Noticias

Danish actor Nikolaj Lie Kaas is best known for his work on-screen with filmmakers such as Lars von Trier and Anders Thomas Jensen, but he’s in Berlin this week with Agent, his first project as a writer-director.

The eight-part series is a biting show-business satire centered around Joe, an ambitious 35-year-old agent for some of Denmark’s biggest stars. His job is to solve his clients’ problems – be they professional or personal, but he has enough of both kinds himself: He is about to lose custody of his ten-year-old daughter Tallulah, and his boss, who is also his mother, is close to firing him. As Joe desperately tries to keep his head above the water, his issues only multiply.

Esben Smed (Follow the Money) stars as Joe, and Danish actors such as Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Game of Thrones) and Sidse Babett Knudsen feature as caricatures of themselves in...

Nikolaj Lie Kaas’ series “Agent,” shown at Berlinale Series, centers around Joe, who has high hopes for his famous clients. But it’s not another remake of a certain French smash.

“I started writing it before ‘Call My Agent!’ even came out. Then I saw it on Netflix and went: ‘Oh, for f**k’s sake…’,” Danish actor-turned-director tells Variety.

“I guess I was just longing for a comedy, something that would also have depth, heart and all that stuff. I said to myself: ‘Nikolaj, you are being a bitch about it. Create something yourself, instead of asking others to do it.’”

Lie Kaas, who also created the show – a Zentropa production, sold by TrustNordisk, which will be broadcast by TV2 – was recently spotted in Lars von Trier’s “The Kingdom Exodus.” Despite well-received roles in pitch-black comedies, such as Anders Thomas Jensen’s “Men and Chicken” and “Riders of Justice,...

Dr Sales has boarded “Always Be Closing,” a drama series about the dynamics, dominance, and discrimination within the telemarketing industry.

The youth-skewing series will premiere on Drtv, the Danish broadcaster’s streaming service, on Feb. 24. “Always Be Closing” is created by Frederik Dirks Gottlieb, Kasper Lundberg, and Andrea Moyo, who themselves were part of the telemarketing industry in their youth. The cast is led by Danish star Anders Heinrichsen and upcoming talent Andreas Bruun Pedersen and Tarek Zayat. The series is directed by Svend Colding and produced by Laura Valentiner-Bohse for Dr.

“Always Be Closing” tells the story of Kenneth and Jamal, two friends in their early 20s who need to make some money — preferably fast. So they get jobs as telemarketers with New Energy, a company selling ”green” power. New Energy is a fast-paced workplace with lots of money, partying, tough competition, and an intense brotherhood with the other telemarketers.

‘Love Island’ Heads To Israel

Israel has become the latest destination to embrace Love Island, with ITV Studios-backed Armoza Formats set to produce a local version for new Keshet streamer Free TV. Filming will take place in May for a summer air date, as Israel becomes the 26th territory to commission a version following the announcement of Malta and Albania last week. Avi Armoza’s ITV Studios-backed The Four creator Armoza Formats is producing the local version. The company, which was acquired by ITV Studios in 2019, pivoted earlier this year to become ITV Studios’ production arm in Israel and has already produced two local versions of Come Dine with Me for Kan 11 along with the likes of The 1 Club and The Chase. The show will air on Free TV, Keshet and Rge’s streamer that is set to launch early next year. “Since establishing Armoza Productions and producing hits...

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Families Like Ours, the debut TV drama from Thomas Vinterberg, has begun principal photography as well as formally announcing its cast, with several stars of his Oscar and BAFTA winning feature Another Round set to appear.

Nikolaj Lie Kaas (Brothers, The Killing, Riders of Justice) Paprika Steen (Festen, Open Hearts, The First Lady), Helene Reingaard Neumann (Another Round, Kursk, Borgen), Magnus Millang (Another Round, Kursk, The Commune), Esben Smed (Follow The Money, Held for Ransom, The Kindness of Strangers), Amaryllis April August in her acting debut, Albert Rudbek Lindhardt (Another Round, Riders of Justice), Thomas Bo Larsen (Another Round, The Hunt, Festen), Asta August (Burn All My Letters, The Pact, A Song for Martin) and David Dencik (No Time To Die, Chernobyl, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) will star in the six-part series, from Zentropa and which StudioCanal is co-producing and distributing.

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Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s SeaWorld exposé Blackfish wasn’t an easy documentary to watch, but it was an easy documentary to get hooked by, which I don’t think is intended as a fish pun. The anger and sadness from Blackfish kick in after only a few minutes and are sustained for over 80 minutes.

After turning her directing attentions to scripted features (plus FX’s recent Children of the Underground), Cowperthwaite returns to the documentary world with The Grab, a new feature that is in all ways a tougher film to embrace. The Grab thrusts viewers into a complicated world without prelude, examines a problem that isn’t necessarily clear even to the onscreen heroes and, unlike Blackfish, spends much of its running time without an obvious point of sympathy or hissable villain.

There are, however, rewards to the toughness of The Grab. Its...

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In the closing moments of the third and final installment of the new Discovery+ docuseries House of Hammer, Casey Hammer reads a letter she recently received from her brother, Michael, the father of actor Armie Hammer.

