Elisabeth Murdoch: Last News

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent One of France’s most beloved and long-running TV hosts, Arthur Essebag, is preparing to take his leading unscripted production banner Satisfaction into English-language markets with top partners, ranging from James Corden, Leo Pearlman, Ben Winston, Benjamin, Gabriel Turner, Richard Bacon to Elisabeth Murdoch. A few days after announcing its stake in Yes Yes Media, the company founded by Richard Bacon alongside Elisabeth Murdoch’s Sister Media, Satisfaction has formed a joint venture with Fulwell 73, the U.K.-based production company behind “The Late Late Show With James Corden.” The London-based outfit was founded in 2005 by Winston, Pearlman and Benjamin and Gabriel Turner. Corden was appointed a director in the company in 2017. Although the banner is headquartered in the U.K., as much as 70% of its turnover in 2020 came from the U.S. where Winston has produced the Grammy Awards, among other shows.

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International When former HBO executive Kary Antholis convinced veteran British producer Jane Featherstone to board a project about the Chernobyl disaster, the prospect of such an undertaking was far from a “slam dunk.”  “It had to be pushed over the line,” says Featherstone, “and that was with everybody supporting it.” But in the end, the historical drama from “The Last of Us” showrunner Craig Mazin was, as the producer puts it, a “lucky, lucky call” — and one that richly paid off.  The 2019 HBO and Sky miniseries about the 1986 nuclear catastrophe in Ukraine starring Jared Harris and Emily Watson won multiple Emmy and Golden Globe Awards, and put Featherstone’s new venture, Sister Pictures, on the map. 

Naman Ramachandran SISTER, the media group co-founded by Elisabeth Murdoch, Jane Featherstone and Stacey Snider, has unveiled a creative partnership with and taken a significant stake in new TV and tech entertainment company Yes Yes Media. Yes Yes, an unscripted entertainment venture, is founded by broadcaster and format developer Richard Bacon, who has presented “The Big Breakfast” and “Top of the Pops” and created formats “The Hustler,” hosted by Craig Ferguson (ABC), “This Is My House” (BBC1) and “I Literally Just Told You,” hosted by Jimmy Carr (Channel 4). The deal allows Yes Yes to leverage access to the SISTER’s global network of creative companies and investments spanning television and film, podcasting, publishing and live events.

William Earl Powerhouse producer SISTER has been selected as the 2023 recipient of the Variety International Achievement in Television Award, to be presented at global content market MipTV in April.  The award is presented in recognition of leadership and innovation in the international television marketplace with co-founder and chief content officer Jane Featherstone accepting the award in Cannes for all three founders, including executive chair Elisabeth Murdoch and CEO Stacey Snider, and the wider company. Featherstone is a pioneering producer responsible for some of the U.K.’s most ground-breaking and beloved TV shows. As the former chief executive of Kudos and co-chairman of Shine U.K., Featherstone helped to grow the company into one of the country’s most recognized independent outfits. Under her leadership, Kudos produced such acclaimed shows as “Broadchurch,” “Life on Mars,” “Spooks,” “The Hour” and “Utopia’, to the breakout BAFTA- and Golden Globe-winning drama sensation “Chernobyl” for HBO and Sky Atlantic with Sister Pictures, the scripted production company Featherstone founded in 2015.  

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Sony Pictures has won global distribution rights to the hot comedy package “My Ex-Friend’s Wedding,” a script co-written by buzzy author Taylor Jenkins Reid starring a murderers’ row of funny women. Oscar winner Ariana DeBose, “Saturday Night Live” breakout Chloe Fineman, Amanda Seyfried and Megan Stalter are set as the core ensemble. The film follows four childhood best friends who receive a drunken voicemail from a former BFF on the eve of her wedding day — confessing that she thinks she’s making a mistake. The group sets out to stop her wedding and rekindle the friendship they once shared. Comedy vet Kay Cannon, whose 2019 feature directorial debut “Blockers” over-performed at the box office, is directing. The script is from Ashley Rodger and Jenkins Reid. The latter could not be hotter at the moment, as the series adaptation of her novel “Daisy Jones & The Six” is about to hit Amazon Prime Video. Additional Jenkins Reed books are headed to the screen at Hulu (“Malibu Rising”) and Netflix (“The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo”).

EXCLUSIVE: Youngest Media, the UK entertainment producer behind MTV’s Game of Clones and NBC’s Small Fortune, is shutting down after seven years.

There was a moment last November when Channel 4’s senior executives breathed a sigh of relief.

EXCLUSIVE: Former Fifth Season COO Tim Robinson, who recently left the company, was let go following an allegation of misconduct, Deadline can reveal. 

EXCLUSIVE: Fifth Season’s COO Tim Robinson has left the Severance producer after four years.

Elisabeth Murdoch and Jane Featherstone’s Chernobyl producer Sister has partnered with the Royal Court Theatre to seek the next generation of TV and theater scribes.

