Patrick Nebout’s Dramanation Sets First Project

Dramanation, set up by veteran Swedish-French drama executive Patrick Nebout, has teamed up with Germany’s Odeon Fiction, part of LEONINE Studios, for its first project: The Studio.

Odeon Fiction and its executive producer and head of international co-productions, Britta Meyermann, will act as the lead producer along with Nebout on The Studio. The 8×30-minute comedic crime mystery series is set in the world of filmmaking.

The project is to be fully shot at the iconic Studios de la Victorine in Nice.

Positioned as a “creative cousin” of Call My Agent, Only Murders in the Building and The Office, The Studio is based on an original concept by Nebout and his long-time creative partner Henrik Jansson-Schweizer, writer of Whiskey on the Rocks. A writers’ room has been assembled, led by executive and creative producers Nebout and Jansson-Schweizer. Blackdog Television’s Dan Gaster, Will Ing and Paul Powell are on board to write the series outline and pilot.

Nebout said: “Take a failed small-town theme-park manager, a ferocious Texan lawyer and a process-obsessed CFO, add egotistic actors, demanding agents and needy studio assistants, throw in a shady plan to save a famous but failing film studio on the gorgeously photogenic French Riviera and add a mystery in the shape of a missing studio boss, and you’ve got the starting point for a satirical but heartwarming look at the dirty business of show business, where nothing is sacred and everything’s possible, including getting away with murder. That’s the premise we pitched to Mischa and Britta, with whom we’ve been looking for a project to co-develop. As the stars are now aligned, I couldn’t be more thrilled to be in business with such a powerhouse as Odeon Fiction.”

Meyermann said: “We have known Patrick and Henrik for many years now and have always endeavored to find a common project, as we are huge admirers of their work. The Studio is that project. I immediately fell in love with the idea when they pitched it to me. It’s going to be a distinctive show that I absolutely would want to watch and that I’m missing in the current market. It’s not a dark thriller but, as a satirical murder mystery set on the French Riviera, with its cast of larger-than-life characters, it’s fun and entertaining without being superficial. With writers Dan Gaster, Will Ing and Paul Powell on board, we’re in for a very special series, sprinkled with British humor, surprising twists and turns, smart, witty dialogue and eye-candy locations. I’m very much looking forward to this collaboration, hopefully the first of more to follow.”