Federation Acquires Intl. Sales Rights on Series Mania French Competition Player ‘Torn’
LILLE, France — Leading French independent production-finance-distribution sales company Federation Entertainment has secured international sales rights on upcoming French psychological thriller “Torn.”
The series was created and written by director Lionel Bailliu (“Innocente”)and Yann Le Gal (“Léo Mattéï, Brigade des Mineurs”) and world premieres in the official French competition on March 25 at France’s Series Mania TV festival. Attending the series’ premiere will be French actress – producer Julie Gayet, Bailliu, Le Gal, as well as Elephant producers Gaëlle Cholet and Guillaume Renouil.
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Elephant Story and AT-Production co-produced with participation from France Télévisions. France 3, Belgian public broadcaster RTBF and TV5 Monde are already set to broadcast.
In the series, a school teacher named Victoire moves to a small village in rural France with her young family. There, she runs into Florent, her first love from a lifetime ago, and their long-dormant feelings for one another reignite. Unable to suppress their desires for one another, the two make plans to leave their current spouses when Florent’s wife mysteriously disappears.
The series is one of three with which Federation Entertainment is involved at this year’s Series Mania. In the main International Competition, Federation is handling sales on “Mytho,” another world premiere.
The anticipated new series from creator of “The Returned” Fabrice Gobert, co-created with Anne Berest, “Mytho” is produced by Unité de Production and Bruno Nahon for Arte, and stars Marina Hands – a 2007 Cesar and Tribeca winner for her work in “Lady Chatterley,” and Mathieu Demy, a former Berlin EFP Shooting Star winner and regular on “The Bureau.”
Additionally, Federation will be pitching “They Were Ten,” a contemporary adaptation of Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None,” at the Coming Next From France co-production meetings. The series marks the first full scripted series from Pascal Laugier, a renowned French horror director (“Martyrs”) and is produced by Sophie Revil and Escazal for M6.
In October of last year Federation Entertainment acquired a stake in WeMake, where they are now working on expanding into non-scripted content.
This January the company teamed with former Lionsgate Media co-chairman Patrick Wachsberger, one of the best-known figures in the international movie distribution business over the last 25 years, to create Picture Perfect Federation, a joint venture in producing premium television content for both the U.S. and international markets.
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