Speakers Unveiled For Mip TV & Series Mania
HBO Max International Boss Johannes Larcher is to deliver a keynote address at this year’s Mip TV, while Series Mania has confirmed its lineup for later this month as the TV world gears up for the big markets. Larcher, who is responsible for driving the international rollout of the streamer, will discuss strategy and wider trends. Speaking on the second day of the market, he joins the likes of Bad Wolf’s Jane Tranter, Sony’s Wayne Garvie and Kevin Mayer in the exclusive keynote list for the Cannes event. Meanwhile, Series Mania, which takes place in Lille next week, has confirmed the likes of WarnerMedia international boss Priya Dogra, Paramount President and CEO International Networks Raffaele Annecchino and Amazon Studios Europe Head Georgia Brown. Margrethe Vestager, European Commissioner for Competition and Executive Vice-President for a Europe fit for the Digital Age, is Guest of Honor and other speakers incluude Beta Film CEO Jan Mojto.
Armoza Launches ‘Drive ‘Therapy’
Avi Armoza’s Armoza Formats, the recently-revealed ITV Studios Israeli production arm, has launched a docu-reality format in which people are driven to destinations to confront something meaningful in their lives. Unveiled as the first show on Armoza’s Mip TV slate, Drive Therapy, which is co-produced with Artza Productions, sees a driver and backseat therapist pick up three people in their car who are on this meaningful journey. During the ride, the therapist will provide the passenger with new tools that will help them re-route their lives, instead of constantly arriving at the same dead end. “Each of us has had points in our lives when we felt like we needed some direction, and our new docu-reality will offer participants and viewers just that,” said Salome Pellion, Head of Sales at Armoza Formats. Having been acquired by ITV Studios in 2019 as a distributor, Armoza recently became ITV Studios’ production arm in Israel, where it is producing a new season of Come Dine With Me for Kan 11.
Sky Releases ‘Devils’ Series Two Trailer
Sky has released the trailer for the second series of Devils, showing the lead characters played by Alessandro Borghi and Patrick Dempsey facing off. The series from Sky Italia, Lux Vide and Frank Spotnitz’s Big Light Productions in collaboration with Sky Studios, Orange Studios and OCS follows high-flying investment baker Massimo Ruggero (Borghi) and his old mentor Dominic Morgan (Dempsey), one of the most influential figures in the world of international finance. Returning cast for the second run include Malachi Kirby (Small Axe, Curfew), Pia Mechler (Everything Is Wonderful), Paul Chowdhry (Live at the Apollo, Swinging with the Finkels) and Lars Mikkelsen (The Killing, Sherlock, House of Cards).
Global Indies Sign Up For ‘Race Against The Tide’
A wealth of production companies have optioned the format rights for sand-sculpting format Race Against the Tide from distributor D360. Indies in Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, New Zealand, and the UK & Ireland will produce the show including the likes of BBC Studios and Eureka Productions. The format from marblemedia puts world-class sand sculpting teams to the ultimate test as they compete against each other and also against the unstoppable ticking clock of the tide. Diane Rankin, Distribution360’s SVP Rights, said the show “captured a lot of attention when it was launched at Mipcom” last year.