“If you choose to continue pretending that the stories you have invented are the truth, I will have no choice other than to pursue every legal remedy to set the record straight,” states the letter before it changes course. “Despite all the pain your fabrications have causes, you share the blood running through my veins. You are still my family and I wish you nothing but the best.”

The Hammer bloodline is the subject of the now streaming House of Hammer, and directors Elli Hakami and Julian P. Hobbs use the sexual misconduct allegations lodged against Armie as a jumping-off point to explore all facets of the...

Danish Broadcaster Dr has ordered “Prisoner,” a dark-edged premium series which starts shooting this fall with a stellar local cast including Sofie Gråbøl and David Dencik (“Chernobyl”).

“Prisoner” was created by Kim Fupz Aakeson, whose credits include the Dr drama “Cry Wolf” and the HBO series “Utmark.” Michael Noer (“Papillon”) and Frederik Louis Hviid are set to direct.

Produced by Dr Drama, the series is told from the perspectives of four prison officers, Sammi, Henrik, Miriam, and Gert, who are colleagues in an old, worn-down Danish prison and face daily challenges and dilemmas. The story kicks off when they are forced to do a thorough investigation in the prison to save their jobs and prevent the hierarchy and drug trade from dominating the workplace within three months. The investigation turns into a battle for survival — not only for the prison but for everyone inside and outside the walls.

Dr Sales...

Talk

Emmy-nominated Michael Sheen (“Good Omens”) will join the upcoming TEDxSoho talk on May 30 at London’s Cambridge Theatre virtually via a pre-recorded session. The event will also feature an in-person talk from actor Ray Panthaki, recently BIFA-nominated for “Boiling Point,” while Brit and Ivor Novello-winning singer-songwriter Tom Odell will be performing.

Hosted by “The Battersea Poltergeist” podcast creator Danny Robins, the curated program of short inspirational talks features previously announced speakers including U.K Cinema Association CEO Phil Clapp, Variety international editor Manori Ravindran, author and computational biologist, autism advocate and winer of the 2020 Science Book Award, Dr. Camilla Pang, and a performance from ex-Razorlight guitarist David Ellis. Confirmed speakers also include Karl Lokko, a former gang leader turned activist, poet, public speaker, adventurer and personal advisor to Prince Harry; Professor Katy Shaw, author of a report into post-covid cultural recovery; restaurateur Paulo De Tarso; author and journalist Janet Wang; and art critic,...

Scandinavia’s TrustNordisk has picked up international sales rights to an upcoming Zentropa dramedy series about a struggling Danish agent to the stars.

The eight-part Agent, which has a budget of €5.7M (6M), comes from actor, director and writer Nikolaj Lie Kaas (Riders of Justice Department Q) and stars Esben Smed (Follow the Money) in the lead role. Leading Scandinavian producer Zentropa is attached to the show, which Danish channel TV2 has ordered for a Q4 2023 launch.

Smed plays Joe, a 35-year-old agent for Danish stars with global ambitions, who desperately tries to keep his head above water as personal problems keep piling up. In the midst of the chaos of his life, his daughter longs for his attention.

Sidse Babett Knudsen, Dar Salim, Ulrich Thomsen (The Marco Effect), Lars Ranthe (Another Round) and Magnus Millang (Another Round) will appear as caricatures of themselves,...

Zentropa produces the Danish-language dramedy about a talent agent in the entertainment industry.

TrustNordisk has boarded international sales for the new series Agent from actor-turned-writer/director Nikolaj Lie Kaas.

Zentropa produces the Danish-language dramedy about a talent agent in the entertainment industry. The series has now started shooting, with Esben Smed (Follow The Money) in the lead role as Joe, an agent with a chaotic life.

The cast also includes Sidse Babett Knudsen (Borgen), Dar Salim (Darkland), Ulrich Thomsen (The Commune), and Another Round actors Lars Ranthe and Magnus Millang, all playing caricatured versions of themselves.

Louise Vesth produces the 8x40’ series,...

For a film journo who closely followed last year’s he said (filmmakers)/she said (Isis “sex slave” subjects) controversy that entangled Hogir Hirori’s Sundance-premiering (followed by film-festival-shunned) Sabaya, the recent Cph:dox panel “Beyond Courage: Trauma-Informed Storytelling” was simply a must-see. The discussion, expertly moderated by Gavin Rees, Executive Director of Dart Center Europe (a satellite of Columbia Journalism School’s Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma), was part of the “Claim Your Story!” program, one of three engaging afternoons under Cph:conference’s “Business As Unusual” banner. (“Follow the Money!” and “Shaping Success.” were likewise smartly curated by The Catalysts, a multimedia agency that “turns […]

The post “People Are Not ‘the Trauma They’ve Experienced'”: Trauma-Informed Storytelling at Cph:conference 2022 first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

For a film journo who closely followed last year’s he said (filmmakers)/she said (Isis “sex slave” subjects) controversy that entangled Hogir Hirori’s Sundance-premiering (followed by film-festival-shunned) Sabaya, the recent Cph:dox panel “Beyond Courage: Trauma-Informed Storytelling” was simply a must-see. The discussion, expertly moderated by Gavin Rees, Executive Director of Dart Center Europe (a satellite of Columbia Journalism School’s Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma), was part of the “Claim Your Story!” program, one of three engaging afternoons under Cph:conference’s “Business As Unusual” banner. (“Follow the Money!” and “Shaping Success.” were likewise smartly curated by The Catalysts, a multimedia agency that “turns […]

The post “People Are Not ‘the Trauma They’ve Experienced'”: Trauma-Informed Storytelling at Cph:conference 2022 first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

BBC has acquired “Trom,” a crime drama set in the Faroe Islands, which will have its international premiere at the Berlinale Series Market Selects.

