Benjamin Hoffman: Last News

Welcome to Global Breakouts, Deadline’s fortnightly strand in which we shine a spotlight on the TV shows and films killing it in their local territories. The industry is as globalized as it’s ever been, but breakout hits are emerging in pockets of the world all the time and it can be hard to keep track. That’s why we’re doing the hard work for you.

Christopher Vourlias Set to make history as the first African show to take part in Canneseries’ main competition, South African extreme sports action drama “Spinners” offers a gripping portrait of life in Cape Town’s hardscrabble Southside — and the latest sign of a growing push for shows from the Global South in the international TV industry. The series follows 17-year-old Ethan (Cantona James), who’s looking for a way out of the Southside’s bloody cycle of gang violence through spinning, a South African extreme motorsport that features drivers performing daredevil stunts — such as leaning out of windows or standing on the roof — while driving at high speeds.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Studiocanal will stage at the London TV Screenings the international premiere of “Spinners,” an eight-part extreme sports action drama set on the mean streets of Cape Town’s Southside, that is not just a series but a sign of an industry zeitgeist. As the competition for talent grows, there’s a building drive into emerging production hubs beyond the traditional powerhouse territories in Europe led by some of its most powerful players, here France’s Canal+, Studiocanal and Federation Studios, and some of its biggest TV events, such as Series Mania.  Produced by Joachim Landau and Raphaël Rocher at Federation Studios’ Empreinte Digitale, and co-created by Landau, “Spinners” is a co-production of South Africa’s Showmax, Africa’s biggest pan-continental SVOD service available in 65 countries, and Vivendi’s Canal+, rating as both a Showmax and Canal+ Original. 

Canal+ is teaming with African streamer Showmax for its latest drama from Africa, an action drama about the dangerous South African motor sport spinning. Production on Spinners began in Cape Town on the eight-part series this week, with Gaia director Jaco Bouwer attached.