Monday 30 September 2013

ABC orders Cannes-bound Bryan Singer drama - TBI




by Jesse Whittock
 
September 30, 2013
US broadcaster ABC has given a straight-to-series order to The Black Box, an upcoming drama that has producers including House’s Bryan Singer attached.

chris_philip_1 

The series will star Kelly Reilly (Above Suspicion) as a neurosurgeon whose connection with her patient’s brains help her unravel their stories away from the operating table. Vanessa Redgrave (Mission: Impossible) and Terry Kinney (Oz). Amy Holden Jones is the series’ writer and executive produces along with Hollywood director Singer, Anne Thomopoulos, Oly Obst and Ilene Chaiken, the latter of whom is showrunner.

Sierra/Engine Television is launching the Bold Films-produced series in Cannes. Tele München Gruppe has come onboard as German-speaking Europe distribution partner, while Modern Times Group has pre-bought it for Scandinavi. ABC has given the 13-episode series a primetime commitment and production begins in October in New York.

Chris Philip, CEO for Sierra/Engine Television (pictured), said: “As the show’s early pre-sales demonstrate, today’s international marketplace is willing to get in on the ground level on a daring new US network series with a tremendously talented group of people.”

Jakob Mejlhede, senior VP, acquisitions and programming for MTG, added: “We are certain that a series with such a strong premise will attract many viewers in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, and are naturally happy to have acquired the rights at this early stage.”



MTG, TMG lift lid on Black Box - C21

 

Scandinavia’s Modern Times Group (MTG) and Germany’s Tele München Gruppe (TMG) have acquired local rights to upcoming ABC medical drama The Black Box.

The 13-episode series is being produced by US company Bold Films, with TMG partnering for German-speaking Europe and MTG acquiring the series for Sweden, Norway and Denmark.
The show centres on a talented neuroscientist and her struggles with mental illness and is Bold Films’ first foray into TV following feature films including Drive.

Chris Philip, CEO of distributor Sierra/Engine Television, said: “As the show’s early pre-sales demonstrate, today’s international marketplace is willing to get in on the ground level on a daring new US network series with a tremendously talented group of people.”

US network ABC greenlit the new drama in June. The show is the fourth US scripted series to be handled by Sierra/Engine, which was formed in September 2012 by LA-based Sierra Affinity and Engine Entertainment.

 
 

Sierra/Engine Eyes MIPCOM Deals on Black Box - WORLD SCREEN NEWS

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 By Mansha Daswani
Published: September 30, 2013

LOS ANGELES: The Black Box, which received a straight-to-series order from ABC, headlines Sierra/Engine Television's MIPCOM catalogue, with deals already in place with Tele München Gruppe and Modern Times Group.
TMG is a partner for German-speaking Europe, and MTG has taken the show for Scandinavia. The 13-episode production from Bold Films is a medical procedural starring Kelly Reilly, Vanessa Redgrave and Terry Kinney. It is directed by Simon Curtis (My Week with Marilyn) and penned by Amy Holden Jones, who exec-produces alongside Anne Thomopoulos, Bryan Singer, Oly Obst and Ilene Chaiken.
Chris Philip, the CEO of Sierra/Engine Television, said, “As the show’s early presales demonstrate, today’s international marketplace is willing to get in on the ground level on a daring new U.S. network series with a tremendously talented group of people.”
Jakob Mejlhede, senior VP of acquisitions and programming for Modern Times Group, noted, “We are certain that a series with such a strong premise will attract many viewers in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, and are naturally happy to have acquired the rights at this early stage.”
Herbert L. Kloiber, Tele München Gruppe’s managing director, said, “The story line and all other creative elements of The Black Box are so intriguing that we decided to partner up with Bold Films at a very early stage of production. We are really excited about this project and eager to distribute the series in German-speaking Europe.”


http://www.worldscreen.com/articles/display/41317

Wednesday 4 September 2013

Faux reality show more compelling than Under the Dome

http://www.fixmestick.com/images/canadacom-logo.pngTV Monday: Siberia lost in the ratings wilderness, but worth finding

Faux reality show more compelling than Under the Dome



Siberia
Siberia — the thriller hardly anyone is watching — has grown in intensity Photo: NBC


