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Tag: Ben Winston

  • David Beckham to talk Studio 99 during Digital MipTV keynote

    David Beckham to talk Studio 99 during Digital MipTV keynote

    Paris: Global sporting icon and legendary football player David Beckham will be the keynote speaker at the 58th edition of the Cannes TV market Digital MipTV. The event is all set to begin on 12 April and will be a virtual affair for the second consecutive year.

    The 2020 edition was also forced to go digital due to the pandemic.

    In his first in-depth television industry keynote, Beckham will talk about launching his own production company, Studio 99, and his global ambitions for the content studio, MipTV confirmed on Tuesday. He will also talk about some of his current projects for a variety of global networks including A Whole New Ball Game, charting the contemporary history of the Premier League; World War Shoe, a documentary mini-series charting the untold story behind sports brands Adidas and Puma; and the upcoming definitive David Beckham biopic.

    In Conversation with David Beckham will be hosted by award-winning director and producer Ben Winston. A nine-time Emmy winner, Winston was also the executive producer of this month’s Grammy Awards and will produce and direct the Friends reunion later this year.  The show will take place on 13 April at 18.00 CEST, and will be available on catch-up until 14 May.

    After retiring from a football career that saw him play for over two decades at some of the world’s most successful clubs, Beckham has established himself as a successful entrepreneur. His independent brand management operation, DB Ventures, manages several partnerships including with Diageo, Adidas, Tudor,  and EA Sports in addition to overseeing investments such as Guild Esports plc. In 2018, he became an owner of a football club and founded Studio 99 a year later. Studio 99 is a global production and content studio that focuses on documentary films, series, and format development. It is also a commercial studio and produces a wide range of both editorial and marketing content for global brand clients.

    Earlier this month, MipTV had also confirmed American TV and film personality Marc Anthony as a keynote speaker for the event. The five-day mega event currently in its 58th year traditionally brings together distributors, producers, buyers, and commissioners of drama, doc, kids, factual, and formats programming in Cannes, France, for a week of business meetings, conferences, and global networking.

  • Sony Pictures to produce 3D movie starring One Direction

    Sony Pictures to produce 3D movie starring One Direction

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures has announced that it will be making a 3D film showcasing London-based boy band One Direction. The behind the scenes footage will be directed by documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock (of the Super-Size Me fame) and will be released by TriStar Pictures on 30 August.
    Spurlock, Ben Winston, Simon Cowell, and Adam Milano will produce the film while the executive producers on board will be Richard Griffiths, Harry Magee, Will Bloomfield, Matthew Galkin, Jeremy Chilnick and Doug Merrifield with Columbia Pictures president of production Hannah Minghella and Columbia Pictures vice president of production Lauren Abrahams will oversee production for the studio.
    "This is an incredible opportunity and an amazing moment in time for the band," said Spurlock. "To capture this journey and share it with audiences around the world will be an epic undertaking that I am proud to be a part of."
    Syco Records founder Simon Cowell said, "I‘m delighted we‘re making this film and Morgan is the perfect person to give that access-all-areas, behind-the-scenes look into what it‘s like to be One Direction today. What the band have achieved is incredible, they and their fans have made history around the world – this is for them."
    One Direction – Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson – were discovered by Simon Cowell on the U.K.‘s "The X Factor" in 2010. The band quickly became one of the competition‘s all-time most popular acts, finishing in the final three and garnering a gigantic and loyal fanbase along the way. In March 2012, One Direction‘s debut album, "Up All Night," made U.S. history, as it was the first time a U.K. group‘s debut album entered the U.S. Billboard 200 chart at No. 1. The band has sold over 13 million records worldwide. Today, One Direction released their sophomore album, "Take Me Home," which includes the No. 1 single, "Live While We‘re Young."
    Spurlock emerged in 2004 with his Academy Award nominated feature Super-Size Me, in which he subjected himself to eating only at McDonald‘s for 30 days. He has since gone on to produce other documentary features such as Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, and Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan‘s Hope, as well as non-fiction TV series including FX‘s30 Days and CNN‘s upcoming Inside Man. He was nominated for an Emmy Award and Writers Guild Award in 2010 for the Fox TV Special The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special: In 3-D! On Ice.