Must-See International TV at Mipcom 2024
“Artistock Game” CJ ENM
The new shiny-floor music show from Korean powerhouse CJ ENM. Viewers receive virtual game money to invest in a choice of 48 artists ranging from the indie scene to K-pop. Only one winner with the highest stock price remains at the end. Broadcast in Korea by CJ ENM-owned pay TV channel Mnet.
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“A Better Place” Studiocanal
A social-issue thriller from Komplizen Serien, the TV arm of “Spencer” producer Komplizen Film, and Studiocanal Series, its first German show. In Rheinstadt, a gray-skied post-industrial city, its progressive mayor and a criminal law expert close a local correctional facility, reintegrating its inmates into society. The fates of the ex-cons steadily intertwine with that of Rheinstadt itself. This eight-episode series is backed by European heavyweights Canal + and ARD.
“The Big Jump” Atresmedia Intl. Sales
One of Atresmedia’s biggest bets at Mipcom, this biopic series follows Spanish gymnast Gervasio Deferr’s rise to Olympic gold medals in Sydney and Athens and his descent into drugs and alcohol. Oscar Casas (“Instinto,” “Jaguar”) plays Deferr, with “Gangs of Galicia” helmer Roger Gual directing. An Atresplayer Original Series, bowing on Nov. 17.
“By Land, Air and Sea” Banijay Entertainment
One of the biggest nonfiction additions to Banijay Entertainment’s powerhouse lineup, which includes “Bergerac,” “Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light” and “Three Are the Champions.” This revival of the longest-running entertainment program on Dutch television bowed on the Netherlands’ RTL in 2024, scoring the country’s best new launch since 2018. That could be credited to its wacky outdoors fun, challenging contestants to rediscover their inner kids by building vehicles to navigate outdoor obstacle courses.
“The Listeners” Fremantle
The latest series from Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe’s Dublin-based Element Pictures (“Room,” “Poor Things”) is a psychological thriller introducing Claire (Rebecca Hall), who is tormented by a sound seemingly no one else can hear — including her doctors. Janicza Bravo (“Zola”) directs the parable about the desire for community and connection in our increasingly polarized times, bound for BBC One and a key Fremantle Mipcom sales title.
“The Crow Girl” ITV Studios
Ordered by Paramount+ and produced by Buccaneer Media (“Irvine Welsh’s Crime,” “Marcella”), the contemporary psychological crime thriller sees a Bristol police detective ally with an eminent psychotherapist to hunt the killer of young men. As they plunge into a world of fight clubs, murder and historical abuse, the series asks: Are we ever who we think we are? Eve Myles (“Hijack”), Katherine Kelly (“Liar”) and Dougray Scott (“Vigil”) star in one of the darker and more haunting Mipcom bows.
“Constantine’s Crossing” Mediawan Rights
Having made a splash at September’s UniFrance Rendez-Vous with “Tom and Lola,” the latest in a fruitful line of light crime procedurals incorporating feel-good family elements, Mediawan continues to explore new markets such as the Balkans, aiming to impact Mipcom with ambitious, WWII-set “Constantine’s Crossing” from Serbia. Weaving adventure, thriller and fantasy elements, it turns on a Nazi occultist seeking a mythical sword that would give the owner word dominion. Opposing such modern evil are vampires and werewolves.
“Death Valley” BBC Studios
Another lighter procedural, a murder-mystery comedy featuring the investigating odd couple of Timothy Spall as a retired star of a legendary detective show and Gwyneth Keyworth (“Black Mirror”), who plays a Welsh detective sergeant. Each week they solve murders against what are described as stunning Welsh locations. Written by Paul Doolan (“Mammoth”), this six-part caper is made by BBC Studios Comedy Prods. for BBC Two and is potentially catnip for more mature audiences.
“Fateful Planet” ZDF Studios
“Planet” is ZDF Studios’ biggest doc series this season and an upbeat take on global catastrophe, showing how some kind of life has survived five periods of mass extinction in the last 500 million years. Its five episodes illustrate such events as one cosmic impact the Earth sustained that is thought to be 100 million times larger than the one that is believed to have killed the dinosaurs. Produced by ZDF Studios subsid ZDF Digital for Curiosity Stream, with ZDF Studios and ZDFinfo.
“La Favorita 1922” Mediterraneo
From “Grand Hotel” to “Velvet” and “Cable Girls,” Studiocanal-owned Bambú Producciones in Spain has carved out an international reputation creating modern gender-agenda melodramas that sport extraordinary production values. With period piece “La Favorita 1922,” those glossy, crowd-pleasing assets continue in a story about Seville’s Marquise Elena de Valmonte, who flees to Madrid and sets up a restaurant with four young women. Series is Mediaset Espa?a’s first collaboration with Bambu; showrunner is Josep Cister, who scored with hit RTVE soap “The Vow.”
“Gen Z” All3Media Intl.
An army convoy crashes outside a care home, its chemical leak turning its residents into near zombies with a penchant for consuming the brains of local young adults. The old eating the young, a metaphor for Brexit, plus a coming-of-age tale, says director Ben Wheatley (“Kill List,” “Sightseers,” “High Rise”) of his first TV work for a decade, produced by the Forge for Channel 4, with All3Media and ZDF. Its first images look, as All3Media Intl. puts it, “hilariously gory.”
“Josefa’s Return” Bavaria Media
Informed that her mother has died and she’s inherited the family house, Josefa, a trans woman living happily in Munich, returns to the idyllic and arch-conservative Bavarian village she stormed out of 40 years ago as Josef to forge a new identity. “A powerful family tragedy about misconceptions, true identities and the ghosts of time passed,” says Bavaria Media of the movie, which world premiered at the Munich Film Fest.
