“Philomena” author Martin Sixsmith announces next project; Channel+ Q1 growth; Sky Deutschland True-Crime Doc – Global Guide

“Philomena” author Martin Sixsmith is planning the next project

Philomena Author Martin Sixsmith and We are Lady Parts’ Raisah Ahmed is working on a TV adaptation of Sixsmith’s novel Ayesha’s gift. The six-part detective thriller takes place after the untimely death of British businesswoman Ayesha Rahman’s father, who apparently committed suicide while visiting family in Pakistan. With good reason to believe her father has actually been murdered, and with no help from British or Pakistani authorities, Ayesha takes matters into her own hands and reaches out to Sixsmith, an investigative journalist who also wrote the book that became Stephen Frears. Movie Philomena in which he is played by Steve Coogan. Ahmed will co-write an EP with Sixsmith. She wrote about Channel 4’s award-winning comedy We are LadyParts and is also developing a feature film debut with Film4. Freedom Scripted products supported by Channel 4 Ayesha’s gift. “Working with Ayesha to find her father’s killers brought us into conflict,” Sixsmith said. “Solving the mysteries behind our individual losses brought us comfort, self-knowledge and a shared hope for release from grief. Now I am incredibly excited to see how this story plays out on screen.

Canal+ drives sales growth Vivendi

Canal+ owner Vivendi today reported slightly improved first-quarter sales of 2.3 billion euros ($2.5 billion), mainly due to the growth of the Canal+ group. The France-based conglomerate grew its sales by 3.3%, with Canal+ bringing in €32 million in the quarter while Studiocanal grew by 13.6%. “This development must be seen in light of the high comparable base of the first quarter of 2022 in conjunction with the recovery in activity from the Covid pandemic,” Vivendi said in a statement. The company attributed the growth of Canal+ to the launch of several films, as well as the agreement with Apple TV+, for which the SVoD is available to all Canal+ subscribers in France and other French-speaking territories. The results mark an improvement after Vivendi posted an annual loss of $1.07 billion in March related to the deconsolidation of its stake in Telecom Italia.

Sky Deutschland sees a “parking lot murder”

Sky’s German arm has launched an inquest into the death of millionaire Charlotte Böhringer, who was found bludgeoned to death in her penthouse above a Munich car park. Her cousin Benedikt Toth was later jailed for life for the murder, despite only circumstantial evidence linking him to the murder. Parking Lot Murder (working title) comes from Bavaria Fiction, it contains the latest findings and developments in the case. Toth was released from prison in Germany this morning. He protests his innocence and doubts the conviction and is questioned by the doctor. Emanuel Rotstein from Bavaria and Christian Asanger and Nico Gammella from Sky are executive producers, Philipp Klees is producer, Astrid Holz is line producer for Bavaria Fiction and Alexander Vexler is director of photography. NBCUniversal Global Distribution has worldwide distribution.