MIPCOM: The Week in Drama

TV Drama reviews the drama highlights to come out of this year’s MIPCOM.

On the first two days of MIPCOM, perched outside of the Gare Maritime press hub, eager fans were loitering in the hopes of catching a selfie with or an autograph from the numerous stars who arrived on the Croisette to plug their latest offerings. And the wealth of talent on display was a clear indicator of the extent to which the drama business has become a truly global one. Jenna Coleman from the U.K.’s Victoria, Kiefer Sutherland from the ABC hit Designated Survivor, Walton Goggins from HISTORY’s upcoming SIX, Tony Goldwyn from Scandal, Christopher Lambert from Mata Hari, Turkish stars Bergüzar Korel and Halit Ergenç from Wounded Love, Nína Dögg Filippusdóttir from Iceland’s Fangar…the list goes on.

Judging by the deals announced at the market, scripted buyers are eagerly snapping up titles from a range of territories—and being more proactive about investing in their own content in order to avoid the ever-competitive acquisitions market. Of note, AXN is working with Pinewood Television on six development projects.

Distributors, too, are stepping up their efforts to secure early access to product. For example, ZDF Enterprises has aligned with the Finnish drama development company Fisher King in a first-look deal. And Dynamic Television announced a partnership with ndF, Nordisk Film and TV2 to adapt the book franchise Dan Sommerdahl for TV.

American drama continues to sell well, even if it appears to have been nudged out of prime time on free-to-air broadcasters in many markets while thriving on on-demand and cable outlets. As the week came to a close, Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland expanded its relationship with NBCUniversal International Distribution, securing the RTL stations the exclusive free-TV rights to upcoming movies and first-run rights to forthcoming series, as well as library titles.

CBS Studios International was touting a slate that included the much anticipated new Twin Peaks, with star Kyle MacLachlan in town to meet with buyers. Sony Pictures Television announced a British deal, with Channel 4, for its buzzy NBC series Timeless. A+E Networks arrived at MIPCOM with deals in place in more than 50 territories for the military action drama SIX.

European drama has been picking up steam over the last few years. Global Screen found success last week with its Rivals Forever—The Sneaker Battleevent production, which went to broadcasters in France, Benelux, Denmark, Lithuania and Eastern Europe. STUDIOCANAL’s French-Scandi co-pro Midnight Sun racked up sales to a host of broadcasters, including ZDF in Germany and HOT in Israel. ITV’s hit Victoria is rolling out in some 150 countries, including Germany with Sky and Poland with TVP. Season two of Zodiak Rights’ Versailles secured a slew of presales. Kadokawa Corporation in Japan took the rights to FremantleMedia International’s The Young Pope for all platforms. FremantleMedia also arrived in Cannes with news that Deutschland 86, the follow-up to Deutschland 83, will debut exclusively on Amazon Prime Video in Germany in 2018.

Turkish drama is still a hot commodity, particularly in Latin America. Chile’s Mega has entered into a four-series output deal with Eccho Rights for new projects from Turkish producer Ay Yapim. Global Agency launched Mother, from MF Yapim and MEDYAPIM and based on a format from Nippon TV.

Latin American dramas also drew interest from broadcasters, with Telefe scoring deals in Asia and the Middle East for The Return of Lucas, and Telemundo landing slots for its “super series” on Netflix in Latin America, Spain and the U.S.

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