ITV

Tag: homeland

  • Pak offended by negative portrayal in ‘Homeland’

    Pak offended by negative portrayal in ‘Homeland’

    NEW DELHI: Pakistani officials are offended by the country’s depiction in the latest season of the American television series Homeland insisting the drama series shows it as a “grimy hellhole” where diplomats aide terrorists.

     

    The fourth season of the Emmy-winning show featured Claire Danes’ CIA agent character Carrie Mathison on assignment in Islamabad attempting to capture a terrorist leader who was being helped by Pakistani intelligence operatives.

     

    “Maligning a country that has been a close partner and ally of the United States…. is a disservice not only to the security interests of the US but also to the people of the US,” Pak Embassy Press Attacje Nadeem Hotiana told the New York Post in Washington.

     

    The series, which was mainly filmed in Cape Town for the fourth season, has also upset leaders in Israel, after a character compared former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin to the show’s fictional terrorist villain.

     

    Herzl Makov, the director of Israel’s Menachem Begin Center, told an Israeli news service he was unhappy with the reference.

     

    “It is surprising specifically because Homeland is based on the Israeli (television series) format Prisoners of War.

     

    The show was adapted from the Israeli series Hatufim, Prisoners of War, which debuted in 2010.

  • The Content Hub: Talent shows and drama series drive the global format business

    The Content Hub: Talent shows and drama series drive the global format business

    MUMBAI: “Format business is a major industry.  Today, the production value of format business is well over 20 billion euros,” said The Format People CCO & partner Justin Scroggie during his keynote at ‘The Content Hub’ organised by indiantelevision.com.

    It is unquestionable that television formats have indeed become essential components in the international television market. Largely licensed by television networks, TV formats describe the overall concept of a show and its premises. Investors around the world are now looking at television as an attractive business.

     “Over the past nine years, American Idol has generated US $8 billion on its own,” he said.

    Scroggie also discussed about the major global trends and television formats in the international landscape as part of his keynote presentation. According to him, the original drivers for the format business are game shows. “Game shows are flexible, relatively short, scalable in terms of cost and renewable. They are repeatable and above all, they are adaptable in various cultures,” he opined while highlighting that despite all this, game shows are struggling these days.

    So why is this happening? “Everybody is looking for the next big game show breakout and nobody is finding it,”Scroggie explained.  Citing the example of the popular game show Who wants to be a Millionaire, Scroggie said that big money prizes are not delivering the kind of drama as the audience is too familiar with it now.

    In addition, with the advent of reality and talent programmes, game shows are not delivering the same level of drama, strong characters and emotional connect which the audiences are expecting. According to Scroggie, talent and reality shows are driving the international format business.

    “Got Talent entered the Guinness book of world record as the world’s most successful reality television format. It has been adapted in 63 countries,” he informed. There are many successful talent show formats like ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ and ‘Masterchef’ that have been adapted globally.  “However trends don’t happen in every country at the same time,”Scroggie added. While Canada does not have many talent shows, China currently has more than 90 talent shows on air.  

    At this point, Scroggie also said that talent shows are also getting saturated.  “Having learnt the grammar of making international talent programmes, more and more countries are making their own versions so that they don’t need to buy international formats,” he explained.  

    Scroggie believes that the fastest growing area of format business is scripted formats which include drama series that can be adapted and remade in other countries. Homeland, for example, one of the highly successfully television shows in the US, is actually an Israeli format.

     
    “The best dramas are those that travel and have something about them. They can be adapted into the story and emotions of any country,” he said.

    Scroggie also spoke about telenovelas, such as ‘Everest’ on Star Plus that drive scripted formats. He believes that today we can find quality drama content written by top talent starring A-listers.  Serialised dramas like family, crime and politics also work.

    In the last part of his keynote, Scroggie explained how the barriers between viewers and shows are breaking down. “Television is a passive medium and the audience wants to interact with the people they see on screens,” he added.  Scoggie feels that web series is picking up and is easy to watch.  While social experiments are popular, they are also risky as they involve real people in a live and reality drama.

    Scroggie, whose organisation deals in format creation, consultancy on formats, branding and in-house training also delved on why UK is a leader in format sales.

    “UK broadcasters are only allowed to keep 15 per cent of the rights on the show. The creators of the shows retain 85 per cent. This has created a huge incentive for producers to sell their formats to broadcasters,” he stated.   

