Munich – Beta Film has picked up the 6 x 60’ event production Shades of Guilt, a new generation of crime series by renowned Constantin Film/MOOVIE-producer Oliver Berben. The legal thriller, based on true cases and featuring Moritz Bleibtreu (Run Lola Run, The Experiment), will head Beta’s MIPCOM line up. Beta Film’s MIPCOM slate also highlights the new U.S. Hallmark production Signed, Sealed and Delivered (14×60’), the relaunch of Beta’s bestselling Rex – Special Unit (12×60’ /179×60’) and the $35 million box-office hit The Physician (feature film and miniseries), starring Ben Kingsley, Stellan Skarsgard and Tom Payne. From the shores of the picturesque U.S. Northwest arrives the second season of Cedar Cove (26×60’) starring Hollywood icon Andie MacDowell.
Shades of Guilt is the latest production of Oliver Berben, whose recent Hotel Adlon – A Family Saga was sold by Beta throughout all Europe as well as to Latin America. Basis for the series are the short stories of German bestseller author and defence attorney Ferdinand von Schirach. His new type of legal thrillers created a subgenre predestined for a groundbreaking series. Schirach’s alter ego is attorney Friedrich Kronberg (Moritz Bleibtreu), who always acts in favour of the defendants, no matter how guilty they are. Struggling for justice, Kronberg finds himself sitting, more often than not, between two chairs and has to accept that guilt is a relative term, crimes are never what they seem to be, and are never black and white. Shades of Guilt is an Oliver Berben production of MOOVIE – the art of entertainment (part of the Constantin Group) for ZDF in association with Beta.
Martha Williamson, executive producer of Touched by an Angel, introduces the Hallmark U.S. comedy drama series Signed, Sealed and Delivered about a dedicated quartet of civil servants in the U.S. Postal Dead-Letter Office who transform themselves into an elite team of lost-mail detectives. Starring Eric Mabius (Ugly Betty, The O.C.), Kristin Booth (The Kennedys), Crystal Lowe (Smallville) and, as a special guest star, Carol Burnett (The Carol Burnett Show), Signed, Sealed and Delivered is produced by Muse Entertainment/Moonwater Productions for Beta.
Hollywood icon Andie MacDowell’s Cedar Cove (Orchard Road/Front Street/Dan Wigutow/ Unity) celebrates an ongoing success as #1 in Saturday night’s cable primetime with a rating-jump of 30 percent compared to the first season.
It’s the next step in the logical evolution of a successful franchise: Rex – Special Unit introduces the evolution of the four-legged legend in a brand new approach. Rougher and tougher than ever before, the world’s longest running police dog of all time starts off to a new season with more drive, action and a much darker mood. Whether chasing crooks, locating corpses or searching for victims in need of help, Rex and his human partner (Francesco Arca) face ever greater challenges. Rex – Special Unit, for which a second season has already been green lit, is produced by Beta and Dog’s Life for RAI.
After the international box-office success of The Physician, Beta Film presents the mini-series version (2×120’) of the $ 35 million between Orient and Occident, directed by Phillipp Stölzl (North Face, Young Goethe in Love) and based on Noah Gordon’s international bestseller with over 21 million sold copies worldwide. With a top-class cast featuring Ben Kingsley (Hugo, Iron Man 3), Tom Payne (HBO’s Luck) and Stellan Skarsgård (Girl with a Dragon Tattoo) comes a passionate love story, an exciting homage to humanity’s striving for knowledge, and a timeless appeal for tolerance and freedom. The Physician is produced by UFA Cinema in co-production with ARD Degeto and Beta Cinema; the visual effects were created by Academy Award winning Pixomondo (Hugo).
