Machinery produced by Anagram Sweden and Violator by Icelandic writer Jón Atli Jónasson are among 12 international projects selected for MIPTV and Canneseries’ new development strand.

Sweden’s Machinery was selected for ‘Programmes in Development’ with seven other drama projects, including Germany’s The Sources of Evil (Wuste Film) and Zodiak Belgium’s GR5, and Iceland’s Violator for the ‘Early Stage Projects’ with the UK’s Class A, Selfies and Canada’s Revival.

“The 12 selected projects are the perfect illustration of the richness of global talent, across all territories and in all genres,” said Laurine Garaude of Reed Midem, MIPTV’s organiser. “We’re delighted to provide a showcase for these projects, all of which have strong potential in the international market.”

Machinery (8x45’) is created by seasoned writer/director Håkan Lindhé, co-director of Modus and 30 Degrees in February. The writing team consists of Lindhé, Peter Arrhenius (Conspiracy of Silence), Kjerstid Ugelstad (Torpedo), Peter Lindmark and Jimmy Lindgren. Richard Holm (Gåsmamman) directs.

Producer and Anagram Sweden’s managing director Martin Persson told nordicfilmandtvnews.com that he expects to close the financing of the series before MIPTV and will use ‘In Development’ to pitch the project to potential buyers.

Machinery tells of individuals, dragged into a situation where they lose control over their own lives, which creates a machinery of dark relations. The central character Olle Granath, wakes up one day on the ferry between Sweden and Norway, with a bag full of money, a gun and no memory of what happened to him. A TV-screen shows a newsflash of a violent robbery in Sweden; one of the robbers was seen escaping with the ferry to Norway. The police, his workmates and Olle’s partner Josefin, think that he planned the whole thing. To prove his innocence, Olle goes underground to find out who framed him.

Violator is created/co-written by Jón Atli Jónasson, writer of Baltasar Kormákur’s The Deep and co-writer of the Finnish/German series The Arctic Circle. Jónasson has teamed up with crime detective Ragnar Jónsson who has worked as film and TV consultant for several years, on Icelandic projects including the series Trapped, Case and the films Jar City and I Remember You.

Violator is a character-driven crime drama, based Ragnar Jónsson’s own experiences. It follows two Icelandic police detectives in different time periods. Both of them investigate the same case with dire personal consequences.

One storyline set in the mid-late 1980s, focuses on Jonas (20) a former punk rocker turned policeman. In the second parallel story set in contemporary Reykjavik, we follow detective Lara (40) who has recently moved to the Icelandic capital with her partner Andrea and is trying to adopt a child. But Lara has a secret. She has trouble breathing due to lung damage and needs to undergo a lung transplant. This means that she isn’t quite fit for her job.

Jónasson said the show will be “heavily laden with Icelandic punk rock and new romantic music from the 1980s”. It will also “explore the changing dynamics and especially the expanding role of women within the Icelandic police force.”

Jónasson expects to team up with a producer after MIP-Canneseries. “Our goal there is to find the right partner to put the financing and initial broadcasting partners together,” he told nordicfilmandtvnews.com. “We already have some interest and want to explore further opportunities in Cannes.”

A total of 344 projects from nearly 50 countries were submitted for the inaugural ‘In Development’ fast-tracking TV drama platform unspooling April 10-11, 2018 in Cannes. The selected 12 projects are eligible for development funding from ‘In Development’ partners, Paris-based Federation Entertainment and the French think tank La Fabrique des Formats.

In a separate announcement, the new Canneseries TV drama festival unveiled the jury of the official drama competition.

US show runner Harlan Coben is president of the jury, comprising actress Paula Beer (Germany), screenwriter/director Audrey Fouché (France), actress Melisa Sözen (Turkey), composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer (Chile/Canada) and actor Michael Kenneth Williams (USA). The jury will screen the first episodes of 10 international series and 6 awards will be handed out on Wednesday April 11.