Exclusive: Tubi has landed U.S. and Canadian rights to South African limited series Devil’s Peak about a Detective tracking down a vigilante killer in Cape Town.
Penned by Moon Knight scribe Matthew Orton, the big-budget five-episode thriller is based on a hit 2004 novel by Deon Meyer and is produced by Happy Valley maker Lookout Point and Expanded Media Productions in association with MultiChoice Studios and BBC Studios. It launched last year locally on South Africa’s M-Net and BBC Studios sells around the world.
Starring Hilton Pelser, the series follows Detective Benny Griessel, who is tasked with tracking down a vigilante killer whose crimes are capturing the imagination of the city. As he gets closer to his mark, Griessel finds himself drawn into a dark and dangerous world where nothing is what it seems.
Fox-owned Tubi has landed U.S. and Canadian rights from next week.
“Devil’s Peak...
Penned by Moon Knight scribe Matthew Orton, the big-budget five-episode thriller is based on a hit 2004 novel by Deon Meyer and is produced by Happy Valley maker Lookout Point and Expanded Media Productions in association with MultiChoice Studios and BBC Studios. It launched last year locally on South Africa’s M-Net and BBC Studios sells around the world.
Starring Hilton Pelser, the series follows Detective Benny Griessel, who is tasked with tracking down a vigilante killer whose crimes are capturing the imagination of the city. As he gets closer to his mark, Griessel finds himself drawn into a dark and dangerous world where nothing is what it seems.
Fox-owned Tubi has landed U.S. and Canadian rights from next week.
“Devil’s Peak...
- 1/12/2024
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Showmax CEO Yolisa Phahle is leaving the African streamer after nearly two decades.
The CEO of Showmax parent MultiChoice Calvo Mawela announced Phahle’s exit with “mixed emotions” in a note to staff. Marc Jury became interim Showmax CEO on September 1 as a search for the full-time successor is found.
Phahle will provide “full time advisory support” to Jury for the next six months. From March 2024, Phahle will continue to consult for another 12 months, reporting to Jury, who will lead both Showmax and MultiChoice’s South African operations.
“In what could be characterised as the end of an era defined by a solid career and almost two decades with the Group, it is with mixed emotions to announce that our Showmax CEO, Yolisa Phahle, is making her way into the next chapter of her career,” wrote Calvo.
“Discussions have been underway with an understanding that she will be entering the...
The CEO of Showmax parent MultiChoice Calvo Mawela announced Phahle’s exit with “mixed emotions” in a note to staff. Marc Jury became interim Showmax CEO on September 1 as a search for the full-time successor is found.
Phahle will provide “full time advisory support” to Jury for the next six months. From March 2024, Phahle will continue to consult for another 12 months, reporting to Jury, who will lead both Showmax and MultiChoice’s South African operations.
“In what could be characterised as the end of an era defined by a solid career and almost two decades with the Group, it is with mixed emotions to announce that our Showmax CEO, Yolisa Phahle, is making her way into the next chapter of her career,” wrote Calvo.
“Discussions have been underway with an understanding that she will be entering the...
- 9/5/2023
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
The CEO of African streaming service Showmax, co-owned by African pay-tv giant MultiChoice Group and Comcast, has left her role, with a top executive stepping in while the company searches for a permanent head of the streamer.
Marc Jury, who already serves as CEO of MultiChoice South Africa, has also taken over the reins at Showmax from Yolisa Phahle who in a recent interview told The Hollywood Reporter that the streaming service wanted to “change the game for Africa.”
“This means that Marc will run Showmax and our South African operations as we continue our search for a new Showmax CEO,” MultiChoice CEO Calvo Mawela said in a staff memo.
After launching in South Africa eight years ago, Showmax has expanded to 44 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a diaspora service also currently available in more than 30 international markets worldwide. Earlier this year, MultiChoice and Comcast’s entertainment arm NBCUniversal and...
