Exclusive: Blackfin, the Lionsgate-backed production company behind series including Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez, has a new Head of Documentaries.
Igal Svet, who was previously head of documentaries at Discovery+ has joined in the role as well as EVP.
Reporting to Chief Creative Officer Geno McDermott, Svet joins after nearly three years as Head of Documentaries at Discovery+, a position he left in March 2023. In that role, he helped launch a slate of docs including Trump: Unprecedented, House of Hammer, Curse of the Chippendales, Hillsong: A Megachurch Exposed, and Queen of Meth as well as acquisitions such as Introducing Selma Blair.
Before joining Discovery in 2019, initially as VP, Production and Development, Svet spent five years at Nat Geo, where he worked on docs such as LA92, Jane, Mars, Story of God with Morgan Freeman, and One Strange Rock.
Lionsgate Alternative Television’s Blackfin, which was formerly part of eOne,...
Igal Svet, who was previously head of documentaries at Discovery+ has joined in the role as well as EVP.
Reporting to Chief Creative Officer Geno McDermott, Svet joins after nearly three years as Head of Documentaries at Discovery+, a position he left in March 2023. In that role, he helped launch a slate of docs including Trump: Unprecedented, House of Hammer, Curse of the Chippendales, Hillsong: A Megachurch Exposed, and Queen of Meth as well as acquisitions such as Introducing Selma Blair.
Before joining Discovery in 2019, initially as VP, Production and Development, Svet spent five years at Nat Geo, where he worked on docs such as LA92, Jane, Mars, Story of God with Morgan Freeman, and One Strange Rock.
Lionsgate Alternative Television’s Blackfin, which was formerly part of eOne,...
- 4/25/2024
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Lionsgate Alternative Television has signed with UTA as the major studio gets deeper into unscripted TV.
The talent, entertainment and sports agency will represent the Lionsgate TV division as it looks to get more of its unscripted content into the global marketplace. The move also follows Lionsgate tapping Craig Piligian as managing director of the newly restructured unit after Lionsgate acquired certain film and TV assets of Entertainment One from Hasbro.
Piligian in a statement said the Hollywood studio would look to leverage UTA’s buyer relationships and industry expertise as Lionsgate Alternative Television ramps up in unscripted TV. “I am especially pleased to expand my relationship with David and Geoff and their team, as they help spearhead the future of this division,” he added of his coming partnership with David Kirsch and Geoff Suddleson, UTA partners and co-heads of unscripted television.
The Lionsgate unscripted TV unit spans Pilgrim Media Group,...
The talent, entertainment and sports agency will represent the Lionsgate TV division as it looks to get more of its unscripted content into the global marketplace. The move also follows Lionsgate tapping Craig Piligian as managing director of the newly restructured unit after Lionsgate acquired certain film and TV assets of Entertainment One from Hasbro.
Piligian in a statement said the Hollywood studio would look to leverage UTA’s buyer relationships and industry expertise as Lionsgate Alternative Television ramps up in unscripted TV. “I am especially pleased to expand my relationship with David and Geoff and their team, as they help spearhead the future of this division,” he added of his coming partnership with David Kirsch and Geoff Suddleson, UTA partners and co-heads of unscripted television.
The Lionsgate unscripted TV unit spans Pilgrim Media Group,...
- 1/25/2024
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Lionsgate is expanding in unscripted TV programming by launching an alternative TV division led by Craig Piligian.
Lionsgate Alternative Television will encompass the studio’s unscripted TV brands like Pilgrim Media Group, Blackfin, Renegade, Daisybeck Studios and more recently Entertainment One after the acquisition of key film and TV assets from Hasbro.
Piligian, the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning producer, becomes managing director of the new division that has unscripted franchises like Naked and Afraid, Street Outlaws, Wicked Tuna, The Yorkshire Vet, Ex on the Beach, Selling Sunset and Milf Manor. Lionsgate’s unscripted TV output includes limited series like Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez and Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre.
The management team at Lionsgate Alternative Television also includes Pilgrim Media Group president and COO Gretchen Stockdale and top Renegade execs David Garfinkle and Jay Renfroe. Former History Channel and Half Yard Productions exec Dirk Hoogstra joins...
Lionsgate Alternative Television will encompass the studio’s unscripted TV brands like Pilgrim Media Group, Blackfin, Renegade, Daisybeck Studios and more recently Entertainment One after the acquisition of key film and TV assets from Hasbro.
Piligian, the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning producer, becomes managing director of the new division that has unscripted franchises like Naked and Afraid, Street Outlaws, Wicked Tuna, The Yorkshire Vet, Ex on the Beach, Selling Sunset and Milf Manor. Lionsgate’s unscripted TV output includes limited series like Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez and Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre.
The management team at Lionsgate Alternative Television also includes Pilgrim Media Group president and COO Gretchen Stockdale and top Renegade execs David Garfinkle and Jay Renfroe. Former History Channel and Half Yard Productions exec Dirk Hoogstra joins...
- 1/9/2024
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The bitcoin money laundering scandal, which has made headlines in the national news recently, will be the subject of two projects from Entertainment One and Forbes Entertainment. The companies have teamed to produce a scripted series and a documentary about the scandal following the Feb. 8 arrest in Manhattan of so-called “crypto couple,” Heather Morgan and Ilya “Dutch” Lichtenstein, who are awaiting trial on charges alleging they tried to launder $3.6 billion in stolen bitcoin. The scripted project is co-produced by eOne, Forbes Entertainment and Tucker Tooley Entertainment, and the documentary hails from eOne’s Blackfin and Forbes Entertainment.
