Category: TV

Canada has brought its Online Streaming Act into law after years of heated debate.

The key impact of Bill C-11 is that streamers such as Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+ will now be regulated by similar laws to those overseeing the country’s networks.

In practice, the streaming services are now required to “contribute to the creation and availability of Canadian stories and music” and “pay their fair share in supporting Canadian artists, just like traditional broadcasters,” as per government bill guidelines issued last year. Canadian networks are compelled to hit certain quotas to fulfil terms of their licenses.

Should streamers fail to comply, local regulator the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) can impose fines and other penalties.

The bill passed a final hurdle in the Senate yesterday and received royal assent, meaning it is now Canadian law.

The new law has created passionate supporters and detractors since Justin Trudeau’s government first introduced the plan, with YouTube among the organizations to voice disapproval from a business perspective. Some Canadians claim it represents censorship but the government says the key elements are targeted at commercial companies and do not apply to individuals creating content online.

The government says the bill will “create more opportunities for Canadian producers, directors, writers, actors, and musicians to create high quality audio and audiovisual content,” give audiences easier access to Canadian and Indigenous stories, and creates “one fair set of rules for all comparable broadcasters — online or on traditional media.”

Canada’s broadcasting infrastructure has broadly been designed to protect Canadian English- and French-language heritage and to build an ecosystem of tightly regulated commercial, public and specialty networks. However, the last changes to the Broadcasting Act before this week were in 1991, well before streaming services had risen.

International streamers to this point have, to an extent, operated outside the existing system. Netflix, for example, has chosen to invest huge amounts in local production as a way of paying its way, but is broadly against regulation and quotas in the local territories where it operates.

Streamers are also facing similar regulation in Australia, where the government is planning to introduce content quotas as part of its five-year ‘Revive’ National Cultural Policy. The EU already imposes 30% local content quotas on streamers — most reach or exceed that target.

The UK has also been tightening rules on SVoDs, and can now fine them if their content violates fairness, accuracy or privacy principles. Yesterday, Netflix’s UK Head of Policy Benjamin King said the plans could “prove unworkable or risk a chilling effect” on the streamer’s appetite for making docs in the country.

Netflix’s biggest Canadian originals include Anne with an E, which was co-produced with CBC. The streamer was hailed with the global success of CBC Comedy series Schitt’s Creek, whose popularity exploded after it was added to service internationally.

Bad Sisters creator and star Sharon Horgan is the latest keynote speaker to be revealed by the Banff World Media Festival.

Horgan, whose enviable past credit list also includes Catastrophe, Motherland and Shining Vale, will be given the Banff Award of Excellence for “exceptional achievement through a body of work over an extended period of time.”

Delivering a keynote on the final day of the June 11-14 event, Horgan will talk attendees through her lofty career as part of the event’s Summit Series sessions.

Kevin Beggs, Chair of the Banff Board of Directors and Chair & Chief Creative Officer of the Lionsgate Television Group, called her “one of the top creators, showrunners and performers in the business.” A Lionsgate-produced U.S. pilot of her BBC comedy Motherland was recently ordered by ABC.

The news comes after Bad Sisters won a BAFTA TV Craft Award last weekend and it is nominated for Drama Series at the BAFTA TV Awards next month.

Banff Executive Director Jenn Kuzmyk said: “As an actor, showrunner, writer, producer and director, Sharon has made a virtue of being a multi-hyphenate and continues to deliver honest, clever and wildly entertaining portrayals of women on screen.”

Horgan will be joined at the Canada confab by fellow keynoters George Cheeks and Fremantle’s Jennifer Mullin. More speakers will be unveiled in due course.

EXCLUSIVE: Cristo Fernández (Ted Lasso) has joined the cast of the Apple TV+ series Acapulco for Season 3 and the Disney+ film Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day reimagination.

In Acapulco, Fernández will portray an artist and community organizer. Deadline exclusively announced the addition of Jaime Camil in the role of Alejandro for Season 3. Production on the 10-episode new season is currently underway.

When Acapulco returns with new episodes, it’s time to reconcile past mistakes and exciting new beginnings. In the present story, older Maximo (Eugenio Derbez) finds himself returning to a Las Colinas he no longer recognizes. While in 1985, younger Maximo (Enrique Arrizon) continues his climb up the ladder of success while potentially jeopardizing all the relationships he’s worked so hard to build.

