In-Demand: Blue-Sky Dramas

From action-packed procedurals to lighthearted mysteries and romantic dramas, viewers are seeking out a dose of escapism, and these shows aim to deliver: LEONINE’s Professionals—Danger Pays, ZDF Enterprises’ Queens of Mystery and Calinos Entertainment’s Forbidden Fruit.

Professionals—Danger Pays

Commissioned By: Nordic Entertainment Group (NENT)
Produced By: Most Media, Subotica, Spier Films, Roadside Attractions in association with Jeff Most Productions, LEONINE, NENT Group and The Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa
Cast: Tom Welling, Elena Anaya, Brendan Fraser, Ken Duken, Lisa Loven Kongsli, August Wittgenstein, Saïd Taghmaoui
Writers: Michael Colleary, Jeff Most, Paul Walker, Christian O’Reilly, Rohan Dickson
Rights Available: Not available in Nordic region or Germany; otherwise all rights available. LEONINE has appointed Rainmaker Content as the distributor of the show.
Description: Set against a backdrop of international espionage and corporate sabotage in the 21st century’s privately funded space race, Professionals stars Tom Welling as a hardened former counterintelligence officer, Captain Vincent Corbo. After their advanced medical satellite explodes on deployment, billionaire futurist Peter Swann (Brendan Fraser) and his fiancée, medical visionary Dr. Graciela “Grace” Davila (Elena Anaya), turn to Corbo, who assembles a team of experienced professionals to investigate the incident. They learn that a combination of Swann’s business rivals, corrupt government officials and a shadowy crime syndicate could be behind the attack and represent a continued threat. Ken Duken plays a Europol agent seeking to thwart the security team’s efforts. The show consists of 10×60-minute episodes.
Pitch Perfect: “This show is tailor-made for the worldwide marketplace,” says Greg Phillips, co-CEO of Rainmaker Content. “Created with really great production values and shot in some amazing locations, it’s fantastic to have such a broad, blue-sky action series that has been able to complete production and is ready to go, thrilling to watch and just the escape that audiences are looking for right now.”
Slot Winner: Sold to NENT for the Nordic region and to RTLZWEI and TNT Film for Germany.
Sales Contacts: Greg Phillips, Vicky Ryan, Graham Begg.

Queens of Mystery

Commissioned By: ZDF Enterprises
Produced By: Sly Fox Productions for Acorn TV
Cast: Olivia Vinall, Julie Graham, Siobhan Redmond, Sarah Woodward, among others.
Writers: Julian Unthank, Matthew Thomas
Rights Available: Worldwide rights outside of English-speaking territories from ZDF Enterprises.
Description: Queens of Mystery, a murder mystery series created for television by Doc Martin writer Julian Unthank, follows a perennially single female Detective Sergeant (Matilda Stone) and her three aunts (Cat, Beth and Jane), who are well-known crime writers that help her solve whodunit-style murders, as well as set her up on blind dates. In addition to her weekly murder investigations, Mattie is preoccupied by the fact that her mother Eleanor disappeared without a trace when Mattie was three. The continuing mystery of Eleanor’s disappearance will haunt the central characters throughout forthcoming seasons. This crime/suspense series consists of 3×90-minute episodes.
Pitch Perfect: The U.S. launch of Queens of Mystery was accompanied by recommendations from the New York Times and Los Angeles Times (“a surefire crowd-pleaser,” “a cheery mystery series”), as well as Woman’s World magazine and News Talk Florida (“a masterpiece,” “The storyline is very fun, the acting is brilliant, and it is the most original mystery series that I have seen in years.”).
Slot Winner: The series received nominations at the Primetime Emmy Awards 2019 (Outstanding Narrator: Juliet Stevenson for the episode “Murder in the Dark: First Chapter”), British Animation Awards 2020 (Best Film/TV Graphics) and SXSW Film Festival 2020 (Excellence in Title Design).
Sales Contacts: Mirela Nastase, Director, ZDFE.drama; Sebastian Krekeler, Director, ZDFE.drama; Yuliya Fischer, Director, ZDFE.drama; Susanne Frank, Director, ZDFE.drama.

Forbidden Fruit

Commissioned By: FOX TV Turkey
Produced By: MEDYAPIM
Cast: Talat Bulut, Şevval Sam, Onur Tuna, Eda Ece, Sevda Erginci
Writers: Melis Civelek, Zeynep Gür
Rights Available: All rights available from Calinos Entertainment.
Description: Yıldız and Zeynep are two sisters whose lives will take an unexpected turn when Istanbul socialite Ender asks Yildiz to seduce her husband. There are 223 hours of this drama currently available.
Pitch Perfect: Forbidden Fruit is one of the very few Turkish dramas to have a fourth season, proving its huge success. The new season is in itself more powerful, intriguing and entertaining than ever.
Slot Winner: Forbidden Fruit is now being aired on TV Vijesti in Montenegro, after sales in Israel, Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, Paraguay, Greece, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Kazakhstan, Romania, Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania, South Africa, Nambia, Angola and Mozambique, as well as Vietnam.
Sales Contacts: Melis Idil, Duda Rodrigues, Asli Serim Guliyev.