TV Drama June/July 2023

Truth-Based Dramas / Behind the Scenes of Cannes Confidential Inter Medya’s Can Okan

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Lost in the Shuffle

I’ve been telling anyone who will listen that they absolutely must make time to watch Jubilee on Prime Video. The response has largely been, “What’s that?”

CONTENTS

CANNES CONFIDENTIAL

Stars Lucie Lucas, Jamie Bamber and Tamara Marthe offer up an inside look at the new European crime procedural.

Now I know that even though peak TV has peaked, there is still a shocking number of scripted TV shows for one to sample. So I guess I shouldn’t be expecting everyone to have heard of Prime Video’s lush, stunning drama set against the backdrop of the early days of Indian cinema. But given how long it took me to discover it, and I actively seek out new Indian dramas to watch on a regular basis, I’m beginning to think that the platforms aren’t doing the best job of making sure that the shows they’re spending a lot of money on to deploy globally are actually being sampled globally. It never came up in my recommendations—I maintain that those algorithms are deeply flawed—and I’m fairly certain I was scrolling for a long, long time before I saw the thumbnail in Prime’s long list of originals. Addressing subscriber erosion at Disney+ last month, Disney CEO Bob Iger alluded to the abundance of content being made by the streamers—and the need to be “surgical” in the months ahead. Will beautiful, expensive pieces like Jubilee , which perhaps have niche appeal, still get made? And if they do, will they even be discovered? —Mansha

TRUE COLORS

Distributors and producers share the keys to creating and selling dramas inspired by real stories.

INTER MEDYA’S CAN OKAN

The Turkish distributor is finding success with a new generation of miniseries as well as long-running hits.

LEONINE Studios

Bonn / The Seed / Troppo

LEONINE Studios’ Bonn charts the true untold story of a young woman’s struggle to find her place in a male-dominated society amid the battle between Germany’s separate intelligence agencies formed after WWII. In the thriller The Seed, two detectives searching for a missing journalist in Norway’s Arctic wastes find their lives on the line when they uncover a conspiracy of global proportions. The crime drama Troppo centers on ex-police detective Ted Conkaffey, who is drawn into the criminal cases of an eccentric private investigator.

Onza Distribution

Godless John / Forever / Parot

Based on a sexual abuse scandal in Brazil, Godless John leads the drama highlights from Onza Distribution. Forever is a telenovela about the mysterious life of Pedro, who was abandoned as a child and grew up in a church. The only thing that has ever made sense to him is his first love, Clara. Parot is a psychological thriller about criminals released after the annulment of the Parot legal doctrine. It features “strong characters, which raise a social debate about justice, the limits of forgiving and reinsertion” into society, says Béatrice Nouh, head of sales.

“Forever presents a story of love, betrayal and unexpected plot twists.”

—Béatrice Nouh

ORF-Enterprise Days That Never Were / Azra (Tatort)

In Days That Never Were , which leads ORF- Enterprise’s drama slate, an accident suddenly turns into a murder case and the friendship of four women who have known each since their school days is tested. There are eight episodes available, each 48 minutes long. The 90- minute film Azra, part of the Tatort franchise, centers on an investigation into the crime boss Tariel Tasic. The case ends up in jeopardy when the detectives’ informant fails to appear, leading to a dangerous search that pits the investigators against Tasic’s organization.

ZDF Studios

Top Dog / Clean Sweep / The Swarm

ZDF Studios’ spring and summer drama catalog features a second season of Top Dog, which comes from the producers of Bron. The series focuses on the clash between a Stockholm business attorney and a Södertälje ex-con. In Clean Sweep, an unassuming wife and mother makes a fatal choice to prevent a dark secret from her past from being exposed as detectives, including her husband, close in on her. The Swarm follows as a group of international scientists rush to discover what is causing strange happenings in the world’s oceans.

Cannes Confidential

Set against the backdrop of Cannes, France, Acorn TV’s Cannes Confidential weaves together a classic storyof-the-week procedural and an intriguing underlying arc. The six-episode series, from Midsomer Murders creator Chris Murray, centers on the relationship between idealistic, local underdog cop Camille Delmasse, played by Lucie Lucas (Clem), and ex-conman Harry King, played by Jamie Bamber (Marcella, Battlestar Galactica), who form an unlikely crimefighting partnership.

The series debuts on Acorn TV in North America, New Zealand, Australia and the U.K. on June 26.

Lucas, Bamber and fellow star Tamara Marthe all note that they were drawn to the series because of the writing. “Our characters are really rich and subtle,” Lucas says. “I think the viewers [will] feel a real attachment to them.”

What drew Bamber in was “the dialogue, the relationship between Lucie’s character and my character, and it reminded me of shows I grew up watching, like Moonlighting.”