The cast also includes Fernando Carsa (as Memo), Damián Alcázar (Don Pablo), Camila Perez (Julia), Chord Overstreet (Chad), Vanessa Bauche (Nora), Regina Reynoso (Sara), Raphael Alejandro (Hugo), Jessica Collins (Diane), Rafael Cebrián (Hector), Carlos Corona (Esteban) and Regina Orozco (Lupe).

Austin Winsberg, Eduardo Cisneros and Jason Shuman created the series. Executive producers include Winsberg and director Jay Karas; Derbez and Ben Odell for 3Pas Studios; Eric and Kim Tannenbaum, as well as Jason Wang on behalf of The Tannenbaum Company. Sonia Almanza Gambaro co-executive produces for 3Pas Studios. Sam Laybourne serves as showrunner.

In Alexander 2, Fernández will bring to life the character Chavo, a cook who meets the Garcias while the family is on a road trip. He bonds with Henry (Jesse Garcia), a fellow chef. Production is underway in New Mexico.

From writer Matt Lopez and director Marvin Lemus, Alexander tells the story of 11-year-old Alexander Garcia (Thom Nemer), who thinks he has the worst luck in the world. When his family sets off on a road trip to California, he’s pretty sure disaster awaits at every corner. His anxiety only increases when a family secret is revealed.

The film also stars Eva Longoria, Cheech Marin, Paulina Chávez and Rose Portillo.

Alexander 2, a new take on Judith Viorst’s book following a 2014 movie starring Steve Carell and Jennifer Garner, is produced by Shawn Levy, Dan Levine and Lisa Henson.

Fernández currently can be seen in the Apple TV+ hit series Ted Lasso reprising the role of Dani Rojas he’s portrayed since Season 1. The actor and former professional soccer star made his debut in the Marvel Universe last year in a post-credit scene in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Up next, he will star as Wheeljack in the film Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts.

Fernández recently wrapped production on the indie film Sisters which he starred in—alongside Marta Cross, Valeria Maldonado and Virginia Novello— and executive produced through his Espectro MX Films production banner. The company is currently in pre-production on the feature film adaptation of his short film, Fuera de Serie, based on the real-life story of Mexican engineer, Guillermo González Camarena.

He is repped by Gersh, Authentic Talent & Management, CKG (London) and Jacoway Austen, et al.

Fox, Comcast and Warner Bros Discovery shares each took a dip Monday after the media companies took turns generating industry-shaking headlines over less than 24 hours.

Comcast announced Sunday that NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell had left the company due to an inappropriate relationship with a colleague. Fox and WBD on Monday delivered equally stunning news they had parted ways with prominent hosts Tucker Carlson of Fox News and Don Lemon of CNN, respectively.

The three stocks were down between 1.6% and 3.6% with a bit more than an hour left in the trading day. Trading volume was light for WBD and Comcast, but nearly three times heavier than normal for Fox. The overall media sector has mostly been in the red on a day when the broader markets were at break-even levels.

The three bits of news have distinct implications for the financial outlook of each entity, of course. Fox, which heavily relies on Fox News revenue and collects about $100 million in annual advertising for Carlson’s show, immediately saw its shares plunge 4% after the news of the host’s ouster. The move follows Fox’s decision to pay $787 million to settle a lawsuit filed against Dominion Voting Systems.

For Comcast, NBCU is a key asset but one that generates one-third of its total revenue. The jolt of Shell’s sudden ouster is offset to some degree by the layers of corporate management surrounding the entertainment part of the company, which still makes most of its money selling broadband and cable TV. Shell’s duties were immediately taken on by Comcast President Mike Cavanagh, a trusted corporate lieutenant who is well-respected in financial circles.

CNN, meanwhile, is not seen as central to the investment thesis of WBD but the news network has been a complicated part of the portfolio ever since the $43 billion merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery closed in April 2022. As the new corporate parents have looked to add more political balance and deliver more down-the-middle broadcasts, Lemon was also part of a revamp of the network’s morning show. As one of three anchors on CNN This Morning, a change from his previous solo run in primetime, Lemon had not gotten into a groove with his co-anchors, Kaitlin Collins and Poppy Harlow. Then, the situation turned more fraught several weeks ago as Lemon had to apologize for comments about the supposed lack of appeal of Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley and other women who are “past their prime.”

