English Entertainment
BuzzFeed, Keshet Studios tie up for gaming show, digital venture
MUMBAI: BuzzFeed Motion Pictures partnered with the LA-based studio of global production and distribution powerhouse Keshet International (KI) to announce a game-changing TV and digital venture.
BuzzFeed Motion Pictures and Keshet Studios will create a next-generation, transmedia version of the Israeli game show Touch that will be developed around the core concept created by Ido Rosenblum and Keshet for the original. As a leader in video and news content, with its hands on the pulse of the global audience, BuzzFeed’s brand, content and talent will play an integral role in the creation of the game show – further propelling its entrance into linear TV and expanding its already significant digital footprint, with simultaneous launches online and on mobile through its platforms and distribution channels.
The partners will combine BuzzFeed’s unique approach to content creation and massive online promotional reach with KI’s IP and technology, and expertise of crafting linear TV shows with digital entertainment at the heart of their narratives. The original version of KI’s Touch, is an engaging game in which gut reaction, sharp eyes and quick fingers can win prizes. Based around the question, “What is wrong with this picture?,” it connects with viewers and online users in real-time or offline by quickly identifying what is wrong and touching the screen as the clock counts down.
“We’re thrilled to being working with Keshet to develop Touch into a cross-platform, global show, said BuzzFeed Motion Pictures development head Matthew Henick. “Leveraging our audience-focused development process and our global promotional engine will make this a huge phenomenon.”
Keshet International Digital and acquisition SVP Sebastian Burkhardt, commented, “BuzzFeed has been at the forefront of creating culturally defining and buzzworthy original online content. Working jointly with such a prolific and extraordinary partner, I believe we are well positioned to develop a next-generation game show. Together, we will create content that engages viewers of all ages and on all platforms as the speed of linear and digital convergence accelerates.”
BuzzFeed Motion Pictures will team up with Keshet’s digital divisions and Keshet Studios’ non-scripted TV division, headed by Unscripted Programming President Rob Lee, to jointly develop and produce the multi-purpose venture. KI will handle the international rollout of the format in other territories.
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.
