FremantleMedia International Taking Swedish Comedy to Cannes

LONDON: FremantleMedia International has picked up the global distribution rights for Boy Machine, a new Swedish musical comedy that the company will be promoting at this year's MIPCOM.

Boy Machine comes from FLX, the producers of the hit film The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared. The 8×30-minute show, which stars Swedish comedians Henrik Dorsin, Peter Magnusson, Jonas Karlsson and David Wiberg, follows a former '90s boy band as they reunite after nearly 20 years. It is due to debut on TV4 in Sweden on October 16 at 9:30 p.m. in the intermission of FremantleMedia's Swedish Idol.

Jens Richter, the CEO of FremantleMedia International (FMI), said: "Boy Machine is top quality comedy at its finest. From the hugely creative FLX, Boy Machine has been created by a fantastic team of writers and features great cast and contemporary story lines that will translate with audiences worldwide. With a great lead-in from Swedish Idol, Boy Machine has all of the makings of a future hit."

Pontus Edgren, the managing director of FLX, added: "We're thrilled to partner with Jens and the team at FMI. With Boy Machine we have aspired to combine comedy and music in a story where we follow four middle-aged men in their respective mid-life crisis. We believe the series has universal appeal, given the unique combination of serialized comedy and newly recorded music from some of Sweden's internationally recognized top producers."