British Oscar nominee Lesley Manville has slammed on-screen violence, particularly that against women.

Manville, who has a lead role in Amazon Prime spy thriller Citadel, told the UK’s Guardian newspaper she had no plans to watch such a show herself: “I can’t watch violence. I don’t watch any.”

(Manville added here that she had yet to watch a final edit of the show, and isn’t certain of the full extent of the violence included.)

She continued: 

“I get offended by it. I really think it’s bad news. People talk about Game of Thrones. I’ve never been able to watch it. Also, it’s pretty violent towards women. I really don’t want to see that.

“I’m a woman, for a start. Being a woman is a political position. You need to understand what’s going on, the risks, what you’re up against.”

In the interview, Manville expressed her belief that depictions of on-screen violence against women were lagging behind other signs of progress, including better pay, more visibility for ageing actresses and better treatment in the light of the #MeToo movement.

“It’s as if we were doing all the work over here, and, while our attention is focused on that, they’re undermining it over there. Well, hang on. It was not a trade-off.

“You need to keep fighting. It’s been a slow battle over hundreds of years for women to get where they are today. It’s unbelievable how far we still have to go.”

Manville was previously Oscar-nominated for her role in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread and plays the Queen’s sister Princess Margaret in the most recent series of Netflix’s The Crown.

Station 19 is set to hit its 100th episode in the 2023/24 season after ABC renewed the first-responders drama series for a seventh season.

The network has also confirmed that Zoanne Clack and Peter Paige will serve as showrunners and exec producers after Deadline revealed that Krista Vernoff was stepping down from Station 19 and Grey’s Anatomy, with the pair likely to step up.

Over the last few years, the Grey’s Anatomy spinoff has been getting renewals alongside its mothership series. However, Grey’s was renewed for its 20th season last month and Deadline understood that the holdup on Station 19 was the size of the order, which ABC has not revealed. Previous seasons have generally been between 16 and 18 episodes.

Helping this renewal was the fact that the main cast have contracts that cover next season and beyond.

Zoanne Clack, MD, MPH had previously added exec producer and head writer duties on Station 19 under Vernoff and this marks her second promotion in eight months, having joined in August amid an upheaval in the series’ writers room following an incident involving racial slur use by a racist character in a draft of an outline which exposed long-simmering racial issues on the show.

Clack will share the role with The Fosters and Good Trouble co-creator Peter Paige, who joined the show in 2020 during season four as a director and became an exec producer in season six.

Stacy McKee, Shonda Rhimes, Betsy Beers, and Paris Barclay serve as executive producers on the series. It is produced by Shondaland and ABC Signature.

Station 19, which was created by Stacy McKee, is set in Seattle and focuses on the lives of the men and women at Seattle Fire Station 19. It stars Jaina Lee Ortiz, Jason George, Grey Damon, Barrett Doss, Alberto Frezza, Jay Hayden, Okieriete Onaodowan, Danielle Savre, Miguel Sandoval, Boris Kodjoe, Stefania Spampinato, Carlos Miranda, Josh Randall, Merle Dandridge, and Pat Healy.

The season six finale will air on May 18.

It is the latest renewal for ABC as we head into May Upfronts; earlier this week it renewed The Good Doctor for season seven, Will Trent for its second season and The Rookie for its sixth season as well as hit comedy Abbott Elementary for its third season in January and Grey’s last month. With The Goldbergs ending with its tenth season and A Million Little Things also coming to an end, this leaves The Connors, The Rookie: Feds, Big Sky, The Company You Keep, Not Dead Yet, Alaska Daily and Home Economics waiting on decisions.

Zoanne Clack said, “I feel incredibly honored to be entrusted with this dynamic and relevant show alongside Peter. The diversity of the cast, writers, and crew in addition to their enormous talent and dedication to their craft makes this a thrilling adventure to undertake. We are excited about the stories we get to tell using this worldwide platform and both understand the responsibility of being able to share them as we reach into millions of homes weekly. Many thanks to Krista and Shondaland for this opportunity and their faith in us.”

Peter Paige added, “I’m beyond honored to be handed the reins to Station 19 – a show I love, full of incredible, complex characters, and resonant, important stories. To get to partner with a talent like Zoanne as showrunners truly makes it all the more exciting – we share a similar vision for the show, and we’ve got some incredible twists and turns planned for the coming season. A huge thank you to the entire team at Shondaland, and everyone at ABC for their faith in us. And eternal gratitude to Krista Vernoff, for bringing me into the 19 family, and for modeling conscious leadership in such a powerful and deliberate way.”

