Deadline Reality TV Summit UK & SXSW London: International Insider

Good afternoon Insiders, happy Friday and welcome back to the Insider. Max Goldbart here steering you through. Sign up here.

Reality TV Summit UK @ SXSW London

The reality of it all: There were all sorts of headlines emerging from Deadline’s first Reality TV Summit UK, which was held on Tuesday at the Tab Church in east London as part of SXSW London. With the room packed full of execs, creatives and assorted others, Netflix UK’s new Director of Unscripted Series, Syeda Irtizaali, used her keynote interview to tease “s**tloads” of orders and addressed the ongoing crisis in British reality TV. SNL UK production chief Helen Kruger Bratt talked about how the sketch show had managed to channel mass scepticism to achieve a successful first run, and American Nightmare maker Felicity Morris opined that true crime programming has moved away from sensationalist stories focused on perpetrators during a session in which criminologist and on-screen talent David Wilson coined the phrase “opportunistic crime w**k.” As the Reality TV Summit ended, we quickly turned the space around for a Deadline Studio, which welcomed the Russo brothers and their AGBO team for a session that attracted a massive crowd both inside and outside the venue. House of the Dragon star Steve Toussaint and Severance’s Zach Cherry were among the other big names passing through to chat with Deadline journalists. This week was the second SXSW London, which is owned by our parent company PMC, and once again it attracted the biggest names in entertainment, politics, sport and culture. Prince William followed in his father’s footsteps from last year by making an appearance at the Diana Award and Michelle Obama recorded a special live episode of her podcast IMO. Even Queen Rania of Jordan was on hand to urge the world to show resilience in the face of mounting problems. We’ve been on the ground covering every step, and look forwards to seeing everyone return next year. SXSW London wraps tomorrow.

Netflix EMEA Delivers Warning At Leaders Conf

Tanz turns up the heat: There was a sense of cautious optimism at the Enders Leaders Conference in London this week, which brought together the heads of international at Netflix, Disney+, Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery. However, that was tempered by fears over tweaks to the entertainment ecosystem. Netflix’s Larry Tanz caught the audiences’ attention when he warned against a “one-size-fits-all” approach to rights retention around Europe that risks benefitting super-producers backed by “private equity or sovereign wealth” (he didn’t name the producers, but the crowd was in the know). He was referring in the main to new rules in Germany that will ban standard “work for hire” contracts and give producers exclusive rights to their shows, and the criticism followed remarks he has previously made about “stifling” local content quotas. Tanz’s session felt by far the most pointed and the remarks could reopen an always-heated debate around the merits or otherwise of regulation. In Tanz’s view, Netflix does plenty in Europe already. Others may disagree. There was also a first big-stage presence for Paramount’s international boss Kevin MacLellan, who would have delighted his head honcho David Ellison with an on-message speech about, well, his admiration for David Ellison. He mentioned some other stuff too, including how the industry has moved on from “frightened paralysis” and needs to truly embrace windowing in all its forms. For MacLellan, Tanz and plenty more, check out all our coverage here.

Global Breakout

Headlines about conflict in Iran have dominated these past months but a small Franco-Iranian web series with big dreams tells a bit of a different story. This week we spotlighted Happiness, Pouria Takavar’s American Honey-inspired series that follows a reckless group of young teens, proving that teenhood really is universal. The second season relocates to France, telling a complex story of first generation migrants penned by a group of mostly second generation migrants. It will premiere at Seriencamp in Cologne next week and is very much what that festival is about. >>>Read The Breakout

The Insider Interview: Orin Wolf

Top scoop from Breaking Baz this week as leading theater producer Orin Wolf revealed that Buena Vista Social Club will transfer to London’s West End, and he is in good hands alongside producers including Lin-Manuel Miranda and Barbara Broccoli. Five-time Tony winner Buena Vista Social Club imagines the origin story of the old-school Cuban musicians who assembled in Havana in 1996 to make what is now considered an historic recording session of their intoxicating music. Wolf told Baz he’s eying a particular London venue that he hopes will be free next year. “It’s important we get the right space with the right vibe,” he tells us, well aware that musical houses in London are at a premium. >>>Read The Interview

The Essentials

🌶️ Hot One: Natasha Lyonne is set to produce survival thriller Red Sea for Saudi filmmaker Lina Malaika.

🌶️  Another Hot One: Darren Aronofsky has joined the creative team of Dustin Brown feature Solidarity exploring contemporary migrant realities in the U.S.

🌶️ A third: Hugh Laurie has landed a mystery role in Legacy of Spies, his second John le Carré adaptation of the year.

📖 Investigation: Jake dove inside The Climb, the Cara Delevingne-starring British indie movie that has collapsed owing furious crew and suppliers more than $400,000.

🏒 ‘Heated Rivalry’: Show creator Jacob Tierney is being given the space to get Season 2 just right.

🚪 Exiting: BBC comedy chief Jon Petrie, who will move to Hat Trick Productions.

🏕️ Fest latest: The Palestinian Film Institute is returning to Sheffield DocFest with some fascinating projects.

🍿 Box office: The Scary Movie revival is looking good for $70M global.

🖼️ First look: At Kockroach, the crime thriller starring Chris Hemsworth and Taron Egerton that has just wrapped filming in Australia.

🕯️ And finally: Our thoughts out to the family of Marjane Satrapi, the Iranian-French auteur best known internationally for her 2007 biographical animated feature Persepolis. Kathleen Kennedy was amongst those paying tribute, calling her “a true original.”

International Insider was written by Max Goldbart and edited by Jesse Whittock, who also contributed. Send any tips, comments or ideas for international coverage to jwhittock@deadline.com and mgoldbart@deadline.com