UK’s Jack Thorne-Backed TV Access Project Finds New Lead
The UK’s TV Access Project (TAP), which counts Jack Thorne amongst its founders and is fighting for improved access for disabled talent, has a new project lead. Heloise Beaton joins from her role as Disability Lead at thinkBIGGER!, where she worked with the likes of BAFTA and ScreenSkills to develop disability inclusive practices. The Glasgow-based exec freelanced as an unscripted TV Producer for 10 years and has worked on productions such as Question Time, Dispatches and Ready Steady Cook. She replaces Ally Castle and Tanya Motie leading the body that is fighting for the ultimate goal of no disabled talent feeling excluded by the industry by 2030. It was founded at Edinburgh TV Festival just over two years ago by Help scribe Thorne and others. “I believe there is an opportunity to create real and meaningful change in the TV industry,” she said. “Previous Project Leads Ally Castle and Tanya Motie have set in motion great initiatives that pave the way for a more inclusive television landscape and I’m looking forward to building on this.”
Nazis, North Koreans & Chinese On BBC Storyville Slate
BBC Storyville has unveiled a slate of five films to air in early 2024. The likes of Revenge: Our Dad the Nazi Killer, Beyond Utopia: Escape from North Korea and Chinese movie Total Trust helm the slate. The latter follows two families and a journalist in China in intimate detail, exploring state surveillance and digital social control in the nation. The other two movies on the roster are Eternal Memory from Oscar-nominated documentary director, Maite Alberdi, and Another Body, a terrifying story about an American woman who appears in porn videos as a deepfake without her consent. “BBC Storyville’s first season of 2024 offers something for everyone who loves international feature documentaries,” said Emma Hindley, the Lead Commissioning Editor on Storyville.
Shhhh…. Japanese Format ‘Silent Library’ Is Launching In Germany
Whisper it quietly, but hit Japanese format ‘Silent Library’ is launching on RTL’s streaming service in Germany. Keshet-backed German prodco Tresor will make the local version of the show, which sees celebs having to remain silent while taking on weird and wonderful challenges. The Nippon TV-distributed format was created by legendary Japanese comedian Hitoshi and has bowed in scores of international territories. In the U.S. it ran on MTV between 2009 and 2011. The German version will feature local personalities and TikTok stars. It will run on commercial net RTL’s streaming service RTL+ across eight fifteen-minute-long eps, starting this week.