“Man or Mannequin?” Nippon TV
This new gameshow has celebrity contestants racing against time to find mannequins cleverly hidden throughout the city, which include fake mannequins – humans trying to fool contestants. One of two new unscripted formats at Mipcom from Nippon TV, owner of Hulu in Japan and the shingle behind the original “Dragons’ Den” format and hit drama series “Mother.”
“The New Years” Movistar Plus+ International
Over 10 episodes, collected in two parts, the series frames the decade-long relationship between Oscar and Ana over 10 New Year’s Eves, from first encounter to last rupture. Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “The Beasts” follow-up, “The New Years” screened at the Venice Film Festival TV lineup alongside series from Alfonso Cuarón, Joe Wright and Thomas Vinterberg; it’s been acclaimed by Spanish critics.
“The Others, Season 2” Globo
A parable of spiraling intolerance, Season 1 of the series took place in a kind-of-luxury highrise condominium in Rio’s Barra de Tijuca. Now the action moves to a real high-end condo with mansion-like three-story chalets. The tensions are still there, however, sparked by Season 1’s Sergio, now out of jail and a preening Rio city councilor. A recent Globoplay Original highlight, “The Others” was created by Lucas Paraizo, who, after writing 34 episodes of “Under Pressure,” must rate as one of the most talented scripted creators in South America.
“Peter the Great: Greater Than Ever” Caracol TV, Disney+
“Peter” launched July 16 on Colombia’s broadcast network Caracol TV while simulcast on Disney+ and became the biggest series in Colombia in the last two years, carving out a humungous 44.6% audience share on Caracol. Series re-teams the stars and creatives of the hit telenovela original in the 23-episode sequel that sees Pedro (Miguel Varoni) return from abroad, still a feckless charmer and an ace pirulino dancer. Colombia’s first show on Univision primetime.
“Quiet” The Mediapro Studio, 3Cat
Series is set in April 2020 at the height of Spain’s COVID-19 crisis as police investigate a serial killer targeting Barcelona’s homeless population. Presented at this month’s Sitges Festival, and based on a true story, the series is created and written by Luis Arcarazo (“Salvador”) and stars David Verdaguer (“10,000 KM”) and ángela Cervantes (“La Maternal”).
“Reykjavic 112” REinvent Intl. Sales
Nordic sales house REinvent’s biggest Mipcom addition, “Reykjavík 112” is a “bright and modern take on the crime thriller genre,” says REinvent, produced by Iceland’s New Media Arc and Germany’s NDF (“The Swarm”). To solve a brutal murder, Detective Hulder calls in a child psychologist, with whom he realizes he had an awkward date. Series is based on Yrsa Sigureardóttir’s bestsellers and co-helmed by Reynir Lyngdal (“Frost”) and prolific actress-creator-producer Tinna Hrafnsdóttir (“The Descendants”).
“Recipes for Love and Murder” (Season 2) Global Screen
Starring Maria Doyle Kennedy (“Outlander,” “The Tudors”), this series is a quirky and colorful murder mystery described by co-director Christiaan Olwagen as the midpoint between “Chocolat” and “The Killing.” Season 1 of Acorn TV’s “Recipes,” set in the South African outback, saw advice columnist and foodie Tannie Maria and rookie journalist Jessie September turn amateur sleuths. Meriting a berth at 2022’s Berlinale Series Market Selects, it’s now back with Season 2 in which a massive small town fire sparks their multiple murder investigations, unearthing the town’s darkest secrets.
“Rise of the Raven” Beta Film
Produced by Robert Lantos, this sword and mace epic is woven with political intrigue, romance and modern gender politics, climaxing in the 1456 Battle of Belgrade when Hungary’s Janos Hunyadi defeated a vast Ottoman force twice its size. Replete with battles, castles, citadels and spectacular cities, such as Turkey’s minaret-spangled Edirne, the series weighs in as one of Mipcom’s biggest world premieres, made with an ambition ever rarer in an age of industry containment.
“Sherlock & Daughter” Federation Studios
Starring David Thewlis as an ageing Sherlock Holmes whose intellectual powers begin to fail him as he confronts a mysterious conspiracy with the aid of a young American, who is quite possibly his daughter. Picked up by Federation as it plows into English-language scripted sales, bound for CW in the U.S. and Discovery+ in the U.K., the series is the latest from screenwriter Brendan Foley (“Cold Courage”), with James Duff (“The Closer”) as showrunner. Produced by the U.K.’s Albion TV and StoryFirst.
“Turco” Madd Entertainment
A high-end, English-language historical action-adventure led by Turkish megastar Can Yaman (“Daydreamer”), who plays a legendary 17th century historical figure that links Turkey with the Western world. Subject of a Mipcom presentation on Oct. 21 and scheduled for global release in February, “Turco” is part of a drive by producer Ay Yapim and sales company Madd Entertainment into English-language markets.
“Valhalla Project” Keshet Intl.
A father-daughter relationship tale addressing environmental apocalypse and wrapped in a sci-fi mystery thriller, “Project” stars Sara Soulié (“Conflict”). She plays a climate scientist on an expedition to find out what happened to her father, who disappeared in the Arctic wastes in 1991 attempting to open up a parallel world. The latest from enterprising Finnish streamer Elisa Viihde, and directed by Helsinki producer Snapper Films founder Juha Wuolijoki (“King of Los Angeles”).
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