Marc Jury, who already serves as CEO of MultiChoice South Africa, has also taken over the reins at Showmax from Yolisa Phahle who in a recent interview told The Hollywood Reporter that the streaming service wanted to “change the game for Africa.”
“This means that Marc will run Showmax and our South African operations as we continue our search for a new Showmax CEO,” MultiChoice CEO Calvo Mawela said in a staff memo.
After launching in South Africa eight years ago, Showmax has expanded to 44 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a diaspora service also currently available in more than 30 international markets worldwide. Earlier this year, MultiChoice and Comcast’s entertainment arm NBCUniversal and...
- 9/5/2023
- by Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Fasten your seat belts! African streamer Showmax and Canal+ are getting ready to go pedal to the metal.
The streaming company, co-owned by African pay-tv giant MultiChoice Group and Comcast, and the French pay TV giant has released a trailer for the eight-part gangster and extreme sports drama Spinners, which The Hollywood Reporter is revealing exclusively.
The companies’ third co-production, set in South Africa’s Cape Town, became the first African show to take part in CanneSeries’ main competition.
Spinners follows Ethan (Cantona James), a 17-year-old driver working for a gang who is trying to support his younger brother and discovers a possible way out of gang life: spinning, an extreme motorsport that features drivers performing jaw-dropping daredevil stunts. However, a looming gang war jeopardizes his plans.
The cast includes James (Arendsvlei) and Chelsea Thomas (Arendsvlei) in leading roles, along with Elton Landrew (Recipes for Love & Murder); Dillon Windvogel...
The streaming company, co-owned by African pay-tv giant MultiChoice Group and Comcast, and the French pay TV giant has released a trailer for the eight-part gangster and extreme sports drama Spinners, which The Hollywood Reporter is revealing exclusively.
The companies’ third co-production, set in South Africa’s Cape Town, became the first African show to take part in CanneSeries’ main competition.
Spinners follows Ethan (Cantona James), a 17-year-old driver working for a gang who is trying to support his younger brother and discovers a possible way out of gang life: spinning, an extreme motorsport that features drivers performing jaw-dropping daredevil stunts. However, a looming gang war jeopardizes his plans.
The cast includes James (Arendsvlei) and Chelsea Thomas (Arendsvlei) in leading roles, along with Elton Landrew (Recipes for Love & Murder); Dillon Windvogel...
- 8/28/2023
- by Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Eight years ago in August, African pay-tv giant MultiChoice Group launched streaming service Showmax in South Africa. Since then, it has expanded to 44 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a Showmax diaspora service also currently available in more than 30 international markets worldwide.
Showmax has made a name for itself with original content and not only caught the eye of people on the continent, but also those in London, Philadelphia and Hollywood. Earlier this year, MultiChoice and Comcast’s entertainment arm NBCUniversal and its London-based European pay-tv unit Sky struck a partnership that “will bring some of the world’s best content and technology to streaming customers” across sub-Saharan Africa “at a time when Africa is approaching an inflection point in terms of broadband connectivity and affordability.” The partners’ new Showmax group is 70 percent owned by MultiChoice and 30 percent owned by NBCUniversal. A Showmax relaunch is scheduled to happen before the end...
Showmax has made a name for itself with original content and not only caught the eye of people on the continent, but also those in London, Philadelphia and Hollywood. Earlier this year, MultiChoice and Comcast’s entertainment arm NBCUniversal and its London-based European pay-tv unit Sky struck a partnership that “will bring some of the world’s best content and technology to streaming customers” across sub-Saharan Africa “at a time when Africa is approaching an inflection point in terms of broadband connectivity and affordability.” The partners’ new Showmax group is 70 percent owned by MultiChoice and 30 percent owned by NBCUniversal. A Showmax relaunch is scheduled to happen before the end...
- 8/22/2023
- by Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Exclusive: Nigeria soccer legend Augustine ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha is getting animated.
A reimagining of Okocha’s childhood in Nigeria will be the basis of African streamer Showmax’s first animated series, Jay Jay: The Chosen One.
