Miptv 2017 drama special report

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DRAMA SPECIAL REPORT

A pril 2017

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KIDA KHODR RAMADAN

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ALMILA BAGRIACIK

FREDERICK LAU

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OFFICIAL

SELECTIO

BERLINAL VEYSEL GELIN

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OLIVER MASUCCI

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story about friendship and family, betrayal

and trust set inside an Arab clan in Berlin.

DRAMA: 6 episodes x 1 hour PREMIERE: May 2017

MIPTV Booth P0. A2 contentdistribution@turner.com

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Drama S pecial Repor t

PRE-LA SCREENINGS SHOWCASE

Disney Media Distribution and Lionsgate have signed up for the inaugural Pre-LA Screenings Showcase at MIPTV. The event is from 09.00-09.45 on Tuesday, April 4, and forms part of the MIPDrama series of events n

The top twelve

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The 12 MIPDrama Screenings finalists

A word from the experts

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Meet the MIP Drama Buyers Advisory Board

View from the top

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Industry experts review the winners

Anything goes

DRAMA SPECIAL REPORT 42

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The trend in drama is that there is no trend

New faces, new places

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The trade routes for TV drama are being redrawn

Tales of the unexpected

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Today all drama genres can find their audience

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DRAMA SPECIAL REPORT – APRIL 2017 – MIPTV News Supplement Director of Publications Paul Zilk Director of Communication Mike Williams EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT Editor in Chief Julian Newby Deputy Editor Debbie Lincoln Sub Editor Joanna Stephens Contributor Andy Fry Juliana Koranteng Editorial Management Boutique Editions Head of Graphic Studio Hervé Traisnel Graphic Studio Manager Frédéric Beauseigneur Graphic Designers Nour Ezzedeen , Carole Peres PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT Publishing Director Martin Screpel Publishing Manager Amrane Lamiri Publishing Co-ordinators Yovana Filipovic, Veronica Pirim Printer Riccobono Imprimeurs, Le Muy (France) Reed MIDEM, a joint stock company (SAS), with a capital of €310.000, 662 003 557 R.C.S. NANTERRE, having offices located at 27-33 Quai Alphonse Le Gallo - 92100 BOULOGNE-BILLANCOURT (FRANCE), VAT number FR91 662 003 557.

Contents © 2017, Reed MIDEM Market Publications. Publication registered 2nd quarter 2017. Printed on PEFC Certified Paper.

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THE TOP TWELVE MIPDRAMA SCREENINGS

In the run-up to MIPTV, the MIPDrama Buyers Advisory Board selected 12 from the entries to this year’s showcase for international buyers. Andy Fry spotlights the 12 productions that made in to the finals

BABYLON BERLIN: SET TO ‘CHANGE GERMAN SERIES’ BABYLON Berlin is a high-end drama series based on the bestselling police thrillers

by Volker Kutscher, with Tom Tykwer (Per-

fume; The Story Of A Murderer) attached as showrunner. Centring on inspector Gereon Rath’s investigations in 1920s Berlin, the 16 x 45 mins series is an atmospheric portrayal of the world’s most exciting city in the Golden Twenties, when it was a hotbed of crime and politics, sex and drugs, emanci-

Babylon Berlin

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pation and extremism.

Tykwer says: “After almost three years of working on the script, finally getting on set was an unbelievable joy. We had 180 days to shoot, sometimes working with two and even three units at the same time. In hindsight, it’s unbelievable that we were able

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CHARACTER-DRIVEN UNEXPECTEDLY MOVING

GLOBAL SCREEN maximilian Brückner

Andreas Giebel

Katrin Röver

NEW DRAMEDY SERIES AT MIPTV 2017 Petra Berndt

Ercan Karacayli

SERIES | DRAMEDY | 6 x 45 min DIRECTED BY BORIS KUNZ W R I T T E N B Y N I K L A S H O F F M A N N B O R I S K U N Z R A F A E L PA R E N T E

GLOBAL SCREEN AND BR PRESENT A NEUESUPER PRODUCTION SUPPORTED BY FILMFERNSEHFONDS BAYERN WELCOME TO HINDAFING CASTING DANIELA TOLKIEN COSTUME DESIGNER TINA KEIMEL-SORGE PRODUCTION DESIGNER MARCEL BERANEK MAKE-UP KUROSCH-OLIVER AKHAVAN EDITOR KATJA BECK SOUND RAINER BUTCHAL MUSIC DAVID REICHELT DOP TIM KUHN BORIS KUNZ NIKLAS HOFFMANN RAFAEL PARENTE HEAD OF PRODUCTION PATRICK WOSIEN LINE PRODUCER FLORIAN KAMHUBER COMMISSIONING EDITOR ELMAR JAEGER PRODUCERS RAFAEL PARENTE SIMON AMBERGER KORBINIAN DUFTER DIRECTED BY BORIS KUNZ

WRITTEN BY

MEET US AT MIPTV BOOTH: P-1.K1, HALL: PALAIS-1 | info@globalscreen.de | www.globalscreen.de 1a_GlobalScreen_Hindafing_MipDramaEdition_230x300+5mm.indd 1

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mipdrama S pecial Repor t Germany and Luxembourg. It is produced

by Letterbox Filmproduktion (producer Lisa Blumenberg), co-produced by Iris Productions (producer Nicolas Steil) and supported by the Film Fund Luxembourg, the HessenFilm und Medien and the German Motion Picture Fund. Broadcasters ZDF and ARTE are already on board, with Paris-based Federation Entertainment handling international sales.

The producers of Bad Banks say the origin of the series was the 2008 financial crisis, which “left us with a feeling of curiosity and uncertainty. We became aware that we are living in a system that cannot be controlled. For all these reasons, we wanted to understand what’s behind the scenes of a financial institution such as a bank. The idea was to enter this closed world to review it from the inside.”

• Work in Progress

Bad Banks

to do that.”

Babylon Berlin is a co-production between X Filme Creative Pool, ARD, Sky and Beta Film. It will be aired by Sky Germany in October and by ARD later in 2018. Beta Film, which is handling worldwide sales, has signed several deals including Sky UK, Sky Italy, Spanish premium subscription platform Moviestar+/Telefonica and Belgium pay-TV partner Telenet. Negotiations with the US are almost finalised, Beta Film reports.

Carsten Schmidt, CEO of Sky Deutschland, is delighted with what he has seen so far: “In the past weeks and months, I’ve had the opportunity to peek over the artists’ shoulders as they were working at Studio Babelsberg. What I have seen left a deep impression on me and really made me feel good about the project. Babylon Berlin will change German series, both because of how it’s made and the way it tells its story.”

• Work in Progress

Jana’s journey takes the audience into the fascinating world of high finance, exposing people who are willing to jeopardise the financial security of an entire country in order to advance their own ambitions.

The six-episode story was directed by Christian Schwochow, who says: “Bad Banks is about human vices such as euphoria, addiction, narcissism, advancement and failure. The series relates to a system that produces sick people, and is in constant danger of failure. The bank becomes a metaphor for competitive modern society. The final aim is to confront the audience with its own desires, fears and greed.”

Bad Banks is a co-production between

BAD BANKS: AN EXPLORATION OF ‘DESIRES, FEARS AND GREED’ BAD BANKS tells the story of Jana Liekam (Paula Beer), a talented young investment banker who is fired through no fault of her own. She is rescued by a former boss, who helps her to get a job at a firm in Frankfurt.

Bad Blood

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BAD BLOOD: AN EPIC REVENGE WITH DEVASTATING CONSEQUENCES BAD BLOOD is a gritty gangster thriller based on the story of Mafia boss Vito Rizzuto. Starring Anthony LaPaglia (Riviera) and Kim Coates (Sons of Anarchy), the six-part series is inspired by Peter Edwards and Antonio Nicaso’s book, Business Or Blood: Mafia Boss Vito Rizzuto’s Last War. It was adapted by Simon Barry (Van Helsing) and Michael Konyves (Barney’s Version).

Before Vito Rizzuto was jailed for the murders of three Bonanno crime family

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Clique

Better Than Us

members in 2006, he ruled the Port of Montreal — the northern gateway to America’s drugs market. A master diplomat, he won the respect of rival Mafia clans and street gangs, growing his empire until he found himself behind bars. Bad Blood picks up the story at this point. Languishing in prison, Rizzuto watches on helplessly as the criminal empire he built slowly begins to crumble and his family and closest friends are mysteriously murdered one by one. Desperate to fightback, Rizzuto can’t wait for his release and when he finally walks free, an epic revenge plays out, with devastating consequences.

The show was produced in Montreal between October and December 2016 by New Metric Media and will premiere in Canada on Rogers Media-owned TV network City and FX in autumn 2017. Commenting on the decision to commission the show, Colette Watson, VP of TV and broadcast operations, Rogers Media said: “We’re committed to delivering strong Canadian originals to viewers. Bad Blood is a prime example of how City tailors compelling content to meet the needs of our diverse, dynamic audiences on the platforms of their choice.”

Bad Blood will be distributed internationally by Sky Vision, which part-financed the series. Sky Vision managing director Jane Millichip says it is exactly the kind of event mini-series that broadcasters are seeking to stand out from their competitors.

• Work in Progress

BETTER THAN US: WHERE ROBOTS GET REAL BETTER Than Us is the latest in a line of scripted shows exploring the potential impact of artificial intelligence (see also HBO’s Westworld and AMC/Channel 4’s Humans).

Produced by Russia’s Yellow, Black & White and Sputnik Vostok Production, the story is set in near-future Moscow where humans co-exist with android robots (bots). Most bots do menial jobs and are regarded as little more than appliances. They are not allowed willingly to harm humans. But the story centres on a special bot called Arissa, whose unique design makes her capable of feeling emotion, which makes her essentially human, or as close as to make no difference. She ends up being secretly delivered to the premises of Russia’s largest android-selling franchise, KRONOS. Yellow, Black & White is one of Russia’s leading production studios, active across film and TV. Last year, for example, it joined forces with Disney to co-produce a local language movie called Last Hero. Its television series to date have included Traffic Light, Forever Young, Daddy’s Daughters and Kitchen.