A Viaplay Original, “Trom” is produced by REinvent Studios with Kyk Pictures and Truenorth. REinvent International Sales represents worldwide rights. “Trom” will premiere on Viaplay on Feb. 13

Based on Jagvan Isaksen’s crime novels, “Trom” was created by Torfinnur Jákupsson and directed by Kasper Barfoed (“Dicte: Crime Reporter”) and Davíd Óskar Ólafsson (“The Valhalla Murders”). The cinematic show is headlined by Nordic stars including Ulrich Thomsen (“The New Pope”), Maria Rich (“Follow The Money”) and Olaf Johannessen (“The Exception”).

“We are thrilled and proud that the BBC has come on board ‘Trom,'” said Helene Aurø, sales and marketing director at REinvent International Sales. “BBC has broadcast some of the best Nordic series ever produced in the past and we hope ‘Trom’ will be a success as well.

Variety has been given exclusive access to the trailer (below) for Danish horror film “Speak No Evil,” which has its world premiere at Sundance. Sales are being handled by TrustNordisk.

The film follows a Danish family on vacation in Tuscany, where they befriend a Dutch family. Months later the Danish couple receive an invitation to visit the Dutch and decide to go for the weekend. However, it doesn’t take long before the joy of reunion is replaced by misunderstandings. Things gradually get out of hand, as the Dutch turn out to be something different than what they have pretended to be.

The film was directed by Christian Tafdrup, and written by Christian Tafdrup and Mads Tafdrup.

Christian Tafdrup describes “Speak No Evil” as a satirical horror movie. “Satirical, because it revolves around ordinary people’s absurdly recognizable ways of behaving. A horror movie, because the film is dark, evil and willingly foul.

With its list of new releases for January 2022, Amazon Prime Video is keeping things pretty simple. The streaming giant is rolling out a couple of original films, one big TV effort, and a whole host of library content, then calling it a day. And really, that’s all you need!

The two Amazon original films this month are of the family friendly variety. The Tender Bar, based on a memoir of the same name and directed by George Clooney, premieres on Jan. 7. This is followed on Jan. 14 by Hotel Transylvania: Transformania. This is the fourth installment in the animated Hotel Transylvania series, hammering home the fact that if you bring Adam Sandler and Genndy Tartakovsky aboard you project, things are gonna go pretty smoothly.

The one Amazon original TV series this month is As We See It. This project comes from Friday Night Lights head writer Jason Katims and is...

Two-year-old streaming service Topic has set a deal with tech firm Deepdub to make its catalog of foreign-language series and TV shows available in English.

The pioneering effort will span dozens of titles, including noted shows like Arctic Circle, Pagan Peak, The Bridge, The Killing. As streaming continues to expand overall, appetites are growing for global content, but dubbing and subtitling can both be a challenge in terms of cost and execution.

Israel-based Deepdub, which launched in 2019, sees its technology as the answer. It uses artificial intelligence to create what it deems fully “localized” entertainment, playable in a viewer’s native language depending on where programming is streaming. Crucially, other sound is preserved in the process, including the actors’ original voices. Kevin Reilly, who helped launch HBO Max and has headed entertainment for Fox and NBC, joined Deepdub’s advisory board last January. He told Deadline he hoped the company...

Danish TV drama “The Killing” was an international smash nearly 15 years ago, winning an International Emmy and a BAFTA award, and even spawning an English-language American adaptation that ran on AMC. But until this year, the original series had never been available in the United States.

“The Killing” was added to boutique streaming service Topic in September. The streamer, owned by First Look Media and available in the U.S. and Canada, continues to grow its roster of international fare, having recently also added two more Scandinavian series: “The Bridge” (“Bron”) — which was also adapted as a U.S. drama on FX — and “Follow the Money” (“Bedrag”).

“The Killing” was lauded for its unique storytelling, which followed a Danish detective inspector (played by Sofie Gråbøl) as she solves a murder case. Each episode represents a day in the investigation. The show eventually made its way to more than 120 countries, mostly...

“Burn All My Letters,” Swedish filmmaker Björn Runge’s follow up to his Glen Close starrer “The Wife,” has just started shooting “Burn All My Letters.” The decade-spanning love drama stars Bill Skarsgård (“Deadpool”) and is based on Alex Schulman’s bestselling novel of the same name.

Sverrir Gudnason has just joined the cast as Schulman and stars alongside Sonja Richter who plays Amanda Schulman, one of Denmark’s greatest actresses. The rest of the cast comprises Marika Lindström (“Daybreak”), Sten Ljunggren (“Border”), as well as Asta Kamma August (“Follow The Money”) and Gustav Lindh (“Rider of Justice”).

“Burn All My Letters” is produced by Sf Studios and sold by REinvent International Sales who have unveiled a first still from the shoot in Sweden (pictured).

Inspired by true events, the story revolves around Karin Stolpe’s complex relationship with her husband Sven Stolpe and her passionate love affair with Olof Lagercrantz...