The virtuoso midfielder Okocha played for the Nigerian national team between 1993 and 2006 and let the country to Olympics soccer glory at the 1996 Atlanta Games.
His show will run to 13 episodes and follow an 11-year-old Augustine who dreams of representing his school at a prestigious football tournament with a team made up of his rag-tag group of friends. Along with his passion for soccer, he loves the animal kingdom, which bestows superpowers on him in return for his fight against illegal poaching.
The series is voiced by a Nigerian cast, led by Prince Unigwe playing Jay Jay. Also cast are veteran actor Chinedu Ikedieze, Samuel Ajibola (The Johnsons); pro-footballer turned actor Eric Obinna, Tinsel actress Mena Sodje, Lexan Peters and Pamilerin Ayodeji (The Father).
It’s already been quite the week for animated soccer series, with Deadline revealing yesterday Argentinian legend and 2022 World Cup winner Lionel Messi is getting the toon treatment at Sony Music Entertainment.
Besides Okocha’s exploits for Nigeria, playing in three World Cups and gaining 73 caps, he had successful spells for Fenerbahce in Turkey, Psg in France and Bolton Wanderers in the English Premier League. He also played in Germany and Qatar and retired back in the UK in 2008 after playing for Hull City. He is considered one of the most skilful attacking midfielders of all-time and is considered by many as Nigeria’s greatest ever player.
“I’m honoured to have an animated series that reimagines my childhood,” he said. “Jay Jay: The Chosen One is going to bring back good childhood memories as well as inspire young children who have dreams to be football players. I’m excited about the show and grateful to Showmax and the production team who worked hard to bring it to life.”
Nihilent Limited is producing Jay Jay The Chosen One in partnership with the production studio 5th Dimension as well as animation studio I-Realities.
For Showmax, the series is a first animated effort. The streamer said the show would “give Nigerian children of all ages the opportunity to see themselves represented in animated form which is positive, humorous and educational” and “enchant and motivate kids across our continent through fantasy adventures as well as the power of sport.”
“Not only is Jay Jay: The Chosen One another locally inspired Showmax Original, it marks the beginning of our adventures in animation,” said Yolisa Phahle, CEO of Showmax and Connected Video at MultiChoice. “This is a show we believe will find audiences globally and shines the spotlight on yet another world-class African achiever that we hope will be enjoyed by kids and the entire family.”
Lc Singh, Nihilent Limited’s director and Executive Vice Chairman, said, “I always knew that creating a sports-based animation series for kids would be challenging and rewarding at the same time. The amount of work that goes into every single frame is immense, but seeing the final product come to life makes it all worth it.”
The news comes a week after Showmax owns MultiChoice teamed with Sky and NBCUniversal to launch a new Showmax-branded group. The service will be relaunched at a later date, powered by NBCU’s Peacock streaming technology and combining MultiChoice’s investment in local productions with international content licensed from NBCU and Sky, as well as third party content from HBO, Warner Bros International, Sony and others, and include live English Premier League football.
Watch a trailer for Jay Jay: The Chosen One series here.
A reimagining of Okocha’s childhood in Nigeria will be the basis of African streamer Showmax’s first animated series, Jay Jay: The Chosen One.
The virtuoso midfielder Okocha played for the Nigerian national team between 1993 and 2006 and let the country to Olympics soccer glory at the 1996 Atlanta Games.
His show will run to 13 episodes and follow an 11-year-old Augustine who dreams of representing his school at a prestigious football tournament with a team made up of his rag-tag group of friends. Along with his passion for soccer, he loves the animal kingdom, which bestows superpowers on him in return for his fight against illegal poaching.
The series is voiced by a Nigerian cast, led by Prince Unigwe playing Jay Jay. Also cast are veteran actor Chinedu Ikedieze, Samuel Ajibola (The Johnsons); pro-footballer turned actor Eric Obinna, Tinsel actress Mena Sodje, Lexan Peters and Pamilerin Ayodeji (The Father).