The company’s shows — including Better Than Us — are distributed by Russian distributor All Media Company. Better Than Us is a 16 x 52 minute production that is planned as an event series for Russia’s Channel 1. It was written by Alexandr Dagan and directed by Andrey Dzhunekovskiy.

• Work in Progress

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CLIQUE: UNCENSORED LOOK AT ‘YOUNG WOMEN AND FEMALE FRIENDSHIP’ CREATED by Jess Brittain (Skins), Clique is a 6 x 45 mins drama that sees two best friends drawn into an elite clique of alpha girls in their first few weeks at university in Edinburgh. Written by Brittain with Kirstie Swain and Milly Thomas, it is intended to be an uncensored exploration of how being a young woman can feel.

Brittain says: “Clique was born out of a personally discombobulating university experience and a desire to write about young women and female friendship in a way I hadn’t seen elsewhere. I wanted to apply those interests to a larger canvas, moving from the looser, more personal perspectives of a show like Skins into a thriller genre that has intimate character drama.”

In terms of its stylistic approach, Brittain adds: “We wanted to make something dynamically high that was unashamedly highgloss and fast-paced. We wanted to push things a little further than youth drama is sometimes comfortable with, knowing that a young audience would come with us as long as it was good.”

Filmed in Edinburgh, Clique was commissioned by Damian Kavanagh for BBC Three, an online TV channel that targets younger audiences. BBC Studios executive producer, Christopher Aird says Brittain “has created truly authentic

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Surprisingly lethal extremely successful Congratulations to ITV, Bentley Productions and all of our international clients for making Midsomer Murders Britain’s landmark detective series and top rating drama export. Here’s to 20 years of Barnaby’s impeccable crime solving and looking forward to many more heinous murders on the horizon…

MIPTV Stand No: P3.C10 @all3media_Int all3mediainternational.com

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mipdrama S pecial Repor t ma commissioner Victoria Fea, who calls it “a complex, taut thriller”. International sales are being handled by ITV Studios Global Entertainment.

• Full Episode

GAP YEAR: ‘ABOUT HOW WE NEVER REALLY GET AWAY FROM OURSELVES’

Fearless

characters and propelled them into a seductive and by turns shocking story”.

In terms of its selection as a MIPDrama Screenings finalist, Rachel Glaister, executive vice-president of marketing at distributor all3media International, says: “MIPTV’s USP is that it brings together executives from a great number of countries, so it’s the essential platform to start a conversation about shows.”

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FEARLESS: ‘THE CRASH ZONE WHERE LAW AND POLITICS COLLIDE’ FEARLESS is a 6 x 60 mins legal thriller starring Helen McCrory (Peaky Blinders).

McCrory portrays Emma Blunt, a solicitor who is caught up in a political mystery while investigating the killing of a schoolgirl and attempting to free the man she thinks was wrongly convicted of the murder.

The series, filmed in London and East Anglia in the UK, is written by the highly rated Patrick Harbinson (Homeland), who says: “Fearless is a legal thriller. But one that’s written in the crash zone where law and politics collide.”

Elaborating on the show’s back story, Harbinson adds: “When, three years ago, Damien Timmer asked me if I was interested in writing a legal series inspired by

the work of lawyers like Gareth Peirce and Helena Kennedy, I immediately said yes.

Much of the work I’ve done in America in the last 10 years [24; Person Of Interest; Homeland] has been about life in the post9/11 world. The so-called War on Terror has put serious stress on the workings of the law. National security justifies all sorts of police and state over-reach, and the great majority of us are prepared to accept this.

So I wanted to create a character who challenges these assumptions.”

Fearless was greenlit for ITV by senior dra-

Gap Year

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FROM Eleven Film (Glue; The Enfield Haunting) and eOne, season 1 of Gap Year is an 8 x 60 mins comedy-drama for the UK’s E4 that follows a motley gang of travellers on a three-month trip around Asia.

British lads Sean and Dylan meet American girls May and Ashley in Beijing and opt to continue their travels together. Before long, they are joined by Greg, a 38-year-old divorcee hoping to relive the wild hedonism of his youth.

The series has a talented writing team that includes Tom Basden (Fresh Meat) and James Wood (Rev). It is distributed by eOne and was picked up very early by US cable channel TNT. Explaining the appeal, Sarah Aubrey, executive vice-president of original programming for TNT, says Gap Year “is a terrific opportunity to work with eOne, Eleven and E4 on a series that will appeal to young adults not only in the US and the UK, but around the globe. It’s also a great chance to bring Tom Basden’s unique

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STARRING STEPHEN MOYER

LIVING WITH SECRETS

Thrillers that captivate from talent that resonates

With over 125 hours of primetime drama delivering in 2017, all3media International is the home of impactful series, world-renowned actors, critically-acclaimed writers and trusted producers.

MIPTV Stand No: P3.C10 @all3media_Int all3mediainternational.com

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mipdrama S pecial Repor t voice to our stateside viewers.”

Stuart Baxter, president of eOne Television International, adds: “Gap Year is a show about travelling and how we never really get away from ourselves. It features a multinational cast, which immediately makes it an international show. The series is filmed in some incredible locations and landmarks that are universally known by everyone, such as The Great Wall of China.”

In terms of its audience appeal, Baxter adds: “This series has many layers to it and is targeted to a wider range of demographics than just millennials and Gen X. It features elements of social media and topics that the younger audience may relate to.

However, there are universal themes and storylines that may connect with a more mature demographic.”

• Full Episode

JAILERS: HOLDING A MIRROR TO AN ‘UNJUST, VIOLENT AND CORRUPT SOCIETY’ JAILERS tells the story of Adriano as he tries to balance the demands of his personal life with the dangerous routine of his job as a jailer in Sao Paulo. Between escape attempts, murders and drug trafficking, Adriano must find a way to fulfil his wife Janaina’s desire to start a family, educate and protect his daughter from a previous marriage and care for his ailing father, Tiberio,

Jailers who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease.

The show’s creators Marcal Aquino, Fernando Bonassi and Dennison Ramalho, explain the background to the series: “The tragedy of the prison system in Brazil is a recurring theme in drama and has been addressed by many books, films, plays and series. All the contradictions surrounding an unjust, violent, and corrupt society are reproduced inside Brazilian prisons. Jailers revisits this universe from the perspective of a correctional officer.”

Aquino, Bonassi and Ramalho say the story was inspired more by Brazil’s domestic context than by the demands of the international drama market. But they do see potential for their show to travel: “The series

was inspired by a book by Drauzio Varella, a Brazilian oncologist and pioneer in the treatment of AIDS, and also by the reality of Brazilian prisons, which manifests itself almost daily in riots, massacres and prison breaks. But despite its connection to the real world, Jailers is a fictional series, in which drama prevails. It’s an entertainment piece that takes a closer look at the great human dramas. We believe this will always be a topic of interest for audiences around the world.”

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MISSIONS: ‘OUR SERIES SPEAKS ABOUT THE FUTURE OF MANKIND’ MISSIONS is a 10 x 26 mins production set up as a returning series. Distributed by AB International Distribution, it focuses on an eccentric Swiss billionaire’s successful attempt to launch the first civilian mission to Mars. Alongside the civilians, there is a crew of eight astronauts, several IvyLeague scientists and a psychiatrist who joins the expedition at the last minute.

The day before they are due to land after 10 months of space travel, the team learns it has been overtaken by a rival US expedition. They also learn that the Americans have gone missing — so now they have to find them and rescue them. After a chaotic landing on Mars, the Swiss-backed crew comes across a survivor. But he is not from

Missions

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By Hans Rosenfeldt, creator of the global hit, The Bridge

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Visit us at MIPTV Riviera R7.L27 www.cineflixrights.com

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Ride Upon The Storm the US mission. He is Russian. And he is the first man who died in space... in 1967.

Series creators Julien Lacombe, Ami Cohen and Henri Debeurme have wanted to make a sci-fi series for many years. But the main difficulty was how “to create an original and believable story, while surprising and captivating the audience through all the episodes. What we know about Mars — that it is a sterile desert — was not enough and we did not hesitate to go further than that…”

A concerted attempt has been made to internationalise the series: “We wanted to make a series that goes beyond French culture and talks to everybody, from a space fan to a layperson. Our series speaks about the future of mankind in general, not about inhabitants of one country in particular.”

On being selected as a MIPDrama Screenings finalist, Charles Touboul, content development manager at AB International Distribution, says: “We believe that it is a wonderful launch pad for such an amazing series.”

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RIDE UPON THE STORM: ‘FAITH FELT LIKE AN IDEAL SUBJECT TO EXPLORE’ RIDE Upon The Storm is an ambitious character-based story about faith, both in the traditional, religious sense and in the wider context of what it is that guides us through our existence. The 20-episode (two sea-

The Territory sons) show is produced by DR Drama in co-production with ARTE France and SAM le Francais.

Created by Adam Price (Borgen), Ride Upon The Storm is a story of brothers based on the biblical tale of Cain and Abel. It centres on an abusive priest called Johannes (Lars Mikkelsen) and his two sons, August and Christian. Johannes favours August over Christian, adding a layer of interpersonal tension to the characters’ preoccupation with the central issue of faith.

Price, who wrote the series alongside Karina Dam and Poul Berg, says: “While I was working on Borgen, I started to get interested in the idea of doing something even more difficult and sensitive than politics, which is how I came to the issue of faith.

Faith and religion are so deeply rooted in the way we live that it felt like an ideal subject to explore through TV drama.”

While the core characters are Danish Christians, the series “touches on all the world religions and how they influence the way we think about issues like immigration, integration, terror and geopolitics”, Price adds. “But I don’t link it too closely to current affairs, because there is a risk the story may get overtaken by events.”

• Work in Progress

THE TERRITORY: ‘THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING’ The Territory is an eight-part drama from Sreda Production and Best Episodes Media in Russia. It is set in a quiet provincial town

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whose the residents act as if everything is fine. But in reality, the community is rotting from the inside: teenage gangs, a corrupt mayor, a police chief involved in drugs, a brothel on the outskirts... Against this backdrop, a number of seemingly ritualistic murders occur. An enigmatic crime investigator arrives in town and is partnered with a local detective. The newcomer is a strange character — he gets into fights, he curses his bosses and he falls in love with a local girl. But he’s also a man who knows how to get the job done.

