Netflix Readies ‘Rana Naidu’ Season 2 In India Push; BBC Expands ‘The 1% Club’; ‘Star Academy’ Opens In Israel; Podcaster Joins Australian Directors’ Guild — Global Briefs

Netflix Orders Season 2 Of ‘Rana Naidu’

Netflix’s Indian drama original Rana Naidu has landed a second season. During the streamer’s financial results yesterday, co-CEO Ted Sarandos pointed to the series as he touted India as the “big prize” up for grabs for streamers in 2023. Indian has one of the most saturated but most engaged streaming markets in the world right now and Netflix current sits behind the likes of Disney+ Hotstar in terms of subs. Rana Naidu stars Rana and Venkatesh Daggubati as a father and son from a dysfunctional family who lock horns. Season 1 trended in Netflix’s Global Top 10. Tanya Bami, Series Head at Netflix India said the “high adrenaline thriller” has “been a great way for us to end the first quarter of 2023.” The show comes from Sunder Aaron’s Locomotive Global and is created by Karan Anshuman, with Anshuman and Suparn S. Varma co-directing. No details on new casting or launch date for Season 2 were revealed.

BBC Studios Re-Licenses ‘1% Club’ In Israel

BBC Studios format The 1% Club has been given a second season on Israeli network Kan 11. The Magnum Media show launched in Israel last October, and the new run goes into production next month. It’ll launch in the fall. The format is a prime-time entertainment show that tests real intelligence and exposes how the brain reaches answers. In the UK, the show returned last week and took 3.7M in overnight ratings. Adaptations for France Televisions and Germany, on Sat.1, have also returned similarly strong results. RTL in the Netherlands, Atresmedia in Spain and Seven Network in Australia also have their own versions.

‘Star Academy’ Opens In Israel

Reshaet 13 in Israel is the latest net to bag Banijay format Star Academy. Banijay’s Endemol Shine Israel will produce the show, which last year was successfully rebooted in France on TF1 after a nine-year hiatus. There’s been a trend of networks retooling legacy formats in recent years, with the likes of Banijay’s Survivor, Big Brother and Temptation Island leading the pack. Star Academy follows young artists who enter a renowned musical academy to undergo intensive performance training before appearing in front of judges at the end of the week. “We were inspired by the reboot in France, and truly believe Star Academy will be an inspiring and engaging watch for the whole family,” said Endemol Shine Israel CEO Amir Ganor.

Sophie Harper Named Australian Directors’ Guild Exec Director

Screen Canberra Senior Fund Manager Sophie Harper is the new Executive Director of The Australian Directors’ Guild. She’ll take up the post on May 29, ADG President Rowan Woods announced. Harper has been overseeing a A$5M SBR Screen Fund for the local government, and was previously based in Denmark, where she held roles at the European Film College between 2009 and 2015. Since returning to Australia, she has become the creator and host of the Not by Accident podcast, which has been downloaded more than two million times around the world. She has also worked for Screen Australia and the Australian Film Commission. “With Sophie at the helm, the ADG has a great platform to build upon, at a time when important collaborations are forming with the Australian Writers Guild and our other fellow guilds surrounding fairer renumeration for writers and directors and pressing issues surrounding streamer quotas and copyright,” said Woods.