Each episode features a different murder investigation, while moving forward the underlying story. “Fundamentally, it’s a drama about family,” Bamber says. “It’s about Camille, who is from a family of police officers. Her dad was the head chief of police in Cannes and now finds himself incarcerated for a corruption scandal.”

“The crux of the show is there is this tacit deal between [Camille and Harry],” Bamber continues. “He’s got a shady past. He says, I know how to get your dad out of prison; I know what’s going on there. Because he’s got hands in many different areas. They have this sort of bargain, which is combative bargaining at the beginning, but gradually they grow to trust each other.”

The procedural element combined with the season-long story arc allows the series to work for multiple platforms. With linear TV, “it’s very advantageous to [broadcasters] to have a closed story each week that every viewer can get into, can jump aboard,” Bamber says. “We’re also on Acorn TV. We’re on a platform, where, actually, it’s probably more advantageous to give the audience something that they can continue with in their own time. We’re doing two things at once.”

“ Fundamentally, it’s a drama about family . ” —Jamie Bamber

True Colors

Distributors and producers share the keys to creating and selling dramas inspired by real stories.

Real life can sometimes prove to be stranger and more inspiring than fiction. While documentaries are the obvious format for telling a true story, broadcasters and streamers have been finding success with dramas that fictionalize real events, especially those that have taken place in more recent history.

“Audiences have be en consuming and enjoying true-crime drama for many years, and the expansion into historical events is

a natural extension to this,” notes Simon Cox, executive VP of content and acquisitions at Banijay Rights, which counts among its catalog Bali 2002, about the 2002 terrorist attacks in Indonesia, and Stonehouse, about disgraced Labour politician John Stonehouse.

“Events in living history provide audiences with insight into worlds they have only had glimpses of on the news, expanding into these environments through the small screen,” Cox says.

“Viewers can more easily identify with stories that happened in real life,” adds Helge Köhnen, head of content sales at Bavaria Media International, distributor of The Heart of Cape Town, an event drama telling the story of the first heart transplant in 1967.

“When it’s authentic, a story hits even harder,” says Pablo Salzman, president of Connect3 Media, producer of the Cineflix Rights-distributed film Sugar , centered on the Cocaine Cowgirls, two influencers who were pulled into a drug smuggling operation. “There’s always been a fascination with stories inspired by real events, especially in the true-crime space. Wrapped in strong, dramatic storytelling, audiences enjoy learning about key characters and events.”

“When the story seems unbelievable, or so huge, and you learn that it is indeed true—or inspired by true events—it changes the way you look at it,” notes Béatrice Nouh, head of sales at Onza Distribution. “It gives it authenticity.”

“Any drama’s success is rooted in the original true story.” —Tom Misselbrook

Of course, the obvious difference between a documentary and a truth-based drama is that the latter requires more than just an interesting story; it needs a full-fledged intriguing script with wellwritten characters, which may require some embellishment, all the executives say. When basing programs on recent historical events, those involved may still be around, and this is something writers must take into consideration when adding elements to the stories.

TRUTH BE TOLD

Banijay Rights’ Cox notes that the company ensures that “the level of embellishment is appropriate and respectful. Each story is thoroughly researched to ensure accuracy and authenticity. For example, the involvement of Bali bombing survivor Polly Miller in the creative process for Bali 2002 really established a truthful and realistic representation of the events of that tragic time. Drama still needs to be entertaining but also respectful of the past and the truth, as well as those involved.”

Bavaria Media’s The Heart of Cape Town delves deeper into the historical event than ever before and tells the story of those who were overlooked in the past. Christian Popp, CEO of Producers at Work and producer of the film, says, “ The Heart of Cape Town is not just about the 20th century’s milestone event of the first heart transplant. It also tells the story about people

in the shadow of this historical event. The life of Hamilton Naki, who, as a Black man in an Apartheid state, secretly helped prepare the first heart operation in Cape Town, can’t be found in medical history books. The fact that women in Germany had no career opportunities in surgery because of their gender, like our fictional character Dr. Lisa Scheel, is a historical side note, too. ”

FACT VS. FICTION

“These fates must be told in a film to give them voices,” even if a made-up character must be used to do so, Popp adds. “Fictionalizing true events is always a fine line between fiction and truth.”

Onza Distribution’s Nouh notes that “one of the first precautions is to say that [a project] is inspired by true events; that not everything is real.” For Godless John, about “John of God,” a notorious sexual predator in Brazil, she says that they took the testimonies of hundreds of women into account but that many characters,

particularly those working in John’s spiritual health center, were fictional.

Ultimately, though, “the key to the international success of any drama is having a good script,” Banijay Rights’ Cox says. “In the real-story genre, the theme or story has to have a level of relevance or relatability for a global audience. Even the smallest of stories with the most unusual storylines can travel if the key themes are relatable.”

