News

Acquisition

U.K. broadcaster Channel 4 has picked up South African detective drama “The Cane Field Killings” starring Kim Engelbrecht (“Bullet Proof”) and Iain Glen (“Game of Thrones”). The eight-episode series, which launched last year in South Africa, will launch on Channel 4 on Apr. 10. The drama tells the story of a brilliant criminal profiler, Reyka Gama (Engelbrecht), who is struggling to comes to terms with her dark past. Having been abducted as a child by farmer Angus Speelman (Glen), Reyka now channels that traumatic experience to enter into the mindset of Africa’s most notorious criminals. The series follows her investigation into a string of brutal murders committed by a serial killer in the sugar cane fields of Kwa-Zulu-Natal.

The show is produced by Serena Cullen for Serena Cullen Productions and Harriet Gavshon for Quizzical Pictures. “The Cane Field Killings” is a co-production between M-Net and Fremantle and is distributed internationally by Fremantle.

Comcast’s Sky Arts channel that goes free-to-air from Thursday has announced four new original program commissions including from “Trainspotting” writer Irvine Welsh and “Bulletproof” star Ashley Walters.

In “Offended by Irvine Welsh,” the author explores the nature of offence and its impact and sets out to reclaim the right to offend, but not abuse, as an essential tool for artists. “Sky Arts Book Club Live” will see hosts, the chef and presenter Andi Oliver and “How to Fail” author Elizabeth Day, invite four members of an existing club to chat about new releases, favorite classics and hear from different guest authors each episode.

Ashley Walters makes his directorial debut in a short film, “Boys,” written by newcomer Jerome Holder. Set in East London, two best friends fulfil a promise made to one’s older brother, embarking on a journey that will shape them and the men they will become.

Spoiler Alert: Do not read if you haven’t watched “Do No Harm,” the second episode of “Outlander” Season 4.

In the second episode of “Outlander’s” fourth season, the show’s writers were tasked with condensing Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire’s (Caitriona Balfe) time at River Run into one hour-long episode. Obviously, they shortened the three-month stay from the book, “Drums of Autumn,” but they also took a relatively small incident with a slave named Rufus (Jerome Holder) assaulting a white man at the sawmill and turned it into the focal point for establishing Jocasta’s (Maria Doyle Kennedy) place in the world and why Jamie and Claire could not occupy that same space.

In the show, Claire tried to save Rufus’ life after the white, male authority figures strung him up by a meat hook. She was momentarily successful, able to take him back to the house and treat some of his wounds,...

Spoiler Alert: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Do No Harm,” the second episode of “Outlander” Season 4.

In the wake of Stephen Bonnet (Ed Speleers) robbing Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and Jamie (Sam Heughan) in the “Outlander” season four premiere, the weary travelers still managed to make it to River Run, a stunning North Carolina plantation run by Jamie’s Aunt Jocasta (Maria Doyle Kennedy), who was left blind by glaucoma. Jamie was slightly ashamed to show up penniless, but Jocasta welcomed them with open arms. Still, it was not an easy road as almost immediately Claire and Jamie experienced what it was like to see slaves working such land up close and personal.

And Jocasta’s motives were not entirely selfless anyway. She knew that it would benefit her to have a man like Jamie around. Remember, this was 1767 — Jocasta was definitely fending off advances from men...

A young drug dealer hatches a scheme to conceal his product in baked goods, with implausible consequences

Best filed alongside tandoori chicken pizza in the list of hybrid recipes that should never have left the kitchen, Dough is an overcooked comedy about a Jewish baker who employs a young Muslim assistant who also happens to be a drug dealer. With the accidental addition of a “special” ingredient, the challah is suddenly a lot more popular with a new and varied customer base. Jonathan Pryce and the very likable Jerome Holder, as Nat and Ayyash respectively, do their best with the painfully contrived material. But the fact remains that concealing drugs in low-cost bread products is the kind of half-baked idea that even the most inept dealer would reject as a business plan, and credibility issues contaminate the mixture along with the fistfuls of weed.

