Showmax Original takes Shanghai prize

The first season of Showmax Original Spinners has beaten the Emmy-winning final season of Succession for Best Foreign TV Series at the 29th Shanghai TV Festival’s Magnolia Awards. 

In one of the biggest entertainment accolades in Asia, Spinners held off strong competition from three more fancied finalists:

• the BAFTA-nominated All Creatures Great and Small S4

• La Storia, named 2024 Series of the Year by The Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists

• Aspergirl, winner of Best Actor for Carel Brown at last year’s Series Mania in the French competition

The acclaimed Showmax Original was also released last week on CANAL+ in France, with two episodes every Monday. This follows a CANAL+ release in French Africa in November last year.

Reviews in France are as glowing as they were in South Africa. Le Figaro says Spinners “happily explores new fictional territories and allows you to discover an astonishing motorsport”; Diverto uses phrases like “absolutely captivating”, “breathtaking” and “both spectacular and full of suspense”; Allociné calls it “a gripping thriller… somewhere between Fast and Furious and Gomorra with a little hint of Moonlight”.

The first African series ever selected for CanneSeries, Spinners follows Ethan (breakout star Cantona James), a 17-year-old driver working for a local gang. Needing to support his younger brother but increasingly disgusted with gang life, Ethan discovers a possible way out via spinning, an extreme motorsport where he can put his driving skills to better use. With a gang war looming, can he turn his life around fast enough? 

A co-production between Showmax and CANAL+, Spinners is co-created by producer Joachim Landau and showrunner Benjamin Hoffman of Empreinte Digitale, with the story developed by and head written by SAFTA and Silwerskerm winners Sean Steinberg and Matthew Jankes. SAFTA and Silwerskerm winner Jaco Bouwer directs, while the English/Kaaps series is co-produced by Locarno, Amiens and FESPACO winner Ramadan Suleman from Natives at Large, Spinners’ local co-production company.

Spinners’ all-star cast includes Albert Pretorius, Braeden Buys, Brendon Daniels, Carel Nel, Chelsea Thomas, Clayton Evertson, Dann Jaques Mouton, Danny Ross, David Isaacs, Dillon Windvogel, Elton Landrew, Ernest St. Clair, Jihaad Otto, Katlego Lebogang, Keeno Lee Hector, Lee-Ann van Rooi, Melanie du Bois, Monique Rockman, Stephren Saayman, Waleed Osman and Zenobia Kloppers, among others. 

The opening night film at MIP Africa last year, Spinners also won three awards at the inaugural Dakar Series: Best TV Series, Best Performance (Cantona James), and Best Editing for Andrea Shaw and Matthew Swanepoel. Spinners was also featured on international trade Deadline as part of their Global Breakouts strand. 

StudioCanal is handling international sales on Spinners, with Brazilian TV giant Globo the first deal announced.