Sky Studios

The rocketing cost of energy will reinforce the drive to ensure that programme-­making is sustainable and that the TV industry hits its target to have net zero carbon emissions by 2030. That was one of the takeaways from a recent RTS event, “Sustainable TV studio production – myth or reality?”, which was held over Zoom to reduce its carbon footprint.  

The panel pondered everything from recycling and working with cardboard sets to reducing travel and helping suppliers to go green.  

Set against the backdrop of multicultural Milan with a soundtrack of rap and reggaeton, Blocco 181 tells the story of love and crime. 

On the outskirts of Milan sits a commanding apartment complex in the fictional block 181, which contains residents Bea (Laura Osmo), Mahdi (Andrea Dodero) and Ludo (Alessandro Piavani). 

Despite coming from very different backgrounds, the trio shares a strong bond that challenges the status quo and will see them navigate love, sex, family crime and emancipation. 

Technologies have always been central to the evolution of the programme­ making process, but we have a revolution on our hands with the advent of virtual production.

Virtual production is the ability to augment TV and film sets with walls of LED displays that show a virtual location, whether that’s faraway planets (used in The Mandalorian) or the tennis courts of Wimbledon 2021 (apparently overlooked by the BBC’s virtual studio).

It is just over two years since Comcast bought Sky for a massive £30.6bn, but it is only now that the company has appointed one of its own senior executives to run the European pay-TV giant. Last month, the dynamic Dana Strong, head of Comcast Cable’s consumer services business, was announced as the successor to Jeremy Darroch, who led Sky for 13 years and was chief financial officer before that.

German filmmaker Gabriela Sperl is developing the film alongside producer SFFP, which tracks the rise and fall of the financial payments firm Wirecard.

Once regarded as the posterchild for German tech innovation, the firm collapsed in June 2020 after it was revealed that €1.9 billion was missing from its accounts.

The documentary spells out the international web of lies, cover ups and money laundering that led to the swindle.

Sperl has exclusive access to those closest to the scandal, including several informants.

The drama follows strange young misfit Kim (Williams), who was just a child when her father passed away in mysterious circumstances.

Following the tragedy, Kim was whisked off to a secluded setting by her mother Tina (Sian Clifford) and raised with a bizarre set of survival skills.

Now an adult, Kim journeys out into the real world to fulfil a secret mission to honour her father’s memory.

What a difference two years makes. In 2017, Sky was one of the crown jewels of the vast Murdoch media empire, beloved by investors and publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange. Spool forward to 2019 and Sky is part of Comcast, the US cable conglomerate, which successfully outbid Disney to buy Europe’s biggest pay-TV provider for a staggering $39bn.

Brassic, co-created by Joe Gilgun (Preacher) and Danny Brocklehurst (Shameless), follows a group of working-class friends as they try to navigate life in a Northern suburbia as their teenage years of scamming and bribing finally start to catch up with them.

Vinnie (Joe Gilgun) is a Lancashire lad who suffers with bipolar disorder and is best friends with street smart Dylan (Damien Molony).