ITV Studios has boosted its Nordic credentials, taking majority control of Danish production company Apple Tree Productions, whose shows include Netflix supernatural thriller Equinox.

ITV has boosted its stake in Apple Tree from 25 percent to 51 percent, the company announced Monday, saying the move was part of a broader strategy to strengthen its global scripted production base.

Piv Bernth (The Killing, The Bridge) and Lars Hermann (Follow the Money), two of Scandinavia’s most successful TV producers, founded Apple Tree back in 2017 as a boutique shingle to develop and produce high-end Nordic drama for the local market and global streamers....

ITV Studios has boosted its Nordic credentials, taking majority control of Danish production company Apple Tree Productions, whose shows include Netflix supernatural thriller Equinox.

ITV has boosted its stake in Apple Tree from 25 percent to 51 percent, the company announced Monday, saying the move was part of a broader strategy to strengthen its global scripted production base.

Piv Bernth (The Killing, The Bridge) and Lars Hermann (Follow the Money), two of Scandinavia’s most successful TV producers, founded Apple Tree back in 2017 as a boutique shingle to develop and produce high-end Nordic drama for the local market and global streamers....

REinvent Studios’ anticipated crime series “Trom” is getting ready to shoot in the lush landscapes of the Faroe Islands with a cast packed with Nordic stars, including Ulrich Thomsen (“The New Pope”), Maria Rich (“Follow The Money”) and Olaf Johannessen (“The Exception”).

Based on Jagvan Isaksen’s crime novels, the series is created by Torfinnur Jákupsson and co-written with Donna Sharpe (“West of Liberty”). REinvent is producing the series with Kyk Pictures and Truenorth.

It will mark the first crime drama to be created in the Faroe Islands. Shooting will kick off on location in March. Kasper Barfoed (“Dicte: Crime Reporter”) and Davíd Óskar Ólafsson (“The Valhalla Murders”) are on board to direct the series.

The six-part show follows journalist Hannis Martinsson (Ulrich Thomsen), who unexpectedly receives a message from Sonja, his estranged daughter, claiming that her life is in danger. Hannis reluctantly returns home to the Faroes to investigate,...

The writer of the series has snagged the circa €19,000 award following the TV Drama Vision competition that included four other Nordic series. At the 44th Göteborg Film Festival, and on the first day of its TV Drama Vision industry strand, the Danish TV series Cry Wolf emerged as the winner of the Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize, given out for the fifth time in a row. The award, worth Nok 200,000, was bestowed upon writer Maja Jul Larsen for “outstanding writing of a Nordic drama series” during the online ceremony. Larsen is primarily known for her work as a writer on award-winning and acclaimed TV series including Borgen, Follow the Money and The Legacy. The eight-part series Cry Wolf is her first show as a creator. The jury comprised Israeli Emmy Award-winning producer Ran Tellem (Homeland), who also serves as the head of International Content Development at...

Denmark’s Maja Jul Larsen has bested strong opposition to take this year’s Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize for Dr’s “Cry Wolf,” Larsen’s first series as a creator and lead-writer.

The win, announced at a Göteborg Festival TV Drama Vision award ceremony on Tuesday, goes to one of the rising stars on Denmark’s screenwriting scene who in a relatively short career – she graduated from Denmark’s National Film School in 2007 – has run an up an impressive curriculum working on “Borgen,” “Follow the Money” and “The Legacy.”

With limited series “Cry Wolf,” a family drama and procedural, she faced the large task of breathing life and a sense of entertainment into an eight-part series that works at times as an exposé of the rigidity and potential failing of Denmark’s social welfare system.

That’s achieved by focusing on one case: Holly, 14, writes a vivid school essay...

Exclusive: CBS has put in development Game Time, a single-camera comedy based on Norwegian format The Games, from Me, Myself & I creator Dan Kopelman, Aaron Kaplan’s Kapital Entertainment, Michael Strahan and his Smac Entertainment, New Media Vision, Red Arrow Studios International and CBS Studios.

Written by Kopelman, Game Time, which has a script commitment plus penalty, revolves around a family whose daily life is punctuated by the running commentary of professional sideline sports reporters, and the occasional expert in their field.

Kopelman executive produces with Kaplan and Dana Honor for Kapital Entertainment, Wendi Trilling for Trill TV, Strahan, Constance Schwartz-Morini and Thea Kann for Smac Entertainment, Todd Lituchy for New Media Vision, Shirley Bowers for Red Arrow Studios International, along with Martin Lund and Ruben Thorkildsen. CBS Studios is the studio.

Game Time is the latest collaboration for Kopelman and Kapital Entertainment. They previously teamed on comedy Me, Myself and I starring Bobby Moynihan,...

Exclusive: CBS has put in development Little Shells, a multi-hybrid semi-autobiographical comedy, from writer Brian Donovan (American Housewife), director Todd Holland (The Real O’Neals), Aaron Kaplan’s Kapital Entertainment and CBS Studios.

Written by Donovan inspired by his life and to be directed by Holland, Little Shells is the story of a 20-something agoraphobe who discovers an oddball friendship with the spunky, under-achieving kid next door. Not only do the two help slay each other’s demons, but they create a charmingly unconventional chosen family in the process.

Donovan executive produces with Holland, along with Kaplan and Dana Honor for Kapital Entertainment. CBS Studios is the studio.

