Paris– The major new original drama series Britannia, the first co-production between Sky and Amazon US, will have its World Premiere TV Screening at MIPCOM 2017.
The global entertainment content market, MIPCOM takes place in Cannes, France from 16-19 October 2017. The World Premiere TV Screening of “Britannia” is scheduled for Monday 16 October in the Palais des Festivals.
Written by multi-award-winning Jez Butterworth, the series stars Kelly Reilly (“True Detective”), David Morrissey (“The Walking Dead”), Zoë Wanamaker (“My Family”),Nikolaj Lie Kaas (“The Killing”) and Eleanor Worthington-Cox (“The Enfield Haunting”). The show’s creators and key cast are due to be in Cannes to promote the show.
The epic nine-part drama is set in 43AD, when Britannia was a country ruled by powerful Druids and warrior queens. It follows the reluctant rise to power of Kerra (Reilly) the daughter of the King of the Cantii, and her arch-rival Queen Antedia (Wanamaker), who are forced to put their differences aside when the Romans invade Britannia. Meanwhile, rogue Druid Divis (Kaas), the only one who foresaw the Roman invasion, finds an unlikely ally in 12-year-old Canti girl Cait (Worthington-Cox) in his quest to defeat Rome. The Romans are led by General Aulus Plautius (Morrissey), who is determined to succeed where Julius Caesar failed and conquer this mythical land at the far edge of the Roman Empire.
Britannia was shot on location in Prague and Wales and will air on Sky Atlantic in the UK, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Austria and will be available on Amazon Prime Video in the US in 2018.
Jane Millichip, Managing Director, Sky Vision, said: “‘Britannia’ is a fantastically cinematic drama, and its scale and high quality will transfer brilliantly to the big screen. We are very grateful to Mipcom for awarding us the World Premiere TV Screening. ‘Britannia’ is Sky’s most ambitious drama ever, taking over 5,500 hours to produce, and we look forward to sharing it with our international partners.”
“We’re delighted that Sky chosen Mipcom to debut this brand-new event series, which is sure to be one of the most highly anticipated shows among international buyers in Cannes. We look forward to welcoming the creators and talent involved in ‘Britannia’ on the Croisette,” said Laurine Garaude, Director of the TV Division at Reed MIDEM, which organises Mipcom.
“Britannia” was commissioned by Sky’s Head of Drama, Anne Mensah, Commissioning Editor Cameron Roach, and Director of Sky 1, Adam MacDonald, alongside Roy Price, Vice President, Digital Video and Amazon Studios. Vertigo Films’ James Richardson (“Monsters”, “Bronson”) is an executive producer with Sam Mendes, Pippa Harris and Nicolas Brown from Neal Street Productions (“Penny Dreadful”, “Call the Midwife”) and Anne Thomopoulos (“Rome”, “Band of Brothers”). The show is produced by “Star Wars” producer Rick McCallum, while Jez and Tom Butterworth (“Fortitude”, “Tin Star”) are lead writers with Richard McBrien (“Spooks”, “Merlin”). International distribution rights (excluding US) are being handled by Sky Vision, Sky’s international production and distribution arm. WME and Sky Vision negotiated the deal with Amazon.