EXCLUSIVE: The Butcher & The Wren, the crime novel written by Alaina Urquhart, co-host of the hit podcast Morbid, is set for a small screen adaptation.

Selome Hailu “Masterchef” has been renewed for a thirteenth season at Fox. Chef and executive producer Gordon Ramsay, chef Aarón Sánchez and restaurateur Joe Bastianich all return to judge the cooking competition series. The news comes ahead of the finale of Season 12, which airs Wednesday and features the return of former judge Christina Tosi, chef and owner of Milk Bar. According to Fox, “Masterchef” currently reaches an average of 4.7 million people in multi-platform viewering. The series is produced by Endemol Shine North America and One Potato Two Potato, and is based on a format created by Franc Roddam. Along with Ramsay, Elisabeth Murdoch, Danny Schrader, Pat Llewellyn, Ben Adler, Sharon Levy and DJ Nurre serve as executive producers.

split from his wife Jerry Hall after she filed for divorce, citing ‘irreconcilable differences’ earlier this week.But on Saturday, he was seen attending Charlotte’s big day as she tied the knot to rapper Luke Storey at a quiet church service.Murdoch was seen dressed in a crisp cream suit with a suave red tie and red brogues.The bride, 22, who goes under the name Tiarlie, got engaged to DJ Lukey Storey, 36, in July 2021, three years after they met at London private members club Laylow.The couple threw an engagement party at the members club and posted black and white snaps of the event on social media.Charlotte, who is the daughter of Elisabeth Murdoch and major PR player Matthew Freud, has previously said that her new husband inspired her to kick her ketamine addiction.Hall filed for divorce from Murdoch in a California court on Friday, six years after they were married.The former model sought spousal support and legal fees from the 91-year-old.Murdoch and Hall met after he split from his third wife Wendi Deng, 53, in 2013.They went public with their romance in October 2015 at the Rugby World Cup final, before getting married in a low-key ceremony in London  in March 2016This will mark Murdoch’s fourth divorce.According to previous reports, Murdoch and Hall’s split came as a surprise to people close to the family.The Daily Mail cited rumours he delivered the news electronically – either by text or email.Sir Cliff Richard leaves Wimbledon fans ‘cringing’ with performance on Centre CourtSeveral people killed in shooting at shopping centre in CopenhagenScarlett Moffatt reveals she's 'happier as a size 18' following fitness DVD scandal‘What is clear is that he did the dumping,’ an insider told the publication.Sources added

J.J. Abrams Behind BBC Christmas Adaptation; Idris Elba, Tom Hollander Aboard

Elisabeth Murdoch, Stacey Snider and Jane Featherstone’s indie studio Sister has entered a first-look deal with the new production company Wychwood Media, from Harry Potter filmmaker David Yates and his producing partner, Lewis Taylor. Under the pact, the pair will develop and produce both scripted and unscripted film, television and documentary content for Sister’s offices in both the U.S. and UK. Yates will also have the option to direct projects coming together through the deal.

Broadchurch star Andrew Buchan is turning his hand to writing with a darkly comic ITV/BritBox International horror from Jane Featherstone and Elisabeth Murdoch’s Sister.

Sister, the firm founded by Elisabeth Murdoch, Jane Featherstone and Stacey Snider, has taken a minority stake in UK production company Dorothy Street Pictures, we can reveal.

K.J. Yossman Locksmith Animation’s “Ron’s Gone Wrong” has won the award for best long form at the British Animation Awards 2022.Locksmith, which was founded by by Aardman Animations veterans Sarah Smith and Julie Lockhart alongside Elisabeth Murdoch, picked up the award at a ceremony in London on Thursday evening.The awards took place at London’s BFI Southbank and were presented by comedian Miles Jupp.Other winners on the night included Magic Light Pictures, for their adaptations of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s “Zog and the Flying Doctors” and Scheffler’s “Pip and Posy,” while production co-ordinator Hodan Abdi picked up the Lamb award, which “bridges the gap between current categories which recognise student achievements and general best-in-class awards, and is open to any young professionals working in the animation and VFX industry.” And 86-year-old Menna Trussler beat out Taika Waititi, Ricky Gervais and Ben Wishaw to take home the award for best voice performance, for her portrayal of Beryl in “Affairs of the Art.”“We have been amazed at the quality of the entrants for this year’s British Animation Awards and would like to offer our heartfelt congratulations to all the winners and nominees,” said BAA director Helen Brunsdon and producer Kieran Argo.

Ben Whishaw, the star of the BBC/AMC’s upcoming This Is Going to Hurt adaptation, was attracted to the medical drama due to it being “a love letter to the NHS.”

Media Mogul Elisabeth Murdoch is backing a startup VFX company, BeloFX, which has been founded in Canada and the UK by a group of experienced executives.