Welcome, once again. This week, Insiders, it’s Jesse Whittock taking you through seven days in international film and TV that spans everything from major corporate layoffs to Italian festivals. On we go, and sign up for the newsletter here for the full Insider experience.
Turmoil At Netflix
IInternational light shines in dark: The crisis engulfing Netflix has seen the end of global content chief Bela Bajaria and film boss Dan Lim, and the introduction of former Fox and Disney TV studio topper Peter Rice. Though the company is still throwing off bundles of cash, the profits aren’t good enough for a ravenous Wall Street, and the blood of 1,000 staff has been let as Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters attempt to change the record. However, amid the ongoing troubles, the international side of the Netflix business has quietly bolstered its reputation. Though Netflix stock skidded on soft quarterly results and the lack of bonafide U.S.-made hits in 2026 has been a big problem, the streamer talked up local breakouts such as Japan’s Plastic Beauty, Denmark’s The Secret Woman, Mexico’s El Chapo and The Perfect Lie out of the Netherlands. The success of carrying the channel suite of France’s TF1 should lead to more deals of the same nature, Netflix execs added. It should be noted that none of the non-U.S. titles referenced this week could be considered global hits just yet, but there’s no doubt territory managers and regional bosses will have been heartened they’d been singled out for praise. Bajaria was popular with them, and her legacy will include the huge growth at international Netflix hubs over the past six years. As for Netflix’s new Chief Content Officer, Rice, well, there’s an international story to tell there as well. He was born and raised in the UK, studying at the University of Nottingham before beginning his media career at Twentieth Century Fox in 1989. Though his career has almost entirely been working for the U.S. studios, he has been known to attend the Edinburgh TV Festival and other European events, bringing hope that his strategy will continue the local-to-global model that has seen investment hit so many markets. Read Nellie Andreeva’s excellent report on his career and prospects here.
When in Rome…
From MIA to you: The latest edition of Rome’s MIA Market has been taking place this week, and I made the journey to the Italian capital for the first portion of the five-day event. Edward Berger, whose papal selection movie Conclave was set within the walls of Vatican City, opened the conference and market with a fascinating look into his filmmaking process and views on how the movie business has evolved. Berger put forwards the theory that the U.S. studios had needed the arrival of Netflix to “wake” them from a slumber, but that, given current circumstances, it might be the turn of Skydances, Disneys and NBCUniversals to inspire the streamer. MIA also heard more from Banijay Entertainment boss Marco Bassetti, speaking publicly for the second time in a week following MIPCOM in Cannes, and from Domingo Corral, the widely-respected former content boss at Spain’s Movistar Plus+, who passionately argued gatekeepers must take risks – his version of this led to greenlights for the likes of La Bola Negra and Sîrat. Elsewhere, we got a snapshot of the Italian entertainment (‘audiovisual’) market, where inward investment fell for the first time since 2018. MIA has turned itself into an important co-production and financial market – this year’s launch of the European Investment Hub track was a sign of that – and besides the fact you can eat fabulously well in Rome (my new tip is Francesco Panella’s Antica Pesa in Trastevere), the content on offer makes it a worthy addition to an entertainment player’s schedule. More MIA here.
The Deadline Interview: Patrick Brammall
Patrick Brammall was in reflective mood when Deadline spoke to him about his Apple TV thriller series Last Seen. The Australian actor and Harriet Dyer – his real-life wife and on-screen partner – had over the summer said goodbye to romantic sitcom Colin From Accounts and were contemplating their next steps while raising a young family in Los Angeles. Brammall opened up about what attracted him to a dramatic role in Last Seen, how he feels about leaving behind an injured dog in an Aussie comedy, and his role in The Devil Wears Prada 2. He also gave his views on the changing shape of the Australian production scene and sent love to Brian Walsh, the late Binge commissioner who backed Colin in the first place. >>>Read The Interview
Bye Bye, BBC Three… Again
‘Fleabag’ net on the scrapheap: How many TV channels have been axed twice in 10 years? There can’t be many, but BBC Three is now one of them. The youth-skewing network is the highest-profile casualty of the BBC‘s massive cost-cutting operation. Deadline was the first to tip the plan last month, and this week it became reality, as the axe also swung for BBC Scotland and Radio 4 Extra. There have been many who claim BBC Three doesn’t need a linear identity to survive given most of its target audience prefers online content, but it’s still a downer for a channel that has spawned genre-smashing shows such as Fleabag and Gavin & Stacey. In another depressing week for the UK’s public broadcaster, there were more cuts, talk of even more cuts and programs scrapped, as the BBC’s desperate bid to make the books work continues under former Google EMEA chief Matt Brittin.
The Essentials
🌶️ Hot One: J.A. Bayona, Javier Bardem and Laurent Bouzereau are teaming for Néstor, a feature doc about the life of legendary Spanish cinematographer Néstor Almendros.
🌶️ Another: Gianni Nunnari, producer on movies including the 300 franchise, is bringing Brian Selznick’s young adult novel Run Away With Me to the screen, with the author adapting his own novel.
🔥 Hot, Hot, Hot: Kari Skogland will direct Vigilant, a crime thriller based on a Skúli Sigurðsson novel and adapted for TV by Severance star Ólafur Darri Ólafsson.
🤝 New job: Carol Choi succeeded the retiring Luke Kang as President of The Walt Disney Company in Asia Pacific.
⛺ Fest latest: Walter Thompson-Hernández’s buzzy indie feature If I Go Will They Miss Me is among 10 titles screening in the International Competition at this year’s Thessaloniki Film Festival.
🏆 Interview: The story of how Olivia Colman-starrer Wicker went from an unpublished short story to a big-screen feminist romantasy, as told by the producers behind it.
⚖️ Legal: The latest from the Russell Brand trial in London. Brand denies all charges.
🌐 YouTube: Amelia Dimoldenberg’s manager, Rebecca Dowell, is spearheading an Entertainment and New Media division at her international management outfit Three Six Zero.
🇯🇵 TIFF talk: Liz Shackleton set the seen for next week’s Tokyo International Film Festival through a chat with its leaders and an interview with TIFFCOM CEO Yasushi Shiina.
😎 Madchester: Dates for the first post-Edinburgh TV Festival in Greater Manchester were announced.
🪧 Protest: Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones signed an open letter in support of their Normal People scribe Sally Rooney, whose books are banned in the UK.
👀 First look: At Minnie Driver in Paramount+ heist drama The Day.
Photo of the Week
Claymation – Naomi Ackie and Tom Rhys Harries at the European premiere of Clayface at the Curzon Mayfair in London.