StarzPlay’s Superna Kalle is after edgy content in Europe and Latin America

StarzPlay, the Lionsgate-backed international streamer, has sex and violence on the mind in Europe and Latin America as it rides the international content boom. Superna Kalle, president of international networks, spoke to Nico Franks.

Not so long ago, StarzPlay was the magpie of the international TV business, picking up hidden gems from third parties and dubbing them for subscribers in markets such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Spain, the UK and India.

This content would supplement the premium drama on the service from its US cablenet sibling Starz, home to shows such as Outlander, Power Book II: Ghost and strip club drama P-Valley. But now StarzPlay is a fully fledged commissioner of its own original series, a strategy being led by Superna Kalle, president of international networks at Starz.

This push means Kalle is convinced she has the “best job in the world right now” due to the clamour around international content, driven in large part by Netflix and the success it has seen with global hits such as Money Heist, Squid Game and Lupin, a particular favourite of Kalle’s.

So far, StarzPlay has teamed up with the likes of TF1, StudioCanal, Canal+, Mediapro, Pantaya, Fremantle, Fabula and Bambu on French- and Spanish-language originals such as A French Case, All Those Things We Never Said, Express, Señorita Mexico, Toda la Sangre and Nacho Vidal: An Industry XXXL.

If there’s one word that unites these series, set in worlds varying from murderous beauty pageants and kidnapping to the adult film industry and serial killers, it’s “edgy,” says Kalle.

The only outlier would be All Those Things We Never Said, based on French author Marc Levy’s romantic comedy of the same name, which avoids dark underworlds but nevertheless still manages to include a quirky fantasy twist.

StarzPlay is now available in 60 countries around the world and, depending on where you are, you’ll either associate it with wholesome family-friendly fare, in markets such as the Middle East, North Africa and India, or the complete opposite if you’re watching in Europe or Latin America.

In the latter two regions, StarzPlay “leans very heavily into women, sex, violence, crime thrillers and vice – things you would not normally find on broadcast television, so absolutely nothing is family-friendly. You definitely do not want to watch this with your children or grandparents around,” warns Kalle.

This content sits alongside US imports such as Power Book II: Ghost, Power Book III: Raising Kanan and Black Mafia Family, which stem from Starz’s targeting of African American audiences stateside and also strikes a chord with black viewers in France, Brazil and the UK, says Kalle.

The exec is being supported in StarzPlay’s European originals push by consultants in Madrid, Peter Tortorici and Mireia Acosta, as well as a team in the UK capital, where LA-based Kalle is in town today to speak at Content London.

Partnerships on premium dramas with high production values are key to StarzPlay’s originals push and its preference with copros is to have the first window in the home country, although exceptions can be made.

Every deal is different and StarzPlay is open to a multitude of agreements, from bringing in Lionsgate as a worldwide distributor to only taking an original in a specific market and leaving the rest to its copro partner.

Russia, China and parts of South-East Asia, meanwhile, remain without StarzPlay, so it has no need for rights in these markets. For example, StarzPlay will be first to release All Those Things We Never Said in the UK, Ireland, Germany and German-speaking Europe, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain, Italy and Latin America, including Brazil.

However, it has second-run distribution in France, where Canal+ will launch the show, along with Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Hungary, Frenchspeaking Africa, Myanmar and Vietnam, with StudioCanal holding rights to the series for the rest of the world.

The ideal format is 8x60’, Kalle adds, and StarzPlay tends to debut episodes weekly, rather than making them all available at the same time to allow binging. Meanwhile, originals in languages other than French and Spanish are on their way, promises Kalle, who adds she is on the lookout for a “whodunnit.” But given StarzPlay’s propensity for sex and violence, don’t expect it to be an Agatha Christie adaptation.

P-Valley

Starz vehicle

Superna Kalle