Both Donovan and Holland are frequent collaborators with Kapital. Donovan was recently a writer-producer on Kapital’s ABC comedy series American Housewife and previously worked on the company’s ABC comedy series The Neighbors.

Holland has directed on Kapital’s series The Unicorn,...

Dr Sales, the distribution division of Denmark’s public broadcaster Dr, has closed a raft of deals on “Cry Wolf,” a searing social drama created by Maja Jul Larsen (“Borgen”) and co-directed by Pernille Fischer Christensen (“Becoming Astrid”).

The eight-episode limited series tells the intense and emotional story of a teenage girl who has written a vivid school essay detailing her stepfather’s physical assaults. The parents deny the accusations and take their own daughter to court, creating some ambiguity as to whether this abuse occurred as described. The show is set against the backdrop of Denmark’s rigid child protection process.

Since premiering on Oct. 11 on Dr’s primetime slot, “Cry Wolf” has drawn a consistent average of over a million viewers.

Dr Sales, which is taking part in the virtual Content London market, has sold the show to France (Salto), Telefonica (Spain), Sbs (Australia), Belgium (Betv), Telepool (Germany...

Exclusive: CBS has put in development crime drama Follow the Money, from writer Michael Peterson, and Alam, the Family, a semi-autobiographical multi-camera comedy from writer-comedian Sabrina Jalees. Both projects hail from Aaron Kaplan’s Kapital Entertainment and CBS TV Studios.

In Follow the Money, written by Peterson, a brilliant forensic accountant, who turned in her own father for engineering a high-profile pyramid scheme, teams with a hedonistic FBI agent running from his troubled past to solve the most challenging crimes by following financial clues, proving that while people may lie, money never does.

Peterson executive produces with Kapital’s Kaplan and Dana Honor. Kapital is producing alongside CBS TV Studios.

Alam, the Family is based on the life and childhood of Jalees. Written by Jalees, the comedy is about a Pakistani American family living in New Jersey in the ‘90s that explores race, queerness and the idea that we’re...

Jake Gyllenhaal is set to star in an adaptation of Ollie Masters graphic novel ‘Snow Blind’ with Gustav Möller set to helm.

The story follows Teddy, a high school student in a sleepy Alaskan suburb whose life is turned upside down after he innocently posts a photo of his dad online.

He quickly learns that he and his family are in the Witness Protection Program and soon a man seeking revenge invades their town followed soon after by pursuing FBI agents. His dad’s reasons for going into the program also may not be as innocent as he says. Sources say the film is “Prisoners meets Running on Empty”.

Patrick Ness, who penned ‘A Monster Calls’, is writing the script.

Also in news – Ridley Scott reveals his desire to re-evolve the ‘Alien’ franchise

Gyllenhaal, Riva Marker, Ross Richie, Stephen Christy, and Adam Yoelin are producing.

Möller is best known for...

Walter Presents has acquired U.K. rights to “When The Dust Settles,” the hit Danish psychological drama series, from Dr Sales.

“When The Dust Settles” tells the story of eight strangers whose lives intertwine in the aftermath of a shocking terrorist attack in a Copenhagen restaurant.

The ten-part series was created by Ida Maria Rydén and Dorte Høgh, the duo behind “Dicte,” for Dr Drama, and directed by up-and-coming helmers such as Milad Alami (“Follow The Money III”), Jeanette

Nordahl (“Wildland”), Iram Haq (“What Will People Say”).

Produced by Stinna Lassen, Jacob Lohmann (“Follow The Money”), Henning Jensen (“The Killing”) and Peter Christoffersen (“The Bridge”).

“When The Dust Settles” premiered in Denmark on the channel DR1 on Feb. 2 and garnered a 42% market share. The movie was nominated for Nordisk Film & TV Fond’s Script Award 2020 during Göteborg festival.

“Danish drama has consistently been setting standards for scripted excellence across...

Contrasting human paradoxes and complexities against the cold rationality of Scandinavian civic institutions, the Danish series “Cry Wolf” presents a searing social drama built from an initially ambiguous premise.

Presented as part of Series Mania’s Buyer’s Showcase after having been selected for the festival’s international competition, the Dr Drama-produced series tracks the cascading aftershocks once a 14-year-old girl writes an essay detailing her stepfather’s physical assaults.

While the veracity of those claims – at least for the first few episodes – remains unclear, the accusations set off a sequence of events that builds with grim inevitability. Beleaguered social worker Lars (Bjarne Henriksen) soon gets involved, placing young adolescent Holly (Flora Ofelia Hofman Lindahl) and her younger brother into foster care, all while the girl’s parents (Christine Albeck Børge and Peter Plaugborg) strenuously deny the charges, eventually taking their own daughter to court.

“I was fascinated by social services,...

Swedish broadcaster Svt has ordered a six-part TV adaptation of Kerstin Ekman’s crime novel “Blackwater” from Piv Bernth’s Apple Tree Productions. The series will be coproduced with Ard Degeto in Germany, and Filmpool Nord, and distributed internationally by ITV Studios. It has pre-sold to Dr in Denmark, Nrk in Norway, Yle in Finland, and Ruv in Iceland.

