English-language period dramas were in strong demand at this year’s MIPCOM, with ITV Studios Global Entertainment (ITVS GE) confirming a range of global deals for Vanity Fair, Harlots and its new market launch War Of The Worlds. Produced by Mammoth Screen, that show sold into 80 territories including France, Spain, Russia, Canada and pan-Africa. Vanity Fair, launched at MIPTV, upped its total to 70 territories. Endeavor Content also had a great market, securing multiple sales for The Little Drummer Girl, a John le Carre adaptation produced by The Ink Factory. The show sold to Canal+ (France), StarzPlay (Germany, Italy, UK), Movistar+ (Spain) and TV4 (Nordic) among others.
While period series continue to prove popular, distributor DRG also demonstrated that there is demand for contemporary English-language content with pre-sales for BBC1’s limited series The Cry. Boosted by the presence in Cannes of lead actor Jenna Coleman (Victoria), the show (a co-production with ABC Australia) is going to a raft of territories including M6 France, TV2 Norway and Canal Plus in Poland. APC also concluded a number of key sales for seasons one and two of thriller Keeping Faith. It extended its deal with Acorn Media Enterprises (US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) and also licensed the show to Amazon Prime Video in France among others.
At the lighter end of the spectrum, distributor All3Media International unveiled a range of pre-sale deals for the second season of murder-mystery series Agatha Raisin, including acquisitions by ABC in Australia, Hungary’s MTVA and Sky for UK and Eire. The show, which stars Ashley Jensen as an amateur sleuth, has also been pre-sold to ZDF for German-speaking Europe and TV4 for the Nordic region.
While the UK and US continue to be the key hubs for English language content, Canadian and Australian scripted series also have their fans. The first two seasons of CBC/Shaftesbury detective drama Frankie Drake Mysteries was snapped up by US arts broadcaster Ovation. Distributed by Kew Media Distribution, the new second season was also licensed to Viasat for Central & Eastern Europe, Globosat in Brazil, Sky in New Zealand, and Dazzler in UK (Home Video and DTO).
The continued success of English-language drama only tells part of the story, however. Increasingly, dramas from other parts of the world are capturing the attention of buyers. Especially high-profile at MIPCOM was Fremantle’s Italian-language drama, My Brilliant Friend, which has sold to 56 territories worldwide, with buyers including Canal+ (France and French-speaking Africa), Sky Atlantic (UK), HBO Europe (Scandinavia, Spain and CEE), Digiturk (Turkey) and Foxtel (Australia).
Get the full deals report, and plenty more besides, in the Wrap-Up, the official post-show review, compiled by the MIPCOM News team. Just leave us your details on the right to access the full document!
