International Insider: Oscars; ‘Maxton Hall’ In Recess; Euro Results Week
Welcome back one and all to another edition of the International Insider. We’ve got Oscars analysis plus plenty more so strap in. Max Goldbart here steering the ship this week. If you’re not on our mailing list, do sign up here.
Oscar We Hardly Knew Ya
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Supreme internationalization: It’s hard to believe the Oscars is already almost a week old (any talk of how next year’s awards season has already started is banned), but on reflection it was quite the year for international movies and the growing internationalization of cinema. After what felt like an entire epoch of campaigning (complete with a few highs and some very low lows), it was Anora in the end that swept up – winning Best Actress for superstar-in-the-making Mikey Madison and a record four awards for director Sean Baker, who was finally rewarded for a unique, gonzo-style of filmmaking that pays homage to its subjects in such a beautiful way. Anora’s journey started many moons ago when it won the Cannes Palme d’Or and, whilst it is certainly an American movie, the Neon pic has a distinctly international feel (Russian actor Yura Borisov was nommed for Best Supporting Actor, for example). As Andreas and Zac neatly pointed out in their analysis, Cannes movies won in a whopping 40% of categories at this year’s Oscars, while traditional Academy fare like A Complete Unknown, Dune 2 and Wicked came away with fewer trophies. And how about Latvian animation Flow beating heavyweights such as Inside Out 2 to the punch? The internationalization of awards season is clearly happening, represented by a more international voting base. For many, it is welcome. In a supremely competitive international feature category, Walter Salles’ powerful Brazilian drama I’m Still Here was a worthy winner, a first for the South American nation, besting the controversial Emilia Pérez. In the docs category, Palestinian-Israeli feature No Other Land, which doesn’t even have American distribution, took home the gong. All things told, Sunday was a fine exhibition of world cinema. If you want to feel like you were in L.A. last week, look no further than Breaking Baz’s rundown of what happened after the awards.
‘Maxton Hall’ In Recess… For Now
Chris Bird flies the Amazon nest: Before romcom Culpa Mía became the Amazon streamer’s biggest international original, that title was bestowed on Maxton Hall – The World Between Us, the German-produced, UK private school-set series. Fans of the UFA Fiction drama, which stars Harriet Herbig-Matten and Damian Hardung as students in a rocky relationship at their rather posh school, have become restless for information about Season 2, which wrapped shooting in September last year before going quiet. Given Season 1 dropped last May, this represents a substantial wait between runs. The hold-back tactic, often used by global streamers, was criticized last year by Sony Pictures Television President Katherine Pope as “not fair on the fans.” Jesse provided some insight then, when he broke the news that Amazon is scheduling Maxton Hall Season 2 for “the end of the year.” Fans went wild, we imagine. Still no exact date in the diary, but it’s something. That wasn’t all from Prime Video this week, as it was revealed that the long-serving Chris Bird is exiting after a run that saw him rise from LoveFilm exec to Prime Video UK Director. “In 14 short years we’ve gone on to have one of the largest entertainment services in the UK,” he told colleagues in an email. He is the second major Amazon international exit in recent works, following originals boss James Farrell, who is setting up his own YA indie. Chris and James will now have to watch Maxton Season 2 as punters, like the rest of us.
Rape Survivor Tells Story
A frightened 16-year-old: Alexander Westwood, who appeared in Netflix’s Sex Education, was a man quick to brag about his acting credentials, writes Jake. Last week, he was jailed for 15-and-a-half years after being convicted of 26 counts of sexual assault and rape. There were five victims, including some he met through acting tuition. Jake spoke with Lilly (not her real name), one of Westwood’s victims, an incredibly brave woman who gave evidence in court and is refusing to allow Westwood’s behavior to define her. She spoke of how he lured her to his home with the promise of helping her break into acting (he had, in fact, mostly been limited to minor non-speaking roles during his short career) and then assaulted her repeatedly. “I was trying to say to myself, ‘It’s fine, you’re okay.’ But of course, it was not okay. Imagine being in a room with a man of 21 and you’re just a frightened 16-year-old,” she said. Read the full piece here.
