TWELVE TIMES TWO

Production is under way on season two of “The Twelve,” a crime drama which follows a controversial murder trial as seen through the lens of the 12 jury members, ordinary members of the public with their own realities and struggles. On completion, it will screen on Foxtel’s Binge streaming service. International distribution is by Fifth Season. Western Australia premier Roger Cook said that the “The Twelve S2” is the largest ever production in the state.

As previously announced, Sam Neill (“Jurassic Park,” “Peaky Blinders”) and Frances O’Connor (“The End,” “AI”) reprise their roles as senior lawyers.

Joining them is an all-star Australian cast including: Tasma Walton (“Mystery Road,” “Sweet As”), Kris McQuade (“Rosehaven”), Amy Mathews (“A Place to Call Home”), Erroll Shand (“The Clearing”), Fayssal Bazzi (“Shantaram”), Josh McKenzie (“La Brea”), Anthony Brandon Wong (“Queen of Oz”), Stefanie Caccamo (“Fighting Season”), Sharon Johal (“Neighbours,” “Shantaram”), Luke Pegler (“Ladies In Black”), Adriano Cappelletta (“In Our Blood”), Nelson Baker (“The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart”), Greg McNeill (“How To Please A Woman”), Suesha Rana (“Itch”), Brad Francis (“Radio Man”), Keith Robinson (“Mystery Road 2,”) and  Isabelle Bäsén.

The series is produced by Warner Bros. International Television Production Australia and Easy Tiger with major production investment from Screenwest and the Western Australian Production Attraction Incentive.

Executive producers are Michael Brooks, Sarah L. Walker, Alison Hurbert-Burns, Penny Win and Neill. Producers are Hamish Lewis, Ian Collie, Rob Gibson and Ally Henville.

FREMANTLE FUND

Fremantle has inked a four-year deal with IBI Investment House for a €150 million ($163 million) scripted fund to finance scripted television and film projects. Guy Hameiri will be CEO of the new fund.

Fremantle plans to use the fund to fast-track production of various projects from its network of production companies. IBI Fund will work with Fremantle to green light the projects and bring them to market. Fremantle International will distribute the green-lit projects, the first of which have already been announced as “Maria” from Pablo Larrain, “Shelter” from Jim Keeble and Dudi Appleton and “Generation Loss” from Sarah Dollard.

Jennifer Mullin, group CEO of Fremantle said: “At Fremantle we are always focused on innovation, and this alliance with IBI is a perfect example of this ethos and approach.”

OPTION

Sony Pictures Television-backed Eleventh Hour Films has optioned acclaimed author C.M Ewan’s (“The Interview,”’ “A Window Breaks”) new thriller “The House Hunt,” published in the U.K. by Pan Macmillan.

“The House Hunt” centers on the story of an everyday young couple, Lucy and Sam, who are selling their recently renovated dream house. Alone at home Lucy takes a call from their estate agent, she is running late and needs Lucy to show a potential buyer around the house. As she begins the viewing something about the potential buyer feels wrong and as time passes with no sign of the estate agent Lucy’s unease grows. On the verge of panic Lucy asks the man to leave, but he refuses and turns on her, revealing something inconceivable.

The deal was struck by WME on behalf of the Darley Anderson Literary Agency.

KEYNOTE

Laura Fernández Espeso, CEO of Spain’s The Mediapro Studio, will deliver a keynote speech at Mipcom Cannes (Oct. 16-19). The session will be presented as a fireside chat in the Grand Auditorium of the Palais des Festivals in Cannes on Oct. 17 as part of the conference’s Media Mastermind series. Fernández Espeso will share insights into the strategy driving The Mediapro Studio explore the factors behind the growth of the Spanish language sector globally.

SHANGHAI HOTEL

Construction officially commenced Thursday on Shanghai Disney Resort’s third themed hotel, a deluxe hotel with 400 rooms. The resort, which is owned and operated by the Shanghai Shendi Group, the Walt Disney Company, Shanghai Disney Resort and the Administrative Commission of Shanghai International Resort, already includes the 420-room Shanghai Disneyland Hotel and the 795-room Toy Story Hotel.

BOOMERANG BACK

Warner Bros. Discovery and MVTV have announced a new arrangement under which Boomerang channel, Thailand’s number 1 kids and family channel, will continue from Sept. 1. MVTV will now be responsible for all local marketing, programming, ad sales and distribution of the channel on cable- and satellite-TV platforms. Through a new content licensing agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery, the channel will continue to heavily feature original titles from Cartoon Network and Warner Bros. Animation. New episodes – including preschool shows “Batwheels” and “Bugs Bunny Builders” – will premiere over the next few months. Current key titles include: “The Powerpuff Girls,” “Justice League Action,” “Be Cool,” “Scooby-Doo,” “Teen Titans Go!,” “Ben 10,” “Tom and Jerry in New York” and “We Baby Bears.” The channel is available in Thai only and remains on channel 89 on freesat platforms.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

Jamie Njoku-Goodwin, CEO of U.K. Music – a group representing the British music industry – has stepped down from his role in order to take up a position as director of strategy for U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. U.K. Music deputy CEO Tom Kiehl will step in as interim CEO. The group’s chair, Lord Watson, said: ““We wish Jamie the very best in his new role and look forward to seeing him ensure the government supports our world-leading UK music industry just as strongly as he has done.”

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Performance capture facility Imaginarium Studios has tapped three new hires: Alex Hill joins from Zynga as business development manager, Dan Baybutt joins from Weta FX as post production supervisor and Lucy Pennington joins from Pinewood Studios as operations manager. CEO Matt Brown said “We are delighted to add such qualified and talented new members to our team.”