England Women’s Soccer Manager Joins RTS Cambridge Lineup
England women’s soccer manager Sarina Wiegman will chat with YouTube’s boss in the UK at next month’s RTS Cambridge Convention. The convention has rounded out lineup with Wiegman, who has won two major trophies for the Lionesses, joining Alison Lomax on stage. Final speakers also include Good Omens star David Tennant in conversation with Charlotte Moore, the ex-BBC content chief who has just moved to Sony. This will be Moore’s first on-stage appearance since leaving the top job at the corporation. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy is also aboard, alongside Banijay boss Marco Bassetti, All3Media chief Jane Turton and Strictly Come Dancing winner Chris McCausland. This year’s chair of the convention is BBC Director General Tim Davie. Previously announced speakers include FX chair John Landgraf, Candle Media boss Kevin Mayer and Jeff Zucker, the CEO of RedBird IMI. The convention takes place September 17 to 18.
First Look At ‘The Engineer’
EXCLUSIVE: Here’s a first-look at The Engineer, Sam Reynard’s debut feature doc. The film, which is from Kensal Productions and is now in post-production, follows the life of Reynard’s father, Adrian Reynard, an innovator in the motorsports space who is attempting one final land speed record attempt on a motorbike aged 74. Aged 19, the elder Reynard broke the world land speed record on a bike he built himself and went on to found Reynard Racing Cars, which was the largest manufacturer of race cars in 1970s and 1980s. It ultimately led to the foundation of the F1 team British American Racing. The film features candid interviews with Reynard Snr, Jackie Stewart, Toto Wolff, Eddie Jordan, Jacques Villeneuve and Otmar Szafnauer among others. “Motorsport has changed,” said director Reynard. “The solo journey from tinkering in your garage to Formula 1 is no longer possible. Adrian Reynard was the last of his kind, a dying breed of engineers. His obsession is reflected in the extreme risks he still takes today, at the age of 74. That is the kind of person you need to be – obsessed. I have witnessed firsthand the effect that this unwavering ambition can have on those you love, and I want to tell that story.” The Engineer is produced by Esme Stanford-Durkinand and edited by Johnny Burke (Williams, A Northern Soul).
Norway’s TV2 Makes ‘Great School Swap’
Norwegian network TV2 is remaking British series The Great School Swap after licensing the format from Keshet International. Based on a U.S. integration initiative from the 1960s, the original series for Channel 4 saw pupils from an all-white school in Tamworth, Staffordshire, swap with pupils from a nearby all-Asian school to explore how different cultures integrate in new circumstances. TV2’s version, Skolebytte (School Switch), will see 24 ninth graders from two culturally different schools on opposite sides of Oslo come together over two weeks, with one spent at each school. Teddy TV is producing and Janne Amble and Kadafi Zaman will host, reflecting on the issues raised in the five-part show and on their own perspectives and experiences. “Skolebytte shows how meetings across differences can create understanding and community,” said Trygve Rønningen, TV2’s Program Director. “We hope TV viewers will be inspired by the openness and curiosity of these young people. Prejudices can be challenged and broken down when people meet and share experiences, and our hope is that this series contributes to exactly that.” The show debuts on TV2 tomorrow (August 28) on TV2 Play and TV2 Direkte. The Channel 4 series was nominated for Grierson and Royal Television Society Awards.
CIISA Names “Trailblazers”
New UK anti-bullying body CIISA has unveiled its first “trailblazers” a few days after Deadline revealed the big players declining to fund the body. The BBC, Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, ITV, Royal Albert Hall, Royal Shakespeare Company, Sadler’s Wells, Sky, Patrick Melrose producer Two Cities Television and Wales Millennium Centre are aboard and will help “bring CIISA’s standards to life.” These standards were forged at the start of the year in response to scandals like the Gregg Wallace saga. They are: are: ‘Safe Working Environments’, ‘Inclusive Working Environments’, ‘Open and Accountable Reporting Mechanisms’ and ‘Responsive Learning Cultures’. The BBC and ITV have pledged to make annual payments to CIISA, which is yet to launch its much-discussed anti-bullying whistleblowing hotline. Channel 4, Disney and Amazon are among the giants declining to pay annual fees. CIISA boss Jen Smith said: “The way CIISA’s Standards have been embraced has been fantastic and we know they are the foundation to building safer and more accountable work environments across the creative industries. More and more organisations, projects and productions will be required to align with the CIISA Standards and we couldn’t be more grateful to these Trailblazing partners who have demonstrated their leadership on this agenda, and whose generous support and investment of time will enable us to create practical guides and resources scalable to everyone’s needs.”
BritBox Buys ‘The Hardacres’
North American streamer BritBox has acquired period drama The Hardacres from Banijay Rights. The show, made for terrestrial network 5 by Wolf Hall company Playground, in association with Screen Ireland and Red Berry Productions, is billed as “a sweeping rags to riches story that follows the lives, loves and fortunes of the working class Hardacre family as they move from a grimy fish dock to a vast country estate in 1890’s Yorkshire.” 5 renewed the drama, which is based on CL Skelton’s epic novel of the same name, for a second season last month, following the first’s debut on the Paramount-owned network last October. Cast includes Claire Cooper (The Continental, The Peripheral), Liam McMahon (Hunger, The Secret), Julie Graham (Time, Ridley), Adam Little (Ackley Bridge, Coronation Street), Shannon Lavelle and Zak Ford-Williams (Better, Bridgerton).
