New Mexico Judge Orders Meta to Pay US$567 Million Over Youth Mental Health - A landmark ruling that could reshape platform accountability, child-safety regulation and future legal action against social media companies.
Roku CEO Succession Talks Trigger Fox’s US$22 Billion Takeover - Fox’s proposed acquisition of Roku has major implications for streaming distribution, connected TV and media-industry consolidation.
UK to Curb Subscription Traps With New Rules From January 2027 - New regulations will force subscription services to provide clearer terms, renewal notices and easier cancellation processes.
Disney Expands Its Video Podcast Push With iHeartMedia Deal Bringing Six Shows to Disney+ and Hulu - Disney’s move signals a growing convergence of streaming, creator content and podcasting as platforms seek new audiences and programming models.
Switzerland Reports 25% Production Spend Growth Under ‘Lex Netflix’ - The results provide one of the strongest examples yet of how local-content investment mandates can stimulate production activity.
Spain Loses Ground on International Shoots, Profilm Report Finds - The decline highlights the intensifying competition among production hubs to attract global film and television projects.
Disney Plus Tests AI-Powered Conversational Search - The new technology could fundamentally change content discovery and become a key differentiator in the streaming wars.
X Replaces Creator Revenue-Sharing Model With Original Content Rewards - The overhaul reflects shifting priorities in creator monetisation by rewarding originality and higher-quality engagement.
Starz Uses Netflix Syndication to Expand the Power Franchise - The strategy demonstrates how media companies are increasingly using rival platforms to grow franchise value and audience reach.
Netflix Orders Netflix, Will You Marry Me?, a Live Interactive Dating Series - The project underscores Netflix’s continued push into large-scale live and audience-participation entertainment.
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Photographer Alessandra Sanguinetti’s first feature, “The Illusion of an Everlasting Summer,” world-premiered in the Filmmakers of the Present section at the 79th Locarno Film Festival. Set in the Argentine Pampas, it follows cousins Guillermina and Belinda, who swim, dance and stage mock funerals and surgeries on dead animals as they rush toward adulthood. Julia Solomonoff (”Nobody’s Watching”) produced, with financing from Mubi and Impact Partners. Read More
Andrew Patterson’s “The Rivals of Amziah King” opens in select theatres Friday after a lengthy road: shot in 2023, premiered at SXSW in spring 2025, and released a year and a half later by production company and fledgling distributor Black Bear. Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey chose the indie to end a five-year live-action hiatus. Patterson, whose 2019 debut was “The Vast of Night,” says little about the delay. Read More
Georgian writer-director Uta Beria (”Negative Numbers”) shot “Tear Gas,” a fiction film, inside real demonstrations, blurring the line between drama and documentary. It follows 16-year-old Elene and her war-scarred family as they’re swept into a mass protest that turns the streets of Tbilisi into a battleground for freedom — while forcing them to face the conflicts already threatening to tear the family apart. Read More
BAFTA’s behind‑the‑scenes look at The Rapture features cast members Ruth Madeley, India Amarteifio, Iwan Rheon and key crew discussing their experience making the Welsh‑shot psychological thriller. They reflect on the camaraderie on set, the challenge of filming a heatwave story in unpredictable Welsh weather, and why the series feels timely. Crew members also reveal costume hurdles and production‑design details, including how Bethany’s drawings were created for the show.
The first trailer for Marco Bechis’ Back To Buenos Aires has been unveiled, premiering in Competition at Venice. Set in 2008, the historical thriller follows Mariano Guerra, who returns to Argentina after 33 years in Italy to testify against the military officers who kidnapped and tortured him during the dictatorship. The film draws on Bechis’ own experience as a former political prisoner, with Fandango Sales handling international rights.
