Former Heyday President Tom Winchester’s Pure Fiction Staffs Up
Former Heyday Television President Tom Winchester’s fledgling See-Saw Films-backed indie Pure Fiction Television has signed Euston Films and Urban Myths Films execs in its first major play. Euston’s Laura Klimke joins as Executive Producer and former Urban Myth Development Exec Yolanda Lee becomes Development Executive. Past credits for the pair include ITV’s The Sister, BBC Three’s Wreck and War of the Worlds. Pure Fiction has also hired Development Coordinator Musanna Ahmed. The trio will work on a slate focused on “prestige commercial content,” seeking IP and original ideas. The company was launched earlier this year by Winchester, backed by Power of the Dog producer See-Saw and talent agency Hamilton Hodell. Winchester spent three-and-a-half years as President of David Heyman’s Heyday, overseeing the likes of Netflix’s Clickbait and hiring teams in London and LA. Of the hires, he said: “Their wealth of experience and creativity coupled with our like-minded spirit and shared passion for finding ambitious, provocative, and entertaining stories, will help solidify our place as the home for a new generation of creative visionaries.”
Peter Capaldi To Receive Lifetime Gong At BAFTA Scotland Awards
Peter Capaldi is to receive BAFTA Scotland’s Outstanding Contribution to Film & Television award. The Doctor Who star has worked across the stage and screen but is best known for his performances as spin doctor Malcolm Tucker in Armando Ianucci’s political satire The Thick of It, and for his time in the Tardis as the 12th Doctor. “I am deeply touched to be receiving the BAFTA Scotland Outstanding Contribution to Film and TV Award,” said Capaldi, who can be seen at present in Amazon Prime Video’s The Devil’s Hour. The BAFTA Scotland Awards will take place Sunday 20 November in Glasgow and will be hosted by journalist and broadcaster Edith Bowman.
The American French Film Festival (ex-COLCOA) Unveils 2022 Awards
Emmanuel Mouret’s Diary of a Fleeting Affair and Eric Gravel’s Full Time have scooped the top prizes at the 26th edition of The American French Film Festival, formerly known as COLCOA. Mouret’s relationship drama Diary of a Fleeting Affair, which debuted in Cannes Official Selection this year, won the Critics’ Choice award for best film. Gravel’s Full Time was feted with the Audience Choice award. The drama starring Laure Calamy as a single mother trying to get a job interview debuted in Venice Horizons in 2021, winning best film and actress. Michael Mann, member of the DGA and the Franco-American Cultural Fund Board, which runs the festival, presented the prizes at an awards ceremony in Paris on November 2. The festival ran October 10-16 in Los Angeles and presented 75 French films and series.
Commercial Boss Joins Kelly Webb-Lamb’s Mothership
Former Channel 4 Deputy Progams Boss Kelly Webb-Lamb’s Mothership Productions has taken its next step by signing a Director of Commercial and Business Affairs. Donna Gomes will drive the non-scripted indie’s commercial strategy, work on commercial deals and lead on business affairs and legal. The former Head of Commercial, Rights and Business Affairs at BBC Studios Natural History Unit has been plying her trade in the space for more than 20 years. The Circle commissioner Webb-Lamb launched Mothership earlier this year with former Channel 4 commissioners Gilly Greenslade and Charlotte Desai and has already secured backing from BBC Studios. “Donna brings with her huge experience in delivering ambitious creative content to the global market, and I am so impressed with her hunger and drive to be commercially creative and robust,” said Webb-Lamb.
Showtime’s ‘Couples Therapy’ Heads To New Zealand
Couples Therapy is heading to New Zealand. Paramount Global Content Distribution has struck its third deal for the Showtime doc series and the show will be produced locally by Warner Bros. International Television Production NZ for Warner Bros. Discovery’s BVOD platform ThreeNow and linear channel Three. Casting will begin next year on the format that sees world-renowned psychologist Dr. Orna Guralnik deftly guide couples through struggles in real-life therapy sessions. The format has already sold to Israel’s Kan and Paramount+ in Australia. Laura Burrell, Paramount Global Content Distribution’s VP of International Formats, said it has resonated “beyond all of our expectations.”