It’s already been quite the week for animated soccer series, with Deadline revealing yesterday Argentinian legend and 2022 World Cup winner Lionel Messi is getting the toon treatment at Sony Music Entertainment.
Besides Okocha’s exploits for Nigeria, playing in three World Cups and gaining 73 caps, he had successful spells for Fenerbahce in Turkey, Psg in France and Bolton Wanderers in the English Premier League. He also played in Germany and Qatar and retired back in the UK in 2008 after playing for Hull City. He is considered one of the most skilful attacking midfielders of all-time and is considered by many as Nigeria’s greatest ever player.
“I’m honoured to have an animated series that reimagines my childhood,” he said. “Jay Jay: The Chosen One is going to bring back good childhood memories as well as inspire young children who have dreams to be football players. I’m excited about the show and grateful to Showmax and the production team who worked hard to bring it to life.”
Nihilent Limited is producing Jay Jay The Chosen One in partnership with the production studio 5th Dimension as well as animation studio I-Realities.
For Showmax, the series is a first animated effort. The streamer said the show would “give Nigerian children of all ages the opportunity to see themselves represented in animated form which is positive, humorous and educational” and “enchant and motivate kids across our continent through fantasy adventures as well as the power of sport.”
“Not only is Jay Jay: The Chosen One another locally inspired Showmax Original, it marks the beginning of our adventures in animation,” said Yolisa Phahle, CEO of Showmax and Connected Video at MultiChoice. “This is a show we believe will find audiences globally and shines the spotlight on yet another world-class African achiever that we hope will be enjoyed by kids and the entire family.”
Lc Singh, Nihilent Limited’s director and Executive Vice Chairman, said, “I always knew that creating a sports-based animation series for kids would be challenging and rewarding at the same time. The amount of work that goes into every single frame is immense, but seeing the final product come to life makes it all worth it.”
The news comes a week after Showmax owns MultiChoice teamed with Sky and NBCUniversal to launch a new Showmax-branded group. The service will be relaunched at a later date, powered by NBCU’s Peacock streaming technology and combining MultiChoice’s investment in local productions with international content licensed from NBCU and Sky, as well as third party content from HBO, Warner Bros International, Sony and others, and include live English Premier League football.
Watch a trailer for Jay Jay: The Chosen One series here.
- 3/7/2023
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
New York Times bestselling author turned TV creator Taiye Selasi captivated a packed theater at the Joburg Film Festival this week, acknowledging that the deck is stacked against Black female creators in Hollywood, but insisting that the power of African women remained in their ability to overcome any obstacle in bringing their stories to the screen. “There is nothing that can stop, has ever stopped, or will ever, ever stop an African woman,” she declared to a rapt audience.
Selasi spoke in front of a full house at Johannesburg’s Theater on the Square on Friday as part of a day-long celebration of African women in film. During a rousing session in which she shared lessons from her experience at the helm of Cocoa Content, the TV production company she founded in 2019, Selasi weighed in on the growing demand for African talent in Hollywood while also unpacking the “hype” about...
Selasi spoke in front of a full house at Johannesburg’s Theater on the Square on Friday as part of a day-long celebration of African women in film. During a rousing session in which she shared lessons from her experience at the helm of Cocoa Content, the TV production company she founded in 2019, Selasi weighed in on the growing demand for African talent in Hollywood while also unpacking the “hype” about...
- 2/5/2023
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
African streaming service Showmax has inked a two-series slate deal with Tshedza Pictures, the South African production company behind the International Emmy-nominated telenovela “The River,” the company announced Tuesday at the start of the Joburg Film Festival.
“Adulting,” Tshedza’s first Showmax Original, is an eight-part drama series set in the parallel universes of four varsity friends. Their strong bond has held them together even as their journeys in life have taken them in very different directions — a bond the show’s creators describe as “the bromance of the decade.”