    While UK, US, Netherlands, Israel and Brazil are doing well in the format business, Scroggie feels that Turkey and China are potential countries to also look out for in the future.

     “With your help, let’s add India to the list,” he concluded.

     

  • Keshet International reveals global MIPCOM slate

    Keshet International reveals global MIPCOM slate

    MUMBAI: Keshet International (KI), the global distribution and production arm of Keshet Media Group, is set to bring a diverse slate from the US, China and Israel to MIPCOM in Cannes next week. Featuring two hit primetime shows, Help! I Can’t Cook and Not A Star Yet, US action thriller, DIG and Babe Magnet a cutting-edge dating show from Comedy Central. 

     

    DIG – From the creators and executive producers Gideon Raff (Homeland) and Tim Kring (Heroes), comes the highly anticipated action thriller series, DIG, which tells the story of a murder mystery set against the backdrop of modern day Jerusalem, a city shrouded in ancient intrigue.

     

    FBI agent Peter Connelly (Golden Globe nominee Jason Isaacs, Awake) has had his fair share of heartbreak. Anxious to leave his personal demons behind, Peter takes a job stationed in Israel under the guidance of his new boss, and occasional lover, Lynn Monahan (Emmy Award-winner Anne Heche, Save Me). When he sets out to solve the murder of a young American, Peter soon finds himself embroiled in an international mystery that delves into the Holy Land’s darkest secrets. What he discovers is a conspiracy thousands of years in-the-making that threatens to change the course of history. While Peter races to figure out what it all means, he quickly finds that he may not be the only one searching for answers.

     

    KI holds rights to DIG in Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Scandinavia, Russia and the CIS, Turkey, India, English speaking South Africa and Israel. Currently in production for USA Network, DIG is produced by Universal Cable Productions and was developed by Keshet, in association with Gail Berman (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) of The Jackal Group and Gene Stein (Deception). Keshet’s Avi Nir (Homeland), Alon Shtruzman and Karni Ziv also serve as executive producers.

     

    Help! I Can’t Cook – Fresh from Keshet Broadcasting, KI will showcase its hugely popular new reality cooking format created by Keshet and Gil Productions. Since its debut on 13 September, which made it the second highest-rated original launch in Israel ever, the show has lead the weekly ratings charts, attracting an average audience share of 40% as viewers tune in to see the nation’s favorite celebrities struggling to survive in the show’s almighty kitchen.

                                                            

    In Help! I Can’t Cook celebrities face their fear of the kitchen – with disastrous, frustrating, heart-warming and rib-tickling results. The stars are pushed outside their comfort zone, losing their usual poise as they regress to their school days by becoming students at the remote and secluded Culinary Academy. Witness the results when you mix some supreme talent with a huge serving of egos and fold in a set of tasks way outside their comfort zone. Some deliciously entertaining viewing awaits… 

     

    Not A Star Yet – As part of a new collaboration KI is bringing the hit Chinese reality talent show, from Zhejiang TV, Not A Star Yet, to buyers in Cannes. This sensational talent/variety show with a central docu-reality element has led the rating charts in China generating ratings of 200 million viewers across each series, with its fifth season currently on air. Not A Star Yet has consistently beaten competition from 32 other channels and its nearest competitor by 40%, almost doubling Zhejiang’s slot average.

     

    Not A Star Yet sees the children of the nation’s best known stars take to the stage. Having been shielded from the lime light until now, and with great expectation thrust upon them, the performers expose themselves for the first time, and must win over the crowd on their own merits while their celebrity parents watch from the sidelines.

     

    In each episode, four celebrity offspring with various talents go head to head performing on stage supported by their chosen special star guest. Alongside the various stunning studio performances, Not A Star Yet is about the personal and family stories of the children who have grown up in the shadow of a household name.

     

    Babe Magnet is a fun, new format from Comedy Central Israel that transforms the traditional dating game show with an original, outrageous twist. In this bold, action-packed competition magnetic force becomes the ultimate matchmaker. Produced by Nutz Productions, in Babe Magnet four single guys vie for the heart of one hot babe by answering all her questions on sex, love and attraction while pinned to various surfaces by state-of the art magnetic devices. The potential dates are put in precarious positions which see them stuck to anything from the front of a fridge to being unceremoniously picked up by a magnetic dumper truck and carried off if they are rejected. Every time the babe rejects a guy, she operates a magnetic device to repel them away. Eventually the babe eliminates each guy one by one, until finally, she chooses her Babe Magnet.

