Middle East’s MBC Strikes Wide-Ranging Deal With Turkey’s Medyapim & Ay Yapim; ‘Doctor Foster’ Remake Deal With The BBC
Leading Middle Eastern media firm MBC Group has struck wide-ranging content agreements with Turkish production companies Medyapim and Ay Yapim, and is remaking British drama following a deal with BBC Studios. The five-year partnerships – unveiled today at Mipcom Cannes – will see Turkish content offered exclusively on MBC channels and streaming service Shahid through first-look and volume deal agreements, along with original Arabic-language originals produced for the MENA market. Some titles will get wider distribution via Shahid’s international reach. Sam Barnett, CEO of MBC Group, said: “It’s no secret that Turkish content is extremely popular with MENA audiences – it’s a genre that has been rising in popularity in this region since the early noughties.” Medyapim will remake Suranne Jones drama Doctor Foster, having already rebooted in Turkey as Sadakatsiz. The show, based on Mike Bartlett’s scripts, will go out on MBC channels and Shahid. Doctor Foster, originally on ITV in the UK, has also been remade in France, India, Thailand, South Korea and Indonesia. “We cannot wait for audiences to watch our very own regional ‘Dr. Gemma Foster’, and to discover such a captivating character,” said Barnett.
NBCU’s South Korean Music Format ‘Drive Thru-Oke’ Headed For Germany
German channel RTL Zwei is getting its own version of NBCUniversal’s South Korean karaoke format Drive-Thru. Munich-based production company SEO Entertainment is making the adaptation, titled Music Drive In, following a deal with NBCUniversal Formats, which is part of Universal International Studios. It will be hosted by three German music stars, and launches early next year. Based on the original Korean format created by Space Rabbit Co. Ltd, the shows sees a car becoming a stage of its own, with members of the public attempting to win cash prizes by singing at a talent-driven drive thru. Recent adaptations have launched in Brazil, on SBT as part of the The Eliana Show, and Saudia Arabia, where it is known as Ghanni Safari, and comes from Dubai-based production company Ogmented for SBC.
Pluto TV Strikes Mondo TV Deal
Paramount Global’s free streaming service Pluto TV has struck a content deal with Italy’s Mondo TV Studios, part of Mondo TV Group. This will Mondo library titles from the Mondo TV heading to Pluto TV in Italy and Latin American markets such as Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay. Several Mondo shows are already on Pluto TV in LatAm, including live-action, pre-teen comedy-drama Heidi Bienvenida, animated series Sissi the Young Empress and Dinofroz, and futuristic motor racing cartoon The Drakers. In Italy, shows include CGI-animated series Invention Story, Italian-Japanese anime series Legend of Snow White and comic adventure series Bug’s Adventure, along with 20 movies, including Felix All Around The World, Jungle Book and Welcome Back Pinocchio.
VFX Studio Milk Buys Lola Post Production
London-based VFX studio Milk has acquired independent competitor Lola Post Production. The combined staff of the two firms will be over 300, with Lola and its Soho-based team joining Milk but remaining a separate studio. Both will continue to focus on films and premium TV dramas and factual. Lola is coming off the back of its biggest year to date having worked on the VFX for Universe for the BBC, Dangerous Liaisons for Starz and Dinosaurs: The Final Day with David Attenborough.