Yahoo News International Insider: Les Misérables At Cannes; Investigating A Chinese Financier; True Crime Revolution
Afternoon Insiders, Max Goldbart here in a week where we have barely stopped. Plenty news and analysis below. Sign up here.
Les Misérables!
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Fierce protests: The 2024 Cannes Film Festival opens in less than a fortnight and is once again set to be the backdrop to fierce French labor protests. Zac revealed earlier this week that a collection of around 200 French film festival workers — a combination of Cannes workers and workers from other festivals across France — are planning protests during the event over pay. The group’s frustrations are two-fold: they are first rallying against the pay packages they receive from their employers, which they say are inadequate and do not account for arduous overtime hours frequently clocked due to job demands, while the second bone of contention is France’s unique unemployment insurance program for entertainment workers and technicians. Known as Intermittence de Spectacle, the scheme supports entertainment workers on short-term contracts with an unemployment benefit when they are between jobs or projects. But owing to quirks in the regulations, many workers at French film festivals are excluded from said unemployment benefit. The collective is campaigning to be included in the scheme citing the inherent seasonal nature of the work. They will confirm protest plans next week and there is plenty strike talk. Earlier this year, Zac and Andreas lifted the lid on the Berlin International Film Festival’s controversial buildup, and it is looking like our coverage will once again be setting the tone for festival chatter. Check back with us to see how the demonstrations unfold.
Heating up: Elsewhere on the Cannes front, the market, which starts in 11 days, is heating up with several high-profile packages hitting the block. Mike Fleming Junior reported that CAA and Rocket Science are taking Sacrifice starring Chris Evans, Anya Taylor-Joy, Salma Hayek Pinault and Brendan Fraser. The film is co-written and set to be helmed by Romain Gavras. Other hot packages include John Carney’s musical comedy Power Ballad starring Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas, A Hero star Amir Jadidi’s Mansour, in which he will play a celebrity tennis player, and Kristen Stewart and Oscar Isaac vampire thriller Flesh Of The Gods. Then, of course, there is Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis, which will be sold in Cannes by Vincent Maraval’s Goodfellas. Also playing in competition, Megalopolis is the most anticipated title of Thierry Frémaux’s official selection, which has mostly garnered attention for its curious omissions. The festival also revealed this week it will hand its honorary Palme d’Or to Meryl Streep. With jury members now in place including Lily Gladstone, Hirokazu Kor-eda and Eva Green, it’s all starting to feel very buzzy. The Cannes Film Festival runs May 14 – 25.
The Extraordinary Tale Of An Extravagant Chinese Financier
Inside the H Collective: We hate playing favorites, but if you are going to read just one Deadline deep dive this week then please look no further than Jake’s six-month long investigation into Chinese financier Kenneth Huang and the H Collective. Huang, known for the finer things in his life, hit the Hollywood scene with a bang several years ago, financing several movies after acting as Paramount’s conduit to the Middle Kingdom. Jake writes that he was “performative about his wealth in a way that put Hollywood power players at ease.” But he left a trail of destruction in his wake, leaving behind a litany of lawsuits; colleagues and investors owed tens of millions of dollars and a messy and unresolved dispute over Vin Diesel’s xXx franchise. Many that we spoke with have come to consider Huang as the archetypal charismatic conman, but the reality is complicated and some continue to hold him in their affections. Huang has not responded to repeated requests for comment and his brother Kent Huang was unable to answer specific questions about the allegations against Huang. Dive deeper here. You know you want to.
Revolutionizing True Crime Production
Putting victims first: A quiet revolution has been taking place in the past year or so in the British true crime production space, with a group of storied execs working tirelessly to improve duty of care practices in a genre that has exploded in popularity with the entrance of streamers and runaway success of podcasts like Serial. As the high-profile fallout from Netflix smash Baby Reindeer poses fresh questions about ethics in TV, I delved deeper into true crime by speaking with some of the members of the new Association of True Crime Producers (ATCP) along with those working at the coalface. Kate Beal, who chairs the ATCP, explained to me that she was driven to act after being unnerved by the media frenzy that followed the tragic disappearance and death of Nicola Bulley in early 2023. She had worried the true crime genre would “have our Jeremy Kyle moment,” a reference to the former ITV daytime host whose 15-year-old show was axed in 2019 following the suicide of a contestant. For more, including candid, anonymized accounts of those working on true crime shows today, click here.