Darkroom, a platform devoted to independent, foreign, arthouse and cult genre films, is streaming Jo Beom-jin’s award-winning South Korean adult animation “Aachi and Ssipak” exclusively in a 2K remaster marking its 20th anniversary. Long out of circulation in the West, the 2006 sci-fi action comedy imagines a dystopia powered by human waste, where addictive hallucinogenic popsicles reward defecation. In Korean with English subtitles. Read More
Megan Park’s “Sterling Point” follows 17-year-old Annie Jacobson, a Wharton-bound overachiever whose ordered life unravels over the course of one summer on a remote Canadian island. Its therapy-speak-fluent teens signal a broader shift: alongside “Heartstopper,” “Forever” and “We Were Liars,” a new wave of teen TV trades histrionic excess for indie pacing and longing. Networks once chased “The Sopranos”; now they chase “The Summer I Turned Pretty.” Read More
Hungary’s new government lifted the registration cap on its 30% film tax rebate on July 1, 2026, ending restrictions that had frozen the system and pushed international productions elsewhere. Paprika Studios CEO Ákos Erdős says the move restores the stability studios and streamers need. The National Film Office is again continuously registering eligible productions, with the rebate open to all qualifying Hungarian and foreign shoots. Read More
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James Gray’s Paper Tiger, debuting at NYFF before Neon’s November 13 release, marks a return to his New York roots with a Greek‑tragedy thriller set amid the 1980s Russian mafia. As the article notes, the film delivers “precisely calibrated violence” reminiscent of No Country for Old Men, anchored by Adam Driver and Miles Teller as feuding brothers and Scarlett Johansson as a wife caught in the fallout. Critics out of Cannes hail it as one of Gray’s best-directed works. Read More
Indian filmmaker Gurvinder Singh told Variety that the family living in the house used as Rashid Ali’s ancestral home in “Rehmat” lost their 19-year-old son to a drug overdose within two months of the crew’s first visit. Singh said he suspected the young man was using drugs on site, and that a filmmaker working in that setting cannot avoid depicting such conditions. Read More
Italian director Giovanni Tortorici, whose debut “Diciannove” broke out from Venice Horizons last year, returns with “Ketticè,” in competition at Locarno. Set in 2012 Palermo, the coming-of-age drama follows sixteen-year-olds Ketty and Giulio, from sharply different social backgrounds, whose exclusive friendship revolves around getting stoned on pot bought in a housing project — a refuge from adult scrutiny. Monica Bellucci is among the few professional actors. Read More
John Henry Hinkel’s Atlanta-based Liaison Pictures, behind Charlie Kaufman’s “How to Shoot a Ghost,” has teamed with France’s Because the Night Productions on documentary feature “Behemoth Ann Holds a Seance,” now taking part in Locarno’s Match Me! networking platform. Directed by Isidore Bethel, Vicki Bethel and Daniel Hymanson, the film remembers Arthur Douglas Thayer, an artist, designer, writer and educator who spent a lifetime crocheting creatures. Read More
American screenwriter and documentarian JD Freedman argues the AI debate fixates on visuals and cheap special effects while overlooking sound, where he believes the technology is a genuine game-changer for independent filmmakers seeking distribution. He points to his newly completed documentary “Madeira: The Hidden Force That Shaped Our World,” about the Portuguese island, which was shot largely in Portuguese — a language Freedman does not speak. Read More
Crunchyroll’s adaptation of Kamome Shirahama’s fantasy manga, published in English by Kodansha, ranks among 2026’s biggest hits. In a world where magic is hereditary, village girl Coco learns it can be taught — then accidentally petrifies her mother, and trains under witch Qifrey to undo the spell. Shirahama says she set out to create something that didn’t exist, a story for the child in her. Read More
Miyu Distribution has released the 2024 short by Estonian animator Priit Pärn and Olga Pärn on the Bang Bang! channel. Selected by 33 festivals, it won awards at Animateka, MONSTRA and the Estonian Film and Television Awards. Eesti Joonisfilm produced with Miyu Productions, backed by the Estonian Film Institute, Estonian Cultural Endowment, Pictanovo, the CNC and GIGA. Pärn’s 18 films have won over 80 international prizes. Read More
New UK rules taking effect in January 2027 will require subscription services to offer clearer information, renewal reminders and simpler cancellation, targeting contracts that auto-renew at higher prices or are harder to exit than to join. Consumers get a 14-day cooling-off period after free trials or long-term renewals. Streaming and digital services are affected; memberships in cultural and heritage charities are exempt. Unwanted subscriptions cost Britons £1.6 billion annually. Read More
