The Hot Ones — Drama: Epic Warriors, Nighttime Therapists & Chastened Detectives Get Set For MIPCOM
Welcome to Deadline’s The Hot Ones — Drama, our guide to some of the best scripted TV being sold at MIPCOM this year. Our editorial team has done extensive research in the run-up to the 2024 market and has handpicked a selection of the projects set to be big talking points at this year’s event in Cannes.
In between meetings and cocktail parties, you’re sure to hear whispers about the next potential global hit, and The Hot Ones is here to guide you. So scroll down for the juiciest fare including Beta Films’ Rise of the Raven, Lionsgate’s Spartacus prequel and Fremantle’s Jesse Williams-starrer Costiera.
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A Better Place
Distributor: StudioCanal
Length: 8 x 45’
Producers: Komplizen Serien, Studiocanal Series, Film AG, The Post Republic, WDR, ARD Degeto
Network: ARD (Germany), Canal+ (France & Austria)
What happens to a society that ditches prison? That’s the central theme running through A Better Place, a German-Franco drama that StudioCanal is bringing to the Croisette. The plot follows an ambitious mayor in the fictional Rheinstadt, Germany, who closes the correctional facility in his city and reintegrates the prisoners, promising them jobs, housing and support. However, they’re met with scorn, prejudice and rejection upon re-entry, as those behind the controversial release program scramble to make it work while the victims and their families wrestle with forgiveness and justice.
“As soon as you say the pitch, people are hooked,” says Nicolas Loock, Head of StudioCanal Series, the German production wing of France’s StudioCanal. “Everything has to be black and white at the moment, and this show takes the time to explore the consequences.”
The show taps into countrywide debates around the issues of “the best way to get justice and what to do with their jails,” adds StudioCanal Head of International Sales Chloé Marquet.
Shooting began over the summer with an ensemble cast of actors familiar to French and German audiences including Maria Hofst?tter (Snow, Tatort), Steven Sowah (Concordia), Katharina Schüttler (Hello, Dogs of Berlin), Johannes Kienast (Nymphomaniac) and Richard Sammel (Spencer, The Strain). Alexander Lindh and Laurent Mercier, who met on the Serial Eyes screenwriter course that has acted as a nursery slope to so many top European scribes, wrote and created the show, with Lindh also showrunner, and Anne Zohra Berrached and Konstantin Bock the directors. StudioCanal Series is making its German TV production debut after boarding the project following a pitch from Komplizen Serien, whose exec producer David Keitsch says A Better Place could appeal to fans of “The Wire or The Leftovers, Scandi noir and British cinema” thanks to the questions it asks about society and rehabilitation.
Komplizen Serien, the TV arm of Spencer maker Komplizen Film, had picked up the project in 2020, with StudioCanal boarding a year later. Financing was then pieced together through several local funds, co-producers and European networks, leaving StudioCanal the job of shopping the rights internationally.
Loock calls this approach a “groundbreaking business model that will help the story travel,” while Marquet says the format, returnability potential and intrigue around the premise is already attracting buyer attention. Lock this one down quickly.
Costiera
Distributor: Fremantle
Length: 6 x 60’
Producers: Lux Vide & Amazon MGM Studios
Network: Prime Video (multiple territories)
You wouldn’t necessarily associate Grey’s Anatomy star Jesse Williams and Emmy-Winning Fargo and Breaking Bad director Adam Bernstein with an Italian series set in a hotel, but Costiera is reflective of where the global TV landscape currently finds itself.
Set to comprise a big part of distributor Fremantle’s scripted slate in Cannes, Costiera brings together some seriously buzzy talent via a high-end streamer series produced by a veteran Italian producer and with plenty of rights up for grabs.
Landing Williams, who made his name playing Dr. Jackson Avery in ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy,was quite the coup. He plays Daniel De Luca, a half-Italian former U.S. Marine who returns to Italy as a fixer in one of the world’s most luxurious hotels, located on the spectacular coastline of Positano. Shortly after De Luca starts his post, one of the owner’s daughters disappears, and it is up to him to lead the charge in solving the case.
Combining White Lotus-esque images with more than a touch of fun thriller, Costiera, says Jens Richter, Fremantle’s CEO of Commercial and International, is “the kind of show the market has been waiting for.”
“It’s no secret that entertaining shows are in demand during these difficult times,” Richter adds. “This is a show that takes you into a world that maybe you have seen before, but never to this extent.”
