Newen Connect’s ‘Cat’s Eyes,’ a Live-Action Take on the Cult Manga Series, Clenches Swiss, Belgium Buyers (EXCLUSIVE)

Annika Pham
·3 min read
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Paris-based global distribution powerhouse Newen Connect has secured a first round of pre-sales on the French live-action drama series “Cats Eyes,” based on the original cult manga work ‘Cat’s Eye’ from Japanese artist Tsukasa Hojo.

The female-led series, produced by Big Bang Production for top French commercial channel TF1, has been acquired by RTS for Switzerland and RTL for Belgium.

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“”Cat’s Eyes” is proving to be a huge success internationally,” commented Leona Connell, chief commercial officer for TF1’s global distribution arm Newen Connect.

“The existing IP based on a manga by Tsukasa Hojo is known in many territories, also thanks to its animated version produced in the 1980s. In addition to securing Amazon as a co-producer for a second window in France and first window in Latin America and Japan, RTS Switzerland and RTL Belgium came in early to pre-buy the series,” she underscored. “This is testament to the quality of the script, the level of casting and the ambitions of the series which Big Band Story have committed to deliver for TF1.”

At this week’s London TV Screenings, Newen Connect is teasing remaining global buyers with a first clip of the series, currently in post-production.

The eight-part action-packed TV show is helmed by Alexandre Laurent (“Women at War”) from a script by Michel Catz, Justine Kim-Gautier, Antonin Martin-Hilbert, Anne- Charlotte Kassab, Coline Dussaud and Audrey Gagneux.

Toplining the cast are Camille Lou (“Women at War”, “Bonfire of Destiny”), Contance Labbé (“Balthazar”), and Claire Romain (“Where It All Begins”) as the Chamade sisters Tam, Sylvia and Alexia, on the prowl for the most beautiful and secured artworks in Paris.

After years apart, the trio gets back together to steal a work of art, on display in a high-class exhibition at the Eiffel Tower. The siblings hope that the artwork which belongs to their father, will help them solve the mystery of his vanishing10 years earlier, when a fire broke out in his art gallery.

Police chief and head of its organised crime unit Quentin Chapuis (Mohamed Belkhir, better known as vocalist and beatboxer MB14) is soon on their trail. What he doesn’t know is that the great love of his life-Tam, leads a double life and is one of the uncatchable phantom thieves.

“Cat’s Eyes” is part of Newen Connect’s mixed slate of factual and scripted titles to be showcased this week to global buyers in London.

Among the hottest new scripted entries highlighted by Connell are “two very timely political thrillers”: France’s “In The Shadows,” based on a book by former French prime minister Edouard Philippe, and “8 Months,” based on Magnus Montelius’s eponymous best-selling novel, produced by Newen Studios’ label Anagram Sweden. Both titles will compete next month at Series Mania.

Commenting on the pivotal role of the London TV Screenings in the annual TV market calendar, Connell said the event is first and foremost an opportunity for her sales team “to meet international buyers and showcase the very best of European programming in both English and non-English language.”

Connell also feels the market is “increasingly important for buyers to secure early funding for new shows coming through the pipeline.”

“In an age where production costs are increasing, and the platforms are more selective about the projects they support, there’s a growing call on distributors like Newen Connect to secure funding that will enable producers to move forward with their projects,” she underscored, adding that Newen Connect is therefore “increasingly involved at the early stages of a project’s lifecycle, when we can advise on appetite and likely interest, and devise a plan to deliver against these objectives,” she said.

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