Keshet International (KI) has inked numerous deals for foreign-language dramas it recently acquired and launched to market, licensing multiple series to broadcasters and streamers entertaining audiences in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Slovenia, Brazil, and Indonesia.
Keren Shahar, KI’s COO and President of Distribution, says, “It has been a joy to pick-up every single one of these series and to share them with our clients – each one stands alone in its own right, and together they’ve bolstered our already strong catalogue of foreign-language dramas.”
In a multi-title deal, which includes the first sales for both Blue Moon and Dreaming of England (Sommaren 85), KI has licensed the Pay TV and SVOD rights of the following three foreign-language dramas to AMC Networks International for its channels in Spain and Portugal:
- all three seasons of Aetios Productions’ Blue Moon (30×60’), an action-packed crime procedural penned by Luc Dionne for the French-Canadian streamer Club Illico which stars Cardinal’s Karine Vanasse;
- Dreaming of England (Sommaren 85), a gloriously retro 6×60’ coming-of-age comedy-drama produced by Art and Bob Film and Drama for Sweden’s SVT;
- the first two 6×30’ seasons of Pørni, Monster Scripted’s heart-warming Norwegian comedy-drama created by and starring Henriette Steenstrup for Viaplay. KI has already completed sales into 45 territories to date, including to HBO Max across Latin America.
The global producer and distributor has also completed an additional raft of sales of Israel’s highest rating drama since 2015, Koda Communications’ Line in the Sand, an intense 8×60’ crime drama series co-created by Rotem Shamir and Yuval Yefet (both Rough Diamonds(W/T), Fauda). Following recent sales into France (Brut X), Germany (RTL), Belgium (BeTV) and Australia (Paramount+), KI has also licensed the series – described by the Sydney Morning Herald as “a compelling, hard-boiled crime drama based on a shocking true story” – to Globoplay in Brazil; Sports Media Venture for Mola in the recently launched territories of the UK and Italy, alongside Indonesia; and Filmin in Spain. KI has also pre-sold the second season of Line in the Sand, which is currently in pre-production for Keshet 12, to both Mola and Filmin.
In France, SerieClub (which is owned by TF1 and M6) has acquired the Pay TV rights to Furia, Monster Scripted and X-Filme Creative Pool’s 8×60’ tense crime thriller written by International Emmy-winner Gjermund S Eriksson (Mammon) for Viaplay and ZDF. Described by Denmark’s Politiken as “captivating” and “so big, ambitious and international” by News Beezer, KI has already completed sales of Furia with Viaplay in 26 territories (including Poland and the Baltics); SBS in Australia, with home entertainment rights going to Potential Films; Cellcom tv in Israel; Filmin in Spain; and Mola TV in Indonesia.
In addition, KI has completed its first sales for the following titles:
- Glassriver’s Journey, the 6×30’ Icelandic comedy drama starring The Tourist’s Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, to RTV Slovenia;
- Vision Team’s Grupa (The Group), a gripping 12×60’ crime drama and Serbia’s highest-rated TV show of 2020, to Mola in Indonesia.
Other foreign language highlights from KI’s diverse catalogue includes all three seasons of Drugi Plan’s critically acclaimed Croatian drama, The Paper; Pie Films’ The Women’s Balcony, the TV spin-off of the international successful movie of the same name; the 2018 Cannes Series’ winning When Heroes Fly, picked up by Netflix and currently being adapted by Keshet Studios for Apple TV+ as Echo 3; gripping espionage thrillers False Flag (recently adapted by Keshet Productions for Apple TV+ as Suspicion) and Prisoners of War, upon which the primetime Emmy® winner Homeland was based; and international Emmy® Award-winning ‘buddy comedy’ Traffic Light.