English Entertainment
Power to surge at MIPTV
Paris, Tuesday 21 January 2014 – MIPTV announces the exclusive preview of the upcoming Starz original drama series, Power, as the MIPTV 2014 World Premiere TV Screening.
The eight-episode first season was created by showrunner Courtney Kemp Agboh (“The Good Wife”) with Curtis Jackson, aka 50 Cent, on board as Executive Producer and part of a stellar cast.
Power tells the story of wealthy New York City nightclub owner, James ‘Ghost’ St. Patrick, who caters to the city’s elite. He wants to build an empire, turning the club into a Fortune 500 business, but there’s just one problem: he is living a double life. When he is not in the nightclub, he is the kingpin of the most lucrative drug network in New York for a very high-level clientele. His marriage, family and business all become unknowingly threatened as he is tempted to leave his criminal life behind and become the rags-to-riches businessman he has always dreamed of. Set in modern day New York, the series will film in and around the city’s five boroughs, making New York a major character throughout the season.
“I am excited to host the World Premiere TV Screening of Power at MIPTV with Starz. We are looking forward to bringing this story to audiences around the world,” said Executive Producer Curtis ‘50 Cent’ Jackson.
“Starz is thrilled to premiere Power at MIPTV 2014,” said Starz CEO Chris Albrecht. “It’s a universal story of power, seduction and the desire for redemption, all set against one of the most striking and glamorous backdrops in the world – New York City. We believe world-wide audiences will be swept up in the storytelling, the city and the music. MIPTV is the perfect setting to premiere Power.”
“We are honoured that Starz has chosen to showcase its latest major new series as a World Premiere TV Screening at MIPTV. This underlines the impact of the event, which is ideally suited to a show like Power that is bound to have wide appeal to the numerous international buyers and media present in Cannes,” said Laurine Garaude, Director of Reed MIDEM’s Television Division.
The cast is led by Omari Hardwick (Sparkle, For Colored Girls, Kick Ass) who is joined by Lela Loren (Snitch, Gang Related), Naturi Naughton (Fame, The Client List, Mad Men) and Joseph Sikora (Jack Reacher, Safe, Boardwalk Empire). Hardwick stars as main character James ‘Ghost’ St. Patrick; Loren plays Angela Valdes, an old flame of James’ who unexpectedly reenters his life; Naughton will play Tasha St. Patrick, wife, confidant and willing accomplice to James and Sikora plays Tommy Egan, childhood best friend and business partner to Ghost.
Mark Canton (300, Immortals, 300: Rise of an Empire), Randall Emmett (End of Watch, 2 Guns, Lone Survivor) and David Knoller (Big Love, Carniv?le) also serve as Executive Producers. The series is being produced in association with CBS Television Studios. Filmed on location in and around New York, the city itself is also a major player in the series, which is being produced in association with CBS Television Studios. Starz retains all global distribution and home entertainment rights to the series.
Executive Producers, alongside Kemp Agboh and Jackson, include Mark Canton, (300, Immortals), Randall Emmett (End of Watch) and David Knoller (Big Love, Carniv?le).
The MIPTV World Premiere TV Screening takes place on Monday 7 April in the Grand Auditorium of the Palais des Festivals. The screening of Power will be followed by an on-stage conversation with Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson, along with the series’ lead actor Omari Harwick and creator Courtney Kemp Agboh. The talent will later walk the red carpet to attend the MIPTV Opening Night Party.
Organised by Reed MIDEM, the MIPTV entertainment market takes place in Cannes from 7-10 April.
English Entertainment
Ellison takes his Paramount-Warner Bros case straight to theater owners
The Skydance chief goes to CinemaCon with promises and a skeptical crowd waiting
CALIFORNIA: David Ellison strode into a room packed with thousands of cinema owners and executives at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Thursday and did something rather bold: he looked them in the eye and asked them to trust him.
The chief executive of Paramount Skydance vowed that his company would release a minimum of 30 films a year if regulators greenlight its proposed $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, a deal that has made theater owners deeply, and loudly, nervous.
“I wanted to look every single one of you in the eye and give you my word,” Ellison told the crowd. “Once we combine with Warner Bros, we are going to make a minimum of 30 films annually across both studios.”
It was a confident pitch. Whether it landed is another matter. Cinema operators have already called on regulators to block the deal, and scepticism in the room was hardly concealed.
Ellison pushed back by pointing to recent form. Paramount, born from the merger of Paramount Global and Skydance Media last August, plans to release 15 films this year, nearly double the eight it put out in 2025. Progress, he argued, was already underway.
He also threw theater owners a bone they have long been chasing: all films, he pledged, would run exclusively in cinemas for a minimum of 45 days, drawing applause from a crowd that has spent years fighting for exactly that commitment across the industry.
“People can speculate all they want,” Ellison said, “but I am standing here today telling you personally that you can count on our complete commitment. And we’ll show you we mean it.”
Fine words. The regulators, however, will have the last one.