Show creator and Sreda founder Alexander Tsekalo says: “The idea came to me and then the script was completed in two months. After that, it was modified a bit by the director.”

According to Tsekalo, everything that Sreda develops “has the international audience in mind. The fact that we sold four of our ready-made projects to Netflix and the format of TV series Silver Spoon to US company Critical Content proves that.”

This year, there are two Russian entries among the MIPDrama Screenings finalists, which Tsekalo believes is good news for producers in his country: “It shows that the Russians can have similar success to the Scandinavians and Israelis in selling formats all over the world. The Russians are coming!”

As for The Territory’s selection, he adds: “I’m totally sure that this selection will be very useful for international sales and the promotion of our content on the international market.”

• Full Episode

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TURKISH NEW DRAMA “THE LAST EMPEROR” WORLD PREMIERE AT MIPTV ISTANBUL, MISTCO announced their newest drama “The Last Emperor” to have a World Premiere at MIPTV. Launched on biggest Turkish TV network, TRT, on February 24th, “The Last Emperor has ranked as the most-viewed drama on Fridays on various categories. The series reveals the real life story of the strongest Ottoman Emperor in the 19th century.

As a successful, intellectual, philanthropist and innovator Emperor at the same time, Abdulhamid Han is a world famous ruler and this facts appeals international buyers. Although only a month passed since the launch date, the pre-sales deals are over than expected and MISTCO announced that they are about close deals for various territories soon.

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mipdrama S pecial Repor t VENI VIDI VICI: ‘I THOUGHT: I’M GOING PORN!’ VENI Vidi Vici is a 10-part series that centres on a pretentious movie director whose career is on the ropes after a series of terrible reviews. One day, he gets a call from an old friend, who is now a highly respected producer in Hollywood. As a result, he ends up working in the adult-entertainment industry, where he is forced into a double life that endangers his family.

The show is part of Scandinavian online platform Viaplay’s push into original drama.

Explaining its appeal, Viaplay CEO Jonas Karlen says: “Our strategy is to source and invest in great stories wherever they come from. Veni Vidi Vici is an original drama with a humorous element, set in the porn industry. The director, producer and lead actor Rafael Edholm, as well as Nordic leading

actors including Thomas Bo Larsen, Sven Melander, Livia Millhagen and Michael Segerstrom, all play roles you never have seen them close to before — or actually, that you haven’t seen anyone close to before. Strong characters and stories arouse curiosity and desire to see the next episode.”

Explaining the genesis of the idea, creator Edholm adds: “As a director, I’ve had my fair share of both sweet moments and major setbacks. I think a lot of creative people can relate to the feeling when a project that you’ve put your heart into tanks, or gets rejected. You feel very unappreciated, to say the least, when the ones who use to pat your back then turn their backs. In one of those moments, I thought: f**k this, I´m going porn! The thought was never 100% serious, of course, but it planted a seed.

What if...?”

• Full Episode

Veni Vidi Vici

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MIPTV stand no. P-1.L2, P-1.M1 zdf-enterprises.de

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Beijing Municipal Bureau of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television

Capital Radio & TV Program Producers Association

mipdrama S pecial Repor t ADVISORY BOARD

A WORD FROM THE EXPERTS At the start of 2016 MIPTV revealed the names of its MIP Drama Buyers Advisory Board. Comprising some of the most influential executives in the business, the Board members work on strategy in the field of drama at the MIP markets throughout the year. They also made up the pre-selection jury for the 2017 MIPDrama Screenings. Andy Fry spoke to some of them about what it was like to judge these productions and about broader trends in drama

Z

ELDA Stewart, head of acquisitions at Italian broadcasting giant Mediaset, is responsible for a wide array of free-TV, pay-TV and SVOD channels. In this position it has always been crucial for Stewart to keep her finger on the pulse of the international drama business.

Explaining what she looks for in television drama, she says: “Quality and production value are an absolute must, as viewers have come to expect no less than the very best. There are some shows that speak that amazing universal television language to audiences across the globe — though identi-

fying those shows based on a trailer is truly challenging.”

In terms of specifics, she adds: “I look for charismatic characters and striking storylines that keep my eyes glued to the screen. Initially I suspend disbelief to see how taken I am with the premise, then I ask myself how compelled I am to watch and how the show will resonate with different demos.”

Originality is important, she says, but not in isolation: “Without the other values, originality is not a sure thing recipe for success. When a producer ticks all the boxes

“I’d say the party just got going” • 24 •

— with an original idea — then you have an award-winning binge-worthy hit.”

Analysing the recent boom in high-end TV drama, Stewart says: “Technology has enabled viewers, producers and platforms to access, share, produce, remake, dreamup contents on a local and/or global scale.

This innovative leap has liberated creativity by increasing connections and opportunity. However insight is needed to seek out equilibrium between old, new and future business models. I believe there are still many untold stories to tell whilst everyday our potential audience grows and new ser-

Zelda Stewart

mipdrama S pecial Repor t vices are launched… I’d say the party just got going…”

Industry veteran Ruediger Boess is executive vice-president, programming and acquisitions at ProSiebenSat1 in Germany.

Having spent more than two decades in his current role he has developed a keen eye for great drama, something that will have proved useful when selecting the finalists for the MIPDrama Screenings.

Commenting on the candidates, he says: “First of all, I am positively surprised by this year’s selection. I’m seeing a huge improvement with regard to stories, production standards and performance. I’m very happy about this. And that is exactly what great TV is all about: a great story, excellently executed, top actors. The ultimate criterion is to not bore the audience. Only series that tie the viewers to the TV in the long run will stand out among the massive amount available on the market.”

Asked about the ‘golden age’ of drama, however, he sounds a note of caution: “I think the truth is that it is especially a golden age for producers. In my opinion, we have too many series on the market. The problem is, there is not automatically a bigger audience. Viewers can choose from a wide range of series and if they don’t like one from the start, they switch to the next. It’s possible viewers will get tired because of too much choice.”

He is also concerned about the way people are watching drama: “The viewer now watches a series on his own without discussing it with friends and family, as they probably don’t watch the series at the same speed or even not at all. So binge watching could also become a symbol of being more alone. The great thing about TV is the complete opposite: living the same experience, following passionately the latest developments and impatiently waiting for the story to evolve.”

Sarah Wright, director of acquisitions at Sky, is clear about what she looks for in a drama: “In a word ‘passion’ — it’s always contagious! Whatever the subject matter, a drama needs to be ‘hooky’ for me; it needs to grab me from the outset. Whether it’s lighter, adrenalin-charged, more mainstream fare, or more meaty, thought-provoking, award-winning television, I want it to be an immersive, unmissable, transportative experience.”

“There’s never been a more exciting time for drama”

Wright took over her current role a year ago, having been with the Sky team since 2009.

During that time, her company has forged important strategic relationships with the likes of HBO and Showtime. It has also picked up landmark shows like Arrow and The Flash from The CW and 24: Live Another Day from Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution.

Commenting on the quality of scripted shows coming to the market she says it’s driven by competition: “There are more outlets than ever before on which to see great series. There is so much drama commissioning in play all around the world, which is fantastic to see. Pay TV — more traditional broadcasters and the newer streaming services — in particular understands that compelling drama really engages subscribers. A big show like Game of Thrones, for example, is brand defining for Sky Atlantic. We’re all looking for that wonderful alchemy.”

In terms of her involvement in the Advisory Board, she says: “There’s never been a more exciting time for drama — for buyers, commissioners and above all for the audiences. With so much to talk about in such a dynamic multi-platform world, I’m delighted to be involved in the conversation with my talented international colleagues on this Drama Buyers Advisory Board.”

Another familiar face in the world of international drama, Anette Romer is head of acquisitions and formats at commercials-funded public broadcaster TV2 Denmark. Although Romer traditionally focused her efforts on UK acquisitions, the expansion of TV2’s range of services means that she has broadened her horizons in recent years. A sign of the times,

• 25 •

Sarah Wright

she recently acquired a new US drama series exclusively for TV2’s catch-up service, dispensing with linear rights to the show.

In terms of what she looks for, Romer’s priority is “intriguing relation-based stories with broad appeal, original setting and a dramatic motor that makes it a must-see. Interesting and sympathetic characters we can root for and would like to follow week after week. Production values must be very high.

Neither too dark and gritty nor too weird and complicated.”

Commenting on the current strength of the drama business, she says: “One of the main reasons for this is the variety and volume of platforms where the audience can consume scripted content.” Romer is positive about the impact online services have had: “Here you are able to binge-watch series.

They have given writers and showrunners opportunities to expand their ways of telling stories, creating characters and developing universes.”

Viewed from the perspective of the creative community she adds: “Production values, originality and worldwide appeal is what the creative community aspires to and there are financial models to support their ambition.

Mediocrity has little chance.”

mipdrama S pecial Repor t SPECIAL AWARDS

VIEW FROM THE TOP After initial selection the finalists of the MIPDrama Screenings are then scrutinised a second time by industry experts, who are making six special mentions from the group of 12. Andy Fry spoke to some of them ahead of their vote

T

HIS second phase of the process will result in six awards, details of which can be found in Issue One of the MIPTV Daily News.

The six awards are equally divided between works in progress and shows that have a full episode completed. Two are selected by a buyer vote, two by expert critics, and two by a jury of leading creatives in the field of international drama.

Among those on the latter jury is Lars Blomgren, chairman, scripted exchange Endemol Shine Group, and co-founder and MD of Filmlance International. As executive

producer of global hit Bron (The Bridge), Blomgren has the right credentials for assessing a show’s international potential. His view is that producers should focus firstly on the authenticity of their story and not agonise so much about what the global market might think. “If you try to create an idea around a business model it probably won’t work,” he says. “We’ve all seen how local shows can go global if they come from an organic, creative starting point.”

Bron is the perfect example of that — selling both in its original version and as a format. But the company has also had

• 26 •

widespread success with shows including Beck and Spring Tide. Next up is a project called Beartown, based on the acclaimed novel by Fredrik Backman. This series is about a small town called Beartown, a town with big dreams. It is about a 15-yearold girls’ immortal friendship and 17-yearold boys playing ice hockey with a whole community on their shoulders. It’s the story of the parents, the siblings, the coaches, and all the people that together make up that community. But it is also the story of an unforgivable crime, of how fast a collective can learn to turn a blind eye, and the horrible

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“Being on the jury is a few hours in paradise” things we are willing to do for success. “I think it’s an example of the way Nordic Noir is evolving,” Blomgren says, “because it’s less of a thriller and more of a suspenseful drama about small-town bullies.”