Published: September 2, 2013, 2:08 am
Updated: 5 days ago

There are two Monday night dramas right now that have all the hallmarks of a Stephen King thriller: An incompatible group of people are suddenly cut off from the outside world. They find themselves surrounded by mysterious, dark forces while trying to survive.
Under the Dome, adapted by King from his novel, began brightly but, inevitably, given early reviews and sky-high ratings, has flagged in recent weeks. The seams are starting to show.
A second season is already confirmed, to air next summer, but King fans and Under the Dome followers alike are probably hoping the story finds a second wind between now and then.
The other drama — and right now the more entertaining, tension-filled and tightly wound of the two — is Siberia, a thriller King has nothing to do with but is now as eerie, mysterious and frightening as one of King’s better short stories.
The concept is so simple it’s a wonder no one thought of it before — unless one counts Agatha Christie, long before reality TV existed. A group of 16 would-be reality contestants from around the world are dropped by helicopter into the Siberian wilderness, with only the clothes on their backs. They think they’re about to compete in a Survivor-type reality show, complete with camera crews and hot food for the asking. Instead, they’re immersed in an extreme survival crisis, where mistakes cost lives and a dark, malevolent force is stalking them at every turn.
Siberia
Johnny Wactor, left, Joyce Giraud, Sam Dobbins and Daniel Sutton on Siberia.
In last week’s hour, an impenetrable mist settled on Siberia’s winterscape — mist is a constant in many Stephen King tales, though King had nothing to do with Siberia — and the few survivors who remain at this point were quickly disoriented. The group split up, against all survival advice. Four of them stumbled into an abandoned research station, where they took shelter from the elements. The remainder huddled in the snow over the makeshift grave of one of their own, where they will likely starve or freeze to death, unless found. Worse, possibly, both groups have spotted odd tracks in the snow, tracks resembling no creature on Earth.
Siberia
Joyce Giraud, left, Johnny Wactor and Sam Dobbins in Siberia
As Under the Dome has lost its energy, Siberia — the thriller hardly anyone is watching — has grown in intensity. That’s the way TV often works. If a show draws a big audience on its opening night, it can take time for that audience to drift away. If hardly anyone watches a show in the beginning, it’s hard for that show to draw viewers later, no matter how good it becomes — unless, of course, the word gets out.
Siberia
Siberia
In Monday’s episode, the stragglers who’ve found the research station make a grisly discovery, while the group stranded in the snow start to feel the effects of starvation and constant terror. The acting is uneven, and the production a little threadbare at times. Compared with the slick, glossy look and feel of Under the Dome, Siberia looks as if it was shot on a Blair Witch Project budget.
Story matters, though. And, right now, Siberia is by far the more compelling of the two stories. (NBC, 10 ET/PT)
http://o.canada.com/2013/09/02/tv-monday-siberia-lost-in-the-ratings-wilderness-but-worth-finding/

This vs. That: Under the Dome vs. Siberia



Welcome to the latest round of TV.com's "This vs. That," where we pit two things against one another and you vote on which one should win... in whatever context you choose. Our newest match-up features two shows that, before they premiered earlier this summer, appeared to share little more than some unexplained supernatural phenomena and a Monday-at-10pm timeslot: CBS's much-hyped Stephen King adaptation Under the Dome, and NBC's barely mentioned, faux-reality horror drama Siberia. But here we are a couple months later, and both shows have weird stuff going on in the woods! Both shows have surprised us, if only a little, in terms of how good (or bad) they turned out to be (relative to our expectations, anyway)! Both shows take place in environments where precipitation acts totally wacky! Both shows have a husky bald-headed dude in their cast!

Anyway, last week, TV.com user Gislef awesomely and very thoughtfully compared the two series using a number of criteria, and his "Which show is better?" verdict was equal parts surprising and... not. But I just couldn't resist the urge to "officially" name one show superior via a trusty, vote-using-whatever-logic-you-like throwdown. And with that, dear readers, I implore you to please weigh in:
 
Siberia
766 votes
 
Under the Dome
318 votes
http://www.tv.com/shows/under-the-dome/community/post/this-vs-that-under-the-dome-vs-siberia-137701441485/

Siberia vs. Under the Dome


Yes, I'm going to do it. I'm going to toss down the gauntlet between these two Monday 10/9 central shows which have a vaguely similar theme: people trapped in an isolated situation and forced to fight for their lives while dealing with the breakdown of societal institutions.
Up front I'll admit it: I like Siberia better. I've seen six of that, and eight of UtD. I think we can all come with an informed opinion by now. If anything, I went into the two shows with a more open-mind toward UtD. NBC has a horrible track record for "event" programming: Persons Unknown and The Event, anyone? And I'm not a fan of competitive reality shows.
On the other hand, I'm a Stephen King fan. That said, Under the Dome is my least favorite of all his novels, because it was the only one I couldn't finish on the first read. (I'm now rectifying that.) I know his track record for media adaptations is spotty at best, but I can usually forgive his mediocre efforts and understand that a lot of his stuff doesn't adapt well. For example I'd rather have It on TV, dumbed down, then no It at all.

