FlashForward Lands String of International Pickups

LONDON: The highly anticipated drama FlashForward, which premieres on ABC on September 24, has been sold by Disney-ABC-ESPN Television to 11 new territories across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

It was previously announced that Five in the U.K. is to air the much-talked-about new show. Also signing on for FlashForward are free-TV broadcasters Cuatro (Spain), Nelonen (Finland), RTE (Ireland), RUV (Iceland), TV2 (Norway) plus pay-TV broadcasters AXN (Spain and Portugal), Digiturk (Turkey), Fox International Channels (Greece and Cyprus) and SBS (Netherlands).

Stephen Moore, the executive VP and managing director for Disney-ABC-ESPN Television, commented: “FlashForward is a high-concept, original idea which explores the subject: is our destiny predetermined or do we have the power to change our future? With this relatable theme at its core and the brilliant production, this compelling show has generated strong international buzz. We’re looking forward to working with our partners across EMEA to keep the momentum building in the run-up to FlashForward’s highly anticipated premiere in their territories."

David Goyer, writer and executive producer on FlashForward, added: “Since its inception, our goal has been to make FlashForward a show with both global themes and appeal. The concept of the show is that every human being on the planet is affected by a blackout, and the story engine of the series relies on our characters crisscrossing the world in order to make sense of what happened. Already within the first few episodes, our characters journey to Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, the U.K. and even Somalia. Beyond that, we’ve made a concerted effort to reach out to our international partners and cast local talent within each of the core international territories."