Bernth, the International Emmy and BAFTA award-winning CEO of Apple Tree Productions, former head of drama at Dr, and producer of “The Killing,” will lead production on “Blackwater.” Bernth will take part in a discussion on ITV international productions at Berlinale Series Market on Wednesday, organized by Variety.

“Blackwater” will be adapted for television as a premium crime drama series by Maren Louise Käehne and directed by Pernilla August. Marek Wieser will serve as director of photography and Oscar-winning Anna Asp will handle production design.

Originally published in Sweden in 1993, the...

Reciprocating an exchange which saw Series Mania 2019 Co-Pro Pitching winner “Capturing Big Mouth” participate at this year’s Berlin CoPro Series, German project “Transitniki” will make the return trip to Lille next month, having been selected by Series Mania representatives in Berlin.

From Germany’s Rohfilm Factory, “Transitniki” is set in 1985, behind the Iron Curtain, and tracks groups of thrill-seeking young East Germans, feeling trapped in their own country, who find a way to enter the Soviet Union illegally using transit visas. There, they are able to satiate their desires for travel and adventure in Russia’s untamed wilds.

The series is written by an experienced trio of TV screenwriters in Heide Schwochow, Constantin Lieb and Christian Mackrodt. There is no one creator, no showrunner and no head writer. In fact, when producer Karsten Stöter was putting his writers’ room together, some told him his democratic methodology for screenwriting would never work.

Since “Sons of Denmark’s” world bow at Rotterdam in 2019, Danish writer/director Ulaa Salim and producer Daniel Mühlendorph have enjoyed invites to 50 world festivals, and won nine awards – including best director at Seattle – and distribution in eight territories, negotiated by New Europe Film Sales. Those take in China (Huanxi Films), the U.K./Ireland (Eureka), Benelux (Windmill), Germany (Koch Media), Filmin (Spain), Programestore (France), Windmill (Benelux), Ale Kino (Poland) and Arthouse Traffic (Ukraine).

The partners in the fledging Danish outfit Hyæne Film are at Göteborg’s Nordic Film Market with two titles from recent Danish Film School graduates: Lisa Jespersen’s “Persona non Grata” (“Hvor kragerne vender”) pitched at the work in progress session, and Christian Bengtson’s “Chrysanthemum,” showcased within the Discovery section.

For her debut feature, Jespersen has attracted heavyweight DoP and Lars von Trier’s regular cinematographer Manuel Alberto Claro (“Melancholia”), and an ensemble cast of...

Frederik Louis Hviid and Anders Ølholm’s directorial debut is set in a fictive ghetto outside Copenhagen. The Danish thriller Shorta (“Police” in Arabic) has just wrapped principal photography. The project, directed by duo Frederik Louis Hviid and Anders Ølholm, is set in a fictive ghetto outside the Danish capital. Hviid, a former student at Super16 in Valby, recently directed two episodes of the successful crime TV series Follow the Money, while Ølholm, a graduate of the National Film School, has penned several important Danish productions, such as Fenar Ahmad’s Flow (2014) and Jacob Bitsch’s Letters for Amina (2017). The story, written in its entirety by the young duo, centres on Talib Ben Hassi, a 19-year-old boy whose life hangs by a thread. The exact details of what took place while he was in police custody remain unclear. Police officers Jens and Mike are on routine patrol in the local ghetto.

Danish post-apocalyptic web series “The Rain” has been renewed for a third and final season on Netflix.

“Survival Squad: We’ll see you in 2020 for the third and final season,” the official Twitter account for the series tweeted Tuesday.

Netflix’s official description of the show reads: “The world as we know it has ended. Six years after a brutal virus carried by the rain wipes out almost all humans in Scandinavia, two Danish siblings emerge from the safety of their bunker to find all remnants of civilization gone. Soon they join a group of young survivors and together set out on a danger-filled quest through an abandoned Scandinavia, searching for any sign of life. Set free from their collective past and societal rules, the group has the freedom to be who they want to be. In their struggle for survival, they discover that even in a post-apocalyptic world there’s still love,...

Madrid — André and Maria Jacquemetton, the Emmy and WGA Award-winning writer-producers of AMC’s “Mad Men” and consulting producers on Amazon Studios’ “The Romanoffs,” will serve as Guests of Honor at Series Mania’s Ugc Writers Campus, a workshop whose participants include Denmark’s Christina Miller-Harris and Israel’s Noy Carmel.

The Jacquemettons will deliver a masterclass and help steer workshops. Lorraine Sullivan, the former director of the Berlin Film School’s Serial Eyes, serves as head of studies, Nicola Lusuardi, a story editor and creative producer for Sky Italy, and Christian Rank, head of drama at Denmark’s Dr, serve as tutors. Trainers are Donna Sharpe, a screenwriter on Zdf/Svt’s ambitious English-Language espionage thriller “West of Liberty,” which received a Berlin Drama Series Days Market Screening, and Michaela Sabo.

Made by France’s Series Mania and Ugc Series, the TV production arm of the Ugc Group, the...

Nordic Entertainment Group (Nent Group), the operator of Scandinavia’s leading streaming service Viaplay, has ordered “Cryptid,” the Swedish-language horror series produced by Dramacorp, and Per-Olav Sørensen’s series “Commando” which is based on actual events and set in Norway, Libya and the UK.