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Stars: Jonathan Pryce, Jerome Holder, Phil Davis, Ian Hart, Pauline Collins, Andrew Ellis, Malachi Kirby, Natasha Gordon, Melanie Freeman | Written by Jonathan Benson, Jez Freedman | Directed by John Goldschmidt

It has to be said that 2017 hasn’t been the best year when it comes to feeling good about the world. When everybody seems to be against helping out others, it seems timely that a film about two cultures coming together should at least raise a smile, and Dough manages this.

When aging Jewish baker Nat Dyan (Jonathan Pryce) takes on young Muslim Ayyash (Jerome Holder) as apprentice in his shop, at first, they don’t get on. When Ayyash accidentally drops cannabis into the bakery’s dough the bakery becomes very popular, building a bond between the two.

Dough walks a well-trodden path of movies where two people with differences are brought together when prejudices are taken away and friendship blooms.

Jonathan Pryce as a kosher baker and Jerome Holder as a dope dealer are among the ingredients in this under-risen north London comedy drama

This is Britflick variant #7: The Cosy Small Business Caper (with Optional Comedy Drug Element). Jonathan Pryce is the cranky north Londoner whose kosher bakery is threatened by ruthless Phil Davis’s convenience store empire. Jerome Holder is the young Muslim who helps profits rise after covertly bringing his weed-slinging operation in house.

Reassuringly predictable for the most part – yes, cultural differences will be overcome and yes, Pryce loosens up after breaking bread baked with Holder’s “special ingredient” – it succumbs to tonal wobbles and credibility issues late on. Still, welcome faces (Ian Hart, Andrew Ellis, Pauline Collins as flirty divorcee Mrs Silverman) give individual scenes spark, and the leads form an amiable double-act. But given his past work with Richard Eyre and Christopher Hampton, it...

Author: Richard Phippen

It’s incredibly hard to tell where the inspiration for Dough came from. A British-Hungarian co-production about a Jewish baker and an African immigrant sounds like the kind of script Stephen Frears or perhaps Mike Leigh would be taking on. At least they might have done, had the script explored the kind of themes that would gain the attention of such culturally smart filmmakers. Instead, Director John Goldschmidt appears to have been hired as a safe pair of hands to turn a light-hearted, if rather vacuous story into something that could reach a wider audience. And to be fair to Goldschmidt, he’s certainly made this accessible.

Nat Dayan (Jonathan Pryce) is an ageing Jewish baker, eking out a living from his small, family business in the heart of a dying suburban London street. With his right hand man taking the offer of a better paid job at the mini-market next door,...

Elderly in crisis, youngster who can help, drug being salvation and all sorts of drama bubbling around after use of drug – it’s a struggle to rid a particular TV show from the mind while watching this film, even when the protagonists spend more time in the kitchen than an Rv. That said, director John Goldschmidt’s latest, which also marks his return to the craft since 1987, would fill the small-screen mold with utter perfection. In some ways, staying in that state would have been enough for Dough.

But then comes Jonathan Pryce who makes a semi-compelling reason to shell out for the film at the cinema. The powerhouse actor, sporting a beard and kippah, commands every frame with a heartfelt turn as Nat Dayan, the owner of a family pastry joint not so hot in sales and longevity. While he makes his way to the store at 4 a.m.

Exclusive: The feel-good hit starring Jonathan Pryce, Pauline Collins and Jerome Holder struck a blow for the limited distribution space as it crossed the threshold in North America on June 14.

Neil Friedman’s Santa Monica-based distributor opened Dough in nine theatres in Florida on February 12 and kept the film exclusively in the state until it expanded nationwide on April 29.

The Menemsha chief is confident it will exceed $1m by some margin. “The film is booked in cinemas for new openings in not-yet-released locales for the remainder of the summer months and is still selling out shows at the cinemas it is presently playing,” he said.

The comedy centres on the owner of an ailing Jewish bakery whose business flourishes when his young Muslim apprentice drops marijuana into the mixing dough. John Goldschmidt directed.

“These are troubling times we are living in today and everybody is looking to escape the every day realities of the world’s problems...