Despite that, I'm giving the nod to Siberia. Why? It comes down to 5 reasons.
1) Working Against Expectations
People expect more from Stephen King than Matthew Arnold (who??). I'm among them. Even the worse King adaptations that actually followed the original story had something good to them. (Stuff that tossed the original story out entirely, like Lawnmower Man and Mangler, not so much.).
In this case, a good Matthew Arnold trumps a mediocre Stephen King. The problem is that we're getting Stephen King... but we're not. We're getting his high concept of the Dome, and some borrowing from the bones of his original novel. But then a bunch of generic Hollywood writers stepped in to write. If you're going to borrow from the Master, keep borrowing. King will be writing the season 2 premiere, but it seems like too little, too late.
Matthew Arnold (who??) is directing every episode so far, writing a couple of key episodes, and got people he apparently handpicked to write the others. You might agree or disagree with his vision for his show, but at least it's his vision.
2) Taking It Slow
UtD is a "start with a bang" novel, literally. It starts with a bisected ground chuck and an exploding plane. That works in the novel because King can describe the inner thoughts of his characters and do flashbacks. But what it means on the show is that we're swept up into the excitement and then it... stops. We could have used an episode, or maybe even a half-episode, to learn about what these people are like outside of a crisis. Then we can watch them deteriorate. But that's not what happened here. That's why we got the "crisis of the week" for the next few episodes.
Siberia starts slow and it's a bit misleading. It starts as a reality show, with all the garbage reality show interviews and "deep character moments on the camera" and so on. But we get to learn about the characters. They're not particularly deep or original, but at least we know what they are and we get to see them change once the crisis kicks in during episode five. So hey, we'll call it misdirection instead of misleading. :)
Siberia also builds up the suspense. Both shows have a mystery, but UtD's mystery just isn't that… suspenseful. Maybe it's that the UtD characters for the most part don't seem that interested in solving the mystery, except for Joe and Norrie. And now Julia as of episode eight. And that brings us to...
3) Proactive Characters
Now that the crisis is upon the contestants in Siberia, they're doing stuff. They're building signal fires. They're sending out a party to find that radio beacon. They're hunting for food. They're tipping over reward boxes. They're finding lockets and bracelets and skeletons and diaries and little girls. Heck, they're preparing to sue the producers when they escape and making sure everything gets filmed as evidence. (Which conveniently provides a reason for the cameramen to keep filming.)
Joe and Norrie are the only ones looking into the mystery of the Dome. And they're not doing much. They find the mini-Dome and the egg, and they... cover it up and walk away, keeping it a secret. I'd be out there every spare moment poking and prodding it, getting more images to appear and say cryptic things. Okay, Alice died and it might have been connected to what they did. But guess what? They're probably going to die if they don't investigate the Dome. Does anyone think the Dome is waiting for someone to find the egg and poke it before it starts manipulating people's lives?
Eventually Joe tells Julia, and she's kinda curious. She touches the mini-Dome once, gets a message, and walks away. Ugh. I understand not telling most people in town. But call in Dodee, she's got some technical expertise.
4) Believable Characters
Okay, the characters on Siberia aren't very believable. But at least they're proactive and seem willing to cooperate. Esther, the resident heel, actually regrets what she did to Irene and has a heartfelt conversion. These people realize they may not like each other, but they have to cooperate to survive. Except for Miljan, the Junior stand-in. But even he seems to be going insane, instead of starting insane and staying insane.
Big Jim and Ollie still carry on their feud. Junior is still chasing Angie. Okay, he's nuts, but does he have no sense of self-preservation? No one seems too worried about their long-term survival and they're going about their lives just about like they were before the Dome. Big Jim was a power-hungry jerk before the Dome, and he's a power-hungry jerk after the Dome. King's novel was about the fact that crisis brings out the worst in people. But because we didn't see Big Jim before the Dome, we don't get that fact.
Ditto on Junior. He's started by locking Angie up, and he's just as nuts seven episodes later. The only reason he can kill people is because they keep giving him guns, not because he's gotten any nuttier.
5) Dialogue
Siberia is no great shakes, but they have occasional bits of moving dialogue, and they mix in some comedy. There's a certain naturalistic quality to it.
UtD is an uneasy mix of King's dialogue, attempts at doing King's dialogue, and Hollywood 101 clichés. The former make the latter two stand out, and not in a good way.
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So overall, I'm giving Siberia the nod. I'll watch both, and we'll see how they go. Either one could yet surprise, but that's the mid-season or near mid-season assessment.

http://www.tv.com/shows/under-the-dome/community/post/siberia-vs-under-the-dome-1376452221/

David Slade To Direct First Episode Of NBC Drama Series ‘Crossbones’

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Monday August 12, 2013 @ 3:54pm PDT

Nellie AndreevaEXCLUSIVE: Feature and TV director David Slade (The Twilight Saga: Eclipseis set to direct the opening episode of the upcoming NBC pirate drama Crossbones starring John Malkovich. Crossbones, from Luther creator Neil Cross and producers Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald, is set in 1715 on the Bahamian island of New Providence where the diabolical pirate Edward Teach, aka Blackbeard (Malkovich), reigns over a rogue nation of thieves, outlaws and miscreant sailors. Cross wrote the script and is executive producing with Parkes, MacDonald and Ted Gold for Parkes/MacDonald Prods; Georgeville TV; and Universal V. This is the latest high-profile NBCUni drama with straight-to-series order whose first episode Slade has been tasked with directing. He helmed the opener of NBC’s Hannibal, on which he has served as executive producer and directed multiple episodes, and is doing the same for Helix, Syfy‘s upcoming series from Battlestar Galactica developer/executive producer Ron Moore.

http://www.deadline.com/2013/08/david-slade-to-direct-first-episode-of-nbc-drama-series-crossbones/