Clack is represented by CAA, Circle of Confusion and Felker Toczek Suddelson Abramsib McGinnis Ryan LLP and Paige is represented by Anonymous Content and Jackoway, Tyerman, Wertheimer, Austen, Mandelbaum, Morris, & Klein.

Doctor Who is headed to the Swinging 60s.

The BBC has in the past few minutes teased a first-look image of Ncuti Gatwa’s 15th Doctor with companion Ruby (Millie Gibson) as filming continues on the new series.

The pics come one day after the BBC similarly unveiled a first-look of RuPaul’s Drag Race icon Jinx Monsoon, who will play a villain in the highly-anticipated upcoming season. Scroll down for this pic.

Gatwa and Gibson’s Ruby Sunday can be seen in various 60s-style poses as anticipation for the return of Doctor Who, which is now being show-ran by Russell T. Davies and co-produced with Bad Wolf, ramps up. It’s a Sin creator Davies recently said an episode of the new series is “one of the greatest things I’ve ever made in my life,” while Whoniverse spin-offs are in the works including one featuring Jemma Redgrave and based on military research organization UNIT.

Doctor Who will air in November 2023 with three special episodes as David Tennant returns as the 14th Doctor to coincide with the show’s 60th anniversary. Catherine Tate will also return. Gatwa’s first episode as the Fifteenth Doctor will then air over the festive period, while other new cast members include Heartstopper star Yasmin Finney and Neil Patrick Harris. Both characters are being kept under wraps.

Viewers outside the UK will be able to watch via Disney+ following a landmark deal between the BBC and the streamer

Netflix Orders Season 2 Of ‘Rana Naidu’

Netflix’s Indian drama original Rana Naidu has landed a second season. During the streamer’s financial results yesterday, co-CEO Ted Sarandos pointed to the series as he touted India as the “big prize” up for grabs for streamers in 2023. Indian has one of the most saturated but most engaged streaming markets in the world right now and Netflix current sits behind the likes of Disney+ Hotstar in terms of subs. Rana Naidu stars Rana and Venkatesh Daggubati as a father and son from a dysfunctional family who lock horns. Season 1 trended in Netflix’s Global Top 10. Tanya Bami, Series Head at Netflix India said the “high adrenaline thriller” has “been a great way for us to end the first quarter of 2023.” The show comes from Sunder Aaron’s Locomotive Global and is created by Karan Anshuman, with Anshuman and Suparn S. Varma co-directing. No details on new casting or launch date for Season 2 were revealed.

BBC Studios Re-Licenses ‘1% Club’ In Israel

BBC Studios format The 1% Club has been given a second season on Israeli network Kan 11. The Magnum Media show launched in Israel last October, and the new run goes into production next month. It’ll launch in the fall. The format is a prime-time entertainment show that tests real intelligence and exposes how the brain reaches answers. In the UK, the show returned last week and took 3.7M in overnight ratings. Adaptations for France Televisions and Germany, on Sat.1, have also returned similarly strong results. RTL in the Netherlands, Atresmedia in Spain and Seven Network in Australia also have their own versions.

‘Star Academy’ Opens In Israel

Reshaet 13 in Israel is the latest net to bag Banijay format Star Academy. Banijay’s Endemol Shine Israel will produce the show, which last year was successfully rebooted in France on TF1 after a nine-year hiatus. There’s been a trend of networks retooling legacy formats in recent years, with the likes of Banijay’s Survivor, Big Brother and Temptation Island leading the pack. Star Academy follows young artists who enter a renowned musical academy to undergo intensive performance training before appearing in front of judges at the end of the week. “We were inspired by the reboot in France, and truly believe Star Academy will be an inspiring and engaging watch for the whole family,” said Endemol Shine Israel CEO Amir Ganor.