     

    KI will also bring its explosive primetime game show BOOM! which has become a hit in Hungary and Spain having recently launched to gain 31% average share in primetime and 16% average share in access prime respectively – as well as being the leading show of the night in both territories almost every night. Alongside this is KI’s interactive talent show Rising Star which has sold to more than 25 territories, the spy drama MICE which is being remade in the US for NBC as Allegiance and the family sitcom Your Family or Mine which is being remade in the US for TBS.

  • Nimrat Kaur to be seen in popular American TV series ‘Homeland’

    Nimrat Kaur to be seen in popular American TV series ‘Homeland’

    NEW DELHI: Nimrat Kaur, who was noticed for her quiet but powerful role in the internationally acclaimed film ‘The Lunchbox’ last year, has been chosen to act in American TV series ‘Homeland’.

     

    “Pretty fun for someone who watched the pilot after the screen test! Season 4 HOMELAND it is,” tweeted Kaur.

     

    ‘Mad Men’ star Mark Moses and Art Malik will also appear in the series. Moses and Kaur have joined the series for several episodes.

     

    Malik will appear in at least one episode, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

     

    Kaur will be seen as a high-level operative within Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence, while Moses’ character Dennis is described as an academic teaching political science at Islamabad’s Quaid-I-Azam University.

     

    Malik, best known for playing the villain in 1994 action-thriller ‘True Lies’, is playing an old friend of Saul’s retired Pakistani general Bunran ‘Bunny’ Latif.

     

    ‘Homeland’ is currently shooting its fourth season in South Africa, where Cape Town is doubling for Islamabad.

     

    Produced by Fox 21, the series’ main cast includes Claire Danes and Damian Lewis, among others. ‘Homeland’ returns on 5 October.

     

     

  • Suraj Sharma joins crew of ‘Homeland’ series

    Suraj Sharma joins crew of ‘Homeland’ series

    NEW DELHI: Actor Suraj Sharma, who made an impact worldwide with ‘The Life of Pi’, has joined season four of the hit show series ‘Homeland’ which will be aired on Star World Premiere, along with its broadcast in America.

     

    Apart from Sharma, the fourth season of the drama series has two new cast members – Laila Robins (Bored To Death, In Treatment) and Golden Globe® nominee Corey Stoll (House of Cards).

     

    Corey Stoll will play the CIA chief of station in Pakistan and Laila Robins as the American Ambassador to Pakistan.

     

    ”I miss Danesy! I miss her! They’ll be starting up again now,” said the British actor, Damian Lewis and revealed how much he misses his Homeland co-star Claire Danes. The cast of the hit Emmy award winning show is currently in Cape Town.

     

    He also revealed that he almost did not join the show as Nicholas Brody. “I was very reluctant to do to another TV show. In fact, this was sent to me by my American agent. He just said, ‘Just read this one,’” Lewis recalls. His agent told him: “Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa are involved, they ran ’24’ for the last five or six seasons. Claire Danes is doing it, Mandy Patinkin is on board. This is the one that everyone’s talking about. Just read it.

     

    “I very nearly did not do it, for personal reasons,” Lewis admited. “But there were just too many compelling reasons to do it, so I did and I’m extremely happy.”

  • 2nd BAFTA Film Talent Showcase in NY, LA

    2nd BAFTA Film Talent Showcase in NY, LA

    MUMBAI: The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has today announced that it will profile BAFTA-winning director Amma Asante (A Way of Life, Belle) in April at the first of this year’s ‘Brits to Watch: The Screenings’, a series of showcase events hosted by BAFTA in New York and Los Angeles, in partnership with British Council, that introduce outstanding British film talent to the US film industry.

     

    On Tuesday 1 April in New York, and on Thursday 3 April in Los Angeles, director Amma Asante will be introduced at a screening of her second feature film Belle, which premiered at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival to strong reviews, and opened this year’s Palm Springs International Film Festival. Belle is inspired by the true story of a mixed race girl raised as an aristocratic Lady in England around the time of the abolition of slavery. The film will be released by Fox Searchlight in the US on Friday 2 May, and in the UK on Friday 13 June.

