As buyers wander the vast halls of the Palais in Cannes this week taking meetings and exploring the next generation of TV shows, they will no doubt be wowed by some supremely premium content.
But there is no escaping the fact that, in 2024, financing a show is harder than ever. Reaching greenlight has been transformed into an ever-more complicated jigsaw. A nasty combination of the global recession, streamer cutbacks, rising costs and heightened competition has led to a situation whereby crossing the 100% investment line can feel like threading a camel through the eye of a needle. The concept of a soft greenlight, a show that is all but there yet needs that final 10-20% investment, has entered common parlance.
Step forward the humble tax credit. Where once long ago buyers could comfortably afford full tariffs, and once slightly more recently, deep-pocketed U.S. players would swoop in and complete the financing, today’s TV packages are super-complex patchwork quilts, which more often than ever require a hefty chunk of cash from a rebate.
Deadline has spoken to around 10 in-the-know execs for this feature — both on and off-record — and while all note that tax incentives have been crucial for years, they concur that rebates are now almost impossible to live without. Furthermore, the volume of shows relocating production to take advantage of a juicier credit has risen rapidly, they say. >>>American Situation The Catalyst
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‘Whitstable Pearl’ Series With ‘After Life’ Star Kerry Godliman Expands Global Reach: “Buyers Can’t Get Enough Of Cozy Crime”
MIPCOM Day 1 Deals Recap |
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| Deadline Exclusives & Originals |
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Bloody Good Deal - After scoring the big deal at the Toronto Film Festival with Neon for TIFF’s People’s Choice Award winner The Life of Chuck, director Mike Flanagan and Stephen King are right back at it. The Dish hears their next collaboration will be Carrie, this time in an eight-episode series for Amazon. >>>Flanagan Will Be Showrunner
Initial Investment - Private equity firm TPG has revealed the name of the talent management-centric company it launched in June in conjunction with acquiring a majority stake in Untitled Entertainment. Named Initial Group, the subsidiary has made a second investment, completing the long-rumored acquisition of literary management firm Grandview. >>>To Be Combined
CAA Prepping Cuts - CAA has started the process of year-end evaluations, with agents likely being let go in the next couple of months as a result. >>>Rumor Mill Churning
"Problem" Films Find A Home - Gathr, a film and event tech firm, has launched a “partner TVOD” service aimed at helping films seen as problematic by major tech platforms connect with commercial audiences and supporters. >>>Rollout Titiles
Netflix Investigates - Netflix has ordered Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey, which will revisit the case with fresh eyes and perspective, and features interviews with key people from the crime and investigation, including JonBenét’s father, John Ramsey. >>>3-Part Series
Married, With 'Kids' - Crazy Ex-Girlfriend star Rachel Bloom is returning to broadcast with Do You Want Kids?, a comedy pitch that has landed at ABC for development in a competitive situation. >>>Writing With Husband Dan Gregor
In Brief - Will Sharpe to host Apple Original podcast Extrasensory... Netflix wins sci-fi spec Out There... Cooper Koch signs with UTA |
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Filmmaker Edward Berger says that Ralph Fiennes’ sublime performance as the cardinal charged with overseeing the election of a new pope in awards-season contender Conclave has a “whisper” of the inscrutability Anthony Hopkins displayed in his portrait of a veteran butler in James Ivory’s 1993 film The Remains of the Day.
Even though Cardinal Lawrence, the Dean of Cardinals, is undergoing a crisis of doubt, he nonetheless “projects absolute competency before a word is uttered.”
That’s a peculiarly English trait, insists Berger, and points to the reason why he, along with screenwriter Peter Straughan and House Productions’ Tessa Ross, decided to make the Vatican power-broker a Brit instead of the Italian cardinal depicted in Robert Harris’ 2016 novel, upon which the movie is based. >>>Baz Bamigboye's Column |
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After officially setting his next film at Universal and tapping Matt Damon to star, Christopher Nolan has set his sights on another A-lister to fill out this ensemble, with sources telling Deadline that Tom Holland is in talks to co-star.
Exclusive
Is Trina Robinson about to make a love connection on General Hospital? Newcomer Jens Austin Astrup is joining the ABC sudser as Kai, who will debut in November. His character meets Tabyana Ali‘s Trina at Port Charles University.
Exclusive
Debi Mazar will star opposite Jaeden Martell and Luna Blaise in Dirty Finger Nails, the indie drama marking the feature debut of 28-year-old writer-director Kevin Lombardo, which commenced production in New York City earlier this month.
Mayim Bialik is reuniting with two of her former co-stars as she guest stars in an episode of Night Court. Bialik will join her Big Bang Theory co-star Melissa Rauch, as well as John Larroquette, whom she starred alongside in The John Larroquette Show in an upcoming episode of the NBC sitcom.
In Brief - David Rasche & Mare Winningham join Broadway’s Cult Of Love... Arlan Ruf & Ellis Hobbs IV round out Apple’s Way Of The Warrior Kid... Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor set for indie Liz Here Now |
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BY THE NUMBERS
$1.3B - TelevisaUnivision’s Q3 revenue, which inched up 2% from a year ago thanks mostly to political ad spending |
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More News 🎭 Smash, the new stage musical adaptation inspired by the cult favorite 2012 NBC TV series, will open on Broadway on April 10 after a month of previews. Producers Robert Greenblatt, Neil Meron and Steven Spielberg announced the date. Cast members will include Robyn Hurder, Brooks Ashmanskas, Krysta Rodriguez, John Behlmann, Kristine Nielsen, Caroline Bowman, Jacqueline B. Arnold, Bella Coppola and Casey Garvin.
⚕️ Harvey Weinstein has cancer. The incarcerated producer’s diagnosis was confirmed to Deadline by sources close to him. Specifically, he has chronic myeloid leukemia, which is a form of cancer of the bone marrow.
🤖 Dow Jones & Co. has sued the Jeff Bezos-backed generative AI startup Perplexity for copyright infringement, the latest in a stream of lawsuits around artificial intelligence that have met with varying degrees of success. | |
Trending
 The Penguin hit another series high on Sunday. The Colin Farrell starrer averaged 1.8 million U.S. cross-platform viewers, the drama’s strongest single-day performance for the overall series in the States.
🔻 Landmark Theatres plunged in value from Covid, high interest rates and Hollywood strikes to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars, according to a deposition by Landmark owner Charles Cohen disclosed in ongoing litigation with lender Fortress Credit Corp. |
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Obituaries
🕯️ French actress Christine Boisson, who got her big-screen break as a 17-year-old in Emmanuelle, has died at the age of 68 in Paris. 🕯️ Paul Di’Anno, the lead singer of Iron Maiden from 1978 to 1981, a term which included the heavy metal band’s first two albums, died in England on Monday after suffering ill health in recent years. He was 66. 🕯️ Diana Baffa-Brill, a dancer and choreographer who assisted the legendary Mame choreographer Onna White and later re-staged scores of productions of that classic musical, died in Los Angeles on Sunday, October 13, following a long illness. She was 81. 🕯️ Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2024, A Photo Gallery |
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On the Radar
Tue - NBA season tips off
Wed - AFI Fest starts
Thu - Sacha Baron Cohen on Fallon
Fri - World Series begins |
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Biden's List - President Joe Biden presented National Medals of Arts and Humanities to 39 recipients yesterday, including Steven Spielberg, LeVar Burton, Spike Lee, Missy Elliott, Queen Latifah, Idina Menzel, Jon Meacham, Aaron Sorkin and Bruce Cohen. |
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