Good afternoon Insiders, Max Goldbart here taking you through another super busy week of news. Sign up here.
American Film Academy criticism: On Monday, Israeli filmmaker Yuval Abraham wrote in an X post that his Palestinian No Other Land co-director, Hamdan Ballal, had been attacked by Israeli settlers in the West Bank and was later detained by Israeli soldiers. The story has since moved fast. Abraham posted the next day that Ballal had been freed but was badly beaten while in custody. The 24-hour incident then sparked outcry in the film community, with strong statements from institutions including the European Film Academy. Filmmakers and actors such as Christine Vachon, Ezra Edelman, and Mark Ruffalo lent their names to public calls for Ballal’s release. The incident occurred less than a month after No Other Land won the Best Documentary Oscar, a grim fact that Abraham highlighted as he criticized the American Film Academy for “declining to publicly support” Ballal. The Academy did later send a letter to its members alluding to the incident, which Abraham posted on X and criticized for not mentioning Ballal. The American Academy rarely makes public statements about detentions or instances of violence against Academy winners, but in 2011, it did call for the release of multiple detained Iranian filmmakers, we have noted. The Israel Defense Forces and Israeli Police have denied being involved in any beating. Israeli authorities have said that Ballal was detained along with several others on suspicion of throwing stones, damaging property, and compromising the security of the area. The incident is devastating and comes as global stakeholders once again try to bring about ceasefire for a conflict that has lasted nearly 18 months.
Series Mania Wraps Up
Watch on Deadline
Cautious optimism and star power: Another year down for European TV’s biggest get-together and Series Mania is now certainly very much established as such. Myself, Jesse and Stewart have spent the week in Lille taking the temperature of the global TV biz and seeing what people have to say. The vibe on the ground was cautious optimism, as creatives and producers embrace challenges with spirit. Check out our five takeaways dive deep into what people were discussing. The funding crisis in drama was front and center, although we found that this is very much not a “one size fits all” problem and some are experiencing it more acutely than others. Stewart also had a think about the future of the fest as it hits a crossroads – it has become so big now (we hear attendance this year was up 20%) that it feels as though it could comfortably swallow up the now-defunct Cannes-based MIPTV and beyond. At the same time, star power at Series Mania only rises, with the likes of Amanda Seyfried, Christina Hendricks and Pamela Adlon all out and about and seemingly having a whale of a time in northern France. What could be next for this buzzy festival? We’ll be keeping a close eye. All our coverage from the week can be found here.
BAFTA Turns To Small Screen
Reindeers & Horses: While the BBC will no doubt point to a 75-nom haul as evidence the corporation remains at the peak of its power, yesterday’s BAFTA TV Awards anno shone a light on a trio of the biggest British streaming hits. Baby Reindeer topped the charts with eight, followed closely by Apple TV+’s Slow Horses and Disney+’s Rivals, with big names like Gary Oldman, Jonathan Pryce (for the first time) and Richard Gadd being recognized from these shows. The noms come at a time when funding local British drama is getting harder and harder, and it was therefore satisfying to see ITV’s Mr Bates vs the Post Office neck-and-neck with these splashy streamer hits. Speaking to us afterwards, BAFTA boss Jane Millichip warned of “choppy waters” if the drama affordability issues aren’t resolved. She also pointed out that the tonal barriers are breaking down between shows commissioned by the broadcasters and the streamers. This time next year, two Netflix breakouts that are currently tearing up the global charts yet feel very much like they could have found a home at a British broadcaster, Adolescence and Toxic Town, might be in with a shout for BAFTAs, Millichip suggested. Elsewhere, there were high-profile snubs in the form of The Day of the Jackal, Wolf Hall’s Mark Rylance and Prime Video receiving just one nomination, while there were happy surprises like the always popular Billie Piper being recognized for Netflix’s Scoop. Jake’s “snubs and surprises” deep dive can be viewed here. The awards take place May 11.
Jennifer Salke Out
Bond seals Jen’s fate: The first top exec change at a global streamer since 2020 happened overnight. Jennifer Salke is out over at Amazon MGM, although she will segue to a producer first-look deal at the same company. As there are already separate TV and film bosses at Amazon MGM, Salke will not be replaced, with Courtenay Valenti (film) and Vernon Sanders (TV) now reporting directly to Mike Hopkins. More restructuring is expected to follow and we are already hearing this could impact international, where Amazon has recently made layoffs and shuffled its pack. Salke’s legacy is mixed. Big hits including The Boys, Fallout and Mr. & Mrs. Smith have come during her tenure, but they have been relatively few and far between and have run concurrent with scrutiny over expensive projects like The Rings of Power and the Russos’ Citadel. Furthermore, Mike Fleming Junior writes that Salke’s “inability to mesh with the gatekeepers of the James Bond movies” might well have sealed her fate. “While her exit from the executive suites officially is being regarded as an exit by choice into a producing deal, sources in town say it is closer to a firing,” he writes. Ears to the ground over what comes next for Amazon.
‘Holy Cow’!
A cheesy win: I wanted to drop what I was doing and do my best to stream Holy Cow immediately upon reading Melanie’s fab Global Breakout piece this week. Mel took us to France, where Holy Cow, the feature directorial debut of Louise Courvoisier, has drawn close to 1 million spectators locally. The movie follows a teenager raised in a farming community in the Eastern department of Jura who embarks on a mission to make a prize-winning wheel of Comté cheese in the face of a series of hard knocks. Sounds brie-liant to me. Mel writes that while Holy Cow may not seem like a crowd-pleaser or box office breakout on paper, it has managed to gross roughly $6.5M from a $2.1M (€2M) budget. The pic also won best first film at the French César awards. Check out the Breakout over here.
The Essentials
🌶️ Hot One: Simon Pegg movie Angels in the Asylum has stopped shooting indefinitely after running out of cash mid-way through production.
🌶️ Another: Kaley Cuoco is leading buzzy suspense TV drama Vanished alongside Sam Claflin, three-time Cesar winner Karin Viard and German actor Matthias Schweighöfer.
🪓 Breaking Baz: Our roving International Editor-At-Large brought news that Willem Dafoe has launched a program at Venice.
❌ Charged: Gérard Depardieu has been requested an 18-month suspended prison sentence following his sexual assault trial this week.
🤝 Done deal: Canada’s Bell Media has bought a majority stake in Leaving Neverland distributor Sphere Abacus.
🚪 Exiting: Fremantle Asia and Lat AM CEO Ganesh Rajaram, after 20 years.
🍿 Box office: Nancy broke the exclusive news that Pablo Larraín’s Maria has become the Chilean filmmaker’s highest grossing movie at the international box office.
💼 New job: September 5 co-producer Constanze Guttman has joined Leonine.
⛺ Fest latest: Glasgow Film Festival industry boss Samantha Andie Bennett chatted with Diana about a busy year.
👀 First footage: Of Stay Forte, which stars Judd Hirsch and Selma Blair as Israeli hostages who, after a desperate escape from the tunnel network in Gaza, tragically fall victim to friendly fire.
This week’s International Insider was written by Max Goldbart and edited by Stewart Clarke. Zac Ntim contributed.