Breakthrough Signs Up New Rep for TV-Movie Franchise

TORONTO: The U.S. distribution rights for Shadow Island Mysteries, a series of six made-for-TV movie from Breakthrough Films & Television, have been picked up by Fireworks International.

The film franchise stars Jennifer Finnigan (The Bold and the Beautiful, Crossing Jordan), who plays Claire La Foret, a young woman who works as a property manager at an island resort in the Canadian wilderness. Breakthrough is handling the distribution in Canada, while Daro Films represents the rights for Central and Eastern Europe, CIS, Baltics, English-speaking Africa, Holland and Flemish Belgium. Free Dolphin has representation for the TV-movie series for France and other French-speaking territories (excluding Canada), Spain and Andorra, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Melilla and Ceuta, Italy and Italian-speaking Europe.

Breakthrough has already closed licensing deals in Canada with Corus Entertainment, which will air the TV movies on its Movie Central and The W Network channels, as well as with Sun-TV for a second-window deal.

"Shadow Island Mysteries is the first project we have developed under the Breakthrough Films & Television TV Movie label," commented Marina Cordoni, Breakthough Films & Television’s head of sales and business development, theatrical and TV movies. "In producing the movie series, we spoke to programmers throughout the world, listening carefully to what it is their audiences are looking for in made-for-television movie entertainment. Among the most sought-after TV movies are female-targeted mysteries, and Shadow Island Mysteries perfectly reflects the appetite of today’s global marketplace."

"We are delighted to have assembled an outstanding team of distribution companies to bring Shadow Island Mysteries to broadcasters worldwide," said Breakthrough Films & Television’s principal and executive producer, Peter Williamson. "Fireworks International, Daro Films and Free Dolphin have earned the respect of the global broadcast community and we look forward to working closely with these companies in launching Shadow Island Mysteries."