TV Drama In-Demand: Romance & Family

As part of our new TV Drama In-Demand reports, we’re highlighting hot properties in romance & family: ZDF Enterprises’ Romance Collections, Kanal D International’s Ruthless City and GMA Network’s The Way to Your Heart.

Romance Collections

Distributed By: ZDF Enterprises
Produced By: Network Movie, Bavaria Fiction, TeamWorx, Ziegler Film, FFP New Media, Polyphon, Wiedemann & Berg and many others for ZDF.
Description: This collection of love and romance series and TV movies offers heartwarming stories, wonderful landscapes and great entertainment, not only for romantics. Offer your audiences some time off from their daily routine and get in the mood for what life is all about. The collection includes 90-minute one-offs, 90-minute collections and series with a commercial hour format.
Slot Winner: The titles in this collection have won countless slots on ZDF in Germany.
Pitch Perfect: “Our ‘love and romance’ catalog consists of thousands of hours of international rating hits,” says Robert Franke, VP of ZDFE.drama at ZDF Enterprises. “Based on bestselling novels, our films tell stories full of love, romance and passion—interspersed with dramatic strokes of fate, intrigue and machinations. But one thing is certain: despite all the twists and turns—you can rely on a happy ending!”
Sales Contacts: Mirela Nastase, Director, ZDFE.drama; Sebastian Krekeler, Director, ZDFE.drama; Yuliya Fischer, Director, ZDFE.drama; Susanne Frank, Director, ZDFE.drama.

Ruthless City

Commissioned By: Kanal D International
Produced By: Avşar Film
Cast: Sera Kutlubey, Ozan Dolunay, Bahar Şahin, Berker Güven, Simay Barlas, Nebi Taşkan, Deniz Uğur, Mine Tugay, Fikret Kuşkan
Writer: Sırma Yanık
Rights Available: Worldwide, free-to-air, cable and streaming, from Kanal D International.
Description: The Karaçay and Yılmaz families cross paths because of an indecent deal made between Seher’s mother-in-law and Agah Karaçay. After this, members of both families will be tested with the sin that they aren’t aware of yet. Two seasons, delivering 136 commercial hours, available.
Slot Winner: The young cast of Ruthless City had great interactions on social media, according to social media analytics company Somera. Sera Kutlubey, Bahar Şahin, Ozan Dolunay and Berker Güven all are periodically ranked as the most popular actresses and actors. The TV couples also fulfill the “Most Popular TV Couples in Social Media” rankings most of the time as #CenCem (Cemre & Cenk), #CemNed (Cemre & Nedim) and #NedCer (Ceren & Nedim).
Pitch Perfect: “The Karaçay and Yılmaz family members being tested with the sin after an indecent deal has become an addiction for the Turkish audience,” says Kerim Emrah Turna, executive director of Kanal D International. “While the first season reflects the duality of the good and the evil within each person, the second season mostly reflects the evil side of the characters and is generally ruled by the successful characterizations of the young talents.”
Sales Contacts: Kerim Emrah Tuna, Executive Director; Mikaela Perez, Sales Executive, LatAm & Spain; Selim Turkmen, Sales Executive, MENA & West Europe; Ekin Koyuncu, Sales Executive, CEE; Gamze Utma, Sales Executive, Asia; Salmi Gambarova, Sales Executive, CIS. sales@kanald.international

The Way to Your Heart

Commissioned By: GMA Network
Cast: Jo Berry, Mikee Quintos, Kate Valdez, Nora Aunar, Cherie Gil, Adrian Alandy, Enrico Cuenca, Wendell Ramos
Rights Available: GMA Network’s worldwide division distributes the series globally.
Description: Natalie is a proud and stubborn young lady who cannot accept that she is the daughter of Onay. Natalie is ashamed to call Onay her mother because of her condition—Onay has achondroplastic dwarfism. Natalie is Onay’s first born with her husband, Elvin, a man of average height. Their life is going well until an unfortunate incident happens. Onay is raped. In his attempt to seek justice for Onay, Elvin meets an accident and dies. Later on, Onay finds out she is pregnant with her second child, Maila. Because the baby is the result of her horrifying experience, she finds it difficult to accept Maila even if she grows up to be a loving and caring daughter. This drama consists of 83 45-minute episodes.
Slot Winner: The series scored a 23.8 percent rating and 47.3 percent share during its broadcast in the Philippines. It was a top-rated show in Ecuador and set new ratings records in the Dominican Republic.
Pitch Perfect: Viewers responded to Onay’s story and positive representation and the themes of sibling rivalry, a mother’s love and family drama.
Sales Contact: gwi@gmanetwork.com