The Box: TV Series On Henry Ford’s Amazon Town In The Works; Idris Elba Producing Documentary Around Black Musicians

Murphy Afolabi

Africa: Nigerian actor and filmmaker, Murphy Afolabi, has passed away at the age of 49. Details of Afolabi’s death are unconfirmed, however there have been reports claiming that the actor sustained injuries from a fall inside a bathroom. Afolabi was known for his works in Ifa Olokun, Omowunmi, Jimi Bendel, Wasila Coded, and Olokiki Oru.

With SABC3’s popular local soap, The Estate, not being renewed for another season, the network is currently undergoing a review of its content strategy. The series has not been officially cancelled by the network, but a potential fourth season has yet to receive the greenlight, likely due to it only reaching at most 418,028 viewers in the month of April. Since the cancellation of Isidingo in 2020, the network lost many viewers to competitor channels and relied on filler content to occupy its time slots.

SABC is currently searching for proposals for long running drama content for it’s networks, SABC1, SABC2, and SABC3. For the first network, the broadcasting company is looking for dramas centered around characters belonging to marginalized or underrepresented groups such as women, gay people, and individuals with disabilities. For its second network, SABC is looking for a family drama with a thematic message centered around hope. For SABC3, as a replacement for the series, The Estate, the company is looking for its next big telenovela. SABC is accepting proposals from producers all through July 28.

Asia: On its fifth anniversary, ZEE5, the South Asian streaming giant has released its 2023 slate which consists of over 100 different upcoming titles. The slate includes titles which will be developed across multiple different languages such as Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam, and Punjabi and will feature content from high profile production houses such as Dharma Productions and Bhanushali Studios.

Sikhya Entertainment and Dharmatic Entertainment have partnered up to produce a new upcoming series titled Gyaarah Gyaarah for ZEE5. Directed by Umesh Best, the series is described as a drama which blends in multiple genres such as fantasy and mystery.

Disney+Hotstar has a new rival in the Indian streaming playground with Reliance Industries’ JioCinema, one of multiple signs of a shift in the country’s streaming market. According to a study from Media Partners Asia, the total viewing time of streaming platforms increased by 2% from the previous year while that of social media platforms accounted for 88%. This places India behind Korea and Japan, both of which had 15% viewing rate of streaming content while Australia currently sits above all other Asian countries at a 35% streaming viewing rate.

Wang Luodan and Bosco Wong are set to lead the cast of the upcoming Chinese drama series, My Dearest Stranger. The series, based on the novel, Secret Love, will be developed by Hishow Entertainment and will be adapted to screen by writer Can Xueping.

Disney+ Hotstar and BBC Studios India have collaborated on a new Hindi drama series titled School of Lies. The series will begin streaming on June 2 and features the cast of Nimrat Kaur, Varin Roopani, and Hemant Kher.

The first trailer Netflix’s latest action thriller series, Bloodhounds, has been released. Starring Woo Do-hwan and Lee Sang-yi, the show follows two rookie boxers who find themselves in the middle of a loan shark organization. The series is directed by Jason Kim and will make its way onto Netflix on June 9th.

Disney+ is currently in development its latest Korean drama, Red Swan, a revenge based story that follows a renowned golfer who soon discovers her husband’s multiple affairs. Aiming for a 2023 release, the series stars Kim Ha-neul and will be written by Choi Yoonjung. This is only the latest development in Disney+’s continued investment in K-content alongside other titles such as Big Bet and Connect.

JioCinema, the Viacom18 owned streaming service, has struck a deal with NBCUniversal to bring a multitude of films and television series to India over the next few years. The streaming platform’s new upcoming SVOD tier, JioCinema Premium, will feature a hub with a Peacock branded label and will carry content under the NBCU umbrella which includes, Dreamworks Animation, Sky Studios, Focus Features, Universal Pictures, Universal, Television, and Bravo, among others. TV titles to stream as per the deal include popular series like Parks and Recreation, Bel-Air, and The Mindy Project. Movie titles include Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, M3GAN, and the upcoming Christopher Nolan film Oppenheimer, as well as classics such as Jurassic Park, Shrek, and Pitch Perfect.

Amazon Prime Video has picked up the streaming rights to the popular KBS produced South Korean rom-com series, HeartBeat, across multiple territories. The series, starring Ok Taec-yeon and Won Ji-an, follow a vampire who seeks to find and experience human love for himself. Starting June 26, the 16 episode series, will be available across 240 different territories.

Europe: Idris Elba’s Green Door Pictures has teamed up with Zinc Media brand Supercollider on a new BBC documentary series titled Paid in Full: The Battle for Payback. The series will examine the exploitation of Black creators and musicians within the industry and will attempt to dive into the historical injustices faced by Black artists in the world of music.

ITV Studios is attempting to collaborate with documentary labels and is currently in search of a VP for Global Content to work on these projects. The U.K based studio released a job ad for the position over a week ago and is seeking an individual to oversee the distribution of content throughout various stages of development.

Latin America: Chile’s Sanfic Industria is making its return this August with a particular focus on Chilean TV productions. Its newest section, Series Lab, will choose six different series scripts to receive advice and feedback from industry professionals. Pitching contests and interviews will also be held during the event.

A new Brazilian supernatural drama TV series centered around Henry Ford’s ghost town in the Amazon is being developed. The series, titled Fordlandia-Battle Between Worlds, will be developed by Diosual Entertainment with Paula Richard set to write the series.

TelevisaUnivision is looking to capitalize on Nielsen’s new audience measurement data in an effort to gain a more accurate analysis of its audience, of which it claims U.S Hispanics are often overlooked. The media giant is claiming that the effort to reach Spanish-speaking audiences will drive in more revenue from advertising. In a recent interview with Variety, TelevisaUnivision’s President of Marketing, Donna Speciale, stated that the network’s audience is “26% bigger than current measurement. How did we get that information? Nielsen just told us.”

Comedian Eugenio Derbez is set to star in a new Spanish language adult animated series, titled Circo Gomez, for the streaming platform, ViX. The show, which follows a family running a less-than-prosperous circus, will be produced by Derbez’s production company, 3Pas Studios.

Middle East: Egyptian production powerhouse, Film Clinic, is set to soon begin shooting its new upcoming film, The Inevitable Journey Of Finding The Wedding Dress. The film follows a bride on the eve of her wedding who travels around Cairo in search of a wedding dress after a mix-up leaves her with the wrong gown.

Jordan’s Royal Film Commission, the initiative funded by the U.S. embassy in Jordan, is developing a new mentorship program aimed at elevating aspiring female filmmakers alongside New York Women in Film & Television. The program will fund and produce docuseries and narrative series projects.