Content London Drama Series Pitch

Reflecting Content London’s role as a development market, this year’s Drama Series Pitch features six projects from producers in Ireland, Iceland, Germany, France, Israel and the US, all looking for finance and chosen to present their projects to the panel of judges. The winning project will be announced at the International Drama Awards, which takes place in Hall 1 at 6pm on Thursday. The winning project will also receive a £30,000 marketing package from C21Media to support development and pre-sales promotion of the show. This year’s projects are:

Video Nasty (6x30’)

Deadpan Pictures Genre: Comedy-drama. Creator: Hugh Travers This Irish series takes a nostalgic look at the home video craze of the 1980s as a group of teenagers accidentally find themselves in a murder investigation. This original project nods to the current trend for young-adult content while tapping into period nostalgia for older demos, and has been developed by Ireland’s Deadpan Pictures, known for Sky’s comedy drama Moone Boy. The show is developed with the BBC and US-based Endeavor Content and has just gone into turnaround at the UK pubcaster. With the series being introduced at Content London, Deadpan is hoping the show will attract broadcasters and/or streamers.

Vaka (8x45’)

Saga Film Genre: Sci-fi thriller. Creator: Brynja Björk Garðarsdóttir This piece from Iceland’s Saga Film is sure to strike a chord with people all over the world. The series looks at the immediate impact of Covid-19 on human thinking and cooperation around the globe. Funding is coming from local broadcaster Síminn, with hopefully more to come from the Nordisk TV Fund, Creative Europe’s MEDIA initiative and the Icelandic Film Centre. Saga is keen to bring on coproduction and distribution partners to get the series off the ground. With ‘vaka’ meaning awake or sober in Icelandic, Saga feels the eight-parter with limited dialogue can be sold anywhere in the world.

Uneasy Lies the Head (10x60’)

Participant Media Genre: Period drama The Jordanian equivalent of The Crown, this global show tells the real-life story of the country’s long-reigning monarch King Hussein. The show, intended as a returnable series, provides an authentic view of the Middle East away from the terrorism-focused news and will cover Hussein’s 47-year reign over the country from the age of 17. With a good selection of talent on board, the show is made by US prodco Participant Media and comes from existing IP. US documentary maker and director Ali Selim (Hand of God, The Looming Tower) is on board to write the bible.

Body of Water (8x52’)

ZDF Enterprises Genre: Crime drama. Creator: Brendan Foley This crime drama is currently seeking further finance and its producers are at Content London looking for coproduction partners. Filmed across international locations with a range of actors, the show brings together five countries. Far from being just another crime show, the series covers various river-based murders in London and Venice that all share a common link in Ancient Egyptian foundation sacrifice. Many of the characters are unaware of each other due to the international web of perpetrators involved. Writer and showrunner Brendan Foley’s credits include Johnny Was (2005), The Riddle (2006) and toon Shelldon (2010).

The Land of a Thousand Hills (6x60’)

Wild Horses Drama Genre: Thriller. Creators: Nicolas Deprost and Tamara Aihie This French series from a Nigerian writer will be produced in the English language for the global market, and goes back in time to postcivil war Rwanda in 1994. Aimed not just at the African market but taking advantage of the growth in demand for content from the continent, producers are confident the global market will also want to see this miniseries. The show has a detailed financial plan with some already confirmed but most of it not yet sealed. The show balances telling the important story of the post-war troubles in Rwanda but through the eyes of the women who experienced it first-hand.

Shlomi 6 (10x45’)

Nawi Pro Genre: Crime drama. Creator: Hen Makhlouf Originally commissioned by Israeli broadcaster Hot, the show has some financing in place and while about football, has enough other drama to appeal to all. The scripted series focuses on two teenage footballers who are cousins trying to make it to Europe. Through a series of unfortunate events, however, they wind up complicit in the dangerous underbelly of the sport. Both adults and young adults will relate to this show, which is as-yet unseen on the global market. Tel Avaiv-based Nawi Pro is at Content London actively seeking further partners and financing.

Pitch perfect

Six scripted projects, whittled down from more than 50 submissions from 23 countries, will be pitched live at Content London today. Here we outline the projects that will be seeking fi nancial and other partners.

The C21 Drama Series Pitch takes place today at 11am in Hall 3.

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