DRG has inked several key sales on NRK’s upcoming crime show Monster, such as an exclusive US premium pay TV deal with Starz.

Other sales were signed with Canal Plus for France, SBS for Australia, RTS for Switzerland, Viacom’s new Russian channel Spike, and Viaplay for Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, making it the first NRK drama acquisition for the Nordic streaming platform. The series was also acquired by Lumiere for Benelux.

Monster was created by head-writer Hans Christian Storrøsten and director Anne Sewitsky (Happy, Happy), with Jørgen Johansson (The Bridge, Borgen) as lead cinematographer. The series was executive produced by NRK’s Lasse Greve Alsos who said: “NRK is producing some tremendous, award-winning drama at present and I am proud that our artistic talents have achieved a leap into the international arena over the last few years. Nobel is currently on Netflix and Valkyrien has recently launched to great reviews on Channel 4/Walter Presents in the UK – so the appetite for our content is definitely growing all the time. Starz’s commitment to Monster for the US market is a significant landmark for Norwegian drama and revives Franklin D. Roosevelt’s famous words "Look to Norway!”

Scott Kirkpatrick SVP sales for North and South America at Nice Entertainment Group-owned DRG said: “With some of Norway’s most established and respected talent behind the scenes, coupled with fresh new on-screen talent and a darker twist on the more usual Nordic Noir content, Monster has been picking interest ever since it went into production. We are delighted with these early sales and are confident that this superior event thriller series will attract many more international buyers over the coming months.”

The 7x60’ drama series backed by Nordisk Film &TV Fond, is due to air in October on NRK, DR and SVT. Hans Christian Storrøsten just won the European Script Award for the series, selected as well for the upcoming Prix Europa-TV Fiction category.