CULTURE DIGEST 02: Dropout TV, Irish telly, and a political podcast round up.
Monthly recommendations from the team behind the TV Foundation and Edinburgh TV Festival.
Looking to add another streaming service to your roster? Check out Dropout TV, the indie comedy streaming platform, that’s breaking into the TV mainstream with an Emmy campaign to secure its first major nominations.
Not sure what to watch first? We recommend Game Changer, Dimension 20 and keeping an eye out on their just announced ‘Dropout Presents’ Stand Up specials coming later in June.
So, what should you watch this weekend?
As a team we have been enjoying the wedge of Irish TV available right now: Bodkin and Obituary (both streaming on Netflix, both dark comedies). The final series of Inside Number 9 also excellent as expected.
Sewing Bee is back, and with a brand-new host joining this season: Kiell Smith-Bynoe. Which also reminds us to spotlight Bynoe at the TV Festival back in 2022 as he joined some of his fellow cast and crew for a Masterclass on Ghosts. Stream the full session exclusively on our Festival YouTube channel.
Cannes Special:
Our Partnerships and Marketing Assistant, Immie Burt, was at Cannes this month and returns with a list of films to keep on our radar.
Bird (dir. Andrea Arnold) starring Barry Keoghan and Franz Rogowski, with a soaring debut by Nykiya Adams. 12-year-old Bailey (Adams), struggling with the changes to her family and body, meets a stranger who introduces her to a new world. Intimate, magical realism - this is Andrea Arnold at her best.
UK rights acquired by MUBI – expect this to have theatrical release before going onto their streamer.
The Substance (dir. Coralie Fargeat) is definitely not for the faint of heart! As the threat of fading stardom looms, actress Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) decides to use an experimental, cell-replicating substance that temporarily creates a younger version of herself. Did I almost throw up at one point? Yes! Did I want to stop watching? No way!
UK rights also acquired by MUBI!
Julie Zwijgt (Julie Keeps Quiet) (dir. Leonardo van Dijl) is a fierce debut by the director, receiving two awards at the Cannes this year. When her coach is accused of misconduct, a promising tennis player (Tessa Van den Broeck) must decide if she’ll speak up, or remain silent.
UK rights acquired by Curzon Artificial Eye.
Internet Musings:
We are back with a few more Substacks to check out. First up is One Useful Thing by Prof. Ethan Mollick which aids to help us navigate and understand the implications of AI for work, education, and life. Make Work Better is by workplace culture writer, Bruce Daisley, who is ‘re-engineer workplace culture for the hybrid age’. We recommend deep diving into the archive of all the latest news and analysis of what comes next for work.
We are still actively commissioning for Reflections on the TV industry – check out our latest on ‘What Do Kisses Say About Our Industry? X’ by Tammie Meera Ash – but as a team we’ve enjoyed these pieces about the film and tv industry from other outlets.
For Channel 4 by Minnie Stephenson highlights that working class creatives is at an all-time low, with a mere 10% of film and tv workers are from a working-class background.
The Life and Death of Hollywood and how film and television writers face an existential threat by Daniel Bessner for Harpers.
Back to workplace culture, this time within reality tv. With several past contestants having sued the show creators, Is “Love Is Blind” a Toxic Workplace? By Emily Nussbaum for The New Yorker.
Top of the Pods:
Page 94: the Private Eye podcast, hosted by Andrew Hunter-Murray, often featuring Ian Hislop and one or two other regular Eye contributors depending on the topics covered, informative and funny.
From back in 2022, but the Origins podcast hears from 3 leaders of HBO’s programming history. Worth checking out below:
And naturally, fresh off the news that the UK is heading for a General Election in July. A selection of political podcasts recommendations to help digest and analyse the political landscape.
What have you been digesting in the month of May? Let us know and leave a comment below!