, streaming subscription revenue was concerningly down by around 1%, which the group put down to “a decrease in the number of subscribers, which were partly offset by price increases across almost all markets.” The company made around 30% of its staff redundant last year and withdrew from a number of markets including the UK.
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Channel 4 Buys Flight MH-17 & Tsunami Docs
UK network Channel 4 has tapped distributor BossaNova docs on the fateful MH-17 plane flight and the 2004 tsunami in Asia. MH17: The Plane Crash that Shook the World will air this weekend to mark the tenth anniversary of the loss of the Malaysian Airlines flight, which was shot out of the sky over Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board. Three former Russian agents were tried in absentia and found guilty of the crime in 2022. The incident is seen as a trigger to the start of renewed hostilities between Russia and many nations in Europe. Ex-BBC journalist Matt Frei is the presenter on the ITN Productions doc. Tsunami, The Day The Wave Hit is a two-parter from BriteSpark Films. The minute-by-minute account of the deadliest natural disaster of his century is a mix of first-hand testimony, archive and a look at the legacy of the wave, which claimed nearly 230,000 lives across nations of the Indian Ocean. The deals were brokered by Channel 4 acquisitions executive Felix Jones and BossaNova Head of Sales Holly Cowdery.
Anna Torv & Michael Dorman Lead Cast Of ‘Territory’
Netflix’s upcoming Australian drama series Territory (aka Desert King) has set its cast. Anna Torv (The Newsreader, The Last of Us) and Michael Dorman (For All Mankind, Patriot) will head a cast that also includes Robert Taylor (Longmire, The Newsreader), Sam Corlett (Vikings: Valhalla, The Dry), Sara Wiseman (Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, High Country), Dan Wyllie (Love My Way, The Veil), Clarence Ryan (Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Mystery Road Origin), Jay Ryan (IT Chapter Two, Scrublands) and numerous others. The Easy Tiger and Ronde production, from Timothy Lee and Ben Davies, filmed across Australia’s Northern Territory and South Australia. The plot will the generational clashes that threaten to tear the mighty Lawson family apart when their huge cattle station is left without a clear successor. Sensing this once great dynasty is in decline, the outback’s most powerful factions – rival cattle barons, desert gangsters, Indigenous elders and billionaire miners – move in for the kill.
Locarno Film Festival Sets Juries
Locarno Film Festival has set the juries for the Pardo d’Oro and other prizes, which will be handed out on the final day of the Swiss fest on August 17. Joining previously announced main jury president Jessica Hausner to decide the recipient of the Concorso Internazionale (International Competition) are Italian star Luca Marinelli (Martin Eden, The Eight Mountains, and the eagerly awaited tv series M. Il figlio del secolo); Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia – whose All We Imagine as Light won the Grand Prix at Cannes this year; Belgian producer Diana Elbaum (Elle, Green Border); and U.S. actor, writer, director and producer, and regular Coen brothers collaborator Tim Blake Nelson, who also stars in Vincent Grashaw’s Bang Bang, which premieres out of competition in Locarno. The Pardo d’Oro will be awarded by Nigerian filmmaker C.J. ‘Fiery’ Obasi, whose Juju Stories (2021) featured in Concorso Internazionale at Locarno three years ago; French-Palestinian-Algerian filmmaker and actor Lina Soualem; and former Cahiers du cinéma editor, scholar and Artistic Director of the Cannes’ Semaine de la Critique, Charles Tesson. Juries featuring the likes of Licia Eminenti, Khalil Benkirane and Kantarama Gahigiri have also been set for short films, debut features and films contributing to climate change action. This year’s Locarno runs from August 7-17.
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