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Sony Pictures Television has announced an overall development deal with British historian Dan Jones, author of bestsellers such as “The Plantagenets,” “The Hollow Crown” and “The Templars.”

The deal will see Jones develop adaptations of his works for option by Sony Pictures Television’s stable of international scripted production companies, including Left Bank Pictures and Eleven. He will also act as a consultant for other productions across the group.

Jones’ books have sold more than a million copies. He collaborated with Brazilian artist Marina Amaral for “The Colour of Time” and “The World Aflame.” He has written and presented more than 60 hours of TV documentaries including Channel 5 show “Elizabeth I,” the BBC’s “Henry VIII and His Six Wives” and Netflix/Channel 5 series “Secrets of Great British Castles.”

Wayne Garvie, president of international production for Sony Pictures Television, said, “Dan has written some of the most popular histories of our time.

Exclusive: Documentary about art project Treasures From The Wreck Of The Unbelievable also gets UK deal.

Park Circus will begin sales at the Efm in Berlin on a documentary about new Damien Hirst art project Treasures From The Wreck of the Unbelievable.

Classics specialist Park Circus will also handle distribution in the UK.

The Oxford Film and Television (Channel 5’s Henry VIII And His Six Wives) production, made in association with Hirst’s Science Limited, will be directed by Sam Hobkinson (BBC mini-series Venice).

Conceptual artist Hirst, best known for his series of artworks in which dead animals are preserved in formaldehyde, is understood to feature in the film.

The long-gestating project Treasures From The Wreck of the Unbelievable will culminate in an exhibition displayed at the Punta della Dogana and Palazzo Grassi in Venice, Italy from April, 2017.

Hirst said of the project in 2010: “It’s a story of a ship. It is called...

From the mid sixties to the mid seventies, omnibus (or anthology, or portmanteau if you’re really fancy) horror films were big business. And Amicus Productions ruled the roost. Between ’65 and ’74 they released seven such films, starting with Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors (not to be confused with Dr. Tongue’s Evil House of Pancakes) and culminating with From Beyond the Grave. Today’s film lands in the middle, The House that Dripped Blood (1971) showcasing a company just starting to hit their stride with anthologies.

Popularity of the omnibus format has ebbed and flowed throughout the last 50 years; after Amicus stopped making them, George Romero and Stephen King collaborated on one of the finest, Creepshow (1982), which didn’t so much kick start a revival as have everyone afraid to compete. Throughout the late ‘80s and ‘90s there were pockets of inspiration, Tales from the Hood (1995) and of course HBO...

Upon completion of my first viewing of Darrell Roodt’s Winnie Mandela, I couldn’t help but struggle a little bit. Who exactly is the film for? Surely it can’t be for history buffs – the events of the famous anti-apartheid activist’s life have been heavily glorified here. It makes for a better film, yes, but is a bit bothersome when paralleled with reality. Given its origin from the biography Winnie Mandela: A Life, I imagine anybody serious about gaining an understanding of what Winnie’s actual struggles were like would simply take that work for a spin instead.

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