‘Gandhi’ Heads To London
“Origin story to Superman”: Jesse headed into Soho this week to check out how Applause Entertainment’s highly-anticipated Gandhi series is getting on. And while he was at it, he broke the news that Tom Felton, he of Draco Malfoy fame, has been cast as Gandhi’s best friend Josiah Oldfield. The Hansal Mehta-directed streaming series about the iconic Indian nonviolent resistance leader has been billed as India’s answer to The Crown and tells the story of Gandhi’s early years, much of which was spent in the English capital and South Africa, with Pratik Gandhi (no relation) playing the titular lead. Applause CEO Sameer Nair is expecting big things from the series and described it as “telling the origin story to Superman.” The team behind Gandhi are hoping it can travel far and wide, with potential to go big in the likes of the U.S. and Europe. Meanwhile, an Indian star grappling with new-found fame outside of her home nation is Sobhita Dhulipala, the Monkey Man breakout who sat down with Hannah Abraham to natter about how Dev Patel’s directorial debut has changed her life, along with the benefits of being deemed a “niche” actor. “In India, there’s the conventional idea of a mainstream commercial film star where they love you because you entertain and give them escape, but you’re not really accountable,” she explained to Hannah, in what was a fascinating interview. More here.
Eurovision Keeps On Giving
Couldn’t escape if I wanted to: Eurovision starts next week with two semi-finals followed by the final on May 11 and, whatever you think of it, well, it’s not going anywhere. This year is shaping up to be highly political — Israel was forced to change its lyrics in March — and so Caroline Frost had a timely chat with Ukrainian duo Alyona Alyona and Jerry Heil. If they win, and they are currently amongst the favorites, the pair pledged to donate their trophy to help with the war effort in a similar vein to 2022 winners Kalush Orchestra. “We feel that music can unite, and musically and culturally we can give so much as a nation,” Heil said. This year’s contest will take place in Malmo, Sweden, almost 50 years to the day since ABBA took home the crown for ‘Waterloo’, catapulting the Swedes to superstardom. Before Eurovision starts, a unique ABBA doc funded by none other than 14 broadcasters including the BBC, the CW and Sweden’s SVT, launches tomorrow. Director James Rogan celebrated the doc’s funding model in a Deadline interview as broadcasters battle to keep up with the streamers in the documentary space. He told us more about how his team went about forging the landmark series.
The Essentials
🌶️ Hot One: Toldja!: Gavin & Stacey Christmas is confirmed, and will be the iconic comedy’s final ep.
🌶️ Also Hot: The Forsyte Saga is being given a third lease of life via a PBS Masterpiece reboot starring Francesca Annis and Millie Gibson.
🪓 Breaking Baz: Our roving International Editor-at-Large brought news that We are Lady Parts breakout Faith Omole will have her debut play produced on the London stage next month.
🎉 Disruptor: Stewart had this fascinating sit-down with Sidemen manager Jordan Schwarzenberger, who very much fits the disruptor bill.
🔄 Restructure: Diana scooped a major Vice Media Group creative restructure.
🤖 AI latest: BBC wildlife presenter Liz Bonnin was caught up in a scam that saw a fake AI-generated program mimic her voice and give permission for her face to be used in an advert.
🖼️ Slate: Via Netflix Poland, with projects from High Water and Forgotten Love creatives.
🏪 Setting up shop: Studiocanal opened a literary adaptation label and promoted Sarah Reese Geffroy to run it.
🏪 Setting up a different shop: Blue Lights’ director Gilles Bannier has opened Alef UK & set first project, per Stewart.
👩⚖️ Trial: Gérard Depardieu will stand in October on charges of sexual assault allegedly committed against two women on the set of the film The Green Shutters in 2021.
🚪 Exiting: Hundreds of staff at VFX behemoth DNEG, which kicked off its second round of layoffs in a year.
🌊 In hot water: British comic Dane Baptiste issued an antisemitic death threat towards a fellow comic and was swiftly dropped by his agencies and reported to the police.
🎳 Strike?: Jesse and Katie Campione chatted to writers in Canada.
🖊️ Signed up: Shanghai and LA-based production, distribution and investment company Fundamental Films with UTA.
🍿 Box office: Kung Fu Panda 4 crossed $500M worldwide.
🎥 Trail: For Marcello Mio, one of the more intriguing features in the running for the Palme d’Or, Nancy’s analysis here.
Zac Ntim contributed to this week’s Insider
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