It does help, however, if the story being told is already somewhat known to the public. “Any drama’s success is rooted in the original true story, particularly one that is wellknown and in the public domain,” says Tom Misselbrook, senior VP of scripted sales and development at Sugar distributor Cineflix Rights. Then, it is amplified by the characters and themes within the story.

As an example, he says Sugar “is an extraordinary story about two young women who were unwittingly lured into trafficking a large amount of cocaine into Australia via a cruise ship, which made headlines across the world. At the center of it are two women, seemingly naive and out of their depth, but it also

“When the story seems unbelievable and you learn that it is indeed true, it changes the way you look at it.”

—Béatrice Nouh

explores some really interesting themes, from the price of fame through the prism of social media to identity and sexuality.”

With the development of every project, Sugar producer Salzman says he and his team consider how the story would make waves. “We often ask ourselves if it would make good conversation at a dinner party. Is it noisy? Is it something you would bring up?”

Dramas based on real events fit the bill, with viewers eager to share the unbelievable real stories they watch on the screen.

Nouh adds that “in the case of Godless John, we are talking about a major sexual scandal, with hundreds of women affected in a renowned spiritual center that received visits from everywhere. Even people like Bill Clinton and Oprah Winfrey visited the center, which makes it particularly captivating.”

“In an age where you can Google everything, the power of stories inspired by real events has only grown,” Salzman adds. “For broadcasters and platforms, it’s important to get people talking and curious about a new series.” And expanding on a true story that previously made headlines is a surefire way for platforms to intrigue and draw in audiences.

Can Okan Inter Medya

Can Okan founded Inter Medya in 1992 and initially focused on Turkish feature films, first for the domestic market and later extending into Eastern Europe, Russia and other international territories. Through the years, he expanded into longrunning dramas, Turkish telenovelas, which developed loyal audiences, first in the Middle East and North Africa and then Latin America and the U.S. Hispanic market. In 2016, Inter Medya began developing and producing entertainment, reality and game-show formats and, more recently, “new generation Turkish series,” shorter-run miniseries. These dramas, which have proven very popular, have allowed the company to reach new platforms and viewers. Okan talks to TV Drama about the strategy behind the new generation series.

TV DRAMA: In the past year, Inter Medya has moved into miniseries. Why was that important?

OKAN: When we decided to move into the production business, we did not want to have a conflict of interest with producers who are our suppliers. So we said, instead of producing traditional long-running Turkish dramas, let’s go into

production of titles made for the OTT platforms. We are also going into preproduction on two feature films, where, again, there is no clash or conflict of interest with any third party. That’s how the whole journey started.

These miniseries are much faster-paced than Turkish dramas; they are edgier and even sexier. When Naked started streaming, on its fourth day, it became number one among viewers.

In a country like Brazil, with 300 million people, being number three on its fourth day is a big success. Tainted Love started streaming, which is again a short-form series, and it has been number one on the platform. I’m very proud of it. This means that not only the long-running Turkish series are successful, but the miniseries, the ones that we call “new generation Turk ish series,” are going to be a big success.

TV DRAMA: Have miniseries brought you new clients?

OKAN: We have seen a lot of interest from Western European and Nordic companies, streaming platforms and also from English-speaking U.S. and Canada. These are different territories from Latin America or U.S. Hispanic or Central and Eastern Europe, where Turkish content is already very strong.

“These miniseries are much fasterpaced than Turkish dramas; they are edgier and even sexier.”

TV DRAMA: In May 2022, you closed a co-production deal with Telemundo. How has that been progressing?

OKAN: It’s going very well. In January, we finished the first series, Hicran . We’re handling international distribution, and sales are going quite well. We are in production for the second one, Blue Cage , which started during MIPCOM 2022 and finished at the end of April. Delivery will take place in June 2023, and Telemundo is planning on airing it in the U.S. Things may change, but most probably the first broadcasters of Blue Cage will be in either Israel or the Mid dle East, even before Telemundo.

TV DRAMA: How are you keeping up with rising production costs?

OKAN: It is quite tough. All costs have increased not only because of the inflation rate but also because of the new big international players that entered the market. They overpaid all the talent, writers, directors and crews. Once you reach a certain level, you can’t go back down. But still, with our good relations and amazing team, we can continue to produce. As I said, we are going to begin production on two feature films

soon and two miniseries. One will start shooting by the end of summer 2023, and the other one probably by February 2024.

TV DRAMA: What demand do you see in the market? Are buyers being more cautious?

OKAN: In certain territories, some broadcasters that had been weak on the production side have started producing themselves. So, on the one hand, demand in some countries has gone down, but we are still opening up new territories, which balances revenues. Also, in some regions, the economic situation is not that good, and prices go down. While in others, prices go up because of the success of the content and the numbers increase, so again, it balances out. I cannot complain because, in some cases, we are getting less, while in others, we are getting more; so there is always a balance.