CBS bosses to give MIPCOM keynote

CBS distribution boss Armando Nuñez and Showtime chief David Nevins will give a joint keynote at MIPCOM next month.

Nuñez (left) is CBS’s top international exec and runs the studio’s CBS Global Distribution Group. Nevins (below right) is president of CBS-owned cable net Showtime. The pair will talk about the expansion of the Showtime brand around the world and high-profile upcoming series Billions (below).

The show was announced in March and will follow the clash of two big business heavyweights, a politically savvy US Attorney, Chuck Rhoades, and an ambitious hedge fund king, Bobby ‘Axe’ Axelrod.

Actor Paul Giamatti (Sideways, left) will play Rhoades and Damian Lewis (Homeland, below right) plays Axe. Financial journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin (Too Big to Fail) wrote and executive produces along with Brian Koppelman and David Levien (Ocean’s Thirteen).

There will also be an international premiere screening of the series in Cannes on the Tuesday of the market in the Grand Auditorium. A recent teaser trailer at the UK Edinburgh International Television Festival was warmly received, and it is expected to end up either a leading British terrestrial channel or a pay TV platform.

Meanwhile, CBS has launched a branded Showtime service on the Crave OTT platform in Canada and intimated there could be further international expansion.

“I am delighted that David Nevins and Armando Nuñez will share their insight into what it takes to produce premium drama series for today’s market. And we are thrilled that CBS has decided to give the MIPCOM audience an early look at Billions,” said Laurine Garaude, director of Reed Midem’s television division.