Sophie Harper Named Australian Directors’ Guild Exec Director

Screen Canberra Senior Fund Manager Sophie Harper is the new Executive Director of The Australian Directors’ Guild. She’ll take up the post on May 29, ADG President Rowan Woods announced. Harper has been overseeing a A$5M SBR Screen Fund for the local government, and was previously based in Denmark, where she held roles at the European Film College between 2009 and 2015. Since returning to Australia, she has become the creator and host of the Not by Accident podcast, which has been downloaded more than two million times around the world. She has also worked for Screen Australia and the Australian Film Commission. “With Sophie at the helm, the ADG has a great platform to build upon, at a time when important collaborations are forming with the Australian Writers Guild and our other fellow guilds surrounding fairer renumeration for writers and directors and pressing issues surrounding streamer quotas and copyright,” said Woods.

EXCLUSIVE: HBO Max has unveiled trailer for Spy/Master starring Happy Valley and God’s Own Country‘s Alec Secăreanu.

The Cold War thriller, which was nominated for the first Berlinale TV Series Award, spotlights a week in the life of Victor Godeanu. Victor is the right-hand man and closest advisor to Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu but he is also a secret agent for the KGB, and must escape Romania and Ceaușescu before his cover is blown. With only one shot at staying alive, he uses a diplomatic trip to Germany as a springboard to the States.

Secăreanu most recently played arch-villain Darius Knezevic in BBC smash Happy Valley.

Created by Adina Sădeanu and Kirsten Peters, the six-parter was the winner of HBO’s national screenwriting competition in Romania. It also stars Svenja Jung and Parker Sawyers. Director is Christopher Smith (Temple, Alex Rider) with cinematography by Ben Wheeler BSC (The Tourist, The Baby) and Ádám Fillenz HCA (Hier, Battle: Freestyle). Antony Root and Johnathan Young are executive producers for HBO Max, with Ioanina Pavel as creative producer. Anke Greifeneder is the EP for Warner TV Serie. Viktória Petrányi and Judit Sós are producers for Proton Cinema and Tudor Reu is the producer for Mobra Films.

Deadline has launched the streaming site for its 2023 Contenders Television award-season event, which wrapped over the weekend after a total of 40 scripted series showed off their wares in front of voters at the DGA Theater in Los Angeles.

The list of panelists was a who’s who of the industry, with attendees across Saturday and Sunday hearing in-person from the likes of Helen Mirren, Eugene Levy, Natasha Lyonne, Betty Gilpin, Riley Keough, Keegan-Michael Key, Kristin Chenoweth, Quinta Brunson, Scott Z. Burns, Steven Yeun, Ali Wong, Evan Peters, Niecy Nash-Betts, Wanda Sykes, Kathryn Hahn, Cheryl Strayed, Melanie Lynskey, Joel McHale, Patrick Stewart, Marc Maron, Adam Scott, Damian Lewis, Peter Gould, Maya Rudolph, Taron Egerton, Dennis Lehane, Brett Goldstein, Jason Segel, “Weird” Al Yankovic, Bryan Cranston, Mo Amer, Michael Chiklis, Elle Fanning, Kerry Washington, Delroy Lindo and Paddy Considine to name just a few.

They represented buzzy series from Peacock, Prime Video, National Geographic, Apple TV+, Netflix, Hulu, CBS Studios, Showtime, Fox Entertainment, Paramount+, AMC/AMC+, HBO Max, Starz, Sony Pictures Television, ABC, Roku, Onyx Collective and Disney+.

RELATED: Contenders Television Arrivals & Panels Photo Gallery – Day 1

RELATED: Contenders Television Arrivals & Panels Photo Gallery – Day 2

After you catch up on all the panel videos from the weekend’s chock-full Contenders Television, mark down the next stop on the Deadline calendar: Contenders Television: Documentary + Unscripted, a virtual livestream April 29 featuring discussions with the creatives and subjects of the season’s top nonfiction series. More info here.

This year’s Contenders Television was sponsored by Apple TV+, Coverfly, Eyepetizer, Final Draft, Los Siete Misterios, Michter’s and Village Roadshow Entertainment. Partners include Four Seasons Resort Maui, The American Pavilion, Julia Wong Designs and Pampring.

Daisy Jones & The Six tells the story of a rock n roll band that makes it big in the 1970s, and inevitably things get messy.

Based on Taylor Jenkins Reid’s novel, the Prime Video series stars Riley Keough as the eponymous star who joins a new band, featuring the likes of Sam Claflin’s Billy Dunne, who are on top of the world in 1977 but after a sold-out show at Chicago’s Soldier Field, they called it quits.

Now, decades later, the band members finally agree to reveal the truth.