Blomgren is very enthusiastic about the encouragement that the MIPDrama Screenings provide: “Being on the jury is a few hours in paradise,” he says. “It’s an opportunity to have high-quality, intelligent conversations about drama. You can learn a lot from getting inside others’ mindsets.”

Alongside Blomgren on the talent jury are director and actor Jalil Lespert (Versailles), screenwriter Virginie Brac, Mediapro head of international content development Ran Tellem and Frank Spotnitz, executive producer and writer of series including The Man In The High Castle and Medici: Masters Of Florence.

Spotnitz shares Blomgren’s excitement for the MIPDrama Screenings but confesses to being a bad judge: “I want everyone to win.

I’d be terrible in a court because I’d just set everybody free.”

Of the current status of the drama business, Spotnitz says: “It continues to be an incredible time. The quality and diversity of shows being produced around the world is fantastic. I’m very excited about the opportunities that now exist for new writers, producers and directors. They’re making stuff that wouldn’t have been possible 10 years ago.”

Mediapro’s Tellem, formerly head of content for Keshet and executive producer of Homeland, agrees with Spotnitz: “If we thought this is an American phenomena, with a touch of English excellence and a twist of

Nordic noir, my insight is that this is expanding all over the globe. The depth and innovation is now moving to Latin America, the rest of Europe, and more. The next years will be about the stories not yet told in TV. We will find ourselves following Finnish, Argentinean, Italian, Spanish, Israeli stories as much as American and British.”

It’s a busy time for Mediapro with projects including Paradise, a Finnish-Spanish crime thriller that takes place in Fuengirola, a small Spanish village on the Costa del Sol that is the biggest Finnish habitat outside of Finland. There is also a new project with Argentinean creator Daniel Burman, based on a true story. With so much going on, why did Tellem take time out to judge the Awards? “The world of international drama is all about collaborating. For me any opportunity to meet creators I still haven’t met is the next opportunity for a new idea.

I come to learn, see, meet and maybe even spark a new idea together. And... about the judging, it’s great to honour dramas created by talented people. This work is so demanding and personal that admiration is a breath of fresh air in a long process.”

A parallel jury of industry critics consists of Variety chief television critic Maureen Ryan, Telegraph television critic Benji Wilson and Le Figaro journalist Constance Jamet. Echoing her industry peers, Ryan says: “The golden age is expanding in exciting ways. There are new TV networks and streaming platforms commissioning scripted programmes all the time, and it’s exciting to see how many international productions are now part of the TV scene,

and how many programmes imported from all over are making it to America. Now more than ever, we need to understand each other’s cultures, problems and priorities, and the more diverse set of voices we have telling stories and sharing their worldviews, the better.”

Ryan has been on US-based juries before but this is the first time she has being involved in a Europe-based jury: “I’m excited to be in on the ground floor of something new — with an international flavour as well. There is a ton of interesting TV being made in Europe at the moment, and I am excited to sample as much of it as I can. And if the MIPTV jury can draw attention to some worthy works, that will be very satisfying.”

Wilson agrees with Ryan that “The scale and ambition (of TV drama) is still growing.

And the volume… even as a critic and judge the problem is finding time and the means to see all of the excellent international drama that’s out there.”

He sounds a note of caution about whether the TV market will be able to sustain so many shows in the long run. But for now, he says, it is intriguing to be introduced to more of the international market. “As a UK critic, by the time we see most international drama, [with the exception of] American, it has already been filtered through several layers of acquisitions executives. So I hope it’s a good opportunity for content creators to get their shows noticed. In light of my comment about the sheer volume of good television, more and more we rely on trusted recommendations in order to choose what to watch. Awards, critics and juries are a very public part of that process.”

“We will find ourselves following Finnish, Argentinean, Italian, Spanish, Israeli stories as much as American and British” • 27 •

Lars Blomgren

Ran Tellem

mipdrama S pecial Repor t

ANYTHING GOES DRAMA TRENDS

Such is the range of drama buyers on the international market these days that it is impossible to talk of a single unifying trend. These days anything goes — from period to procedurals, fantasy to fact-based fiction — depending on where you’re selling and who’s buying. Andy Fry reports

F

OR SOME broadcasters and platforms, the key trend in drama is the hunt for ever-more impressive event series. For others, it is the attempt to revive the workhorse procedural. Period, crime, espionage, fantasy and relationship dramas are all in demand — depending on

where in the world you are doing business.

This sprawling diversity is reflected in the range of titles being showcased at MIPTV. On Monday night, for example, there is a World Premiere TV Screening of the lavish new 10part drama Riviera, created by Oscar-winning director Neil Jordan. Set amid the glamour of

Entertainment One’s Mary Kills People

• 28 •

the French Riviera, the show is a continuation of a trend that has seen star-studded series such as The Night Manager and The Last Panthers have such an impact on the international market. In this case, the story follows the moral descent of a smart and resourceful art curator, played by Julia Stiles, who discov-

mipdrama S pecial Repor t

Studiocanal’s SAM-produced series Below The Surface

ers her fortune is tainted by dishonesty, double-dealing and murder when her billionaire husband is killed in a mysterious explosion on a Russian oligarch’s yacht.

Riviera is distributed by Sky Vision, whose managing director, Jane Millichip, says: “I’m really excited about this one. It has great auspices in terms of the production and creative talent behind it. It’s also the kind of glamorous, no-holds barred thriller that the market is looking for right now.

There’s a massive demand for escapism among audiences and Riviera absolutely delivers that.”

At the other end of the glamour spectrum is TNT Germany’s 4 Blocks, which tells the story of an Arabic family living in a tough Berlin neighbourhood. A MIPTV International Drama Screening, it focuses on clan leader Ali ‘Toni’ Hama-

dy and his struggle to leave his family’s criminal past behind.

In terms of trends, the show is the latest example of original German-language drama having an impact on the international market.

TNT itself has already shown its commitment to original drama with The Valley, while other high-profile German series include Generation War, Deutschland 83, The Same Sky and the upcoming Das Boot. The Same Sky, a World Premiere Screening at MIPCOM 2016, was picked up by Netflix for English-speaking territories just two weeks later in a deal with Beta Film.

It is not just German drama that is making its mark on the international market. Turkish drama has been a strong performer in recent years, with lavish period series in particular demand. Filinta, 1001 Nights, Resurrection

Ertugrul, Magnificent Century and its sequel Magnificent Century: Kosem have all been popular with buyers in Cannes.

At MIPTV, a new title — The Last Emperor — is an International Drama Screening. Like Filinta and Resurrection, the drama is from Turkish public broadcaster TRT and is being distributed by Mistco, via a relationship that was sealed on the eve of MIPCOM 2016.

Mistco vice-president of sales and marketing, Aysegul Tuzun, says: “The story sheds light on the 14-year reign of the strongest Ottoman emperor of the 19th century, Abdulhamid Han. It has a great cast, including Bulent Inal [Under The Linden Tree], who attracts tremendous interest from international audiences, and Ozlem Conker [Black Rose].

Apart from its quality production and cast, it also draws a correspondence between history and the modern day, illuminating the recent past of Turkey.”

Tuzun says Mistco has already closed a couple of pre-sales for The Last Emperor and is expecting strong interest at MIPTV. In part, this reflects continued buyer demand for historical content that brings characters to life as human beings. “There is always demand for period drama,” Tuzun adds. “But what makes these dramas successful is the human stories. Sometimes we discover the weakness of a queen as a human being, or we learn about how these people behaved as spouses, siblings and/or children.”

This year, a lot of effort has gone into showcasing the widest possible range of international drama via the MIPTV Screenings programme. In addition to the titles already mentioned, there will be a pre-LA Screenings Showcase and a MIPDrama Latam Screenings session, providing an excellent insight into the kind of scripted content coming out of the Americas. There will also be the first-ever Asian World Premiere TV Screening, in which the focus of attention will be action series Crisis, produced by Kansai TV, Monday, at 11.45 in Auditorium A. Based on award-winning writer Kazuki Kaneshiro’s story, Crisis focuses on the activities of the Security Bureau of the National Police

Riviera is the kind of glamorous, no-holds barred thriller that the market is looking for right now. There’s a massive demand for escapism among audiences • 29 •

Jane Millichip

mipdrama S pecial Repor t What makes period dramas successful are the human stories — the weakness of a queen or how people behaved as spouses, siblings and/or children Agency, a special forces division responsible for tackling issues such as international terrorism, religious cults, military espionage, illegal drug organisations and political assassination. Japanese stars Shun Oguri and Hidetoshi Nishijima play the main investigators attempting to tackle this tide of criminality.

Crisis, which features many dazzling combat scenes, is distributed internationally by Fuji Creative Corporation, the international distribution arm of the Fuji Television Network.

“We are very proud of this series, which was developed and produced by our in-house production team,” says Sumio Fukui, president of Kansai Telecasting Corporation. The leading commercial network in the Kansai region, which encompasses Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto, Kansai Telecasting is affiliated to Fuji TV. Crisis is a reminder that crime and gangster dramas continue to be in strong demand among buyers. Underlining this point, ZDF Enterprises (ZDFE) is in Cannes with Before We Die, a Sweden-based drama that centres on an aging police officer, Hanna, who takes

on a dangerous undercover investigation into a criminal biker gang.

According to a review in Swedish newspaper Expressen, “Before We Die is clearly a prestige project and a sort of repository for everything good we’ve seen on TV in the last few years,” says Robert Franke, vice-president, drama, ZDFE. “It’s a detective series that combines all the success you want to come together in one piece: strongly evolving suspense, a crime case, drama, an emotional story that in the beginning seems to be a back-story and then evolves to be the very heart of the show.” He adds: “There are heartbreaking and very human struggles within each character, and beautiful bad guys that tear you apart while watching.” Franke says he believes the series takes the Nordic Noir genre forward:“It brings the genre to a new level of authenticity. The character of Maria is the perfect sample of this — as Skanian Daily News put it: ‘… Hanna Svensson (is) simultaneously so common that she could have been me and also so reserved

The Same Sky, picked up by Netflix for English-speaking territories in a deal with Beta Film

• 30 •

Aysegul Tuzun

that she is a mystery to be solved’.”

