Mipcom returned in full strength this week after a three-year hiatus, with sellers reporting packed diaries and brisk business at the TV market.
Some 3100 buyers attended this year, with the biggest numbers coming from the US, followed by the UK, France, Germany and Spain. They included global and regional streamers, AVOD platforms and broadcast channels from around the world.
Here is a round-up of some of the key scripted deals and company acquisitions announced at Mipcom this week:
All3Media International pre-sold Drama Republic’s new murder mystery period drama, The Confessions Of Frannie Langton ahead of its premiere on ITVX in the UK this November. The four-part drama is set to air on Telekom/Magenta TV in Germany and Dutch public broadcaster NPO in the Netherlands. The sales join the previously announced co-production deal with BritBox, which will cover territories in North America, Australia and South Africa. The series is adapted from Sara Collins’ novel, and follows 20-year-old former slave girl Frannie Langton who finds herself the prime suspect of a double murder.
UK broadcaster ITV acquired from Banijay Rights four-part drama Bali 2002, centring on the terrorist attacks on the Indonesian island 20 years ago. The drama will air on new streaming service ITVX next year. Co-produced by Banijay labels Endemol Shine Australia and Screentime for Stan and 9Network in Australia, the deal marks the first international sale for the drama series. Bali 2002 premiered last month on Stan, with a cast led by Rachel Griffiths (Total Control), Richard Roxburgh (Rake) and Claudia Jesse (Bridgerton).
Banijay Rights also pre-sold the French-produced English-language prestige costume drama Versailles to PBS Distribution on the eve of Mipcom. The eight-part series from creator and writer Deborah Davis, best known for The Favourite, will premiere in North America in spring 2023. Produced by Banijay Studios France, Capa Drama and Les Gens, the Canal+ Creation Originale has already been pre-sold to UK public broadcaster BBC2 and BBC First in Australia. It will air on Canal+ in France in October.
French sales and production outfit Oble took on international distribution of Swiss drama producer Point Prod’s family drama series La Vie Devant (aka Life Goes On), which premiered at the TV Drama Festival at La Rochelle last month. The six-part series is a co-production between Point Prod and Les Films du Cygne for Swiss broadcaster RTS. La Vie Devant stars Audrey Dana as a heavily pregnant mum and surgeon who suffers an unexpected stroke – and must learn how to stop being a superwoman and start being human.
Federation Studios acquired distribution rights to 66th North Precinct, a Finnish crime series produced by Yellow Film & TV (Arctic Circle, Borg vs McEnroe, Adults). Federation will handle international sales of the series in partnership with Nordisk Film Distribution. Created by producer and showrunner Olli Haikka, Olli Tola and author Timo Varpio and directed by Teppo Airaksinen, 66th North Precinct is a character-led procedural crime series set in Lapland, the world’s largest police precinct. The series will premiere on the Finnish channel YLE in 2023.
Wild Bunch TV launched Belgian sci-fi thriller Arcadia at Mipcom. Produced by jonnydepony, the series is a co-production with Belgium’s VRT, Dutch broadcaster KRO-NCRV (NPO) and Germany’s WDR/SWR. The dystopian thriller is set after the world survives the outbreak of a global catastrophe, and a new society – Arcadia – emerges. Season two is already in the works and is currently at script stage. It is created by Philippe De Schepper (Blackout, Missing Persons Unit) and Bas Adriaensen.
Middle East and North Africa (MENA) broadcaster and streamer MBC Group struck a five-year partnership with leading Turkish production companies, Medyapim and Ay Yapim. The deal will see Turkish content shared exclusively with MBC via first look and volume deal agreements, along with original Arabic-language content being produced for the MENA market. Sam Barnett, CEO of MBC Group, said: “It’s no secret that Turkish content is extremely popular with MENA audiences.”
BBC Studios Australia and New Zealand and Australian public service broadcaster ABC signed a multi-year, multi-genre agreement covering drama, comedy, factual and kids titles including supernatural sitcom Ghosts, now in its fourth season, and dramas such as Silent Witness, Death in Paradise, Unforgotten and Call The Midwife.
Studiocanal renewed a global deal with Nickelodeon which will board season three of CG-animated series The Adventures Of Paddington, a Heyday Films and Studiocanal production in association with Copyrights. Nickelodeon broadcast the two-time Daytime Emmy Award winning animated series in the US and internationally. Studiocanal have also announced additional sales of season one to Netflix UK, HBO MAX across Europe and Viaplay Group in the Nordic region. Season one has also been acquired by a raft of new public broadcasters across Europe, including Česká Televize Czech Republic, MTVA Hungary, LTV Latvia, LRT Lithuania, TVP ABC Poland, RTVS Slovakia and DR Denmark. HKTVE Hong Kong, ABC Australia, TVNZ (New Zealand), MBC’s Shahid (MENA) and both CBC and Radio-Canada have also acquired the first season.
Los Angeles-based production and distribution company Electric Entertainment closed a deal with AMC Networks International - Latin America (AMCNI-LA) for three of Electric’s TV series. The deal includes two seasons of Leverage: Redemption, the first season of SYFY series The Ark, and all four seasons of The Librarians. The rights negotiated for the deal cover all Latin America, including Brazil.
During Mipcom, BBC Studios announced it had taken full ownership of Sid Gentle Films, the production company behind BBC America hit Killing Eve. BBC Studios has been a 51% investor in Sid Gentle Films since 2018. Founded in 2013 by Sally Woodward Gentle, with Lee Morris and Henrietta Colvin, Sid Gentle productions also include The Durrells for ITV, and it is currently in post-production with Rain Dogs, starring Daisy May Cooper, for the BBC and HBO, and comedy Extraordinary, for Disney+.
BBC Studios also revealed at Mipcom that Mark Linsey, its most senior scripted executive, will relocate from London to work out of Los Angeles. BBC Studios said the move “will place him geographically closer to key global content decision makers as BBC Studios seeks to build further co-production, investment and commissioning opportunities for its scripted offer.” As managing director, scripted for BBC Studios, Lindsey leads a drama and comedy group spanning labels and production units making shows such as Good Omens for Amazon Studios, Trying for AppleTV+ and Inside No. 9, Doctor Who and Silent Witness for the BBC.
Mipcom also saw Banijay UK announce its acquisition of Mam Tor Productions, the high-end drama producer founded by producer Tally Garner. Mam Tor’s most recent series, Chloe, was a hit for BBC One earlier in the year and subject to a pre-sale bidding war before being acquired by Amazon Prime Video. Mam Tor Productions is the first company to be acquired by Banijay in the UK since it acquired Endemol Shine in 2020 and its first scripted acquisition in the UK. Banijay Rights will have a first look deal on all future projects as part of the deal.
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