Tshedza’s second Showmax Original, “Outlaws,” is a cross-cultural love story that plays out in the dangerous world of cattle-theft syndicates in the lawless land on the border between Lesotho and South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal region.
“Adulting” is set to premiere in the first half of 2023, while the 40-episode epic drama series “Outlaws” is expected to be delivered in the second half of the year.
“Adulting,” Tshedza’s first Showmax Original, is an eight-part drama series set in the parallel universes of four varsity friends. Their strong bond has held them together even as their journeys in life have taken them in very different directions — a bond the show’s creators describe as “the bromance of the decade.”
Tshedza’s second Showmax Original, “Outlaws,” is a cross-cultural love story that plays out in the dangerous world of cattle-theft syndicates in the lawless land on the border between Lesotho and South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal region.
“Adulting” is set to premiere in the first half of 2023, while the 40-episode epic drama series “Outlaws” is expected to be delivered in the second half of the year.
- 1/31/2023
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: South African streamer Showmax has partnered with the Joburg Film Festival to launch an open commissioning brief to the African film industry, calling for pitches to fill a slate of 10 live-action films.
All submitted proposals must have a first draft screenplay and be set in contemporary Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, or South Africa, with a first-time director attached who is a resident or citizen in those countries.
All official Ghanaian, Kenyan, Nigerian, and South African languages are welcome, and the final films should be more than 40 minutes, in line with the SAFTAs Best Made-for-tv Movie Award category.
Story pitches are required to be in English and recorded as a video that is no longer than five minutes. Showmax said the pitch must also include short bios of the writer, director, and producer; a concise summary of the story, including the ending; an introduction to your lead characters; and a discussion...
All submitted proposals must have a first draft screenplay and be set in contemporary Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, or South Africa, with a first-time director attached who is a resident or citizen in those countries.
All official Ghanaian, Kenyan, Nigerian, and South African languages are welcome, and the final films should be more than 40 minutes, in line with the SAFTAs Best Made-for-tv Movie Award category.
Story pitches are required to be in English and recorded as a video that is no longer than five minutes. Showmax said the pitch must also include short bios of the writer, director, and producer; a concise summary of the story, including the ending; an introduction to your lead characters; and a discussion...
- 1/31/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: African streamer Showmax is readying its latest original out of Nigeria for next month.
Crime and Justice Lagos follows the activities of the fictional Serious and Special Crimes Unit working in the Nigerian capital, which is the biggest and most densely populated city in Africa, led by Deputy Commissioner of Police Femi Biboye (William Benson).
The show, made for MultiChoice’s streaming service, will debut on December 8, with Folu Storms and Jammal Ibraham also starring as the heads of an elite team of detectives.
Nollywood veterans Uche Mac-Auley, Paul Adams and Femi Durojaiye also star, along with emerging talents Margaret Osuome, Ejirooghene “Jyro” Asagba and Makinde Adeniran. Yinka Edward is executive producer.
Deadline understands an international co-production partner is close to boarding the production, whose filming has wrapped.
“Crime and Justice Lagos is unlike any other Nigerian original we have put out,” said Busola Tejumola, Executive Head of Content...
Crime and Justice Lagos follows the activities of the fictional Serious and Special Crimes Unit working in the Nigerian capital, which is the biggest and most densely populated city in Africa, led by Deputy Commissioner of Police Femi Biboye (William Benson).
The show, made for MultiChoice’s streaming service, will debut on December 8, with Folu Storms and Jammal Ibraham also starring as the heads of an elite team of detectives.
Nollywood veterans Uche Mac-Auley, Paul Adams and Femi Durojaiye also star, along with emerging talents Margaret Osuome, Ejirooghene “Jyro” Asagba and Makinde Adeniran. Yinka Edward is executive producer.
Deadline understands an international co-production partner is close to boarding the production, whose filming has wrapped.
“Crime and Justice Lagos is unlike any other Nigerian original we have put out,” said Busola Tejumola, Executive Head of Content...