Richter hails the “beautiful” Italian backdrop, coupled with a humorous, family-friendly, fast-paced tone. He also celebrates the contributions of Bernstein (“He is a talent to be mentioned”) and Williams too, but rejects the notion that bringing American-style English-language shows to Italy will do damage to local, Italian-language stories. Local broadcaster Rai, Richter points out, has been making English-language shows for years, and Luca Bernabei’s Lux Vide has been behind many. So far, Fremantle has been “going out slowly” with Costiera, but Richter says it is set for a splash at MIPCOM when chats with buyers will begin in earnest. Most of the world is up for grabs, and Richter cites the U.S. and Germany as territories ripe for exploration via the modern model that sees streamers only taking rights in a few nations. “In this beautiful new world, streamers and local broadcasters are looking for more similar shows than ever before to address mainstream audiences, and Costiera sits well within these worlds,” says Richter.
Debriefing the President
Distributor: Escapade Media
Length: 6 x 60’
Producers: AR Content, Big Dreams Entertainment, Storyfirst
Network: TNT (U.S.)
CIA analyst John Nixon was the first American to positively identify and interrogate Saddam Hussein in the wake of the ill-fated invasion of Iraq. Based on Nixon’s book of the same name, Debriefing the President is a limited series that unpacks his story about his time spent with the former Iraqi leader, which provided a new perspective on the military action and its consequences.
A production team including Alexander Rodnyansky (Leviathan) and Leslie Greif (Hatfields & McCoys) put the project together. In the U.S. Deadline had the scoop that it will play on TNT in the U.S. and its greenlight marked the cable net’s first original scripted order after the Warner Bros.-Discovery merger back in 2022. Pitching the story as Zero Dark Thirty meets Frost/Nixon, Australia-based sales house Escapade Media, which has a distribution deal with series producer Storyfirst, kicks off international sales at MIPCOM.
“This action/thriller series, which is based on real-world events, offers the market a unique and commercial offering, as we discover what one of the world’s most infamous dictators was really like,” says Escapade Managing Director and founder Natalie Lawley.
In a crowded market, having established IP helps and so does name talent. In this case the latter is Joel Kinnaman, who plays Nixon. The actor has credits for the likes of Swedish film Easy Money, AMC drama The Killing, the 2014 RoboCop remake and as Rick Flag in the Suicide Squad movies. Since 2019, he has starred in the Apple TV+ space drama For All Mankind.
The contemporary echoes of the Iraq War also mean the subject matter feels relevant. “This series will resonate with today’s audiences because we didn’t really know what actually happened to Saddam Hussein,” says Lawley. “With the release of the actual CIA files, the world can now have a better picture of events. In addition, the Iraq War remains an incredibly controversial period in history and still very much in everyone’s mind, especially as tensions in the Middle East continue to intensify.”
Lawley adds that the limited series format allows buyers to build an event around a show that has contained costs. “It is also a manageable investment by the client, which is very appealing as global budgets are being reduced.”
Night Therapy
Distributor: yes Studios
Length: 10×60’
Producer: Eight Productions
Network: yes TV
Night Therapy follows Louie, an Arab-Israeli psychologist played by Yousef Sweid who is struggling to raise two kids after the suicide of his Jewish-Israeli wife. He decides to shift his practice to receive patients at night. The series shows the ensuing impact on Louie and family as well as the stories that unfold during late clinic hours, including flashback scenes where he is an unseen observer within his patients’ backstories.
The drama series, from Raanan Caspi, combines scenes of therapy sessions that were penned with the input of practicing psychologists with storylines from Louie’s personal life. Shira Haas (Captain America) stars as a patient. The Unorthodox star won the Special Jury Prize for her performance at this year’s Golden Nymph Awards in Monte Carlo. Lucy Ayoub, Yaakov Zada Daniel and Firas Nassar, all of whom have starred in the hit series Fauda, also appear. Louie’s patients include a doctor, a rabbi, a tech geek and a drug dealer, and all of them are recurring characters in the series.
The conceit of a therapist opening his doors late at night is a gateway to various after-hours stories. “Everything kind of calms down, there are no phones or emails, there aren’t any other distractions at night,” says Sharon Levi, Managing Director of yes Studios, which is selling the show. “Everyone’s kind of done for the day, and that’s where all your thoughts come up and you reflect, that’s what caught me when I read it.”
Israel has pedigree with therapy-based drama. HBO’s In Treatment was based on HOT3’s BeTipul, which has been widely adapted. “It’s over 15 years now since that first came out, and it was something very innovative, something very new,” Levi says. “Night Therapy is like the evolution of that on so many levels. It’s not only about therapy sessions it’s about Louie’s story and how he’s dealing with this new reality that fell upon him.”