ZDFE is also presenting Maltese during MIPTV — an International Drama Screening on Tuesday, April 4, at 10.15 in Auditorium K. Based in Italy, the drama tells the story of Commissario Maltese, a detective who is driven by the pursuit of truth in a world of corruption and lawlessness. Echoing a popular theme in contemporary drama — exemplified by Paranoid and Fearless — Maltese embarks on a murder investigation that reveals a conspiratorial system in which criminals work alongside powerful, untouchable citizens who are seemingly above suspicion.

The fact that a Germany-based company, ZDFE, is distributing Maltese is interesting in itself. A few years ago, most Italian dramas were deemed too domestic to travel internationally. But the success of titles such as Gomorrah has changed all that. Today, the Italian impact on the international market is visible both in the success of Italian-language dramas (Non Uccidere; Montalbano) and the presence of Italians as partners in English-language titles (The Young Pope; Medici: Masters Of Florence). Of real interest will be the FremantleMedia-backed adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s acclaimed Neopolitan Novels.

Alongside crime, another sub-genre that is still popular with buyers is stories set in small rural towns where strange things happen. This model encompasses the likes of Twin Peaks, Wayward Pines, The Kettering Incident, Jordskott and Les Revenants. To this list we can now add The Forest, a drama brought to market by France’s About Premium Content (APC).

In this case, the story focuses on a teacher called Eve, who lives in a small town surrounded by deep forest. When she was a little girl, Eve and her mother disappeared in the same forest. Eve was found two years later with no memories of what had happened. Her mother never reappeared. Twenty years after those events, one of Eve’s teenage students goes missing.

Carma Films’ Christophe Carmona, the show’s producer, says: “Contrary to the current writers’ room trend, The Forest was writ-

mipdrama S pecial Repor t outperforming foreign dramas locally. This is a great indication that French drama has picked up the pace and is now able to compete with the best international series.”

Students of French TV drama will know that many of the country’s recent international hits have either been crime or supernatural series (Witnesses; Braquo; Spiral; Les Revenants). So one new show that will attract interest among buyers is comedy drama Call My Agent!, distributed by francetv distribution. The show, produced by Mon Voisin Productions and Mother Production for France 2, is set in the cutthroat world of talent agents. Season two will be the subject of an International Drama Screening at MIPTV this week.

The Last Emperor from Turkish public broadcaster TRT, distributed by Mistco ten by a single screenwriter: Delinda Jacobs.

Delinda is a fantastic writer and we have already worked with her on our TF1 series Contact, so we knew she would do a great job. She came to us with a very precise idea of what The Forest would be: a solid and thematically rich thriller set against the mysterious background of the Ardennes forest.

France 3, the commissioning channel, which wanted to modernise its line-up, was very supportive of this vision right from the start.”

In terms of what makes it special, Carmona says that, although The Forest is “an audience-friendly thriller at heart”, it does not shy away from social themes: “We didn’t want it to be yet another crime-rocks-a-small-community series. We placed a lot of attention on offering a realistic portrayal of today’s youth and their issues, and we have built the intrigue around themes that were important: filiation, identity, trust and inner demons.”

In terms of its sales potential, Carmona adds: “Crime dramas such as The Forest have always driven international sales although, for a long time, French dramas of this kind have been outperformed on the international market. For the first time in years, however, French dramas are

One clear development in the international space has been the growing willingness of producers and distributors to back brave ideas. In part, this is driven by the need to stand out from the competition. But it is also a reflection of the growing range of destinations willing to support bold creative visions.

At MIPTV, for example, buyers are being introduced to Black Crows, 03 Productions’ exploration of the methods of ISIS. The series will look at those who join the organisation and the various ways in which ISIS brainwashes them into loyalty.

Another example of producers pushing the envelope is eOne’s Mary Kills People, a thought-provoking and darkly funny drama in which Caroline Dhavernas plays Dr Mary Harris, a single mother and emergency doctor, who moonlights as an underground Angel of Death, helping terminally ill patients who want to die on their own terms. Set in the morally grey world of assisted suicide, Mary’s double life gets complicated when the police start to close in on her.

No review of drama trends would be complete without reference to the continued strength of Nordic drama. Already mentioned in this story is Swedish series Before We Die. Also in high profile at MIPTV are a couple of shows from Studiocanal-backed Danish indie SAM Productions. SAM’s new faith-based drama Ride Upon The Storm is a competitor in the MIPDrama Awards. Studioçanal will also be shopping another new SAM-produced series called Below The Surface (Kanal 5 Denmark/ZDFneo). In this case, the story centres on 15 Danes whose lives are turned upside down when their metro train is hijacked by unknown perpetrators who threaten to kill the hostages.

• 31 •

Katrina Neylon, executive vice-president of sales and marketing at the show’s distributor Studiocanal, describes Below The Surface as a “nerve-racking eight-part crime thriller that is very different to other dramas on the market at the moment. It’s full of action, with unexpected twists that force viewers to re-evaluate who the hero really is.”

Neylon says the storyline works so well “because a huge amount of research was undertaken by the creators during pre-production, ensuring that the unfolding events are very realistic. The creators interviewed real hostages and used information on real-life experiences to influence the series.”

And she believes the show is different from most Nordic Noir dramas because of the production’s look and tone: “It is much more commercial and the story is hugely relevant.

There have been many terror threats and hostage-taking situations all over the world, so Below The Surface touches on socially relevant issues.”

LOADED WITH LAUGHS

THE BROADCAST community’s growing reliance on scripted formats is one clear trend. Keshet International of Israel has had particular success in this area with titles including Prisoners Of War, The A Word, The Baker And The Beauty and Loaded, the last of which is being remade for Channel 4 in the UK. Keshet UK’s head of drama, Howard Burch, says Loaded tells the story of four tech entrepreneurs and friends who sell their start-up video-game company for hundreds of millions of dollars. Amid all the money and excess, the show tells a story of friendship, ambition and gluttony.

“It’s a very funny idea and one that most people around the world have thought about — what happens when you win or inherit a lot of money?” Burch adds. “The beauty of Loaded as a format is that you can adapt the way you tell the story to suit the local market. For example, in the UK our characters have this typically British sense of millionaire’s guilt about the fact they have become so rich.”

mipdrama S pecial Repor t DRAMA TRADE ROUTES

Ay Yapim’s Ezel was among the top-15 shows in Panama in 2016

The trade routes on the global TV map are being redrawn, with emerging economies challenging the established drama strongholds — the US, the UK and Europe — as suppliers of in-demand hits. Juliana Koranteng reports

• 32 •

P

REMIUM scripted narratives are increasingly being sourced from and sold to countries that were not on the major sales-and-acquisitions radar a decade ago.

In 2017, you can find Turkish dramas — also known as dizis — being sold for primetime viewing in the Middle East, Asia and, most recently, Latin America.

Fans of Korean soaps in Latin America, China and India tweet about the latest twists and turns.

mipdrama S pecial Repor t

NEW FACES, NEW PLACES The stars of Indian TV hits are discovering new fans as far away as Europe and Latin America. Latin America’s dubbed Spanish-language telenovelas flicker on screens as far away as Turkey, the Middle East and Africa. And more than a few award-winning TV dramas, from the US to China, can track their origins back to Israel.

In addition to pleasing the African diaspora, Nigeria-originated English-language Nollywood films are now being created as TV series as well — a move that has also opened

up opportunities to reach new foreign audiences.

“Those territories are becoming more and more interesting as they find their own voices and start to tell unique but at the same time universal stories that are appealing to both their own markets, and internationally,” says Munich-based Amelie von Kienlin, vice-president of acquisitions and co-productions at Red Arrow International.

Meanwhile, sophisticated, middle-class audi-

• 33 •

ences in more countries are embracing subtitled fiction. Bold broadcast commissioning editors are taking more risks and funding new narrative structures designed to retain viewers’ attention, especially among today’s hard-to-reach millennials.

And the rise of OTT streaming platforms — Digital TV Research predicts 383 million subscription VOD customers by 2021 worldwide, from 163 million in 2015 — offers exposure opportunities for gripping storytellers, wherever they are.

mipdrama S pecial Repor t

Ay Yapim’s Brave And Beautiful

TALES FROM TURKEY

Turkish scripted series, considered the second biggest export of their kind after US dramas, are thriving. About 80% of the drama catalogue at Istanbul-headquartered Global Agency is Turkish, says Senay Filiztekin Turan, head of drama acquisitions.

With international hits including the romance-themed 1001 Nights, Love And Punishment, Magnificent Century and Endemol Shine Turkey’s Broken Pieces, Global Agency has placed dramas in all the major TV markets.

Turan says business is soaring in the Middle East, with Dubai, Egypt, Lebanon and Morocco among the biggest buyers of Global Agency dramas. That is because “certain cultural codes are mutual to contemporary Arab societies and Turkish society”, she adds. “The

characters in Turkish TV series have plenty in common with Arab audiences. Our culture also bridges western and eastern values.”

The Middle East is followed in terms of sales success by Central Eastern Europe and Latin America.

Turan credits the family-oriented themes, high production values, strong original scripts, compelling locations and original music for Turkish dramas’ popularity in Latin America.

Turkish telenovelas are famously long, delivering between 60 to 400 episodes per season. Although rare, some can be sold for as much as $400,000 an episode, making them popular with distributors.

Fredrik af Malmborg, managing director of Stockholm-based distribution giant Eccho Rights, says his has company benefitted

from recognising early on the huge potential of Turkish dramas outside the English-speaking markets. He cites Ay Yapim’s Brave And Beautiful and soap opera Elif (created by Green Yapim). “We’ve since sold to every country in the world and done multi-million deals very recently,” he says. “Sales [of Turkish drama] started in the Middle East, then Eastern Europe and then Pakistan. Today, what works in Turkey will work anywhere in the world. ” Malmborg also points to the demand for Turkish drama in Latin America. Among the top-15 shows in Panama in 2016 were Ay Yapim’s Ezel and Que Culpa Tiene Fatmagul and MF Yapim’s Sila on the TM network,; and El Sultan on TVN. In Uruguay, Que Culpa Tiene Fatmagul on Saeta TV Canal 10 was the second biggest drama hit last year.

