MipTV/Canneseries: Studiocanal Thrillers Sell Widely, AXN Takes ‘Rex’ Franchise, ORF-Enterprise Touts Nature, Insight TV Boosts Science, Technology
Studiocanal has sold two new thrillers from Benelux to international buyers at MipTV in Cannes.
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The eight-part crime thriller “1985,” produced by Eyeworks for Belgian public broadcasters VRT and RTBF, follows three friends as they move to Brussels and get caught up in the horrifying events of Belgium’s most notorious unsolved crime spree that shocked a generation and left a scar on the entire country.
The series went to SBS Australia; Filmin for Portugal and Spain; Canal+ for France, Czech Republic and Slovakia; TG4 in Ireland; and Free TV in Israel.
“The Crash” is a five-part series centering on one of the most controversial aviation disasters and biggest cover-ups in Dutch history.
Produced by Amsterdam-based Big Blue for public broadcaster KRO-NCRV, it sold to SBS Australia, Canal+ in France and, in Belgium, to Disney+ and BeTv. It also went to MagentaTV/Telekom in Germany; Cosmo in Spain; RTP in Portugal; and Free TV and Cellcom in Israel.
Beta Film’s canine cop show big in Japan
Japanese pay-tv broadcaster AXN has acquired a number of series from Beta Film, including Canadian canine cop show “Hudson & Rex,” part of the long-running international franchise about a detective and his four-legged partner.
AXN also took the German-Austrian original, “Rex – A Cop’s Best Friend,” and Italian spin-off “Rex Special Unit,” the company announced Tuesday in Cannes.
Celebrating the premiere of Season 4 in Cannes, “Hudson & Rex,” which stars John Reardon and canine thespian Diesel von Burgimwald, has sold to more than 120 territories worldwide.
AXN also nabbed other international crime dramas from Beta, including the U.K.’s “Professor T.”; Germany’s “Faster Than Fear”; and “Persona” from Turkey, as well as Swedish spy thriller “Agent Hamilton” and adventure series “Arctic Air.”
ORF-Enterprise presents nature, wildlife titles, new dramas
Austria’s ORF-Enterprise, the commercial arm of public broadcaster ORF, unveiled its line-up of new nature documentaries and drama series.
Titles included wildlife documentaries as from the company’s Universum Nature portfolio, among them “Untamed Vietnam – Wilderness Reborn”; “Secret India – The Real Jungle Book”; “Transylvania’s Wild Side”; and “Desert Phantoms – Surviving the Skeleton Coast.”
Scripted content included mystery miniseries “Days That Never Were” and ORF’s forthcoming ski academy drama “School of Champions.”
Wag Entertainment closes multi-title deal with Insight TV
London-based Wag Entertainment has closed a multi-title deal with Insight TV for 40 hours of science and technology content to run on its free ad-supported channels available in Canada, the U.S., U.K., Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, the Nordics, the Netherlands, Poland, Latin America and India.
Titles include “Combat Countdown,” a series showcasing the military industrial complex’s most cutting-edge weapons of war; “Heavy Metal Monsters,” a look at the machines that tackle the toughest jobs on the planet; “World’s Best Electric Cars”; “How Do They Do It,” about the tech wonders of the modern world, from space rockets to nuclear submarines; and “Space Dealers,” which tracks down the rarest items ever to have left and then returned to planet Earth.
Global Agency unveils new original format “Match the Family”
Turkish sales company Global Agency launched its new game show “Match the Family” at MipTV.
An original Global Agency format created by company CEO Izzet Pinto, the show brings together two teams of three players to identify family members of a person in the studio, with prize money rising up to $10,000 over five rounds.
“Some people are surprisingly very similar to their families, while others are not at all,” said Pinto. “Generally it’s a common topic trying to figure out who people look like.” The show also offers an interactive component that allows viewers to play along over an app.
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