‘Game of Thrones’ Showrunner Frank Doelger Teams with Beta on ‘Perished Land’
CANNES — Munich-based sales and production house Beta Film is upping the ante in the high-end TV stakes, with several new projects announced Sunday at TV market Mipcom in Cannes, including a fantasy series from one of the showrunners of “Game of Thrones,” and a drama depicting Hitler’s life from World War I to the start of World War II.
Beta chief Jan Mojto said that the number of high-end TV series it was producing or co-producing — most of which will be budgeted at around Euros 2 million ($2.24 million) an hour or higher — would rise from 30 hours a year this year, to 36 hours next year, and 48 hours in 2017.
Beta is working with “Game of Thrones” showrunner Frank Doelger on an action-adventure fantasy series, budgeted at up to Euros 3 million ($3.36 million) an hour, titled “The Perished Land.” The show, which Mojto described as “The Lord of the Rings” meets “Avatar,” is set in a fictional world called Talanton — a place of great natural beauty — in which five tribes are attacked by an outside force.
Doelger, whose credits include “Rome” and “John Adams,” will be writing the series, which will comprise 12 one-hour episodes, with Jonathan Stamp. It is produced by Rainmark Films and Hofmann & Voges Filmproduktion.
Another high-profile production on the Beta slate is 10-hour miniseries “Hitler,” which follows the dictator-to-be from World War I to the start of World War II. The drama, which is based on historian Thomas Weber’s book “Hitler’s First War,” is produced by Ufa Fiction, which produced hit series “Generation War.” It has been commissioned in Germany by commercial broadcaster RTL, and Mojto revealed at Mipcom that French broadcaster TF1 had pre-bought the series.
Beta is also backing eight-hour miniseries “Breaking News,” based on the novel by “The Swarm” author Frank Schatzing. Set in Israel, the thriller follows a journalist who comes across secret documents belonging to Israel’s secret service. This has deadly consequences. Ufa Fiction is producing with Beta.
Other projects include Cold War tale “The Same Sky,” set in 1970s Berlin, which is being directed by “Downfall” helmer Oliver Hirschbiegel, and stars Tom Schilling (“Generation War”).
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