     

    In 2005, BAFTA awarded Asante the Carl Foreman Award for the Most Promising Newcomer for her debut film A Way of Life. She was also named Best Director – Drama at the BAFTA Cymru Awards in Wales in the same year.

     

    At each ‘Brits to Watch: The Screenings’ event, a British actor, director, writer or producer who shows great promise presents a sample of recent work to an exclusive audience of film industry professionals. BAFTA also arranges a number of follow-up meetings for the individuals to meet with key industry figures in both cities.

     

    Amanda Berry OBE, Chief Executive of BAFTA exclaimed his delight on continuing our ‘Brits to Watch’ activity in 2014. Three years ago, with the support of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, he launched their very first ‘Brits to Watch’ event in Los Angeles. Since then, BAFTA introduced a range of activity to support up-and-coming British talent and, now in its second year, ‘Brits to Watch: The Screenings’ – a strand that BAFTA is uniquely placed to deliver – introduces British rising stars to the US film industry. “I am thrilled that Amma Asante, a very talented film maker, and a BAFTA winner – is our next ‘Brit to Watch’.”

     

    Nigel Daly, Chairman of BAFTA Los Angeles, added: “The Brits to Watch: The Screenings series is central to BAFTA’s mission, and here in Los Angeles we are in a privileged position to offer a platform for the best British talents as they break through to the US marketplace. There is a long tradition of talent exchange between the US and UK, and we are honored to showcase the new generation of talents and support Amma as she furthers her career in the US.”

     

    Charles Tremayne, Chairman of BAFTA New York, added: “This is the second year of our Brits to Watch: The Screenings program in New York and we are delighted that we have been able to bring such talented up and coming individuals to showcase their considerable work in America. It’s a vital role for BAFTA as New York is clearly where Britain meets America so it’s even more important that we continue to encourage directors, producers, writers and actors from both sides of the pond to work together to create excellence in a truly globalized entertainment world.”

     

    Briony Hanson, Director of Film at British Council, said: “British Council is delighted to be continuing the series by showcasing the talents of Amma Asante. She’s a perfect fit for the programme having made a hugely confident second feature in Belle which marries a traditional view of British Cinema – period drama and a top notch cast – with a very unusual and surprising story. We really look forward to helping her connect with the US industry during her visit.”

     

    The first ‘Brits to Watch: The Screenings’ events took place in 2013 with BAFTA-nominated directors Clio Barnard (The Selfish Giant) and Richard Laxton (Burton and Taylor). As a result of their trips, Barnard has secured US representation with The Gersh Agency and is in contact with a number of US producers about future projects, while Laxton is in talks on a number of US projects, one of which is expected to be announced imminently.

     

    The series builds on the legacy of BAFTA’s 2011 ‘Brits to Watch’ initiative supported by Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, at which BAFTA introduced 42 promising British newcomers to leading figures in the US film, television and games industries at a black-tie gala event in Los Angeles. It is endorsed by ‘Friends of Brits to Watch: The Screenings’, a high-profile group of film professionals including: actors Damian Lewis (Homeland) Tom Hiddleston (Avengers Assemble, Midnight in Paris), Andrea Riseborough (Shadow Dancer, Brighton Rock), Simon Pegg(Star Trek, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn), Alice Eve (Star Trek Into Darkness, Men in Black 3) and Sienna Miller (The Girl, Interview), Rebecca Hall (Parade’s End, Vicky Christina Barcelona) and David Harewood (Homeland, Blood Diamond); director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World); screenwriter John Logan (Skyfall, Hugo, The Aviator); and writer, director and producer Armando Iannucci (Veep, In The Loop).

  • CAA signs New Girl star Zooey Deschanel

    CAA signs New Girl star Zooey Deschanel

    MUMBAI: The popular TV star has gone back to CAA after being with UTA for seven months. She has also moved on from long-time manager Sarah Jackson but has not yet signed up a new manager.

     

    Deschanel has won an Emmy and two Golden Globe nominations. She is also a singer and songwriter and has been nominated in the Grammy awards.

     

    She shot to fame with the TV show New Girl that has done well with the viewers. Ex-manager Jackson’s Seven Summits still continues to represent clients like Homeland’s Morena Baccarin and comedian Russel Peters.