Munich – At this year’s MIPTV, Beta Film will deliver the new Spanish success series Velvet from the creators of Grand Hotel, the Scandinavian thriller-series Mammon as well as World War I-commemorating TV event movie Sarajevo. With 14 brand-new episodes, Tom Fontana’s Borgia is going into its third and final season. From Australia, Beta presents the young TV series Wonderland set along Sydney’s beachside; from the U.S., Hallmark’s new romantic dramas.
High quality European Independent Cinema is represented by Academy Award-shortlisted Two Lives (Germany) with Juliane Koehler and legendary actress Liv Ullmann and Le Grand Cahier (Hungary) based on Agota Kristof’s famous novel. Also offered to international TV buyers for the first time is Venice-awarded UK indie Still Life with Eddie Marsan and Joanne Frogatt.
An empire based on silk, sensuality and seduction – the dazzling Art Deco clothing store Galerias Velvet (18 x 60’) is the luxury paradise of Madrid’s 1950s. The company heir Alberto (Miguel Angel Silvestre) and the lowly seamstress Ana (Paula Echevarria) fall in love in this glamorous world — but their relationship is not acceptable for the time in which they are living. After the grandiose success of the long-running series Grand Hotel, celebrated by the media as the “Spanish Downton Abbey”, producer bambu presents a new hit series that recently scored record ratings with five million viewers on Antena 3. At MIPTV, Beta Film will be presenting Velvet together with producers and the lead actors at a press conference on April 6 at JW Marriott.
The Scandinavian thriller series Mammon (6 x 60’, NRK Drama) takes the viewer into the inner circle of the financial and political mafia. Journalist Peter Veras researches a scandal which involves many high-ranking personalities – along with Veras’ own brother. By publishing the story, he makes the biggest mistake of his life. Mammon was recently shown with excellent results by Norwegian broadcaster NRK, and will be aired in Germany on ARD and in the UK on Channel 4.
One hundred years after the outbreak of WWI, Sarajevo (two hours) commemorates the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne Franz Ferdinand on June 28, 1914, which led to the collapse of Europe’s fragile political house of cards. The examining magistrate Leo Pfeffer has been appointed by the authorities to confirm what Vienna wants to hear: that the Serbian government was behind the attack. Pfeffer soon finds himself in the midst of upheavals and is drawn deeper and deeper into the web of lies, violence and corruption. Andreas Prochaska (Day for a Miracle, Anatomy of Evil) directed this coproduction by Dor Film and Beta for ZDF, ORF and Czech TV.
Based on the bestsellers by Iny Lorentz, author of the hit medieval-era TV movie The Courtesan / The Wandering Harlot, and produced by UFA Fiction (Generation War) The Pilgrim (2 x 120’) is the tale of a young woman who, in the 14th century, undertakes a dangerous adventure by traveling on foot and disguised as a man clear across Europe to Santiago de Compostela. Philipp Kadelbach (Generation War) shot the event miniseries for UFA Fiction, ZDF und ORF. From Hotel Adlon producer Oliver Berben comes the TV movie The Wagner Clan about the family of the world-famous composer, who do everything they can to turn all things Wagnerian to profit and fame.
The Australian series Wonderland (44 x 60’) revolves around a group of thirtyish urban professionals living in an apartment building on the doorstep of one of Australia’s most beautiful beaches, navigating the pitfalls of friendship, love and sex – namely hassle, commitment and marriage. FremantleMedia Australia currently produces the second season of the series with its heady brew of humour and drama.
International buyers have been anticipating the first final episodes of the Italian series Gomorrah (12 x 60’, Cattleya for Sky Italia) about organised crime in Naples, which has already been presold on script and trailer basis to Sky UK, Sky Germany, Canal +, HBO Nordic, HBO Latin America and Lumiere/Benelux. In Borgia (38 x 60’, Atlantique/Beta Film), starring John Doman, the young generation will take over the scepter, heading to an unknown future.
