World Screen

TORONTO: Bell Media has completed the restructuring of its independent production unit with new team hires. The unit, headed by Corrie Coe, the senior VP of independent production, has been restructured to reflect development and production of original Canadian production …

LOS ANGELES/LONDON: The rights for Content Media’s post-apocalyptic war thriller film The Day have been secured by Entertainment One for the U.K., France, Scandinavia and South Africa. The Day, directed by Doug Aarniokoski, written by Luke Passmore and produced by …

LOS ANGELES/TORONTO: Entertainment One (eOne) has signed a two-year television development and distribution deal with Levity Entertainment Group. The deal sees eOne developing and producing half-hour scripted original content with A-list comedy artists and writers from Levity Entertainment Group’s catalogue, …

SINGAPORE: ESPN Player, a broadband sports network with live and on-demand premier sports content, has launched exclusively in Hong Kong via ESPN STAR Sports (ESS). The ESPN Player is already available in Singapore and Malaysia. In addition broadcasting sports events …

LONDON: FremantleMedia has named Emma Turner the senior executive producer of worldwide drama. Turner will be responsible for supporting the operations of FremantleMedia’s worldwide drama division while working with local teams across Latin America, Asia and Europe. She will be …

LONDON: HISTORY in the U.K. has commissioned Shaun Ryder On UFOs, a new series from the production company Back2back. The eight-episode hour-long series features Ryder, who claims to have seen a UFO at the age of 15 and attributes other …

LONDON: ITV Studios Global Entertainment’s Asia-based channel ITV Granada has secured new carriage deals with major pay-TV platforms in the Middle East, India and South Korea. The deal sees ITV Granada launching in the Middle East on the OSN DTH …

NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES: Abigail Harvey and Noah Pollack have both been named VP of reality programming for Lifetime Networks for the East and West Coast, respectively. Harvey and Pollack will be responsible for developing and overseeing production of non-fiction projects …

SYDNEY: The international co-production Teenage Fairytale Dropouts, distributed by CCI Entertainment, has been added to Seven Network’s lineup for 2013. The 52-episode 11-minute series is a co-production between Anima Estudios, SLR Productions, Home Plate Entertainment and Telegael. CCI Entertainment signed …

MUMBAI: The BIG CBS Prime channel in India is launching the new U.S. legal drama series The Defenders on November 7. The Defenders features Las Vegas defense attorneys who lead the law firm of Morelli & Kaczmarek, with Jim Belushi …