Sony Pictures seals first-look deal with The Guardian – The Hollywood Reporter

The Guardian has distributed the 2021 Oscar-winning short film Colette

Courtesy of Oscar Short Television

Sony Pictures Entertainment has signed a new exclusive deal with a British newspaper Watchmangiving the studio first rights the guardianReports on film and television adaptations.

The deal will give SPE’s film and television production groups, which include film divisions such as Columbia Pictures, TriStar, Screen Gems and 3000 Pictures, as well as TV operations Left Bank (the crown), evil wolf (His Dark Materials), and Whisper, a sports and non-scripted production company. The agreement includes SPE’s feature film division, and development rights to WatchmanCurrent and developing news stories, as well as the newspaper’s archive dating back 200 years.

Announcing the agreement Wednesday, SPE and Watchman He said the studio has three options deals already in place that will be announced soon. Watchman It has similar agreements with Netflix, BBC and Sky. The media group is no stranger to cutting-edge video content. She distributed Anthony Giacchino’s documentary ColetteWhich won the Academy Award for Best Short Documentary Film of 2020, as well as Best Documentary Short Film of 2019 by director Ed Perkins, who was nominated for an Academy Award. black sheep.

“To be able to count WatchmanTestimonial,” said Wayne Garvey, president of international production for Sony Pictures Television, in an interview. “We are constantly looking for stories that have a distinctive spirit and creativity, and that connect with audiences around the world Watchman The team certainly brings these qualities through its high-level journalism.

The agreement was brokered by London agency group Curtis Brown and will be overseen by a team appointed by SPE and Watchman.