Directors Digest — 14 March 2019

It’s a packed out Digest this week, with Line of Duty, Mike Leigh, Apple TV, late payments and copyright legislation all making an appearance. Read all about the news and views from the industry below.   

Film

Directors from across Europe have signed an open letter calling on European Parliament to support the copyright directive in this month’s key vote.

In France, women directed 23.3% of features in 2017, Screen reports. 

Indiewire tells the tale of the last Blockbuster rental store standing.

Mike Leigh spoke to The Guardian about Netflix, Amazon, and opportunities for first-time feature directors. 

The Disney-Fox merger is set to be finalised next week. (TBI Vision)

Television

The BBC has craftily got around box set rules by Broadcasing Line of Duty back-to-back late on BBC4. (Broadcast)

Screen writes about how Netflix uses data to help set budgets and make cancellation decisions.

Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight wants to create a £100m studio in Birmingham. (Guardian)

48% of businesses in the creative industries were paid late in 2018, according to reports in The Drum.

Apple is expected to unveil its TV streaming service on March 25. (TBI Vision)

Are you a member with an opinion on one of these stories? Is there an issue affecting directors that you think isn’t getting enough attention in the media? Why not write for us and make yourself heard — email [email protected] with your article idea.