Results Week Paints Mixed Picture
Share price in spotlight: It was full-year results week for some of Europe’s biggest entertainment behemoths and the numbers told mixed stories. All eyes were on Canal+ Wednesday, which was publishing for the first time since floating on the London Stock Exchange and had just announced a mega €480M ($520M) French cinema investment at the start of the week. Revenues and EBITA were both up at the Paris Has Fallen outfit, although all eyes were on its share price, which ‘has fallen’ well below the initial opening price that debuted in December. In an interview with the Financial Times, Canal+ CEO Maxime Saada admitted to expecting a fall in the share price, as French shareholders exit due to local laws, but “not this low.” Speaking of share price, ITV boss Carolyn McCall was grilled on the commercial net’s forever-in-the-spotlight market cap, which remains sticky, and she responded bullishly: “If you look across Europe you won’t see us underperforming,” was her take. McCall had to simultaneously bat away several questions on neverending ITV sales rumors, as she unveiled a set of results that saw record profits for Fool Me Once maker ITV Studios and an 11% EBITA rise across the piece. On the same morning, Germany’s ProSiebenSat.1 Media was neither skyrocketing nor tumbling, as it pointed to a “challenging macroeconomic situation” that has had “significant impact” on linear TV advertising. Banijay Entertainment, meanwhile, cited “industry headwinds” including streamers and broadcasters cutting spending as it posted flat revenues in the content division, although a strong year for its betting business led group adjusted EBITDA to rise by 21.6%. All these challenges have led traditional European behemoths to react in a plethora of different ways to carve a path forwards, and results seem to be bearing some fruit after what we all know has been a tricky few years.
Telling A Storyhouse
Straughan & Lonergan celebrate Ireland’s finest: Diana brought news Wednesday of the latest Storyhouse line-up, the Irish festival that was kickstarted last year by The Favourite producer Element Pictures. It’s going to be a fun one. In the hot seat next month will be the likes of Oscar and BAFTA winners Peter Straughan and Kenneth Lonergan, the former fresh off the back of Oscar winner Conclave, while Sex Education creator Laurie Nunn and The Marvels maker Nia DaCosta will also speak. Supported by Screen Ireland, Storyhouse is a not-for-profit initiative that celebrates the best of Ireland while bringing some serious firepower. “Storyhouse is committed to establishing Ireland as a hub for exceptional screenwriting talent, as well as remaining focused on curating a festival that inspires the next wave of diverse Irish writers to create, develop and producer stories for generations to come,” said Ed Guiney, who runs Element. Last year’s fest featured Poor Things writer Tony McNamara, David Nicholls and Sarah Phelps amongst others.
The Essentials
??? Hot One: The stage adaptation of The Greatest Showman, which starred Hugh Jackman, will have its world premiere in the British West Country city of Bristol around March 2026, Breaking Baz revealed.
??? More spice: Shōgun star Cosmo Jarvis has boarded Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey.
??? Hotter: Amazon MGM Studios has hired Sarah Timlick as its Head of Theatrical Distribution for Canada.
?? The big interview: Stewart sat down with Monty Sarhan, the boss of nimble streamer SkyShowtime.
?? Investigation: Jake revealed that the head of the BBC’s flagship breakfast news show was given more power after facing allegations of bullying, favoritism, and shaking a female colleague.
?? Another deep dive: Andreas examined the calamitous collapse of VFX giant Technicolor, which went from “back” to bust in the space of six weeks.
?? Done deal: British-Australian powerhouse See-Saw Films was acquired by Mediawan.
?? Billboards: Netflix went environmental with its latest set of billboards by erecting ads highlighting the UK’s poor air quality problem as it promoted new series Toxic Town.
?? New hire: Wattpad Webtoon Studios is building out in Europe with the signing of Cattleya’s Mar Vila Barcelo.
?? Box office: Big box office scoop from Nancy yesterday revealing Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy has crossed the $100M mark internationally.
?? Trail: For Netflix Japan’s Bullet Train, inspired by iconic Keanu Reeves movie Speed.
This week’s International Insider was written by Max Goldbart and edited by Jesse Whittock, who also contributed.
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