DRG Lands Presales for The Level

LONDON: DRG has secured presales for the event thriller The Level, which is soon to launch in the U.K. on ITV1.

DRG presold the six-part series to UTV Ireland, TVNZ in New Zealand and DBS Satellite Services in Israel. A video license has been signed with RLJE for the U.K., Ireland and North America. The drama, produced by Hillbilly Films for ITV1, stars Philip Glenister (Life on Mars, Outcast), Karla Crome (Misfits), Laura Haddock (The Inbetweeners Movie, Da Vinci’s Demons) and Rob James-Collier (Downton Abbey).

At MIPCOM, DRG will also be launching sales for Monster, produced in Norway by NRK for NRK1.

Noel Hedges, the executive VP of content and acquisitions at DRG, commented: “Despite industry chatter about a saturated market, great drama with compelling story lines and a strong cast will always find a home. We are pleased to have had strong presales success with The Level and I am sure that this series will be much in demand after its initial broadcast. Monster, although not airing until 2017, is also starting to attract early buzz. It continues the strong tradition of crime thrillers from this region—although relocating the action to a dark and relatively unexplored part of Norway—and makes for intelligent, mysterious and visually stunning viewing.

“This really is a great time to be a rights-holder working in international scripted programming as broadcasters today are more willing than ever before to transmit local-language drama, as well as remake for their own audiences. Our continued success with non-English language drama, as well as drama formats, demonstrates that quality and universal themes are the key to international success.”