Dough is a warm-hearted little British dramedy starring Jonathan Pryce (“Pirates of the Caribbean”) as an old Orthodox Jewish baker who is struggling to keep his family’s bakery going, in a tough East End London neighborhood. When his assistant quits, Nat agrees to hire the teen-aged son of the bakery’s African immigrant cleaning lady, not realizing his new assistant is a Muslim.

While this is not a film for serious cinephiles, it has found an audience on the film festival circuit and is now making the leap to wider distribution. The gentle little cross-cultural comedic drama draws its appeal more from its likable characters and their believable relationships rather than its overly familiar plot or comedy, some of which is summed up in the film’s tagline “Dough: It’s not the only thing getting baked.” The charm of this crowd-pleaser is not the contrived humor or...

Titled simply "Dough," the UK-Hungarian co-production, drected by John Goldschmidt from a script penned by Yehuda Jez Freedman and Jonathan Benson, is described as a cross-cultural comedy, set in London’s East End, and tells the story of an old Jewish baker (played by Jonathan Pryce) whose failing bakery business gets an unexpected boost when his young Muslim apprentice (played by Jerome Holder) accidentally drops cannabis into the dough. As the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival (where the film screened last year) states: "Food has always represented more than sustenance in Jewish culture, and its transformative power is on display in this...

Culinary drama stars Jonathan Pryce.

Umedia International has sold all North American rights to comedy-drama Dough to Menemsha Films.

John Goldschmidt’s bakery-based drama stars Jonathan Pryce (Game of Thrones, GI Joe) and newcomer Jerome Holder, with a supporting cast including Pauline Collins, Phil Davis and Ian Hart.

Producers are Docler Entertainment’s György Gattyán and András Somkuti, Viva Films’ John Goldschmidt and Three Coloured Dog Films’ Wolfgang Esenwein. The film is a UK-Hungarian co-production.

Written by the late Yehuda Jez Freedman and Jonathan Benson, Dough tells the story of an old Jewish baker in London’s East End, whose failing business gets an unexpected boost when his young Muslim apprentice, also a part time cannabis dealer, accidentally drops his merchandise into the dough and the chollah starts to fly off the shelf.

The film also explores how people overcome prejudices to connect across divides of age, race and religion.

Dough will open...

Browsing through the lineup of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival (which was humorously accidental, given what happened because I did), I came across this feature film, titled simply "Dough," which will be the festival's opening night film, on July 23. A UK-Hungarian co-production, and drected by John Goldschmidt from a script penned by Yehuda Jez Freedman and Jonathan Benson, "Dough" is described as a cross-cultural comedy, set in London’s East End, and tells the story of an old Jewish baker (played by Jonathan Pryce) whose failing bakery business gets an unexpected boost when his young Muslim apprentice (played by Jerome Holder) accidentally...

Exclusive: Umedia handling sales on UK-Hungarian co-production.

Director John Goldschmidt has started principal photography in London on comedic drama Dough.

Umedia International handles world sales and will bring the project to market at Afm next month.

Yehudah Jez Freedman and Jonathan Benson wrote the script, about the unlikely friendship between an old Jewish baker trying to save his family bakery and a young Muslim refugee from Darfur trying to help his mother by selling cannabis.

Producers are György Gattyán, András Somkuti, Goldschmidt and Wolfgang Esenwein, with Bruno György and Geraldine East executive producing.

The cast feature Jonathan Pryce, Phil Davis, Ian Hart, Pauline Collins and Jerome Holder.

Goldschmidt’s Viva Films partnered with German producer Esenwein’s Three Coloured Dog Films to package and finance the project.

The project has been set up as an official UK-Hungarian co-production with Budapest-based Docler Entertainment fully financing.

Esenwein said: “We are extremely happy to be working with András and Bruno...

Exclusive: Umedia handling sales on UK-Hungarian co-production.

Director John Goldschmidt has started principal photography in London on comedic drama Dough.

Umedia International handles world sales and will bring the project to market at Afm next month.

Yehudah Jez Freedman and Jonathan Benson wrote the script, about the unlikely friendship between an old Jewish baker trying to save his family bakery and a young Muslim refugee from Darfur trying to help his mother by selling cannabis.

