mipcom
NEWS Mezzo Live HD strand to make Australian debut on Foxtel Arts
L
AGARDERE Active and Lightning International have closed a deal to bring a daily four-hour branded block called Mezzo Live HD to the newlylaunched Foxtel Arts channel in Australia, offering classical music, opera, ballet and jazz. It marks the first agreement for Mezzo Live HD in Australia, which already has partnerships in Japan, Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Gerald-Brice Viret, CEO, Lagardere Active TV, said: “We are pleased to bring Mezzo Live HD to another major pay-TV provider in Asia-Pacific and confident it will help drive growth and viewership for Foxtel Arts.” According to Stephen Baldwin, Foxtel’s head of channels and operations, the addition of Mezzo Live HD “will provide Foxtel Arts subscribers with access to performances from European concert halls and festival stages, thus strengthening the content
Lagardere’s Sabrina Azouni (left), Foxtel’s Stephen Baldwin, Lagardere’s GeraldBrice Viret and Lightning International’s James Ross
offering on the channel.” James Ross, CEO of Lightning International, the Asia-Pacific representative for Mezzo Live HD added: “We have had a fantastic response to the rollout of Mezzo Live HD in the region
from our partners and operators, and we welcome Foxtel as the latest affiliate — with more to come soon!” The channel plans additional localised content in 2015 with new partnerships in the works in Australia.
Detectives take lead in Rai’s roster RAI COM, the commercial arm of Italian public broadcaster Rai, is in Cannes with a broad range of drama, documentary and animation. Highlights include a new
Rai Com’s Mattia Oddone
season of detective series Young Montalbano, which has been sold this week to the BBC, RLJ (UK video rights), Hi Gloss (Australia and New Zealand video) and NEP (Japanese pay-TV rights). Head of cinema and TV international sales Mattia Oddone said the diversity of the slate showed that Rai Com was more sensitive to what the market was asking for. “We have more titles that can work well on international platforms and broadcasters around the world,” he said. In crime, there are new episodes of Inspector Montalbano, the original show that inspired Young Montalbano. There is also a third season of Inspector Coliandro (The Comeback, 6 x 100 mins) while Close Murders
introduces a female crime fighter, Valeria Ferro of the Turin homicide squad, in her battle against domestic and community-based violence. There is also a female protagonist in The Good Apprentice, about a young doctor who gets drawn into crime investigations in Rome. The makeover in Rai’s crime drama is also reflected in its social dramas, said Oddone. “We have dramas that deal with the refugee crisis in a very topical and powerful way. Lampedusa explores the tragedy of the crisis in the Mediterranean through the eyes of the captain of a coastguard ship. And Border is a lightly-fictionalised, almost documentary, story of two Syrian sisters forced to flee their home by the civil war.”
30
MORE DEALS FOR STASI SPY SAGA FREMANTLEMEDIA International’s (FMI) spy thriller Deutschland 83 (8 x 60 mins) has been sold to Channel One (Russia), Sky Italia (Italy), Hulu (US), SundanceTV (Englishspeaking Canada), Super Ecran (French-speaking Canada), RTE (Eire), Stan (Australia and New Zealand), Telenet (Belgium), RTL Klub (Hungary), Hotvision (Israel), TV4 (Scandinavia) and Kino Lorber (US — DVD and iTunes). These latest deals take to 20 the number of broadcasters and SVOD services to have acquired the suspense-laden drama. Set against the cultural and political turmoil of 1980s Germany, Deutschland 83 has “become the must-have European drama series of the year”, said Jens Richter, CEO of FremantleMedia International. He added: “Having attracted critical acclaim in the US and now the attention of this impressive list of buyers, the compelling series is set to captivate viewers around the world.”
Deutschland 83 (FMI)