Rumpus Signs Entertainment Boss
The producer of RuPaul-hosted CBS gameshow Lingo is heading to Late Night Lycett indie Rumpus, as the STV Studios-backed outfit moves to its next phase. Adeel Amini is taking on the newly-created role of Head of Entertainment, several months after Rumpus founders Iain Wimbush and Emily Hudd exited, while Abby Kumar joins as Development Producer from Studio Ramsay. Amini will lead the development and production of Rumpus’ entertainment slate, working closely with acting MD Josephine Brassey. He joins from Objective Media Group, where he helped make versions of Lingo for ITV and CBS. He is also the founder of The TV Mindset, an industry collective dedicated to improving mental health and wellbeing. “I could not be more thrilled to join Rumpus as Head of Entertainment, which comes as the next exciting phase of my 16-year career in the genre,” he said. Brassey said Rumpus has an “ambitious strategy to create and deliver original, innovative, global formats and Adeel is one of few UK talents who can deliver to the scale of this ambition in both the UK and internationally.” Hudd and Wimbush exited after a decade late last year and are understood to be plotting a new production outfit.
Edinburgh TV Festival Unveils Full Program
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Edinburgh TV Festival has unveiled full program including the heads of the UK broadcasters and streamers along with Universal International Studios President Beatrice Springborn and storied drama producers Andy Harries and Jane Tranter. They join previously announced speakers including MacTaggart lecturer James Graham. The festival’s theme is titled ‘Where Do We Go From Here?’. Along with the usual broadcasting bosses, the likes of Amazon UK MD Chris Bird, Netflix UK boss Anne Mensah and Disney’s EMEA commissioning chief Liam Keelan are all speaking. The fest takes place from 20 to 23 August.
Paramount+ Unveils ‘Dating Naked’ Launch Date; Snaps Up ‘Girl In The Video’
Paramount+ has unveiled launch date and cast of its new Rylan Clark-hosted reality series Dating Naked. The show from Nest Productions sees 10 singletons search for love while completely naked. It will premiere on August 23, after which two new episodes will drop every Friday, and cast has been revealed, including the likes of self-confessed ladies’ man Billy, Las Vegas hairdresser Chrislove and small-town Canadian woman Dominik. The show is for Paramount+ UK and MTVE Studios. The news comes a day after Netflix revealed launch date and cast for Love Is Blind: UK. Meanwhile, the streamer has snapped up Lifetime crime drama Girl in the Video, one of several deals with UK buyers that distributor Cineflix Rights has struck. The 90-minute telefilm follows a mother who joins forces with an FBI investigator and a local detective to track down her abducted daughter. Paramount+ has also bought Abducted Off the Street: The Carlesha Gaither Story, also for Lifetime. Elsewhere, Cineflix has presold true-crime series Spring Break Murders to A+E’s Crime+Investigation channel, along with season two of Somebody’s Hiding Something. Sky has taken True Crime Network series Murder Uncut seasons one and two and Killer Cases season four, while Channel 4 took returning series RPA: Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and Killer Cases season four.
Newcastle United Enters Streaming Game
Newcastle United has become the latest British sports team to enter the streaming game. The club has joined with Endeavor Streaming on a new platform, which will launch on Saturday. The streamer will show live coverage of Newcastle’ pre-season friendlies along with player interviews, highlights and documentaries. Endeavor has similar platforms with Tottenham Hotspur, Feyenoord Rotterdam and Carlisle United. Endeavor Streaming President Fred Santarpia said: “Football fans are some of the most passionate, engaged fans in the world and Endeavor Streaming has established itself as a key strategic partner in clubs’ audience engagement strategy. We’re proud to work with Newcastle United to bring its global fanbase even more live action, exclusive content and personalized experiences, to help build deeper, more meaningful relationships.”
Fred Media Seeks ‘Total Distribution’ In Shake-Up
Australia’s Fred Media has shaken up its distribution team and landed a series of sales. Jimmy Elkington has been promoted to the new role of Head of Sales, while Roger Vanderspikken wides his remit as Head of Operations and Acquisitions for Fred Media and WTFN Group sister company Radar MCN, leading a new ‘Total Distribution’ strategy. Fred sees Vanderspikken as allowing it to provide “more streamlined, end-to-end content management” for the company’s partners. “Having seen the impact of Total Distribution on our own WTFN brands such as Bondi Vet, which Fred sells to numerous international broadcasters and Radar has introduced to millions of people across various AVOD, FAST and other digital channels, including YouTube, I am excited to now take this exciting proposition – and its obvious benefits – to third-party producers and IP holders around the globe,” said Vanderspikken. Today, Fred unveiled a batch of sales for seasons of Bondi Vets, Paramedics and Emergency among others, with More4 in the UK, Foxtel in Australia and TNVZ among the buyers. Earlier this year, we revealed WTFN had put itself up for sale, though no buyer has emerged.
Movistar Joins ITV To Experience ‘Turbulence’
Movistar in Spain is among the latest buyers of fast turnaround doc Turbulence: How Safe is Your Flight, which Emporium Productions quickly put into production following the terrifying turbulence experienced on a Singapore Airways flight in May. One man died of a heart attack during the incident. TV2 (Norway), TVNZ (New Zealand), Servus TV (Austria), CNN (Portugal) and HOT8 (Israel) have also pre-bought the on-hour program, joining the already-committed ITV (UK), Seven Network (Australia), WELT (Germany), TV4 (Sweden), MTV (Finland), TV2 (Denmark), RTL (Netherlands), DPG (Belgium) and RTS (Switzerland). Silverlinings Rights stuck the deals.
Classic Indian Film Set For Stage Adaptation
Come Fall in Love — a stage adaptation of the classic Indian feature Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge — will make its UK premiere in 2025. Come Fall in Love will be set in the UK and will be directed by Aditya Chopra, the original director behind the Hindi-language film. Come Fall in Love is the story of Simran, a young British Indian woman whose future is set: an arranged marriage back in India to a family friend. But when she convinces her very strict dad that she should spend a summer of freedom and fun in Europe, she falls in love with Roger, a British man. The original film starred Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol.