The hope is to spawn local versions of Night Therapy. Levi says: “There are so many unique selling points; the therapy sessions, the story, the therapist and what happened to him and his family, the flashback scenes. All of these elements create a very strong format that has the ability to travel.”
Rise of the Raven
Distributor: Beta Film
Length: 11 x 60’
Producers: Serendipity Point Films, Twin Media, HG Media, MR Film and Beta Film
Networks: ORF (Austria), TV2 (Hungary)
Beta Film will stage the world premiere of Rise of the Raven at MIPCOM, giving the Cannes crowd the first look at a drama series billed as one of the biggest ever out of Europe. Set in the 15th Century, it tells the epic tale of fearless Hungarian army commander János Hunyadi (Kádár L. Gellért) and the efforts he led to repel the better equipped and more numerous invading Ottoman forces. Torn between family and duty, Hunyadi reshapes the history of the continent.
“This is one of the biggest productions out of Europe, led by acclaimed Hollywood producer and Hungary native Robert Lantos,” says Oliver Bachert, Beta Film’s Chief Distribution Officer, when quizzed on what will make the series stand out in a very crowded market. “The story is unique. It is of great significance for European history but has not been adapted for TV before.”
Hungary-born and Canada-based Lantos (Eastern Promises) will be attending the MIPCOM premiere in the famed Grand Auditorium.
Beta has kept buyers in the loop as the series came together, with casting and production updates throughout the process. It is banking that there is an epic appetite for big-ticket period drama this year.
“There has been a steady flow of big period projects being successfully launched over the last years,” says Bachert. “That indicates a certain demand from audiences all over the world for epic historical or medieval tales: Sh?gun most recently, but also the big HBO period dramas.
“We have already got feedback from clients, who are eager to see more of Rise of the Raven, which tells us that buyers are looking to these types of projects.”
The show is in the last stages of post, and Bachert reports there are “talks with international and pan-regional partners” ongoing. He adds that it could play on free TV or as an SVOD.
“Like Sh?gun, Rise of the Raven has the potential to generate a huge online fandom and on the other hand could be the primetime TV event Game of Thrones was, which the audience looks forward to on a weekly basis,” says Bachert. “Such epic tales draw audiences worldwide, in today’s world this can be online, on TV or even both.”
Saint Pierre
Distributor: Fifth Season
Length: 6 x 60’
Producer: Hawco Productions
Network: CBC (Canada)
Our MIPCOM Hot Ones have highlighted the content market’s current penchant for a procedural and Saint Pierre grabs the award for the cop show in the most remote location.
The CBC drama, which features a cast of Joséphine Jobert, James Purefoy and Allan Hawco, the latter of whom also writes and produces, could be a big seller for Fifth Season.
Fifth Season sales execs are unapologetic about the opportunity for traditional procedurals. “We’re thrilled about this one because it seems to be skating to where the puck is going,” says Travis Webb, SVP, Americas TV Distribution. “This is what buyers are looking for and is what’s in demand: An elevated procedural that feels light and blue sky.”
However, Webb stresses that Saint Pierre is no “prestigural”, and takes a “case of the week” approach, diffused with “fun and light-hearted humor.”
He says buyers have less appetite for limited series and procedurals have been able to swoop in. “Some streamers still want [limited] but you just put so much effort and marketing dollar into launching something in a very crowded market that has limited or no chance of return,” he adds.
Set on a beautiful, tiny island off Newfoundland, Saint Pierre follows Inspector Donny ‘Fitz’ Fitzpatrick (Hawco), exiled after probing a local politician’s corruption. His arrival disrupts Deputy Chief Geneviève ‘Arch’ Archambault (Joubert), a Parisian with her own reasons for being on the island. Despite initial distrust, Fitz and Arch work together to solve crimes in a place where the serene exterior hides significant criminal activity.
Sex Education’s Purefoy is the first season’s villain and brings some serious star power to the proceedings alongside Canadian darling Hawco and Joubert, who will be familiar to fellow procedural fans. She plays Sergeant Florence Cassell in Death in Paradise.
The setting being a character in itself is an oft-delivered cliché, but it resonates with Saint Pierre. The island can only be accessed via a 90-minute ferry from a nearby island or nine-hour flight from Paris. Webb says, “The only people there are either wealthy, retired or have something to hide.”
