Jackie Chan’s ‘Ride On,’ Andy Lau’s ‘The Wandering Earth 2‘ Among Launch Titles at Via Vision’s Imprint Asia Label – Global Bulletin
Australia and New Zealand company Via Vision Entertainment is expanding its media distribution business with the launch of the Imprint Asia label.
The brand will be launching with a host of new films including Cui Rui and Liu Xiang’s box office smash “Lost In The Stars,” Larry Yang’s action comedy “Ride On,” starring Jackie Chan and sci-fi epic “The Wandering Earth 2” starring Andy Lau. In addition to the new release slate there will be ongoing classic releases with new restorations and extras produced for physical media collectors including Chen Kaige’s “The Emperor and The Assassin” (1998) and “Farewell My Concubine” (1992), Tsui Hark’s “The Legend of Zu” (2001) and Kei Kumai’s “The Sea is Watching” (2002), which is co-written by Akira Kurosawa.
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Operating for over 15 years, Via Vision Entertainment is one of the largest independent distributors of film and TV content in Australia and New Zealand. It distributes world cinema physical media under the Imprint label and one of its most popular titles is the “Collaborations: The Cinema of Zhang Yimou & Gong Li (1988 – 2014)” box set.
FAMILY ADVENTURE
Naomie Harris, Gwendoline Christie, Mark Williams and Darcey Ewart star in family adventure film “Robin and the Hood,” which completed principal photography over the summer, and will debut as a Sky original in the U.K. and Ireland on Sky Cinema. GFM Global Sales joins as international sales agent following a deal inked prior to the 2023 American Film Market. The film is produced by Silver Reel’s Claudia Bluemhuber and Future Artists Entertainment’s Matt Williams. It is directed by Phil Hawkins (“Prancer: A Christmas Tale”) and written by Stuart Benson and Paul Davidson.
APPOINTMENTS
Screen Australia has appointed Deirdre Brennan as CEO, starting Jan. 8, 2024. She will succeed Graeme Mason, who is departing the agency in early November after a decade in the role. Brennan was most recently chief operating officer at WildBrain, a global independent media entertainment company spanning content production, distribution, brands and licensing. Previously, Brennan worked at BBC Worldwide Australia as the director of television, general manager and director of content. Her former roles include head of children’s television at ABC TV and general manager of Universal Kids at NBC Universal.
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Glasgow-based indie production company Freedom Scripted, which has investment from the Channel 4 Indie Growth Fund and a first look deal with All3Media International, is expanding with two offices in London and Berlin. Nancy Napper Canter is promoted to head of development and will operate from the office based at Somerset House in London. The company’s HQ remains in Glasgow and Tessa Buchanan will take the lead on local development as development executive. With Freedom pursuing new co-developments in Portugal and Germany, the Berlin office, based at Lost But Found studios in Sch?neberg, will focus on building international relationships based on a co-pro model, working with European based producers, talent and commissioners.
The company was founded in 2018 by former BBC, STV and World Productions development producer Mike Ellen.
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Global sports, events and representation company IMG has appointed Ian Moffitt to the newly created role of senior VP of business development for its studios business, reporting into executive VP, studios, Barney Francis. Moffitt will be responsible for the growth of IMG’s production and studios business in the U.K. and internationally, working closely with IMG’s VP and business development director, Jo Ormston. He will be based at IMG’s studio facilities in Stockley Park, London.
Moffitt previously served as commercial director of BBC Studios Factual Production, where he was responsible for driving the growth of the BBC’s factual unit both domestically and globally, with a focus on the U.S. market and IP development. During his tenure, the unit produced “Prehistoric Planet” (Apple TV+), “Inside Our Autistic Minds” (BBC2) and “Dinosaurs: The Final Day” (BBC1).
MERGER
Paramount is combining Channel 5‘s broadcast video-on-demand (BVOD) service, My5, with its FAST (Free Ad-supported Streaming TV) service Pluto TV. The advertising-supported free streaming service will give viewers in the U.K. access to a range of content from Channel 5, as well as an on-demand section and a collection of curated FAST channels from Pluto TV. The service will combine BVOD, FAST, AVOD and Live TV.
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