DISTRIBUTION
International distributor Rainmaker Content has sold the Television Academy‘s 73rd Emmy Awards to more than 150 territories. New buyers include AMC Networks International for Central Europe, Catchplay Plus for Indonesia and Taiwan, Mediacorp for Singapore, U-Next Co., Ltd for and Japan and Sky Italia for Italy. Returning broadcasters include Turner (Latin America, German speaking Europe), Extension TV (Series Club) for French speaking Europe, Sky (U.K.), Telefonica (Spain), SIC (Portugal), TV2 (Denmark), M-Net (Africa), OSN (Middle East), Telenet (Belgium) and A serial (Commonwealth of Independent States).
Hosted by Cedric The Entertainer, star and executive producer of CBS comedy “The Neighborhood,” in front of a live limited audience at L.A. Live in Los Angeles, the awards will air on the CBS Television Network on Sept. 19.
Emmy nominated producers Reginald Hudlin and Ian Stewart will executive produce and Hamish Hamilton will direct the telecast for production companies Done+Dusted and Hudlin Entertainment.
Popular on Variety
“The Crown” and “The Mandalorian” tied for the top spot at this year’s nominations with 24 nods each, followed by “WandaVision” (23), “The Handmaid’s Tale” (21) and “Saturday Night Live” (21).
AWARD
The 17th Zurich Film Festival (Sept. 23-Oct. 3) will honor Italian filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino for his cinematic oeuvre with the A Tribute to… award. Sorrentino will receive the award on Sept. 29, at the premiere of his new film “The Hand of God,” set in his native Naples. The festival will also screen a retrospective of work, which includes the Oscar winning “The Great Beauty.”
“Participating at the ZFF this year, with my most personal film, is very exciting for me because ‘The Hand of God’ speaks also about the moment when each of us takes courage and admits to ourselves and to others that we want to try the unconscious and crazy venture of being a director,” said Sorrentino.
The film stars young actor Filippo Scotti and Sorrentino’s longtime leading man Toni Servillo. The Netflix movie is produced by The Apartment, a Fremantle Company.
SERIES
Newly-launched Australian production company Little Giant has set ten-part TV drama series “The Good Hustle” as its debut project. Executive produced by Joel Kishinevsky and produced by Elle Croxford and Alexandra Doering, the series probes the lives and careers of five female staff at a high-pressure public relations firm run by an infamous (female) boss. The cast is headed by Tammin Sursok (“Pretty Little Liars,” “Hannah Montana,” “The Young and the Restless”), Francesca Hung (E! Host Australia), Lisa Flanagan (“Glitch,” “Cleverman”), Gemma Forsyth (“Mako Mermaids,” “H2O: Just Add Water”), Brooke Lee (“Mako Mermaids,” “Stage Mums”) and Sophie Bloom (“Love Child,” “Tricky Business”). Production will start towards the end of the year. – Patrick Frater
SEASON
Netflix has confirmed the third and final season for its Spanish revenge thriller series “Sky Rojo” from “Money Heist” creator Alex Pina, co-written with his long-time collaborator Esther Martinez. Season three’s new episodes will kick off six months after Coral (Verónica Sánchez), Wendy (Lali Espósito) and Gina (Yany Prado) finished their last battle with their former pimp Romeo (Asier Etxeandia), who is anything but satisfied with how things left off. Produced by Pina’s Vancouver Media, the first two seasons of “Sky Rojo” were made at the same time, with season one dropping in March of this year and season two in July. Originally developed as a trilogy, Thursday’s announcement confirms the series will get its planned finale. No release details have been shared yet. – Jamie Lang
TRIBUTE
For the first time, the Venice Film Festival, Venice Days and the Venice International Film Critics’ Week are celebrating together the career of filmmaker Francesco ‘Citto’ Maselli and also his role as the head of ANAC (Associazione Nazionale Autori Cinematografici).
Following his documentary “Bagnaia paese italiano” (1949), Maselli collaborated in 1953 with Luchino Visconti on an episode of “Siamo donne” starring Anna Magnani, and the same year he directed “Storia di Caterina” with Cesare Zavattini, an episode from the film “Love in the City.” He made his feature-film debut in 1955 with “Abandoned,” a film about World War II starring among others Lucia Bosé. Maselli’s films portray the characters and social problems in a neorealist style, always addressing the issues with an ideological, political and moral commitment. Career highlights include “The Silver Spoon Set” (1960) “Time of Indifference” (1964), adapted from the eponymous novel by Alberto Moravia, “Kill Me Quick, I’m Cold” (1967), “A Fine Pair” (1968), “Open Letter to the Evening News” (1970) and “The Suspect” (1975).
The ceremony in honor of Maselli will take place in the Sala Grande of the Palazzo del Cinema (Lido di Venezia) on Sept. 6. The program will also feature the screening of his film “Storia d’amore,” which premiered in 1986 at the 43rd Venice Film Festival and won Valeria Golino the Coppa Volpi. The film will be screened with a restored print provided by Istituto Luce Cinecittà.