At Deadline’s Contenders Television panel featuring Keough, Claflin and Camila Morrone, showrunner Scott Neustadter teased that he’s made a whole pitch full of ideas for more stories, despite the series being based on a book.

RELATED: The Contenders TV – Deadline’s Full Coverage

“What’s cool is that the show does have an ending that hopefully is satisfying. We answered all the questions that we raised, but I do think on the way out the door we asked a few new questions. That’s always my favorite kind of ending,” he said. “There’s opportunity to keep telling the story; obviously we’d want to talk with Taylor.”

Neustadter teased Claflin about reading the scripts if Prime Video does order a second season, after the actor joked that he hadn’t realized how much music the band would be required to play.

“When I first read the script, I looked over all of the moments that it said that we’re performing on stage and Billy was carrying a guitar. I kind of came in going ‘I can’t wait to do some acting’. Little did I know there was quite a lot of music involved in this story about the band. It was very, very difficult. I’m not gonna lie, I have never picked a guitar up before,” said Claflin.

Keough joked, “Unlike Sam, I read the script, so I knew how much music there was. We had to work really hard at the music stuff. There were many days where we were doing hours and hours of guitar and piano and voice lessons and it wasn’t something that came really naturally to Sam and I in the beginning. We had to put in more work than I’ve ever put in to learn a skill for a job before.”

Daisy Jones & The Six also stars Will Harrison as Graham Dunne, Suki Waterhouse as Karen Sirko, Josh Whitehouse as Eddie Roundtree, Sebastian Chacon as Warren Rojas, Nabiyah Be as Simone Jackson and Tom Wright as Teddy Price, with a special guest appearance by Timothy Olyphant as Rod Reyes.

RELATED: Contenders Television: 40 Panels Over Two Days Showcasing Buzziest Shows Of Awards Season

From Amazon Studios and Hello Sunshine, Daisy Jones & The Six is executive produced by Reese Witherspoon and Lauren Neustadter for Hello Sunshine and Brad Mendelsohn for Circle of Confusion. Neustadter and Michael H. Weber created the series based on the novel by Reid, who also produces. Neustadter is executive producing and co-showrunning with Will Graham, who also serves as an executive producer. James Ponsoldt directed the first five episodes and serves as an executive producer. Nzingha Stewart directed four of the remaining episodes, and Graham directed one.

Deadline Contenders Television is sponsored by: Apple TV+, Coverfly, Eyepetizer, Final Draft, Los Siete Misterios, Michter’s, and Village Roadshow Entertainment. Partners include: Four Seasons Resort Maui, The American Pavilion, Julia Wong Designs and Pampring.

EXCLUSIVE: Simon Andreae has resigned as the Chief Executive of Fremantle UK with immediate effect, Deadline can reveal.

In a message to staff, Andreae said he was stepping down after three years at the Too Hot To Handle producer to “focus on my health, my family, and a smaller portfolio of projects.”

He added: “As some of you know, I’ve had some challenges to my health along the way and this has led to me taking some time out recently.”

Andreae was named CEO of Fremantle UK in 2020 after the American Idol giant fully acquired his production outfit Naked for £4.8M ($6M). He founded Naked in 2015.

Reporting to Fremantle CEO Jennifer Mullin, he has overseen a unit that generates hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue and is famed for hits including Britain’s Got Talent and The Responder, the BAFTA-nominated Martin Freeman series.

Andreae has held several senior positions in the television industry on both sides of the Atlantic. He worked as Channel 4’s Head of Science and Education for three years, and later joined Discovery as Senior Vice President of Development and Production. He served as Fox’s Alternative Entertainment chief, replacing Mike Darnell, but exited after a rocky year-and-a-half tenure.

Simon Andreae’s email to Fremantle staff:

Dear all, I want to share with you that I decided to step down today from my role as Fremantle UK CEO.

I’ve enjoyed a wonderful eight years in the Fremantle family, first helping grow Naked from a start up into one of the most successful unscripted producers in the UK, and latterly having the privilege to support and expand the whole roster of best-in-class FMUK labels. As some of you know, I’ve had some challenges to my health along the way and this has led to me taking some time out recently. Now, after thirty straight years on the frontlines of television production, I’ve decided to step back and take some time to focus on my health, my family, and a smaller portfolio of projects.

I’d like to thank everyone at Fremantle and wish you every success.

With all good wishes,

Simon