TV Veteran Paul Ricci Joins Buzzfeed Studios (TV News Roundup)

Buzzfeed announced Paul Ricci will join the company to head up unscripted television for BuzzFeed Studios. In this role, Ricci will oversee all unscripted television programming for the company’s Hollywood division and its entire portfolio of brands, including BuzzFeed, Complex, Tasty and HuffPost. Ricci will report directly to studio head Richard Alan Reid.

Ricci has over 20 years of television experience in the entertainment industry, most recently co-founding development company BoomTown Content Co. In addition to Ricci’s hiring, BuzzFeed Studios will enter into a strategic development partnership with BoomTown Content Co. to develop new unscripted television projects. Recent projects include The Kids Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon about Peacock, Who Wants To Be An Astronaut? on Discovery and other projects in different stages. BoomTown Content Co. will continue to be led by co-founder Mark Efman.

At Viacom – now Paramount Global – Ricci served as Head of Alternative Series for MTV and VH1 and worked on hit shows like Rob Dyrdek’s Ridiculousness, Martha and Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party and Hip Hop Squares. Previously, Paul served as Head of Development & Programming for MTV2, where he developed and launched Nick Cannon Presents: Wild ‘n Out, Guy Code and Girl Code and led the channel to record growth.

EVENTS

From creator and executive producer Ava DuVernay, the drama series “Queen Sugar” will air its seventh and final season on Tuesday, September 6th on OWN. The contemporary drama, based on Natalie Baszile’s 2014 novel of the same name, has been directed primarily by female filmmakers throughout its run, an effort spearheaded by DuVernay himself in directing the first two episodes of the series. Nearly three dozen filmmakers have made their directorial debuts with Queen Sugar. The show is produced for OWN by DuVernay’s Array Filmworks and Harpo Films in association with Warner Bros. Television. The series is executive produced by DuVernay, Oprah Winfrey, Paul Garnes and Shaz Bennett.

SERIES

Brat TV and Picturestart have announced a new partnership that will include the co-funding and production of video podcasts led by prominent Gen Z influencers. The first series to launch as part of the new partnership will be Antoni Bumba’s “Reading The Stars” video podcast, a weekly chat show where she will discuss all things pop culture, astrology, TikTok, relationships and more. The first episode, featuring The Comments Section host Drew Afualo, will be available August 23 on YouTube and all podcast platforms. Other upcoming guests include Challxn, Dylan Mulvaney, Victoria Paris and more.

INTERNATIONAL

TelevisaUnivision, a Spanish-language content and media company, announced that three new series, “Colapso”, “Isla Brava” and “Senda Prohibida”, and a new documentary, “Absoluta”, have begun production. The four original productions will be available exclusively on Vix+, a new premium Spanish language subscription streaming service.

Colapso is a Spanish language adaptation of the French dystopian miniseries L’Effondrement. Isla Brava follows a detective who works on a missing persons case involving infidelity within that person’s family. Produced by Giselle González, Senda Prohibida is a modern reinterpretation of Televisa’s first-ever novel. The documentary film “Absoluta” revolves around the Spanish national football team, an underdog story that focuses on two young players entering a sporting world of heightened fame, ego and individualism. Jorge Laplace is directing the documentary that features the main stars of the Spanish national football team.

UKTV’s crime channel Alibi has partnered with US broadcaster MASTERPIECE and All3Media International to commission a second season of the hit series ‘Annika’. The critically acclaimed series is based on the hit BBC Radio 4 drama written by Nick Walker. The second series returns with Nicola Walker as Annika Strandhed, Jamie Sives as Michael McAndrews, Katie Leung as Blair Ferguson and Ukweli Roach as Tyrone Clarke. Silvie Furneaux will also return as Annika Strandhed’s daughter, Morgan.