Film Production
FremantleMedia enters into creative partnership with 87 Films
Mumbai: FremantleMedia continues to build its roster of creative scripted partnerships with a new development deal with 87 Films. 87 Films was formed by Dudi Appleton and Jim Keeble, one of the leading writing teams in the UK drama industry, with executive producer Patrick Irwin joining the company.
Under the new agreement, the companies will collaborate on ambitious scripted projects for the international market alongside FremantleMedia’s global in-house producers. 87 Films is currently developing dramas with the FremantleMedia’s Wildside in Italy, Kwai in France, Miso across Scandinavia, and FremantleMedia North America in the US.
FremantleMedia director of global drama Sarah Doole said, “Jim and Dudi are a creative force that will be a tremendous addition to FremantleMedia. They have an exceptional vision for stories that tie perfectly into our ambitions for our drama business. This key relationship will bring their talents to our global network of producers.”
Appleton added, “Christian Vesper and Sarah Doole are hugely inspiring collaborators for us. We speak the same language. In an international television business that can seem increasingly corporate, they are passionate about great dramatic stories wherever they come from, wherever they lead. And telling those stories is what we do. Collaborating with FremantleMedia’s global producers, we are creating authentic new drama that breaks through traditional borders of culture, language, and place.”
The agreement with 87 Films is the latest in FremantleMedia’s creative partnerships. Over the past few years, the company has invested in talented scripted creators, including Miso Film, Abot Hameiri, Dancing Ledge, Fontaram, Kwai, Wildside, Bend It TV and Easy Tiger, and has completed development deals with SLAM Films and Neil Gaiman.
Film Production
Priyanka Kaur Dhillon joins SVF Entertainment as lead for music distribution
A seasoned content dealmaker with 16 years in digital and satellite media joins the Bengali entertainment powerhouse as it pushes into the pan-India music market
Mumbai: Priyanka Kaur Dhillon has made her move. The content acquisitions and commercials veteran, most recently commercial manager at Sony Pictures Networks India, has joined SVF Entertainment as lead for music distribution, stepping into one of the more interesting briefs in regional entertainment right now.
SVF is no ordinary regional label. Over 30 years it has built a formidable legacy in Bengali cinema and music, driven by culturally resonant storytelling and a catalogue that consistently punches above its weight. Its recent success with Chiraiya underlines the point. But the Kolkata-based powerhouse now has its sights firmly set beyond Bengal, most visibly through Legacy, a rap reality series produced in collaboration with hip-hop label Kalamkaar that signals a deliberate push into the pan-India music ecosystem.
Dhillon brings precisely the kind of muscle SVF needs for that expansion. At Sony Pictures Networks India, she led film acquisition and commercials and handled music licensing across the entire satellite network. Before that, she spent nearly 15 years at Hungama, rising to assistant general manager and leading strategic content licensing for the platform’s digital entertainment business, with a particular focus on international markets. Her label relationships span the full roster: Sony Music, Universal Music, Warner Music, Believe International, Tunecore, The Orchard and a clutch of smaller aggregators. She has negotiated and closed deals with Hollywood studios, Bollywood production houses and regional content players alike, building pricing models and deal structures off data analysis rather than instinct.
Announcing the appointment, Dhillon said she was “thrilled to begin this journey with an iconic Bengali music label and content powerhouse,” adding that SVF’s “constant drive to push boundaries” was what drew her to the role.
SVF has spent three decades proving that regional does not mean limited. With a sharp commercial operator now steering its music distribution, its bid to go national just got a good deal more serious.