- 11/28/2022
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
Gentleman Jack producer Lookout Point and Expanded Media Productions are adapting Deon Meyer’s bestseller Devil’s Peak into a five-part series for M-Net.
Set in Cape Town, the thriller is being adapted by Moon Knight writer Matthew Orton and follows talented but broken Detective Benny Griessel, who is tasked with tracking down a righteous vigilante killer whose crimes are capturing the imagination of the city. Benny and grieving father Thobela are brought into the orbit of trapped mother Christine, who is willing to do anything to achieve a better life for herself and her daughter, and the fates of these three characters become inextricably linked as the series builds to its explosive climax.
Series stars Hilton Pelser, Sisanda Henna and Tarryn Wyngaard and is being directed by Jozua Malherbe. Orton is adapting with Amy Jephta, who is also associate producer.
Set in Cape Town, the thriller is being adapted by Moon Knight writer Matthew Orton and follows talented but broken Detective Benny Griessel, who is tasked with tracking down a righteous vigilante killer whose crimes are capturing the imagination of the city. Benny and grieving father Thobela are brought into the orbit of trapped mother Christine, who is willing to do anything to achieve a better life for herself and her daughter, and the fates of these three characters become inextricably linked as the series builds to its explosive climax.
Series stars Hilton Pelser, Sisanda Henna and Tarryn Wyngaard and is being directed by Jozua Malherbe. Orton is adapting with Amy Jephta, who is also associate producer.
- 9/8/2022
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Dorothy Ghettuba remembers the moment that changed her life. The Kenya-born entrepreneur was traveling with friends in Zambia when their driver fell asleep at the wheel, sending their van careening off the road and into a tree. The group left the accident unscathed, but the brush with death rattled Ghettuba. “Things can happen to you that make you pause,” she tells Variety. “And that was a thing that made me pause and say to myself, ‘If today was my last day, have I lived my best life?’”
Ghettuba had been working at a venture capital firm in Canada, but she left her job and returned to Kenya, where she began to chase a lifelong dream to join the entertainment industry and tell the kinds of stories that spoke to her. Within a few years she’d produced her first pilot for public broadcaster Kbc and was soon developing a slate...
Ghettuba had been working at a venture capital firm in Canada, but she left her job and returned to Kenya, where she began to chase a lifelong dream to join the entertainment industry and tell the kinds of stories that spoke to her. Within a few years she’d produced her first pilot for public broadcaster Kbc and was soon developing a slate...
- 3/3/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
South Africa’s Local Motion Pictures, whose dystopian sci-fi feature “Glasshouse” will world premiere at the Fantasia Intl. Film Festival this month, has signed a three-picture deal with leading SVOD service Showmax.
Under the agreement, which Local Motion signed in association with Crave Pictures, the company will produce a slate of films to be directed by “Glasshouse” helmer Kelsey Egan.
Associate producer Emma Lungiswa de Wet, who co-wrote “Glasshouse” with Egan, says the trio of films will shine a new and unsettling light on South Africa, which continues to reckon with the legacy of Apartheid nearly three decades since its transition to democracy.
“A dystopian slate allows us to look at the underbelly of the dream – what’s at the end of the Rainbow Nation?” said Lungiswa de Wet. “We have a long brutal history that we’re only beginning to come to terms with. We’re a newish democracy,...
Under the agreement, which Local Motion signed in association with Crave Pictures, the company will produce a slate of films to be directed by “Glasshouse” helmer Kelsey Egan.
Associate producer Emma Lungiswa de Wet, who co-wrote “Glasshouse” with Egan, says the trio of films will shine a new and unsettling light on South Africa, which continues to reckon with the legacy of Apartheid nearly three decades since its transition to democracy.
“A dystopian slate allows us to look at the underbelly of the dream – what’s at the end of the Rainbow Nation?” said Lungiswa de Wet. “We have a long brutal history that we’re only beginning to come to terms with. We’re a newish democracy,...
- 7/29/2021
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
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