“Commando” is an eight-episode series based on the special operation carried on in 2011 which saw Norwegian F-16 fighter jets drop nearly 600 bombs over Libya. The series follows the stories of four women, an F-16 pilot, a journalist, a possible terrorist and a prime minister, exploring the genesis and consequences of the operation. Sørensen is a popular Norwegian filmmaker whose credits include “Quicksand” and “Nobel.”

Written by Jenny Lund Madsen (“Follow the Money”) and Christian Spurrier (“Spooks”),”Commando” is being produced by Trond Håndlykken Kvernstrøm for The Oslo Company and Anders Tangen for Viafilm.

“The immediacy, urgency and powerful visual language of ‘Commando’, including extensive first-person footage from inside an F-16 jet,...

While some had argued that the third season of a series might not be fit to screen at the Berlinale’s Drama Series Days, the major departures in narrative and setting executed in the third and final season of Dr’s “Follow the Money” justify its inclusion.

The first two seasons of the hyper-popular Danish crime series peeked into the boardrooms and office spaces of big banking and focused on white collar crime. In Season 3, the series drops down into the streets, and focuses on how the banks get tied up in drug money laundering.

In addition to critical and audience plaudits, Season 1 of the series scooped Danish Academy Robert Awards for best series, best actor and best supporting actor, while securing three further acting nominations, validating the series’ heavily character-driven plots.

The series is produced, broadcast and sold by Danish public broadcaster Dr, and was commissioned by the company...

Goteborg, Sweden — The BBC has boarded Dr Sales’ “Follow the Money” 3, now bound for Berlinale Series, as Link TV has acquired Seasons 1 and 2 for the U.S.

Season 3 of the Danish crime series “Follow the Money” (“Bedrag”) was acquired ahead of its international premiere at the Berlinale Series by the BBC for the U.K./Ireland, Npb for the Netherlands, Rtp for Portugal and Prava for former Yugoslavia, all on board the first two seasons.

Other territories closed on Seasons 1 and 2 of the series include France (France Televisions) and the U.S. (Link TV). The deals were announced by Maiken Maigaard, sales and acquisition director at Dr Sales.

Season 3 of “Follow the Money,” created and penned by Jeppe Gjervig Gram (“Borgen”),will arrive in Berlin with a trail of rave reviews from the Danish media, following its launch on the Danish public broadcaster in early January.

Described as...

Goteborg, Sweden — After “Borgen” and “Ride Upon the Storm,” Dr Drama’s next ambitious show is a fictional-character driven drama set against a terror attack in a Copenhagen restaurant. Penned by “Dicte” co-creators Ida Maria Rydén and Dorte W. Høgh, the series explores the lives of eight characters before and after the attack, and how their lives and fates interweave.

“When the Dust Settles” will be pitched at Göteborg’s TV Drama Vision (Jan. 30-31) as a work in progress.

Inspired by Altman’s “Short Cuts,” “When the Dust Settles” is among the first multi-plot structured Danish shows. “The Team”’s Stinna Lassen is producing for Dr Drama. Conducting the show is concept director Milad Alami.

“First I found the story to have believable characters; they felt like real people you pass on the street, with diverse social background, sexual orientation, race and age. Alami told Variety, explaining why he was on board.

‘Safe Harbour’

The UK’s BBC4 has acquired Matchbox Pictures’ Safe Harbour, the four-part psychological thriller directed by Glendyn Ivin and produced by Stephen Corvini.

That is the second major deal for the Sbs-commissioned show after Hulu bought the Us rights last year, where it premiered as a Hulu Original series.

The BBC acquired the series, which starred Ewen Leslie, Phoebe Tonkin, Jacqueline McKenzie, Leeanna Walsman, Joel Jackson, Nicole Chamoun, Hazem Shammas and Robert Rabiah, from NBCUniversal International Distribution.

It follows six friends on a yacht who encounter a stricken vessel carrying refugees during a voyage from Brisbane to Indonesia, scripted by Belinda Chayko (who also served as the showrunner), Matt Cameron and Phil Enchelmaier.

BBC4 also picked up returning shows including Icelandic crime series Trapped , Danish drama Follow the Money and Entertainment One’s Cardinal.

Channel editor Cassian Harrison said the deals show that BBC4 “continues to fire on all cylinders,...

The BBC has bolstered its international drama lineup, acquiring Australian limited series “Safe Harbour” and inking deals for new seasons of shows from Canada, France and Iceland. The shows will all run on the U.K. pubcaster’s BBC Four channel.

“Safe Harbour” is a psychological thriller that played on pubcaster Sbs in Australia. It follows a group of six friends on a yacht trip from Brisbane to Indonesia. When they come to the aid of a group of asylum seekers, it leads to a series of events that change all of their lives.

The show is made by NBCUniversal-backed Australian producer Matchbox Pictures and is sold by NBCUniversal International Distribution, which did the BBC deal.

The BBC has also picked up the sophomore season of Canadian crime drama “Cardinal” from distributor Entertainment One. It plays on CTV domestically.

BBC viewers with a penchant for non-English-language drama will get...

Selection includes TV series from UK, Sweden, Austria, France, Germany, Israel and Denmark.

The Berlin International Film Festival (February 7 – 17) has unveiled the seven TV titles set to be screened in this year’s Berlinale Series programme.

