Sky Italia: Last News

Veteran international media exec Kathryn Fink has become Director of Television at public broadcaster SBS in her home country, Australia.

Sky Studios has hired CBS Studios international co-pros chief Meghan Lyvers as it seeks to significantly scale up its original UK drama output.

Naman Ramachandran Gabriella Carriere has joined Fremantle as group head of strategy, reporting into Andrea Scrosati, group COO and CEO continental Europe. Carriere joins from Sky Italia where she held the positions of Sky Wifi marketing senior director, media and commercial partnerships director and strategy director since joining in 2016. She replaces Van Truong, who held the position for five years and is now head of special projects, reporting into Scrosati and working closely with CEO Jennifer Mullin and the rest of the leadership team.Scrosati said: “Gabriella is an exceptional talent.

Cineflix Rights Goes On Scripted Sales Spree

Fremantle has appointed a Group Head of Strategy to support growth after striking a range of partnerships and buying up labels over the past year.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentItalian actor-turned-director Andrea Di Stefano, who helmed well-received U.S. indie thrillers “Escobar: Paradise Lost,” with Benicio del Toro, and “The Informer,” is set to make “L’Ultima Notte di Amore,” his Italian-language debut.Universal Pictures Intl., Focus Features, and Italy’s Vision Distribution have worldwide distribution rights on the pic, which toplines Pierfrancesco Favino (Cannes competition title “Nostalgia” from Mario Martone).The film’s title, which translates as “The Last Night of Love,” is a play on words.

Eurovision Song Contest has returned for another year, bringing with it more musical drama and excitement. So far this year, Russia has been banned from the contest, while Latvia has been stamped with a censorship order and the UK afforded a rare shot at first place in the bookies. Every year, the show is presented by showbiz stalwarts from the hosting nation – and this year is no exception.

Leading community-driven entertainment company TMB (Trusted Media Brands) has signed with A3 Artists Agency for unscripted content representation.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorJuliet Stevenson has joined the cast of crime drama “Professor T,” production partners Eagle Eye and Beta Film announced at MipTV in Cannes Sunday. The companies also said that they have greenlit a second season of period drama “Hotel Portofino.” Eagle Eye’s Walter Iuzzolino said his firm was working on two further shows with Beta, yet to be revealed.Stevenson will play the therapist to the titular character, played by Ben Miller, in “Professor T,” which is shooting its second season in Cambridge and Belgium.

Walter Iuzzolino’s Eagle Eye Drama and Beta Film’s Hotel Portofino has been commissioned for a second series.

Christopher Vourlias Toronto-based sales agent Syndicado Film Sales has acquired world rights to “Hide and Seek” (Nascondino), the debut feature from director Victoria Fiore, which will screen in the main DOX:AWARD competition at the Copenhagen Intl. Documentary Film Festival (CPH:DOX).The Naples-set documentary follows Entoni, a rambunctious 10-year-old, as he navigates childhood in a country where the justice system – in response to rising levels of youth criminality – allows courts to remove high-risk children from families involved in organized crime.

Christopher Vourlias When Laura Roveri, a 25-year-old Italian woman living in Verona, was stabbed 15 times by her ex-boyfriend in a nightclub, she barely survived to tell her story. But despite a damning trail of evidence of her attacker’s murderous intent, he claimed his vicious assault never intended to kill her – and received only a seven-year prison sentence as a result.The incident was just one in a wave of brutal attacks and femicides that in recent years have rocked Italy and exposed the devastating consequences of a culture of misogyny and machismo.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentLondon-based Beyond Rights has scored sales to Italian broadcasters on more than 500 hours of TV content, including topical doc “The Prince and the Paedophile.”The BriteSpark Films investigation into the friendship between Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein, which is also said to uncover new details on Epstein’s other British connection –– including to Ghislaine Maxwell –– has been acquired by linear broadcaster La7, which is the flagship station of the country’s third generalist TV group in terms of ratings.Comcast-owned pay TV Sky Italia re-upped their licensing deal on lifestyle show “Love It Or List It,” acquiring 290 new hours of the franchise, including four seasons from the original series and seasons from “Love It Or List It: Vancouver”; “Love It Or List It: Quebec” and “Love It Or List It: Australia.”   Discovery Italy purchased a 103-hour, multi-genre package comprising true crime titles such as “Fatal Vows,” and “Deadly Women,” plus “Massive Engineering Mistakes,” and auto show “Flipping Bangers.” AETN Italy picked up the latest two seasons of “Forbidden History” and the show’s new upcoming two instalments, one of which examines war propaganda methods used in Nazi Germany.Finally, GotGame, a new digital channel dedicated to the gaming world, bought 105 hours of science and tech programming from Beyond Rights comprising the shows “Myth or Science,” “How Hacks Work,” and “Superhuman Science.”“We are delighted that our extensive factual catalogue can meet the needs of so many key broadcasters at the same time in such an important territory as Italy.” said Sarah Bickley, Beyond Rights’ SVP sales for Italy, in a statement. 

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentItaly’s Vision Distribution has boarded Berlin Panorama title “Swing Ride,” directed by Chiara Bellosi, and will launch sales at the upcoming EFM on the pic about an overweight teenager named Benedetta who is pining for attention.“Swing Ride” (“Calcinculo”) is set in a tiny southern Italian town where Benedetta meets Armando, aka Amanda, a young transvestite who runs the carousel and sells drugs.

Former Celtic target Eddie Howe has been spotted in the stands at the Amex this evening amid a step back into management for the 43-year old.

Celtic. Ange Postecoglou has been desperate to land a reliable number one this season with Scott Bain and Vasilis Barkas failing to convince between the posts.

Andrea Pirlo claims Cristiano Ronaldo was "happy" to be subbed off in Juventus ' win over Inter Milan.

EXCLUSIVE: From Quantico to Wu Assassins, actress Li Jun Li has played a variety of roles — but she’s just getting started. Li has joined the forthcoming season of the Sky Italia series Devils in a series regular role. This is in addition to her leading role in Damien Chazelle’s Babylon at Paramount where she will star alongside Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt and Jovan Adepo.

Rangers wanted to sign the Brazilian for £20m. One of the earliest examples of a transfer saga ensued when Ronaldo, having just been named world player of the year, saw his new contract negotiations collapse.

Porto. The Premier League giants have been pushing hard to sign the Brazilian in recent weeks but were struggling to meet his club's asking price.

Aaron Hickey will join Bologna in a £1.8million deal according to an Italian report. The 18-year-old has impressed since breaking into the first team at Tynecastle, and has been linked with some of Europe's biggest clubs.