Spun Gold To “Reimagine” BAFTA Coverage
Next year’s BAFTA TV and Film Awards will be “significantly expanded and reimagined” as a new production company, Spun Gold TV, takes the reins. Co-producing alongside BAFTA, Spun Gold has replaced previous producers Done + Dusted and Whizz Kid following a tender process to make the coverage for the next two years. BAFTA said Spun Gold will work with the body to “reimagine and significantly expand the production and format of both events.” Ceremonies will be broadcast as per usual on BBC One and take place live at London’s Royal Festival Hall. Inside Dubai producer Spun Gold has made the likes of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Celebrations for ITV and the same network’s Real Full Monty concerts. BBC Entertainment Director Kalpna Patel-Knight praised the company’s “first-class reputation in making high quality, innovative and engaging content.” Elsewhere, UK PR firm Premier will lead the Film Awards PR campaign, while EE remains a sponsor.
Sky Greenlights World Cup Hat-Trick
Sky has greenlit a hat trick of World Cup documentaries as the Qatar event draws near. The pay-TV giant has ordered Italia 90: Four Weeks that Changed the World, Hurst: The First and Only and Brazil 2002. Each will cover a different era of World Cup history, with the likes of the Hurst doc looking at England’s only ever World Cup victory in 1966 and Brazil 2002 examining one of the South American nation’s greatest World Cup victories. Sky said the docs will provide “unique unseen footage.” The tournament kicks off on 20 November.
More ‘Clarkson’s Farm’ For Prime Video
Prime Video has greenlit a third season of popular UK series Clarkson’s Farm. Jeremy Clarkson’s documentary, in which the Grand Tour host runs a farm called Diddly Squat in the Cotswolds with several others, has entered production on series three ahead of season two airing next year. Clarkson and his fellow farmhands Jeremy, Lisa, Kaleb and Gerald will continue grappling with animals, crops and the local council as he diversifies his operations with a restaurant. The show is regularly talked up by Amazon as one of its most popular UK originals. Expectation will continue to produce, with Peter Fincham and long-time Clarkson collaborator Andy Wilman executive producing.
Federation Studios’ Mercer Productions Making Bhutan Doc For Arte
Shooting is complete on Bhutan: Following in the Footsteps of Matthieu Ricard, a 52-minute doc from Federation Studios-owned Mercer Productions. A 28-day shoot began on September 16 in Bhutan, with Jérôme Cecil Auffret the director. He is co-writing with Caroline Halley. The film follows Buddhist monk and photographer Matthieu Picard as he returns to the Asian country in the Himalayas where he spent a decade after seven years away, revisiting breathtaking landscapes and experiencing local traditions. “From inaccessible monasteries to mountain nomads, and from rituals to wildlife and impassable cols, the photographer’s red robe is our door opener to this country’s innermost secrets,” said Auffret, an International Emmy winner. The doc marks one of the first for Mercer, which Thorunn Anspach and Olivier Brémond launched in 2020 under the wing of Federation. Federation will distribute internationally.