Channel 5 Hails ‘Black Cab’ With Robert Glenister, Suzanne Packer & Sean Pertwee
Paramount’s UK terrestrial network Channel 5 has unveiled a four-part thriller, Black Cab, with Robert Glenister (Sherwood) , Suzanne Packer (In My Skin) and Sean Pertwee (Dog Soldiers, Gotham) starring. The contemporary thriller, produced by Story Films in association with All3Media International, will air next year. Black Cab will follow Glenister as a down-and-out Liverpool taxi driver, who begins to form an unhealthy obsession and twisted sense of world view of a late-night radio talk show host (Pertwee). Nick Saltrese (A Prayer Before Dawn) has penned the series and Diarmuid Goggins (Kin, Bulletproof) is the director, with Alex Jones (Penance, Witness No. 3) producing. All3Media International will handle global distribution.
‘Squid Game: The Challenge’ Producer The Garden Hires Exec Duo
ITV Studios-backed Squid Game: The Challenge producer The Garden has signed Small Axe associate producer Helen Bart and Celebrity Race Across the World exec Jo Harcourt-Smith to support an expanded slate. Both join the company as Executive Producers and will work across multiple genres. The Garden most recently won lucrative business from Netflix in the form of Squid Game: The Challenge with Studio Lambert, a spin-off competition format of the Korean smash hit. Bart most recently worked on Fight the Power for PBS and the BBC and collaborated with Steve McQueen on hit anthology Small Axe, while Harcourt-Smith’s credits include the likes of Celebrity Race Across the World and upcoming Netflix format Snowflake Mountain. “Helen and Jo exemplify the breadth of a slate that now stretches from formats to box-sets via a renewed docs heartland and that sees us making premium shows of scale both in the UK and internationally,” said John Hay, Joint CEO of The Garden.
Ealing Studios To Expand On 120th Birthday
London’s Ealing Studios, which calls itself the oldest film studio in the world, is expanding with a £20M development on its 120th anniversary. The Bridget Jones, Downton Abbey and One Night in Soho studio has received council permission to build a 14,000 sqft stage, 10,000 sqft new workshops and 35,000 sqft office space under a Net Zero Carbon Scheme. Ealing Studios said the new buildings will “honour the distinctive Art Deco aesthetic of the original 1930’s Grade II listed sound stages.” “Since the invention of film, Ealing Studios has been at the forefront of every new media revolution – and this is the next stage in our evolution, responding to a need for greater studio space as well as recognising the need to become a more sustainable industry,” said Barnaby Thompson, Ealing Studios Partner.
British Comedy Talent Board Sky Studios Comedy Scheme
Sanjeev Bhaskar, Liam Williams and Timewasters creator Daniel Lawrence Taylor are among the mentors for Sky Studios latest Sky Comedy Rep writing talent scheme with the Birmingham Rep. Eight new writers will spend the next six months on a paid training program to develop a script, each mentored by some of the UK’s biggest writing talents. The partnership was forged last year by Birmingham Rep Artistic Director Sean Foley and Sky Studios Creative Director of Comedy Anil Gupta. This year’s brief was to submit a sample of a one-act play set around the premise of Proposal in the Park.