World Screen

NEW YORK, February 27: IMG Media and Mike Tollin, the founder of television and feature film production outfit Tollin Productions, have formed a new joint venture to develop and expand the action sport Slamball. The venture is intended to bring …

BRIGHTON, February 27: British period dramas, the likes of Cranford and Oliver Twist, have been snapped up by international buyers at this year’s BBC Showcase. Cranford has already sold to seven broadcasters across seven markets, including Iceland, the U.S. and …

MUNICH, February 27: The season finale of The Successor—The Next Uri Geller on ProSieben last night outperformed the average rating for its competitive time slot by 80 percent, and a second season has been ordered for next year. Up against …

LOS ANGELES, February 27: Lifetime Movie Network will premiere its first original mini-series, The Capture of the Green River Killer, as a two-night feature on March 30 and 31. Starring Golden Globe-nominee Tom Cavanagh as an obsessive detective, The Capture …

LOS ANGELES/BURBANK, February 27: TMZ has secured a partnership with MySpace to bring its entertainment-news content to the social-networking site’s video platform, MySpaceTV. TMZ will populate a branded channel on MySpaceTV, which will feature select exclusive clips after they have …

PARIS, February 27: The Marathon Group, the French subsidiary of Italy’s De Agostini Communications, has acquired a controlling stake in KM Production, known for its entertainment programs and documentaries. KM’s founder, Renaud Le Van Kim will continue to independently operate …

LOS ANGELES, February 27: A majority of the members of the Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America East (WGAE) have voted in favor of ratifying the new three-year contract that ended their 14-week strike, …

BRUSSELS, February 27: The European Commission has closed its investigations into the financing of Flemish public-service broadcaster VRT and Irish state broadcasters RTE and TG4. In Belgium, the Commission says that authorities have agreed to clarify the terms of VRT’s …

ENGLEWOOD, February 27: Despite significant increases in revenue, Liberty Global recorded a fourth-quarter loss of $197.2 million, versus the $31.2 million loss reported in the same period last year, while the full-year loss was $422.6 million, as compared with the …

LOS ANGELES, February 26: Endemol USA has appointed Eric LaVanchy to helm the newly formed, U.S.-based casual games group, which is part of the producer-distributor’s digital-media division. As the director of gaming, LaVanchy will be responsible for the development and …