Homeland, the blockbuster spy drama that debuted on US network Showtime in 2012, went on to win innumerable accolades, including Primetime Emmy and Golden Globe awards. It is now about to embark on a seventh season and an eighth one — an unheard-of feat in today’s over-competitive landscape for scripted content.
But how many people know the show’s origins are in Israel, where it was first produced in the Hebrew language, and is known as Prisoners of War?
In MIP’s new exclusive White Paper, From Local Hits to Global: TV’s New Trade Routes, international business journal MediaTainment Finance explores the new phenomenon of domestic TV shows becoming international sensations.
Gone are the days when most networks around the world triggered high-audience ratings by broadcasting an international (and invariably English-language) hit for their domestic audience.
In the past three to four years, the industry has seen a rise in the reverse: local productions (made in the local language, using local talent, featuring references to local culture and humour and made for the local audience) are growing into multi-territory triumphs.
Thanks to the efforts of Israel-based Keshet International (KI), Prisoners of War and its US version Homeland have been sold to countless countries worldwide, while other markets have come on board to make their own versions of the Hebrew-language original.
KI’s success in exporting its home-grown screen entertainment sums up a dramatic (if you will) shift in the way content is conceived, produced and sold today. The message is simple: a good story, no matter its source or language, travels far.
Via exclusive interviews, high-profile content-licensing executives from KI, STAR India, Turkey’s Global Agency, and UK-based Content Media, ITV Studios, DRG and Banijay Rights explain how their respective companies and the international TV generally are benefiting from this brand-new money-making trend.
Don’t miss out! Learn from their experiences by downloading our exclusive White Paper here.
Top photo © swissmediavision/GettyImages