Judge Bryan Biedscheid ruled Meta substantially contributed to a public nuisance in New Mexico, ordering it to fund youth mental health care on top of $375 million in civil penalties a jury imposed in March. That jury found Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp failed to protect children from exploitation and that Meta misled parents. Attorney General Raul Torrez sued in 2023. Meta posted $60.8 billion in Q2 revenue. Read More
Profilm, Spain’s association of production service companies, reports that the country has lost competitiveness relative to European rivals. Member revenue from international shoots fell from €130 million to €103 million between 2024 and 2025, a drop of over 20%. Contracts declined 23% to 6,500, equipment and camera rentals collapsed 60% to €3 million, and accommodation and catering spending halved. Project numbers, however, slipped only 11%, from 27 to 24. Read More
ZDF premieres the show September 24, dropping three episodes weekly on its streaming platform through the October 15 finale, with ZDFneo airing two weekly from 11:45 p.m. Thursdays. Ten creators in two teams steal and defend flags across a purpose-built world in the Scottish wilderness, wearing vest-mounted camera rigs for a videogame-like look. Freshtorge developed it with Roses are Blue for his channel’s 20th anniversary. Read More
The “Six Feet Under,” “Parenthood” and “9-1-1” star headlines the fall series as Mike Hollingsworth, a Secret Service officer whose law-enforcement family is hunted by an elusive assassin. The show blends procedural elements with a central mystery. Krause said at NBCUniversal’s studio day that the script drew him in, and that a virtual meeting with creator Joshua Safran convinced him they could work well together. Read More
An S-4 filing reveals founder Anthony Wood told Roku’s board last September he wanted to scale back, suggested a co-CEO before moving to a board role, and raised the idea of a sale. The board ordered a market check, which led to Fox Corp.’s $22 billion acquisition, expected to close in the first half of 2027. Roku reaches over 100 million households; Fox’s Tubi has 110 million users. Read More
X is scrapping its often‑criticized revenue‑sharing program and launching Original Content Rewards on September 8. Creators will need 500 verified followers and 500,000 verified‑user impressions in 90 days, with payouts tied to “qualified impressions” from Premium subscribers. The shift aims to stop creators from “gaming the system” and instead reward posts that add “original ideas, expertise, creativity, and unique perspectives,” including reporting, analysis, self‑made media and meaningful commentary. Read More
Disney is piloting a new AI‑powered search on Disney Plus that uses natural‑language queries, voice prompts, or suggested questions to generate a customized row of shows “that fits the moment.” The beta is limited to “a small group of select subscribers,” part of Disney’s push for “increased personalization” across its platforms. ESPN is also testing an AI‑assisted chatbot‑style search that delivers stats, answers and recommendations from its sports knowledge ecosystem. Read More
Switzerland’s ‘Lex Netflix’ investment obligation drove a 25% rise in streamer and broadcaster production spend in 2025, reaching $24.6m, according to new BAK figures unveiled in Locarno. The 4% levy on AV services generated $40.4m, with fiction projects receiving the bulk of funding and French‑speaking regions slightly ahead in allocations. As the article notes, major beneficiaries include Netflix’s Winter Palace, Sky’s Tschugger, TF1’s Log Out and Blue TV‑backed features, with unspent funds shifting to BAK after 2027. Read More
Starz is leaning on streamer syndication to expand and reinvigorate its scripted franchises, with Power and its spin‑offs heading to Netflix worldwide under a non‑exclusive deal. President Alison Hoffman says the move boosts awareness, while Starz continues to build DTC engagement. CEO Jeff Hirsch adds that owning more original IP, including Power: Origins, Power: Legacy, and UK‑shot Fightland, will enable broader international output deals, lower per‑episode costs, and strengthen the company’s rebuilt content library. Read More
Creator‑producer Lyanna Kea discusses how her viral “Aunty Kea” character, born during COVID when she was a broke international student, evolved into Kea Productions, a 16‑person studio running scripted, animation and lifestyle channels across platforms and languages. She explains early on why quantity beats quality, how she structures weekly production pipelines, and why long‑form video drives loyalty and revenue. Kea also reflects on delegating, industry partnerships with Screen Australia and ABC, and the shifting creator–screen‑industry dynamic
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