Sales will launch at MIPCOM and Webb, who used to work for Netflix, says French-speaking territories will be a natural buyer, along with other nations in Western Europe and in Latin American territories.
Safe Harbor
Distributor: Eccho Rights
Length: 8 x 60’
Producer: Submarine
Network: Videoland (Netherlands), Streamz (Belgium)
Safe Harbor is easily one of the buzziest scripted packages hitting the market. Consider the constituent parts: a cast led by Game of Thrones pair Alfie Allen and Jack Gleeson, Peaky Blinders’ Charlie Murphy, Irish acting icon Colm Meaney and rising star Martijn Lakemeier; the production companies behind BBC/Netflix drama Lockerbie and The Kollective; all tied together with a creative vision from Ozark co-creator Mark Williams.
Night Train Media-owned distributor Eccho Rights will be taking the series, which is in post-production, to the Palais des Festivals as its key launch, with a premiere screening planned for day one along with an exclusive drinks event featuring the cast.
Safe Harbor follows hacker Tobias (Allen) and his ambitious best friend Marco (Lakemeier), who are plucked from obscurity and plunged headfirst into the middle of an Irish mob operating from the crime-ridden port city of Rotterdam. Sloane (Murphy) and her brother Farrell (Gleeson), whose father (Meaney) is the crime family patriarch, lead the operation out of the Netherlands, and are demanding Tobias and Marco bypass the harbor’s systems to secure safe passage for drug shipments.
“What Mark Williams has done really well is apply the themes that worked for Ozark — family and what you would do to protect it,” says Adam Barth, Eccho Rights Director of Co-Productions and Acquisitions. “This is about found family and friendship groups, but at the heart it’s about a core group coming together and realizing that if they are to survive, they need to rely on each other — though that trust isn’t there.”
The thriller, made for Dutch streamer Videoland and Belgium’s Streamz, is a true European co-production, with production taking place in Rotterdam, Belgium and Ireland. Director is Arne Toonen (Amsterdam Vice) and the producers hail from the U.S., U.K./Germany and the Netherlands. Creative Europe, Screen Flanders and the Netherlands Film Fund have all contributed to the budget. Barth says the show fulfills buyer demand for a male-skewing action drama, adding: “This is a European answer to what U.S. streamers are pushing, high octane and explosive, but with the American pacing that Mark brings.”
However, beyond that, Barth says the inclusion of Murphy’s character — a conflicted single mother finding her place in a world of tough men — means there is “heart” that will attract more co-viewing.
He adds that those who have screened the pilot already have been “incredibly supportive,” and pays tribute to the selling power of Williams. “To be able to say it’s from the co-creator of Ozark is an automatic stamp of approval.”
Secret of Pearls
Distributor: Kanal D
Length: 17 x 140’
Producer: BKM
Network: Kanal D (Turkey)
In Secret of Pearls, the latest drama out of Turkey’s famed scripted landscape, Azem (Y?lmaz Erdo?an)’s life changes when he is sent to prison for killing his wife, although everything is not as it seems. Upon being released, his only goal is to be reunited with his two children.
A teacher by profession, he is forbidden from plying his trade in schools because of his criminal record, but he starts giving lessons under an assumed name and meets Piraye, the mother of a rich student he is giving lessons to, and there is a mutual attraction. He also meets a young dancer, Dilber, and is torn between the two women. Meanwhile, the effort to find his kids, who have grown up in different families, continues as he seeks a reunion and to make up for lost time.
Although containing familiar themes of love, betrayal and intrigue that are beloved by Turkish drama fans, having renowned actor, poet and filmmaker Erdo?an attached means this is something different from the norm.
“Secret of Pearls offers a unique dynamic and storytelling approach, distinct from traditional Turkish dramas,” says Elif Tato?lu, Distribution Strategy and Sales Director at Kanal D, which is bringing the series to market and will be looking for additional sales at MIPCOM.
“Y?lmaz Erdo?an’s influence is evident in the deep and intimate dialogue between characters, adding a rich emotional layer to the narrative. The production quality is top-notch, with Erdo?an personally overseeing all aspects, paying meticulous attention to every detail. His involvement elevates the series to a new level.”
On Kanal D in Turkey, the show was a hit, cleaning up as the top drama in its Thursday slot and generating huge buzz on social. Kanal D is shopping the finished series and format. The good news for buyers of finished tape and Turkish drama superfans alike is that a second season has already been greenlit.