Among the line-up is Amazon’s Hanna written by David Farr, who co-wrote the 2011 film of the same name. It is directed by Sarah Adina Smith, whose film credits include Buster Mal’s Heart, which starred Rami Malek. Hanna stars Esmé Creed-Miles, Joel Kinnaman and Mireille Enos. NBCUniversal International Studios is producing alongside Working Title Television.

Also in the selection is Netflix’s first Swedish original series Quicksand,...

Amazon’s Hanna and Netflix’s Swedish drama Quicksand are among the show that will launch at the TV portion of the Berlin Film Festival.

The adaptation of Hanna, which is produced by NBC Universal International Studios and Working Title TV, will bring stars including Joel Kinnaman and Mireille Enos as well as newcomer Esmé Creed-Miles to the city for Berlinale Series.

Netflix’s Störst av allt (Quicksand), which is the Svod’s first Swedish original and stars Hanna Ardéhn and Felix Sandman, is also coming to the Zoo Palast, alongside Sky-backed German drama 8 Days, the second season of Keshet’s Israeli drama False Flag and the third season of Danish money laundering drama Follow the Money.

Four episodes of French time-traveling drama Il était une seconde fois (Twice Upon A Time) will screen, while Austrian drama M – A City Hunts a Murderer, which is David Schalko’s...

Amazon Prime Video’s upcoming high-concept thriller “Hanna” will debut at the 2019 Berlinale Series, with its stars – Esme Creed-Miles, Joel Kinnaman and Mireille Enos – expected in Berlin for its premiere. Netflix also features in the lineup and will debut “Quicksand,” its first Swedish original.

A roster of seven shows also includes big-ticket Sky Germany disaster series “8 Days,” the second season of hit Israeli drama “False Flag,” and an Austrian thriller, “M – A City Hunts a Murderer,” inspired by a 1930s Fritz Lang classic. There are also high-end shows out of France and Denmark at the fifth edition of Berlinale Series.

The Berlinale Series and Drama Series Days, held in the German capital in February alongside the film festival, are fast becoming a fixture on the crowded calendar of international TV events.

Amazon’s “Hanna” is written by David Farr, who adapted John Le Carre’s spy novel “The Night Manager...

Link TV, the national independent non-commercial satellite television network, has launched a comprehensive rebranding initiative, Variety has learned exclusively.

The network debuted a new brand ID system and programming strategy for its channel available nationally to 35 million subscribers of Dish Network (Channel 9410) and DirecTV (Channel 375) as part of their basic packages.

Created in conjunction with the Swedish design agency Bold Scandinavia, the new brand experience spearheaded by Link TV’s creative director Hiawatha Bradley speaks to a globally engaged audience with new creative that includes an updated corporate logo, new on-air graphics packages, video sizzles, brand IDs and interstitials, promos and a new color palette. All elements are unified by the new tagline “A World of Difference.” The new branding will be incorporated throughout Link TV’s media ecosystem, including its website, social media, and Ott platforms.

Along with the new graphic treatment, Link TV will launch key programming initiatives including the U.

Mtg’s streaming service Viaplay has ordered a second season of its original series “The Great Escape,” a Swedish format which was named Children’s Program of the Year at last year’s Kristallen Awards.

“‘The Great Escape’ follows a Christmas calendar format, with a new episode released every day from Dec.1 to Christmas Eve, and is produced in Swedish, Norwegian and Danish versions. Beppe Singer, Ole André Sivertsen and Niels Christian Meyer headline a local cast in each respective country.

The series is being produced by Nexiko, a Stockholm-based production company, for Viaplay.

Jakob Mejlhede, Mtg’s exec VP and head of programming and content development,” said “The Great Escape” has sparked a “huge demand from kids and parents for a second season.”

“Thousands of budding young scientists across the Nordic region can’t be wrong – mixing creative experiments with a dramatic storyline is a winning formula,” said Mejlhede,...

Scandinavian digital entertainment group Mtg Studios is partnering with Red Arrow International to co-produce international drama series Embassy Down. Created and written by hot Danish scribe Anders Frithiof August (The Legacy, Follow The Money), the eight-part political thriller will be made mainly in English with local languages incorporated. It’s slotted to premiere in the Nordics in 2018 on Mtg's video streaming service Viaplay. Red Arrow is leading the co-financing…...

Projects backed by Nordic funding bodies range from the next disaster film by the writers of The Wave to a documentary reconstructing the Utoya massacre.

The Norwegian Film Institute’s latest funding round includes $1.82m (Nok 15m) to Kon-Tiki co-director Espen Sandberg’s new film Roald Amundsen, a biopic of the titular Arctic explorer.

The $9m (Nok 75m) production is produced by Espen Horn and Kristian Sinkerud for Motion Blur Films.

The Nfi also awarded $1.7m (Nok 13.9m) to John Andreas Andersen’s The Quake (Skjelvet), written by The Wave writers Harald Rosenløw Eeg and John Kåre Raake.

The film is inspired by a 1904 earthquake in Oslo. Martin Sundland and Are Heidenstrøm of Fantefilm Fiction (also behind The Wave) produce the $6.3m (Nok 52.1m) production.

Andersen makes his solo directorial debut after working as a cinematographer on films such as The Snowman and Headhunters.

Sweden

In Sweden, the Swedish Film Institute has backed 23 projects in its latest...