“Mega network in Chile had been struggling when it decided to try out Turkish drama twoand-a-half years ago. After one year, the network leapt to number-one slot from number five,” Malmborg says to illustrate Turkish drama’s impact on local viewing habits.

Four of the top-10 dramas in Chile last year were Turkish or an adaptation of a Turkish show, including the original Fatmagul made

by Ay Yapim for Mega, which topped the chart with more than 12 million viewers.

Eccho Rights was selling Elif, originally launched on Turkey’s Kanal 7 in 2014, to platforms in Paraguay, Hungary, Puerto Rico, Pakistan and Honduras as recently as March this year.

Another coup for Eccho Rights was the sale of Cherry Season, made by Surec Film for Turkey’s Fox network, to Italy’s Mediaset last year. This made it the first Turkish drama to air on a mainstream Italian network. It gained enough interest to bring the Turkish cast over to Italy for a promotional visit.

The viability of Turkish drama as a global business has also inspired a number of major Western operations to set up shop in the country. Red Arrow Entertainment Group, for example, is opening an office in Turkey via US subsidiary Karga Seven Pictures. Global pro-

The characters in Turkish TV series have plenty in common with Arab audiences. Our culture also bridges western and eastern values • 34 •

Senay Filiztekin Turan

770_Kanal D_DRAMA_TV

mipdrama S pecial Repor t Now, instead of quantity, it’s quality that has become the filter. What constitutes a premium show isn’t about where it comes from, but how it is made duction powerhouse Endemol Shine Group also operates a major unit in Turkey, which made global bestseller Intersection, a 13 x 60 mins drama that debuted on Fox Turkey in January 2016. Cathy Payne, chief executive of the group’s distribution arm Endemol Shine International, reports that the company sells its original Turkish IP to the Middle East, where “Turkish drama is providing competition to local Arabic content”.

For Manuel Miguez, Fox Networks Group’s Miami-based executive director of content distribution, Latin America and US Hispanic, selling Turkish soap operas to Latin America makes sense because of their similarity to telenovelas. “Turkish dramas have been able to find a home there,” he says. “Latin American networks and programme executives have had it easy integrating those titles, because it is consistent with what they are used to.”

season and has been licensed to 15 Latin American countries, pan-regional network Pasiones and the US Hispanic net Telemundo. Other short-run hits placed by Fox in Latin America include Call Me Bruna, a 8 x 60 mins series co-produced by Fox Latin America.

Fox is also pushing boundaries for Latin American-made shows aimed at both local and international markets. An 11 x 60 mins (plus a two-hour finale) sci-fi thriller called 2091 features a futuristic Hunger Gamesstyle storyline starring telenovela superstars.

Already re-commissioned, 2091 was made

by Bogota-based Fox Telecolombia.

That new wave of Latin American fever is spreading to major western TV markets, including the UK, where Walter Presents, the popular on-demand streaming platform dedicated to foreign-language dramas, had been championing Nordic Noir. “Now, instead of

HOT IN LATIN AMERICA

Endemol Shine Group has also tapped into the massive Latin American drama market, which is expanding its telenovela heritage and other TV fiction into areas beyond Spanish-speaking Hispanic US and Europe.

Production on the second season for the 13part music industry-centred dramedy El Vato kicked off in January. It was co-produced by Miami-based Endemol Shine Latino and Universo, the NBCUniversal-owned Spanish-language cable network.

A 13-episode run of a Spanish-language scripted series shows how shorter dramas are being introduced into a region more familiar with telenovelas’ 100-plus episodes.

Another example is Canal+’s eight-part adventure thriller Ouro, which has been sold by France-based Newen Distribution to US satellite platform DirecTV for its Spanish-speaking Latin American footprint.

Fox’s Miguez believes Latin American creators are being influenced by the shorter-run high-end dramas that do well in the Western markets.

That Is My Life, a remake of a Turkish series produced by Pastel Film, is in its fourth

Endemol Shine Group’s Intersection

• 36 •

Walter Iuzzolino

quantity, it’s quality that has become the filter everyone uses. What constitutes a premium show isn’t about where it comes from, but how it’s made,” says Walter Iuzzolino, co-founder of Walter Presents, which is partly owned by UK commercial public service network Channel 4.

As chief creative officer at Walter Presents’ operator Global Series Network, Iuzzolino hopes to lure British viewers to original Latin American shows: “Move over Scandinavia — embrace Latin America! It used to be Scandinavian and French drama. But as much as we love the Calvinistic, repressed Scandinavia protagonists, we also embrace Latin America’s visceral, bloody, Catholic-infused, guilt-ridden culture.”

Via the Walter Presents partnership, Channel 4 will launch Brazilian dramas Merciless, about a serial killer, and Magnifica 70, about

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Fox Telecolombia’s 2091

the adult-entertainment business; Chilean drug-smuggling drama Fugitives; and Mexico’s Mr Avila, about an assassin who leads a double life. The latter is “a bit Tarrantino, a bit Pedro Almodovar”, Iuzzolino adds. “People who adored Scandinavian drama will love this as well.”

Meanwhile, Israel-based Keshet International has formed a partnership with US-based Spanish-language TV operation Telemundo Studios to create the first original Spanish-language scripted series and formats to be marketed internationally under the Keshet International banner.

HOORAY FOR BOLLYWOOD

The Bollywood legacy has made Star India, the 21st Century Fox-owned subsidiary, a profuse producer of international content. After selling shows to more than 100 countries,

Star India is still on a roll.

“The contemporary approach to our dramas enables them to cross over cultures and engage with audiences worldwide,” says Gurjeev Kapoor, Star India’s president of international business. “They are not just popular in Asia, Europe and the Middle East, but also in Turkey and Latin America, which are traditionally considered to be markets with extremely strong locally produced content.”

Last year, Star India saw romance series Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon (Strange Love), already a hit in 45 markets, become the first Indian drama series to air in Turkey. It proved so popular for Kanal 7 that more than five Indian dramas have since been sold to the country.

That feat was repeated in Latin America, where another series, Saraswatichandra, became the first Indian drama to air in Chile, Argentina and Panama.

Kapoor, whose company also distributes con-

The contemporary approach to our dramas enables them to cross over cultures and engage with audiences worldwide • 38 •

tent via a partnership with Eccho Rights, says there is more to conquering new territories than simply making a good sale. “We regularly collaborate with local partners to drive deeper engagement and ensure a holistic brand experiences,” he adds. “Our viewers in Turkey, Thailand and Indonesia have been a part of these immersive experiences, which drive a lot of positive conversations across local and social media.”

BEST OF MIDDLE EAST

Arabic-language shows sell mostly to the Arabic-speaking markets, says Endemol Shine International’s Payne: “Arabic content is catering to its own.”

And Eccho Rights’ Malmborg cites figures from international research firm Ipsos, which show the share of Western drama on TV in Arabic-speaking countries plummeted by an

Gurjeev Kapoor

mipdrama S pecial Repor t We have seen a growing appetite for Korean dramas in North America, both with the major digital platforms and multicultural broadcasters average of 55% between 2010 and 2016.

During the same period, the share of Arab content jumped about 40%.

However, it is Israel that is spearheading international recognition of its home-grown talent. Keshet International’s taut Hebrew-language political thriller Prisoners Of War debuted in 2010 on Israel’s Channel 2 and immediately demonstrated how far a well-crafted local story can travel. It was picked up and adapted by Fox 21 Television Studios into Homeland, the multiple award-winning English-language blockbuster series. Finished and formated editions of Prisoners Of War have now been sold to 20-plus countries.

Moreover, a number of other Keshet formats have found homes abroad, including The A Word in the UK and Greece; Loaded in the UK, with Chinese and Mexican versions in the pipeline; Traffic Light in Russia; and The Baker And The Beauty in the Netherlands and Russia.

“Due to Homeland’s success and the

growth in OTT platforms, the appetite for non-English-speaking series is growing — and Israeli drama is high on the list,” says Keren Shahar, Keshet International’s chief operating officer and president of distribution. “Our industry has changed over the years and so have the commissioners. We have seen a more open-minded approach in the industry itself to bring stories that are not coming from the usual English-speaking suspects, and viewers have become more educated about their options.”

OUT OF AFRICA

Once considered as travelling nowhere, made-in-Africa stories by African producers have started their own sales voyage across the globe. It kicked off some five years ago with Nigeria-originated movies from Nollywood being distributed to the English-speaking African diaspora via niche streaming platforms such as iROKOtv.com.

Jason Njoku, CEO of parent company Iroko,

Filming iROKOtv.com’s Husbands Of Lagos

• 39 •

Aliy Brown

says diversifying the movie repertoire to include original quality TV drama, such as Husbands Of Lagos and Single Ladies, has broadened his company’s international audience: “Through our sister company, Rok Studios, we have since produced and co-produced around 150 movies. Where we’ve really made a considerable impact is with our TV series. To date, we’ve produced 13 series, with many more in the pipeline.”

In addition to its fans in Western territories, Iroko is growing iROKOtv’s business across both its home market and the African continent’s satellite TV channels and mobile apps.

“Our content is also becoming more popular within Nigeria, especially as it is more accessible than ever before,” he adds.

Adding TV series has also broadened the network’s appeal overseas, with iROKOtv gaining more viewers in French-speaking Africa, as well as the Pacific Ocean territories of French Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia.

Cathy Payne says that Endemol Shine has

mipdrama S pecial Repor t created scripted content, mostly daily soap operas, for Africa. “Our African dramas are sold to multi-territory broadcasters such M-Net or [South African broadcaster] SABC,” she adds. “And there are big networks like Econet Media’s Kwese TV that are attached to mobile operators, which is leading to the growth of VOD platforms.”

MADE IN KOREAN

In addition to its massive following domestically and in its neighbouring Asian markets, South Korean scripted entertainment is now

being carried further afield, says Aliy Brown, director of distribution at Canada-based 108 Media.

