Caroline Dinenage Returns Unopposed To Culture, Media & Sport Committee Hotseat
The UK’s Culture Media & Sport Committee (CMSC), which scrutinizes the work of the film and TV industries, has re-elected Caroline Dinenage as chair. Dinenage, whose father Fred Dinenage was a TV presenter, was the sole nomination and therefore elected unopposed. She had been chair for around a year before parliament was dissolved for the July 4 election. During her tenure she oversaw the review into the high-end TV and film industries, which saw the likes of Gurinder Chadha, Slow Horses director James Hawes and the head of Amazon UK appear in front of the committee. That work will need to be started from scratch if Dinenage chooses to do so. “I’m delighted to be re-elected to chair the Culture, Media and Sport Committee and entrusted to build on our achievements in the last parliament,” said Dinenage. “These sectors are our global economic super-power, they have remarkable abilities to drive regeneration and bring communities together. I will continue to work cross-party to ensure the government doesn’t take them for granted and they continue to fire on all cylinders.”
BBC Says ‘Waterloo Road’ Contributed $8.5M To Local Economy
Watch on Deadline
Returning BBC drama Waterloo Road has contributed £6.5M ($8.5M) to the local economy, according to BBC figures. The BBC has been touting the figures after commissioning five seasons in relatively quick succession of the drama set in a school. Three have already been made and it is these which have contributed to the local Greater Manchester economy. The show from Rope Ladder Fiction and Wall to Wall, which aired in the 2000s and returned in early 2023, provided training initiatives and built towards the BBC’s target to make more TV outside of London. Charlotte Moore, BBC Chief Content Officer, said: “Waterloo Road is a brilliant example of the BBC’s commitment to back the best homegrown storytelling right across the UK. It’s a series that helps nurture and champion local talent and directly supports the economy in the North West.” She added that the BBC now “invests more than 60% of its TV budget outside of London – supporting hundreds of production companies and suppliers.”
Sphere Abacus Makes Latin America Sales Hire
Sphere Abacus, the newly-rebranded sales house under fresh ownership, is delving into Latin America. Christina Covarrubias has been appointed Sales Consultant and will represent the outfit in the region. She was previously Director Sales for Latin America and US Hispanic for ITV Studios Distribution, managing all licensing activity. Formerly Abacus Media Rights, Canada’s Sphere Media completed its C$24.6M ($18.2M) acquisition of the UK-based distrib last week and the company has been renamed. “Christina’s experience of the Latin American market will be invaluable to the company as we continue to distribute our vast programming catalogue as well as continuing to invest in new programmes from independent producers,” said MD Jonathan Ford.
The post Caroline Dinenage Returns Unopposed To UK Culture Committee Hotseat; BBC ‘Waterloo Road’ Spend; Sphere Abacus Hire – Global Briefs appeared first on Deadline.
