Keshet International Inks Deals for Foreign-Language Dramas

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Keshet International (KI) has sold a host of foreign-language scripted programs, including Artza Productions’ Stockholm, to various international broadcasters.

The 4×40-minute Israeli series was sold to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) for its streaming service CBC Gem, marking the show’s first international deal. Based on the best-selling book by Noa Yedlin, Stockholm is a black comedy that stars a group of 70-somethings who cover up their friend’s death so he can win a Nobel Prize. It is currently being adapted for U.S. audiences by Keshet Studios.

Globosat, meanwhile, has acquired full broadcast rights to two Hebrew-language dramas, Sleeping Bears and Commandments (seasons one and two), which is the first international sale for both offerings. July August Films’ ten-episode Sleeping Bears is a psychological thriller written by Keren Margalit, and Abot Hameiri Barkai’s Commandments is a drama that highlights the personal and religious struggles of young soldiers in the Israeli army.

The Turkish drama 7 Faces also racked up its first international sale in a deal with KI and Australian broadcaster SBS, which nabbed the show’s on-demand rights. The Bir Films production follows seven intertwined stories of modern life in Istanbul. The deal marks the first Turkish acquisition for SBS On Demand.

Other recent deals brokered by KI for foreign-language finished tapes include an agreement inked with Belgium’s BETV for the pay-TV rights to the first two seasons of espionage thriller False Flag. Hulu bought the exclusive streaming rights for both seasons in North America, and Canal+ did the same for France.

In addition to the global deal with Netflix, KI sold the nonexclusive SVOD rights to Spiro Film’s When Heroes Fly to PickBox in Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Keren Shahar, KI’s COO and president of distribution, said, “It’s an exciting time to be a distributor of quality foreign-language drama. The market is becoming more language agnostic and really opening up to content from all countries and continents. It is so validating to see such a broad range of titles from our slate connecting with international buyers over the last few months. For this reason, we are looking forward to launching our three new Russian dramas from NTV—The Crow, Schubert and Beyond Deathem—at MIPTV this week.”