Producers are György Gattyán, András Somkuti, Goldschmidt and Wolfgang Esenwein, with Bruno György and Geraldine East executive producing.

The cast feature Jonathan Pryce, Phil Davis, Ian Hart, Pauline Collins and Jerome Holder.

Goldschmidt’s Viva Films partnered with German producer Esenwein’s Three Coloured Dog Films to package and finance the project.

The project has been set up as an official UK-Hungarian co-production with Budapest-based Docler Entertainment fully financing.

Esenwein said: “We are extremely happy to be working with András and Bruno...

Exclusive: Umedia handling sales on UK-Hungarian co-production.

Director John Goldschmidt has started principal photography in London on comedic drama Dough.

Umedia International handles world sales and will bring the project to market at Afm next month.

Yehudah Jez Freedman and Jonathan Benson wrote the script, about the unlikely friendship between an old Jewish baker trying to save his family bakery and a young Muslim refugee from Darfur trying to help his mother by selling cannabis.

Producers are György Gattyán, András Somkuti, Goldschmidt and Wolfgang Esenwein, with Bruno György and Geraldine East executive producing.

The cast feature Jonathan Pryce, Phil Davis, Ian Hart, Pauline Collins and Jerome Holder.

Goldschmidt’s Viva Films partnered with German producer Esenwein’s Three Coloured Dog Films to package and finance the project.

The project has been set up as an official UK-Hungarian co-production with Budapest-based Docler Entertainment fully financing.

Esenwein said: “We are extremely happy to be working with András and Bruno...

Filming has completed on Series Two of Sparticles Productions' hit live action children's science-fiction drama series The Sparticle Mystery. It was filmed at fourteen locations across Yorkshire including Spofforth Castle, Harewood House, Plumpton Rocks, Temple Newsam House, Armley Mills and Devonshire Hall in Leeds.

The 10 episode new series follows the continuing adventures of the Sparticles; a tribe of children formed after an accident at a particle accelerator teleports everyone on Earth over the age of 15 away into a parallel dimension.

Series Creator Alison Hume, who lives in York, says; "The new adventures of the Sparticles tribe will keep our audience on the edge of their seats and their imaginations fizzing as well as delivering lots of humour, wit and laugh-out-loud moments."

Executive Producer for Cbbc Sue Nott adds; “I’m thrilled that the Cbbc audience will soon have the chance to journey further with the Sparticles on their quest to bring back their parents,...

Filming is underway in various locations across Yorkshire for Series Two of Sparticles Productions' hit live action children's science-fiction drama series The Sparticle Mystery.The 10 episode series follows the continuing adventures of the Sparticles, a tribe of children formed after an accident at a particle accelerator teleports everyone on Earth over the age of 15 away into a parallel dimension.

The new series will star familiar faces from Series One and as well as some new additions. Newcomer Karene Peter (represented by Iag) makes her screen debut, joining the cast as a new lead regular, Serena.

19 year old Lee Worswick from Bolton joins the cast as Rocky. Lee (represented by Linton Management) has been acting since he was 10 years old.

The returning cast includes Megan Jones as Tia, Karim Zeroual as Sadiq, Wesley Nelson as Jeffrey, Emily Sanderson as Reese, Grace Mandeville as Holly, Jerome Holder as Callum, Abbie Hayes as Frankie,...

First-time filmmaker Mo Ali’s Shank is a grimy mess of borrowed ideas and mixed messages. Utilizing a gritty style derivative of Guy Ritchie’s British productions and a few intensely physical chase sequences reminiscent of District B13, Ali’s flick never quite establishes its own identity.

Set in a dystopian 2015, the story centers on a scrappy gang of scavengers and amateur rappers, including the soft-spoken runt, Junior (Kedar Williams-Stirling), and his older brother, Rager (Ashley Bashy Thomas). With the food supply in steep decline, the gang often scrounges for “munchies,” the prize commodity among London’s warring factions.

Rager, who regularly preaches that violence isn’t the answer, is shanked in an altercation with a rival clan and Junior snaps, bent on having his bloody revenge. Well, which is it? The misguided quest takes the crew through trash-ridden streets overrun by drugs and prostitutes to find the culprit, Tugz...