MIPTV Kicks Off With Drama Deals for ‘The Swarm,’ ‘The Vow’
International television market MIPTV kicked off Monday with a slew of territory deals for high-end drama and nonfiction series.
The Swarm, an eco-thriller TV series from Game of Thrones executive producer Frank Doelger and ndF IP managing director Eric Welbers, based on the Frank Schätzing best-seller, was snatched up by Sky UK for its Sky Max streaming service, and by pay TV group Movistar Plus+ for Spain. A U.S. deal for the eight-part limited series, in which a mysterious collective force from deep in the oceans strikes back at humanity for its reckless treatment of the environment, is expected soon.
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The Swarm was produced by Schwarm TV Productions, a joint venture between Intaglio Films and ndF IP, for ZDF in Germany, France Télévisions, Italy’s Rai Fiction, Scandinavia’s Viaplay Group, Hulu Japan, Austria’s ORF, and SRF in Switzerland, in co-production with Bravado Fiction and Beside Production, in cooperation with Athos KG.
Italy’s Mediaset picked up rights to The Vow, a popular Spanish drama from Bambú Producciones (Cable Girls, Velvet) for TVE Spain, from StudioCanal. The drama, which has just been renewed for a second season in Spain on TVE’s La1, is set in the early 20th century and follows the story of a maid seeking revenge for her mother’s murder who falls in love with the son of a powerful count. Mediaset recently acquired Bambú’s long-running drama Two Lives, also from StudioCanal.
Swedish-based Eccho Rights racked up further international deals for Turkish drama Golden Boy, with broadcasters across CEE, Central Asia and Africa picking up the series, the top-rated show in Turkey last year. The drama, which has sold to more than 40 countries, follows two sisters, Seyran and Suna, and their relationship with Ferit, the grandson of one of the region’s most powerful families. Produced by OGM Pictures for Star TV, Golden Boy has remained the number one show on Turkish TV for the past 27 weeks.
On the nonfiction side, Australian TV network Seven nabbed the rights to Red Arrow Studios’ Stranded on Honeymoon Island, a reality TV show in which couples, matched by experts, are abandoned on a deserted island for three weeks. Endemol Shine Australia, the team behind Married at First Sight Australia, will produce the local version of the format to air next year. The format premiered on Belgium’s VTM network. And All3Media International inked deals for six new local adaptations — including in Israel, Portugal, Sweden, Greece and Hungary — for hit Dutch format Traitors, in which contestants compete in challenges to win prize money, while trying to sniff out the “traitors” in their group trying to undermine their efforts. Fremantle’s Abot Hameiri will produce the Israeli version for Keshet; RTL commissioned the Hungarian version; SIC is the Portuguese buyer; and ANT1 the one in Greece. Peacock in the U.S., the BBC in the U.K. and Network 10 in Australia have all renewed their local versions of the show for a second season. Studio Lambert produces the U.S. and U.K. versions, with Endemol Shine Australia producing the version Down Under.
MIPTV runs April 17-19 in Cannes.
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