World Screen

LONDON, October 2: Alicom Licensing has been appointed to handle all licensing categories for Telescreen’s 2-D series Frog & Friends in Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Frog & Friends, based on the pictures books by Max Velthuijs, centers on …

TORONTO, October 2: DECODE Entertainment is in development on a 2-D series with Canada’s House of Cool aimed at 8- to 12-year-olds, Betty Banner, Party Planner. House of Cool will also head up the animation for the show, which centers …

TORONTO, October 2: 9 Story Entertainment is set to adapt the Canadian novelist Tish Cohen’s young-adult book The Invisible Rules of The Zoë Lama into a live-action series. The Invisible Rules of The Zoë Lama follows seventh-grader Zoë Costello, who …

MONTREAL, October 2: Distraction has made its first foray into the production business, joining forces with dSP Beyond to produce versions of its formats in Australia and New Zealand. The new joint venture, dSP Beyond Distraction, will produce Distraction’s format …

SYDNEY, October 2: Real Prison Breaks, a series produced by Endemol Southern Star that looks at real-life jail escapes, will be on offer from Southern Star International for buyers in Cannes. The series, commissioned by ITV4 in the U.K. and …

LONDON, October 2: BBC Worldwide has signed up Wow! Stuff as the master toy licensee for the hit British motoring series Top Gear, with the first product line due to hit retailers in fall 2009. Wow! Stuff will develop a …

LONDON, October 2: FremantleMedia is producing an updated version of the general-knowledge quiz show Going for Gold, which is set to launch on Five on October 13. The hour-long show features four studio contestants competing to become the daily champion …

LOS ANGELES, October 2: FOX has ordered an additional nine episodes of the new J.J. Abrams drama Fringe, which has been winning its Tuesday time slot weekly among key demographics. “We're having a blast working on this show with this …

LONDON, October 2: Following its acquisition by ESPN in 2007, the North American Sports Network (NASN) is being relaunched as ESPN America on February 1, in time for the Super Bowl. As ESPN America, the network will continue to deliver …

MUMBAI, October 2: Workers in India’s huge film industry have gone on strike, demanding better wages and improved working conditions, halting production on about 40 film and TV projects, reports indicate. The Bollywood strike began yesterday, led by a coalition …