“We have seen a growing appetite for Korean dramas in North America, both with the major digital platforms and multicultural broadcasters throughout Canada and the US,” she says. “We also foresee that Korean daytime dramas will start to increase in popularity in Latin America and be adapted as telenovelas, as they are quite similar in style.”

Eccho Rights represents the international sales of drama from Korea’s CJ Group, while Keshet International has the worldwide dis-

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tribution rights, excluding China, Hong Kong and Macau, to youth-focused You Will Love Me. The 16 x 60 mins romantic comedy premiered in 2015 on Hyundai Media’s Drama H and Trendy TV channels.

Endemol Shine’s Payne points out that Korean drama is popular in China and Japan. And Fox’s Manuel Miguez adds that, in recent years, there has been a rise in the popularity of Korean telenovelas in Latin America.

“They have found a space in Argentina, Colombia and Chile, where they are dubbed,” he says.

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1 - Endemol Shine’s Cathy Payne 2 - Eccho Rights’ Fredrik af Malmborg 3 - Keshet International’s Keren Shahar 4 - Walter Presents’ Walter Iuzzolino 5 - Iroko’s Jason Njoku 6 - Star India’s Gurjeev Kapoor 7 - Global Agency’s Senay Filiztekin Turan

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mipdrama S pecial Repor t DRAMA GENRES

TALES OF THE U

A team of double-glazing salesmen in White Gold (BBCWW)

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UNEXPECTED

After decades of Englishlanguage primetime fiction and chilling Nordic Noir, buyers and networks are finding that audiences are open all kinds of drama genres.

Juliana Koranteng and Julian Newby look at the wide range of storytelling that features this golden age of TV drama

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N THE new golden age of television, commissioning editors are under pressure to pin down the stories that will satiate viewers’ appetite for drama. According to London-based Liam Keelan, director of scripted content at BBC Worldwide, an estimated 1,267 new drama series premiered internationally last year. In an increasingly overcrowded sector, what innovative storyline will stand out and amaze?

As viewers demand more in terms of both quantity and quality, aggressive TV networks and the ambitious new streaming platforms need attention-grabbing premium entertainment.

“With so many platforms competing for the attention of the audience, commissioners are looking to stand out, which has led to bolder and more conventionally niche genres finding their way into the mainstream,” says London-based Chris Stewart, vice-president of sales (UK and Eire) and acquisitions at Banijay Rights. “We now have a marketplace where period, contemporary, sci-fi and others all co-exist, as broadcasters look to push the boundaries and find the stories that will generate noise and set them apart from the competition.”

The talent, creators and executive decision-makers have to gamble big money, not to mention their reputation, on one of the most expensive genres to produce and hope the resulting show rides the crest of the next big wave.

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mipdrama S pecial Repor t “You need to be light on your feet and enterprising, and look at the co-production market to calculate how many different pots of money can come together” Paula Cuddy, creative director at London-based Eleventh Hour Films, says: “Within companies, it’s important to have a close relationship between the commercial and creative arms. You need to be light on your feet and enterprising, and look at the co-production market to calculate how many different pots of money can come together for the budget.”

Lars Blomgren, chairman of scripted exchange at Endemol Shine Group, and co-founder/managing director of production firm Filmlance International, concurs.

He says experience, gut feeling and the alliances you make increase the probability of hitting the jackpot. “This is a people business,” he adds. “You have to approach people you can trust. There’ll be those who had one success and those who’ve had multiple successes, and you have to trust your instinct as a producer or commissioner.”

So what are the genres, sub-genres, themes and topics we can expect to be watching on our screens?

LOCAL SETTING, GLOBAL RELEVANCE Viewers can expect more narratives focused on specific countries but with a message that rings true worldwide, thinks Banijay Rights’ Stewart. “We want bold, original stories that will resonate internationally and the most successful of these are often the ones that are rooted in location, but with themes that connect and unite an audience,” he says.

He points to Public Enemy — winner of the MIPDrama Screenings Buyers’ Coup de Coeur Award in 2016 — which originally aired on Belgium’s RTBF, and the Norwegian blockbuster Occupied, produced by Yellow Bird, as great examples. “These will form part of a larger movement into a bolder and more diversified market,” he adds.

Paris-based Laurent Boissel, joint CEO and co-founder of boutique content-investment firm/distributor About Premium Content (APC), agrees. “From next year, we can

Professor T: “A very successful Belgian crime series”

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Paula Cuddy

expect to see more multi-territorial drama.

Content is still dubbed in markets like France, Germany, Italy and Spain, but that doesn’t stop it from being great content,” he says.

“These programmes are well-produced, feature good stories, are well researched and have high quality that can travel far.

Language need not be an obstacle.”

Even humour, a human quality thought to be linked to a nation’s specific culture, will be embraced internationally, believes BBC Wordwide’s Keelan. “With shows like [the BBC-originated] Fleabag, humour is becoming more global,” he says. “Comedy has normally always been subjective and tastes have traditionally tended to differ on a market-by-market basis. However, this is slowly disappearing, particularly with younger viewers, due to the on-demand platforms. The success of Scrotal Recall [now known as Lovesick] on Netflix US shows that quirkier comedy that has not cut through with mainstream audiences can find a smaller, passionate audience in the world of digital.”

International remakes will be the source of future mass-audience entertainment, predicts Moritz von Kruedener, the Munich-based managing director of Germany’s Beta Film. “There’s definitely a need for universal stories that are adaptable in diverse territories,” he says. “Among our highlights this year is Professor T, a very successful Belgian crime series about an eccentric but brilliant forensic scientist. The German remake has scored tremendous ratings on ZDF and a French version is already being shot and will be broadcast on TF1.”

Von Kruedener also points to the successful remake of Grand Hotel, the 2011 mystery series located in the opulent world of a Spanish luxury hotel. “Remakes found their way to Italy, Egypt, the US and Latin America,” Kruedener says. And he expects the same enthusiastic multi-territory response to Skam (meaning Shame), the hugely successful Norwegian young-adult drama by NRK that has already been optioned by XIX Entertainment’s Simon Fuller, the entrepre-

mipdrama S pecial Repor t

Doctor Foster: “Inventive twists and turns in storylines”

Dark drama: Broken

neur famous for creating the blockbuster Idol franchise.

MODERN-DAY PARABLES These are stories that reflect the state of the world we live in today. An example is Guerrilla, the Endemol Shine International-distributed love story set against a backdrop of political activism and radical militancy, Endemol Shine’s Blomgren says. “Not only is it beautifully executed, but it touches on a subject that unfortunately is becoming more and more relevant every day,” he adds “Dark crime and dark dramas act as modern-day parables, allowing viewers to explore the grey areas of morality, as seen in our upcoming series Broken and [the revenge thriller] Paula,” BBC Worldwide’s Keelan adds.

Produced by LA Productions and distributed by BBC Worldwide, Broken stars Sean Bean as Father Kerrigan, a Catholic priest in an urban parish in northern England. Father Kerrigan has a dark past and a complicated relationship with his own family, but is determined to help his parishioners through their troubles — but can’t always fix what’s broken in their lives, which compounds his

belief that he is unworthy as a priest.”

“I’ve carried this idea around with me for years,” writer Jimmy McGovern says. “I kept taking it to the BBC and they kept saying ‘No’. I wanted to do this thing set up in Kirkdale [a district of Liverpool] in the north of England — one of the poorest places in Western Europe.”

McGovern was brought up close to the city of Liverpool and while the area in the series is not named as Liverpool or Kirkdale, the church used in Broken is the actual church he would attend with his family. “I was taught

by Jesuit priests. I was born in 1949 so the Jesuits got me around 1959-1960, and I came out of that experience very damaged.

So it’s bothered me all my life — mainly the Roman Catholic church’s teaching on sexuality, and sex and gay sex and so on. It made me totally homophobic as a young man and very screwed up about women and things.

I like to think I’ve come out of that now, I’m alright now. So I had the idea of writing a character like that who became a priest — because I was tempted to be a priest when I was 13, 14. So he’s the character I came up with and he’s informed by all of that. Lots of men my age have been screwed-up by the church and catholic teaching. And it takes a while to throw all that off, it really does.”

Los Angeles-based Sonar Entertainment has backed this trend with Das Boot, a multi-million multinational epic based on the 1981 German cult war movie of the same name. Co-created with Sky Germany and Bavaria Fernsehproduktion and scheduled to debut in 2018, the new Das Boot will be an eight-part allegory of the pointlessness of wars triggered by fanaticism.

“The source material and story of Das Boot have all of the ingredients for a great TV drama: an exciting tale of survival against the odds, stories of men and women affected by military service, and an unforgiving portrayal of the realities of war,” says David Ellender, Sonar Entertainment’s president of global distribution and co-productions. “Today’s audience is looking to be entertained, but they also want substance.”

TWISTS ON CRIME Keelan says we should look out for inventive twists and turns in storylines centred on criminals and their law-enforcement counterparts. The BBC’s location drama Death In Paradise, the political spy thriller The Honourable Woman and the mystery drama series Doctor Foster encapsulate this approach.

”Dark crime and dark dramas act as modern-day parables, allowing viewers to explore the grey areas of morality“ • 45 •

Liam Keelan

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mipdrama S pecial Repor t Made by Drama Republic and distributed by BBC Worldwide, Doctor Foster is set to return for the next dramatic chapter in the story of Gemma, the talented doctor betrayed by her husband Simon and left to look after their son Tom. Suranne Jones won the leading actress Bafta for her portrayal of Gemma Foster in the first series.

Writer Mike Bartlett says that while the first series seemed to have come to a natural end, it was while he was writing the last episode that the inspiration for a second series came. “Writing the end of the series I thought, ‘This is a couple with a child and they’re going to get divorced, but that’s not the ending if they’ve got a child — that has to carry on. And then I realised that the couple now wanted go be as far away from each other as possible but they’ve got a child and they both want to live in this town.

Well, that’s the second series. This town is not big enough for both of them. It’s a fight to the death.”

Eleventh Hour’s Cuddy is predicting more anthology crime series — the format that has turned HBO’s True Detective, FX’s American Crime Drama brand and the BBC/ Starz co-produced The Missing into global brands. Also belonging to that genre is Eleventh Hour’s Safe House, which is returning with a second season this year. “It is about

something setting itself apart and moving the crime genre forward,” she says. “There is always that delicious extra twist.”

