MIPTV was another buzzing market for Nordic scripted content – both for ready-made and format-with a flurry of deals signed and in discussion.

The second MIPTV Drama Screenings attended by over 450 buyers on the eve of MIPTV (Sunday April 2) set the tone for global interest in premium drama. Two new shows produced or pre-bought by Nordic broadcasters picked up awards: Beta Film’s lavish €40m period drama Babylon Berlin (pre-bought by DR, SVT, NRK, YLE, RUV) won the Grand Jury Prize in the Full episode category while Adam Price’s Ride Upon the Storm won the TV Critics Award and MIPTV Drama Coup de Coeur in the works in progress section.
The Nordics had more to celebrate with DR’s first ever International Emmy Kids Award handed out on Tuesday to Ultras sorte kageshow (Baking in the Dark) in the Entertainment for Kids category.

On Tuesday’s Co-production Summit, MIPTV Drama Grand Jury members comprising Frank Spotnitz, Exec Producer/writer (The Man in the High Castle);Lars Blomgren (Endemol Shine Group/ Filmlance International, Virginie Brac, screenwriter (Spiral);Ran Tellem, Mediapro and former Head of Content at Keshet, and Jalil Lespert, director/actor (Versailles) praised the diversity of storylines, much wider than five years ago. 

Walter Iuzzolino, Chief Creative Officer of UK streaming service Walter Presents (who used Valkyrien as flagship show to launch in the US a month ago) gave a more nuanced viewpoint. He used his centre stage at the panel 'Drama Buyers and Commissioners-What do they Want?' to warn producers/creators.
'Beware of repetitive formulas, try to be bolder and more imaginative, but also beware of the pacing of the stories' were his words. “I could easily cut two episodes in 95% of the shows I watch,” he said. The third tip he gave was to make sure ‘episode 1 punches as hard as possible, otherwise you risk losing audiences.

On the financing side, co-production alliances were as diverse as ever with new opportunities bringing together traditional broadcasters, OTT, telco players, world distributors and producers, around creators and storytellers.

French/Swedish ties

Two new French-Swedish co-productions were announced:

  • Rare (8x45’) is a sci-fi series written by Alex Haridi (Real Humans) directed by Frenchman Thierry Poiraud, co-produced by Beta Film’s production affiliates in Sweden’-Dramacorp- and in France-Isolani Pictures.
  • Unpunished (8x60’) about the topical phenomena of Artificial Intelligence and cyber warfare is created by writer Fredrik Agetoft (Arne Dahl) and producer Niels A. Wetterberg. Sweden Investigate North’s CEO Wetterberg is producing, with Vibeke Windeløv and Ole Søndberg as exec producers. French high profile prodco Make it Happen headed by Sydney Gallonde is co-producing. Paris-based boutique sales agent and co-financier APC facilitated the deal. “We feel we’re like football managers attracting the best players in our team,” said co-founder Laurent Boissel. “This is our first project as co-pro distributor. We are a small boutique operator, curating 4-5 premium dramas a year, so we will probably do this type of co-pro distribution deal only once a year.” 

Here under is a list of selective deals closed during MIPTV

  • APC's flagship show Valkyrien was sold to a major digital player, on top of previous deals sign with Walter Presents for the UK and the US, SBS Australia, among the major deals. A sale with France is also pending on the Tordenfilm/NRK show. Boissel said that he is also hopeful to close a deal with an A-list partner for an English language remake.
    APC’s upcoming Swedish crime series Alex produced by SF Studios for Viaplay attracted a lot of interest. “I wouldn’t be surprised to close several deals before delivery,” said Boissel.
  • BANIJAY RIGHTS launched Yellow Bird’s latest crime show Rebecka Martisson based on Åsa Larsson’s best-selling novels and reported strong interest. “Buyers are always interested in the latest Scandi series and especially from Yellow Bird that has such a fantastic reputation,” said Caroline Torrance, Head of Scripted. “We’ll be able to announce several deals in a few weeks.”  The thriller Black Lake (Jarowskij/TV3) was sold to BBC Four, HBO Eastern Europe, NBC/Universal, with other deals pending. On the scripted format market, Torrance said remake rights of the Swedish hit comedy Solsidan have been sold to France’s M6 which has started producing its own version.
  • DR SALES’ Head of Marketing and Sales Helene Aurø reported sales on Legacy 3 to Slovenia and Israel, Follow the Money 1-2 to Serbia Montenegro, Borgen 1-2-3 to Spain’s Telefonica, The Killing/Forbrydelsen 1 and 2 to Catalonia TV, with a US deal pending for Follow the Money 1-2 and Legacy 3 and another deal on Norskov in discussion with Germany.
     DR Sales’ premium dramas in development Liberty (DR Drama), The Valhalla Murders (Truenorth/RUV) Malin Fors (Unlimited/Nordic Factories/TV4 Sweden) and the Norwegian oil drama in production State of Happiness (Maipo Film/NRK) all received strong responses, with pre-buy opportunities from Europe and the US.  On the scripted format market, Happy Ending/TV2’s Splitting up Together was sold to France and the US and a Belgium version is in production. 
  • YLE SALES launched the Finnish disaster comedy drama Love & Order, selected for the first Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize in Göteborg. Sales exec Maria Kivinen said buyers responded well to the drama’s absurd humour and solid screenwriting. The show created by Kaarina Hazard and Leea Klemola attracted US interest for a potential remake. YLE will air it in the fall.
    The successful youth series Mental ( 6X10 min (VOD) +4 x 28 min (TV) from the creators of Lovemilla was sold to Sweden’s UR and is in final discussions with a US global entertainment brand. Remake rights are in discussion with Germany and Switzerland. 
    The hybrid series Heroes of the Baltic Sea was sold to Thailand, and attracted interest from the US and Latin America. 
  • ZDF ENTERPRISES introduced the Swedish crime show Before We Die (B-Reel/SVT) promoted at MIPTV with key cast & crew. The sales team reported buying interest from German-speaking territories for a window after ZDF's broadcast as well as from English-speaking territories and other EU countries. Robert Franke, VP ZDFE.drama said:”Nordic Drama -also beyond pure crime- continues to be a strong pillar for ZDF Enterprises' success on the international market place. The media world is anxiously awaiting hit shows such as Before We Die and The Bridge Season 4."