The projects are based on Forbes’ reporting on the couple, the publication’s expertise in wealth and financial journalism and their unique perspective of having a relationship with Morgan, who, from July 2017 was a ForbesWomen Contributor on Forbes.com until Forbes ended its relationship with her September 2021.
“The Crypto Couple’s story reads...
The projects are based on Forbes’ reporting on the couple, the publication’s expertise in wealth and financial journalism and their unique perspective of having a relationship with Morgan, who, from July 2017 was a ForbesWomen Contributor on Forbes.com until Forbes ended its relationship with her September 2021.
“The Crypto Couple’s story reads...
- 2/16/2022
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
The TV Academy music branch is clearly not impressed by big names.
None of the superstars who entered the 2020-21 Emmy competition in the music categories — including H.E.R., Beyoncé, Bruce Springsteen, Sara Bareilles, Dolly Parton and Cher — were rewarded Wednesday when the 73rd annual Emmy Award nominations were announced.
Rather, the majority of nominees in the seven music categories were largely familiar composers, songwriters, music directors and music supervisors within the scoring community.
The biggest musical names nominated were Marcus Mumford for the theme for “Ted Lasso,” Grammy president-ceo Harvey Mason Jr. for “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist,” jazzman Branford Marsalis for a History Channel documentary, two-time Oscar winners Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez for their hummable songs for “WandaVision,” and Tony winner Marc Shaiman for a song on a YouTube special.
Missing from Tuesday’s lists were songs for “Safety,” by H.E.R.; “Black Is King” by Beyoncé; both “Girls5eva...
None of the superstars who entered the 2020-21 Emmy competition in the music categories — including H.E.R., Beyoncé, Bruce Springsteen, Sara Bareilles, Dolly Parton and Cher — were rewarded Wednesday when the 73rd annual Emmy Award nominations were announced.
Rather, the majority of nominees in the seven music categories were largely familiar composers, songwriters, music directors and music supervisors within the scoring community.
The biggest musical names nominated were Marcus Mumford for the theme for “Ted Lasso,” Grammy president-ceo Harvey Mason Jr. for “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist,” jazzman Branford Marsalis for a History Channel documentary, two-time Oscar winners Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez for their hummable songs for “WandaVision,” and Tony winner Marc Shaiman for a song on a YouTube special.
Missing from Tuesday’s lists were songs for “Safety,” by H.E.R.; “Black Is King” by Beyoncé; both “Girls5eva...
- 7/13/2021
- by Jon Burlingame
- Variety Film + TV
More than a dozen of music’s biggest stars, from Beyoncé to H.E.R., would love an Emmy to add to their award shelves.
A Variety review of the 535 entries throughout the Television Academy’s seven music categories reveals a surprising number of A-list singers, songwriters and music directors apparently eager for TV’s top honor. Among them:
H.E.R. (with Josiah Bassey) is entered for original song for “Hold Us Together” from the Disney Plus movie “Safety.” She won the Oscar earlier this year and already has four Grammys, so an Emmy win would put her three-fourths of the way to a fabled Egot. Beyoncé is entered for music direction and original song (both with Derek Dixie) for “Black Is King,” her musical film companion to “The Lion King” (also on Disney Plus). The song “Black Parade” won her a Grammy earlier this year for best R&b performance.
A Variety review of the 535 entries throughout the Television Academy’s seven music categories reveals a surprising number of A-list singers, songwriters and music directors apparently eager for TV’s top honor. Among them:
H.E.R. (with Josiah Bassey) is entered for original song for “Hold Us Together” from the Disney Plus movie “Safety.” She won the Oscar earlier this year and already has four Grammys, so an Emmy win would put her three-fourths of the way to a fabled Egot. Beyoncé is entered for music direction and original song (both with Derek Dixie) for “Black Is King,” her musical film companion to “The Lion King” (also on Disney Plus). The song “Black Parade” won her a Grammy earlier this year for best R&b performance.
- 6/22/2021
- by Jon Burlingame
- Variety Film + TV
NBA all-star Russell Westbrook has teamed with Sony’s Incubation Lab to produce the basketball-themed short film “Why Not?”
The basketball star and the Incubation Lab also partnered with Jordan Brand for the project, with the purpose to elevate storytellers in the Black community, including the short’s co-writer and director Tevin Tavares and writer Lance Cameron Holloway.
According to a description of the project, “Why Not?” showcases the culture of Los Angeles’ Crenshaw neighborhood and aims to expose youth in marginalized communities to the ever-growing technology space.
The short focuses on a top high school basketball player who finds another way to impact his community when the sport is taken away from him: he teams up with a misunderstood neighborhood teen tech wizard.
“A lot of the youth in Black and Brown communities look at the tech space as an almost impossible field to exist within,” Westbrook says of the project.
The basketball star and the Incubation Lab also partnered with Jordan Brand for the project, with the purpose to elevate storytellers in the Black community, including the short’s co-writer and director Tevin Tavares and writer Lance Cameron Holloway.
According to a description of the project, “Why Not?” showcases the culture of Los Angeles’ Crenshaw neighborhood and aims to expose youth in marginalized communities to the ever-growing technology space.
The short focuses on a top high school basketball player who finds another way to impact his community when the sport is taken away from him: he teams up with a misunderstood neighborhood teen tech wizard.
“A lot of the youth in Black and Brown communities look at the tech space as an almost impossible field to exist within,” Westbrook says of the project.
- 6/10/2021
- by Angelique Jackson
- Variety Film + TV
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