And with that comes new a sub-genre, the evolving procedural series, which combines a resolved transgression in each episode with a long arc narrated throughout the whole season. APC’s Boissel believes this approach to the narrative, as seen in TF1’s Contact series in France, has helped crime TV win over younger audiences in recent years.

“It’s really good for commercial channels that have standard procedural crime shows that do not appeal to young viewers,” Boissel adds. “Evolving procedurals attract them without alienating older loyal fans.”

And as crime, like everything else, becomes more global, so this will be reflected on the screen. McMafia is an eight-part crime thriller that centres on the English-raised son of Russian exiles with a mafia history. What starts as a story of survival and revenge becomes an epic tale of a man’s struggle against the lures of corruption. Inspired by the best-selling book of the same name — by Misha Glenny, a British journalist and commentator specialising in organised crime — it is co-produced by the BBC, AMC and Cuba Pictures, in association with Twickenham Studios and distributed by BBC

McMafia: “Epic tale of a man’s struggle against corruption”

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Worldwide.

Hossein Amini, who adapted the book for television, says McMafia has a more global outlook on crime. “The gangster genre is something I’ve always been fascinated by and I felt like, since the end of the Nineties it was really about the death of the genre — and even with The Sopranos, it was about how that Italian mob has run out of options.”

He adds: “And when I read this book, it felt like it was all being reborn on a huge global scale. Suddenly you’ve got the cartels and the Triads and different kingdoms all in competition and collaboration. It felt like this extraordinary vast canvas but with all the things about gangster movies and series that I loved.”

“The Sopranos, The Godfather, even The Wire — these are precursors to something like McMafia. What McMafia has done is brought it out of that very local situation like New Jersey or West Baltimore or whatever — or even Little Italy — and scaled it out as it has scaled out in the real world,” Glenny says. “Before, you didn’t have this huge transactional network between organised crime groups that you do now. And what Hoss has done — because you don’t really get this from my book — he has made that more accessible, more understandable through the creation of the story of two

mipdrama S pecial Repor t “We need to ask ourselves what the role of entertainment is going to be in a world of fake news...

We are going to turn to fiction for truth”

Stephen Cornwell

families, one in London and one in Moscow, who are, Game Of Thrones-like, playing out this imperial struggle in different parts of the world. So organised crime is not just about family any more, it’s about shifting alliances as well. There’s a gangster in Prague who we think is on one side, but he’s actually on the other side and that is exactly how it is in the real world.”

SCI-FUTURE Like crime, sci-fi is a staple drama sub-genre that never disappears off our screens.

But also in store for viewers is another sci-fi variant that Boissel calls “science possible”, which are stories set in the future that question the real-life science and tech the world is hoping to adopt.

Unpunished, a new 8 x 60 mins series that APC is co-developing with Nordic production firm Investigate North, comes under the science-possible category, Boissel says. The scenario, set in the near future, examines the extent to which fast-emerging technologies like machine learning and AI are both a protector and a peril for mankind.

Also of interest are the ‘near-fi’ dramas.

These consist of events that unfold in the future but that challenge today’s political and social issues, says Angela Littlejohn, head of production at New Zealand-based animation studio Pukeko Pictures, which collaborates with international special-effects production house Weta Workshop (famous for its work on The Lord Of The Rings movie franchise).

Near-fi productions like Cleverman, which Pukeko co-produced with Goalpost Pictures Australia for ABC TV Australia and the US’ SundanceTV, is “a period drama mixed with sci-fi that we believe will become very big”, Littlejohn adds. “It’s not set in the real world, but deals with issues that are close to where we are today.”

She points out that Pukeko’s productions are always targeted at an international audience, because New Zealand is too small a nation to absorb the costs of major dramas.

“Global sensation”: The Night Manager

FAMILY DRAMAS ON STEROIDS Cinema-influenced scripted entertainment aimed at mass family audiences will get bigger and bolder, thinks Stephen Cornwell, co-founder and co-CEO of The Ink Factory, which made one of last year’s global sensations, The Night Manager. With offices in London and Los Angeles, Cornwell is well placed to observe trends on both sides of the Atlantic. He argues that the tumultuous political landscape will draw people to longform narratives that temporarily carry them away from current uncertainties to more pleasant worlds.

“We need to ask ourselves what the role of entertainment is going to be in a world of fake news — where fact has become fake, so to speak,” he says. “In a different way, we’re going to turn to fiction for truth. That can be in serious entertainment as well as

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in escapist entertainment. That’s the questions for all of us: how do we speak to the times we live in?”

Cornwell predicts a move towards shows of escapist fun influenced by the recent Oscar-winning movie La La Land, as well as long-form fiction inspired by 1970s movies such as Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather and Roman Polanski’s Chinatown. “We shall be navigating away from Scandi Noir and Modern Noir such as Breaking Bad and Mad Men,” he says. “In general, the audience of the major movies of the past has migrated to TV and is looking for stories that are stimulating, challenging, difficult and different.”

Also in the pipeline are revisionist period dramas targeted at mass audiences, which hope to emulate the success of the BBC/ Tiger Aspect series Peaky Blinders, says Eleventh Hour’s Cuddy.

The BBC itself is bringing out more scripted shows based on the original creations

mipdrama S pecial Repor t of renowned scriptwriters, Keelan reports.

“Authored passion projects will continue to have an important role in drama, giving writers the space to write and see what emerges,” he adds. “This will include content that has an authenticity and explores specific, interesting worlds previously unfamiliar to audiences.”

Examples include the second season of Top Of The Lake, an original story written and created by Oscar-winning New Zealand producer/director Jane Campion; and the White Gold, a comedy drama written and directed by the award-winning Damon Beesley.

White Gold belongs to a treasured genre of British comedy drama, featuring loveable but hapless characters whose fumbled attempts to get rich push them close to the edges of the law while providing equal measures of humour and heartache — of which classic series Only Fools And Horses and Aufwiedersehen, Pet are enduring examples. Those two series are set in the

world of black-market trading; White Gold tells stories of a company that sells double glazing.

It’s a period piece too, set in the early 1980s. “We use music from the era that sends you right back there,” Beesley says.

But while the music endures, other artefacts from the era are harder to come by.

“What’s interesting is that you can’t easily get hold of a lot of the furniture from the Eighties. Because back then a lot of it wasn’t very nice and much of it was disposable. And we had to build this disgusting showroom, which was a nightmare for the set designers because they really wanted it to be authentic. And it was kind of in my head because my Dad was a double-glazing salesman and I spent a lot of time in this showroom. So I explained to the designers how it had to look and they said, ‘Really? That’s so tasteless! And I said ‘Yes that’s exactly the point.’.”

Leading the cast is Ed Westwick, who

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plays the handsome, charismatic salesman Vincent Swan, who is smart, full of confidence and will happily break the rules if it guarantees a sale. “Ed’s character is a metaphor for the Eighties in Thatcher’s Britain,” Beesley says. “He’s been sacked from a traditional job in a refinery, and in this new industry he’s effectively ripping off his neighbours. It’s all about himself, and screw everyone else.”

Westwick was born after the period in which the series is set but had an understanding of the radical changes through which the UK was going. “I was born in 1987 but in my childhood I was very aware of movements that had happened before, and I was very aware of Thatcher and the right-to-buy [social housing] scheme and everything like that,” he says. “And I got a lot off the page. It’s a very informative script. But also, in terms of understanding sales — both of my brothers are salespeople, one of them

mipdrama S pecial Repor t can talk himself into any situation; and my eldest brother sold timeshares out in Portugal, so I grew up with these personalities around me. Not that my brothers did anything as bad as Vincent does but it’s something to draw on.”

THE NEW REGIONAL WAVES International viewers continue to find the Nordic Noir and other drama categories from Scandinavia alluring. Historically, Swedish and Danish productions have dominated the genre, but experts say it is now the turn of Norway and Finland.

“The Norwegians are taking that expertise to a whole new level with shows like Oc-

cupied and Nobel,” says Endemol Shine’s Blomgren.

“Internationally, work from Finland has been under-exposed but the country is now stepping up with great stories, such as Black Widows,” says London-based Noel Hedges, executive vice-president of content and acquisitions at DRG. He also predicts that Eastern Europe will surprise the industry in the near future.

DRG sells in the UK, Australia, Ireland and Canada. The dark, high-concept fantasy thriller with a cast of demi-gods, demons and humans, is set in Jakarta and features martial arts. “There’s very little of its type of drama around and part of the fun for its fans is that it isn’t high budget,” Hedges adds. “But there’s something about it that makes them want to watch it regardless.”

HIGH-HORROR The horror sub-genre tends to have a niche cult audience, but the SVOD platforms will broaden their reach to a larger number of aficionados, Hedges suggests.

He illustrates his point with Halfworlds, which originated on HBO Asia and which

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1 - Beta Film’s Moritz von Kruedener • 2 - Sonar Entertainment’s David Ellender • 3 - BBC Worldwide’s Liam Keelan • 4 - The Ink Factory’s Stephen Cornwell • 5 - Eleventh Hour Films’ Paula Cuddy • 6 - DRG’s Noel Hedges

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FROM BOOK TO SCREEN

VIRGINIA Mouseler, CEO of international TV trends research group The Wit, recently held The Wit Drama Campus, at which she shared her own vision of how TV drama will trend.

“As the market becomes truly global and focused on SVOD, the most universal language happens to be thrillers, crime stories and so-called Noir dramas,” she says. “Black travels better than pink, the romantic stories and telenovelas that tend to attract the less coveted demographic groups — older, poorer — and soapy stories. These are the long-running serialised series that don’t play so well on SVOD, which is the future.”

Other keywords to watch out for are “true”, “based on real events” and “biopics”, Mouseler adds. “In this global market, broadcasters and service-providers need huge internationally recognised brands to attract viewers,” she says. “You can’t beat the power of the real in fiction.”

And she believes that time-travel themes will sell well: “These are dramas where characters from the past — dead relatives, loved ones — collide with contemporary characters. You see these dramas in South Korea, Japan and China. And as they are formulaic, they have a chance to travel abroad as scripted formats, which would give those secluded Asian markets a chance to break into the international drama market.” n

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