The saga of Joe Exotic is getting another Hollywood chapter, with Kate McKinnon starring as his rival in a limited TV series.
The "Saturday Night Live" star will play Carole Baskin, who sought to shut down Joseph Maldonado-Passage's for-profit breeding of big cats. The conflict became a pop culture sensation with Netflix's docuseries "Tiger King."
The series, ordered without a pilot episode, will be based on the Wondery podcast "Joe Exotic," NBCUniversal Television and Streaming said Tuesday.
It's planned for release across three corporate siblings: the NBC broadcast network, cable's USA channel and the recently launched Peacock streaming service, NBC Universal said.
McKinnon also will be an executiver producer for the show with the working title of "Joe Exotic," Maldonado-Passage's nickname. He's also known by the surname Schreibvogel.
Maldonado-Passage is serving a 22-year federal prison term for killing five tigers and plotting to have Baskin killed. In June, a federal judge awarded Baskin ownership of the private Oklahoma zoo run by Maldonado-Passage.
The Joe Exotic role has yet to be cast, NBCUniversal said. Production and release dates were not announced.
Avid completes acquisition of Wolftech
Avid®, known for software solutions for professional media production, has completed the acquisition of Wolftech Broadcast Solutions, a leader in cloud-based multiplatform news planning, production and publishing solutions.
The acquisition enables Avid to combine its digital-first, end-to-end media solution with Wolftech’s expertise in story-centric workflow management. News organizations will be able to increase efficiency and accelerate story delivery through enhanced remote collaboration and multiplatform amplification.
Avid CEO Wellford Dillard stated, “Wolftech is unquestionably on the leading edge of where the industry is going, and this acquisition demonstrates Avid’s commitment to transform news, sports, and live production workflows. We are delighted to welcome Wolftech into the Avid family.”
Wolftech CEO Arne Berven added, “We were focused on finding a partner that could accelerate the adoption of our platform globally. We explored a number of possibilities, but when we talked to Avid, we knew it was the right match.”
The closing of the acquisition follows Avid’s announcement on October 7 that the company had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Wolftech.
With this acquisition, Avid deepens the integration between the two toolsets while continuing to embrace an open approach in partnering with a wide range of media production tools and newsroom systems. Existing Wolftech customers will benefit from Avid’s global scale for customer support and professional services.
Ian Axton, head of production operations for ITV News, said, “As a customer of both Avid and Wolftech we’re excited about the benefits this acquisition will bring to our users and our business. Wolftech has transformed... Read More