AWARDS

TripleC, a gateway organization that helps deaf, disabled, and neurodiverse people access the arts and media, will receive a BAFTA TV Craft Special Award during the British Academy Television Craft Awards. Actor Cherylee Houston (“Coronation Street”) founded TripleC and with a group of friends including Melissa Johns (“Grantchester”), they have built a platform for making the creative screen industry more inclusive.

Johns and Houston said: “When we set up this organization five years ago, we were just a group of disabled and non-disabled creatives coming together to see if we could make a change. I don’t think we ever knew the size of impact that that seed of an organization would have on the lives of so many deaf, disabled and/or neurodivergent creatives. The recognition from BAFTA will support our drive for change and help ensure accessibility and inclusivity is high up on every agenda.”

Sara Putt, chair of BAFTA’s television committee and deputy chair of BAFTA said: “Cherylee and Melissa have used their platform for deaf, disabled and/or neurodivergent creatives in the arts and have gone above and beyond to improve access, opportunities, and representation. While there is still a long way to go, TripleC’s creative approach has had a significant impact on BAFTA.”

This year’s BAFTA TV Craft Awards will take place at London’s The Brewery as an in-person ceremony on April 24 and will be hosted by actor, comedian and TV presenter Mel Giedroyc.

STREAMING

Disney Plus has revealed the cast for series “The Good Mothers,” a drama that follows the true story of three women who were born into the most deadly and wealthy of the Italian mafia clans, and how they worked with a female prosecutor to bring it down. It includes includes Gaia Girace (“My Brilliant Friend”), Valentina Bellè (“Medici”), Barbara Chichiarelli (“Suburra – The series”), Francesco Colella (“ZeroZeroZero”), Simona Distefano (“The Traitor”), Andrea Dodero (“Thou Shalt Not Hate”) and Micaela Ramazzotti (“Like Crazy”).

Based on the book by journalist Alex Perry and written for the screen by BAFTA winner Stephen Butchard (“Bagdad Central”), the series will be directed by BAFTA and Emmy nominated Julian Jarrold (“The Crown”) and Elisa Amoruso (“Sirley”).

“The Good Mothers” is produced by Juliette Howell and Tessa Ross for House Productions (“Life After Life”) and Mario Gianani and Lorenzo Gangarossa for Wildside (“My Brilliant Friend”), a Fremantle company.

Meanwhile, Discovery Plus originals “The Man Without A Heart,” a two-part documentary thriller, and “Love In The Jungle,” a reality dating series inspired by nature, will stream on the service this spring. “The Man Without A Heart” explores the unsolved case of Miguel Ángel Martínez who in 2005 appeared dead floating in a fiord in Stockholm in what looked to be a suicide but forensics found that his heart and a piece of his liver were missing. Produced for Discovery Plus by Cuarzo Producciones (Banijay Iberia) and directed by Jorge Varcárcel, the documentary series will be available worldwide from April 29.

In “Love In The Jungle,” 14 unlucky-in-love singles will compete in physical challenges each week, grounded in real animal mating rituals to discover if they can find a partner through physical connection alone. Shot on a private eco-reserve in Colombia, the series is narrated in the style of classic natural history documentaries, offering expert observational insight into the humans’ animalistic behaviours. Produced by Boat Rocker through Matador Content, it will stream from May 8.

FIRST LOOK

A first look-image has been unveiled from Hakeem Kae-Kazim’s directorial debut “It’s the Blackness.” Based on an original screenplay by Dapo Oshiyemi, the comedy feature stars Daniel Davids, Matthew James Morrison, Marcy Dolapo Oni and Kalu Ikeagwu (pictured above). Filming wrapped last week.

Oshiyemi is also producing the film while Jezz Vernon is exec-producing.

APPOINTMENT

The BBC has promoted Stewart Maclean, deputy editor of news program “Newsnight,” to editor, following the departure of Esme Wren. Maclean was executive producer of the program’s landmark interview with Prince Andrew in 2019, having overseen negotiations between “Newsnight” and Buckingham Palace. He has had prior stints at ITV News and Daily Mirror.

SCREENWRITING

The Realness Institute, in partnership with Geneva-based philanthropic organization The StoryBoard Collective, has launched a program for African episodic screenwriters, AuthenticA Series Lab, open to all African nationals. The six-month program, which will consist of a combination of online and in-person sessions, will take place from Sept. 28, 2022 – April 7, 2023. AuthenticA will give four African screenwriters the opportunity to develop their original stories, rooted in the African ethos, of all genres in episodic form. They will receive a monthly stipend of €1,000 ($1,083) each. Accompanying them on their journey are story expert Selina Ukwuoma and creative producer Mehret Mandefro.

The participants will attend in-person residencies in South Africa for eight days, in Switzerland for two months and finally to pitch their projects at Series Mania Forum in 2023.

Application details here.

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