“Secret of Pearls has enormous potential to attract a broad audience, particularly those looking for fresh and diverse stories,” says Tato?lu. “While its departure from classical Turkish drama might seem like a challenge, we see it as a strength that has already resonated very well in the domestic market.”
Spartacus: House of Ashur
Distributor: Lionsgate
Length: 10 x 60’
Producer: Lionsgate Television
Network: Starz (U.S.)
Spartacus is back, and it’s posing a rather fascinating ‘what if?’ question. Spoiler ahead: the return of one of Starz’s splashiest tentpoles begins with the idea that Ashur, played by fan favorite Nick E. Tarabay, did not die on Mount Vesuvius all those years ago at the end of the Vengeance spin-off. What if instead he had been gifted the gladiator school once owned by Batiatus in return for aiding the Romans in killing Spartacus and putting an end to the slave rebellion? It is a tantalizing concept.
Production on Spartacus: House of Ashur is well underway in New Zealand and original showrunner Steven S. DeKnight is back in the saddle to keep things stable. The main cast includes a return for the iconic Lucy Lawless, Graham McTavish (The Witcher), Tenika Davis (Jupiter’s Legacy), Jamaica Vaughan (Home and Away), Ivana Baquero (Pan’s Labyrinth), Jordi Webber (Choose Love), Claudia Black (The Nevers), India Shaw-Smith (The Pines Still Whisper) and Leigh Gill (Joker).
Agapy Kapouranis, President of International Television and Digital Distribution at Lionsgate Television, says 10 years on from the end of the previous series, now is the perfect time to return to the franchise, as she mulls how Starz can find a new generation of fans while delighting the established ones.
“This was something that was always on the radar,” she says. “The auspices are all the same. This is ‘swords and sandals’ content and there has always been an audience for it.”
While retaining its core, Kapouranis says House of Ashur has evolved with the times and places female characters such as Achillia, a female gladiator driven to surpass her male counterparts, who is played by Davis, front and center.
She rejects the notion that buyers are overly willing to return to existing franchises at present and says “good quality” wins out.
A House of Ashur sizzle will be shown at MIPCOM and Kapouranis says interest has been flooding in from buyers in Western Europe, Asia and Latin America. The previous Spartacus shows, she explains, which aired in the early part of the last decade, have remained some of Lionsgate’s best sellers internationally for the past few years.
“This is just the content that people like to program,” she adds. “It’s men fighting with swords and great bodies, so it’s historical, everyone is good looking, and it’s sexy and appealing.”
Virdee
Distributor: Cineflix Rights
Length: 6 x 60’
Producer: Magical Society
Network: BBC (U.K.)
There is no better way of elevating a crime series than having double Academy Award-winning icon Hans Zimmer compose the music. Adapted from the A A Dhand novels, the BBC’s Virdee has done just that, and it will be looking to make a splash at MIPCOM as it leads Cineflix Rights’ slate.
James Durie, who runs scripted sales for Cineflix, says Virdee stylizes its Bradford location in the northern English county of Yorkshire, turning it into something of a Gotham City.
“We pitched this as an elevated series,” he says. “We didn’t just want to depict a U.K. town, but discussed this concept of Gotham, and who brings that iconic theatrical voice better than Hans Zimmer?”
Starring Staz Nair (Rebel Moon), Virdee follows the eponymous cop, who has been disowned by his Sikh family for marrying a Muslim, Saima (Aysha Kala). Harry struggles with the abandonment and now with his young son, Aaron, growing up and asking questions, thinks it might be time to attempt to reunite with his family. However, his personal life turns to chaos and soon he must hunt down a serial killer targeting the Asian community.
The show conjures images of the riots that targeted the U.K.’s South Asian community in August, but Durie says Virdee is “a piece of entertainment written a long time ago, and we stick very closely to the books.”
Durie says Dhand’s books have always been ripe for TV adaptations, with three key elements jumping out from the scripts.
“At its core you’ve got investigative crime, then it’s a family drama and then there is this look at gangland culture that sits alongside,” he adds. “These three stories intertwine with each other and are allowed to breathe.”
Nair and Kala, meanwhile, bring “empathy” and “vulnerability” to their characters, which has further elevated the screen version, he adds.
Durie praises Dhand for being heavily involved with the marketing of the show, which helps with buyer chats. A number of pre-sales have already been struck and Durie says interest has rushed in from unexpected places as well.
“A BBC crime show has a sales path that you could plot on a graph, so that is where the main interest comes from,” he adds. “But intriguingly, we have found that interest has come from other places, I think because this is quite unique.”
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