ADAPTATION
Blink Studios, the new content venture from Endeavor Content, has acquired the rights to Canadian author Charlene Carr’s next novel “Hold My Girl” and will adapt the book as a series. Blink Studios will serve as the studio for the production, the company’s first since launching in November of last year.
In the book, two women discover that more than a year ago their eggs were switched during IVF, meaning that one has been raising another woman’s child while the other suffered through a devastating stillborn pregnancy of a child that wasn’t hers. Semi-autobiographical, Carr, a Black woman, gave birth to a visibly white child after IVF and the residual fears that one day a mix-up would be discovered and she would learn her daughter wasn’t her biological child.
Executive producing the series adaptation are Oscar and Primetime Emmy nominated producer Michael London (“Sideways,” “Confirmation”) and Shannon Gaulding for Groundswell Productions (“Snowfall,” “The Magicians”) and Carolyn Newman and Virginia Rankin for Blink Studios.
“I am beyond thrilled to have Blink Studios and Groundswell Productions working on the screen adaptation of ‘Hold My Girl’,” said Carr in a release. “I was blown away by their enthusiasm, emotional connection to the story, and clear desire to keep as true to the book as possible. It is an honor to have such vastly experienced, skilled and passionate producers championing this story!”
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APPOINTMENTS
London-based global streaming aggregator ScreenHits TV has named former Sky Television marketing and digital executive Arianna Saita as chief marketing officer. Saita began her career at Sky Italia and has served as director of brand and content marketing and later senior VP, at Sky Germany and Austria. The executive has also served Foxtel Group as chief brand officer.
Meanwhile, Caroline Kusser has been appointed executive VP of international co-production at Mediawan & Leonine Studios and world sales at Leonine Studios. In the dual roles, Kusser will take on the responsibility for all TV co-production activities on a global level and manage and coordinate fiction co-productions across more than 60 companies under the Mediawan & Leonine umbrella. Working from the company’s L.A. offices, she will also play a key role in driving the development of Leonine Studios’ global distribution. Kusser joins the company from Fremantle Media International, where she was executive VP of co-production and distribution.
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ITV Entertainment commissioner Louise Major is being promoted to commissioning editor in 2022 to cover current commissioning editor Lily Wilson’s maternity leave. Additionally, Natalie Rose will join ITV Entertainment in the role of commissioner starting in February. Having been at ITV since 2017, Major joins fellow a team of commissioning editors including Joe Mace, Kevin O’Brien and Lara Akeju. Rose will work alongside current commissioners David Smyth and Pete Tierney and assistant commissioners Gemma John-Lewis and Leanne Clarke.
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BBC Three has appointed Nasfim Haque as channel editor for the rest of winter and this spring, starting on Feb. 1. In the role, Haque will work with Fiona Campbell, currently overseeing the broadcaster’s factual, arts and classical music team, on the delivery of the ’22-’23 slate while starting preparations for ’23-’24 commissioning commitments. The two will also manage the content supply and partnerships with the Nations. Haque has been with BBC Three since 2016 and has worked as a digital editor, digital commissioner and on the network’s Popular Factual commissioning team.
FUNDING
Doc Society has announced the first recipients of its new Ripple Effect Fund, established to impact the U.K. non-fiction sector from the ground up. Nearly £200,000 ($272,680) has been awarded to 10 organizations across the U.K. to be invested in empowering communities and networks and providing support and inclusive spaces for indie documentary filmmakers. Organizations backed by the fund include: Boomflix, Creative Collective DocLab: Untold Stories, Doc2Doc, Docs North East, Documentality, Other Cinemas, We Are Parable: Testimonies, Reel Black, Refugee Documentary Film Network, and Wales Documentary Network. Ripple Effect is part of the BFI Doc Society Fund and backed by National Lottery funding.
