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TANDEM SPECIAL REPORT
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TANDEM at 15 For the last 15 years, Tandem has firmly established itself as a key provider of high-quality drama to the global market, always focusing on casts and stories that resonate with international audiences. Run by three seasoned production executives—its founders Rola Bauer, President, and Tim Halkin, COO, together with Jonas Bauer, Executive VP—Tandem has been a pioneer in its approach to co-productions for event miniseries like The Pillars of the Earth and World Without End. Today, with the support of its majority shareholder, STUDIOCANAL, Tandem is driving expansion into the one-hour drama series space. Rola Bauer discusses Tandem’s evolution over the last 15 years. supply the international market with highend long-forms that broadcasters could create an event around. As several others did, we chased after Ken Follett for years to option his bestselling masterpiece The Pillars of the Earth. Follett had pushed back on all theatrical offers, finding the format too limited for the richness of his book and held out for a solid commitment of a longer limited series, which we offered. We then succeeded in optioning the book rights for Pillars. We continued this adventure with our coproducing partner, Scott Free, hoping to pioneer a new way of producing television on a global basis without depending on having the first key broadcaster out of the U.S. Along with my partners Tim Halkin and Jonas Bauer, we decided to take this pioneering and entrepreneurial decision when the NASDAQ had crashed and the German Neuer Markt had literally folded and we needed a $40-million production budget to create the kind of eight-hour Jonas Bauer, Rola Bauer and Tim Halkin event that not only the book deserved, but that would have a cinematic quality to it. With French, German, Spanish and Canadian partWS: What have been some of Tandem’s milestones ners on board, we still went into production with an since its formation in 1999? $8 million gap and the hope that our years of combined BAUER: Everyone talks about protecting the story, and experience would enable us to create a program that we that is why the most satisfying achievement is when you could later sell into the U.S. market and not only cover can successfully bring creative talent, and ultimately the our deficit, but also make a profit. Two years of developproductions, into the global arena. And for us, it always ment and production and sleepless nights later, that risk starts with the writing—telling the best possible stories we took did actually pay off: Starz supported the prowith interesting and well-developed characters. gram and enabled it to become a three-time Golden After Tandem had it first major success with a homeGlobe-nominated and an Emmy Award-winning show. grown limited series, Ring of the Nibelungs, commisIn addition, the show was hugely successful for the sioned by Channel 4 in the U.K., Sat.1 in Germany and European and Canadian partners. Syfy in the U.S., we realized that we had satisfied a need That paved the way to produce the sequel World in the market that the U.S. was no longer providing. That Without End with a $46-million production budget. encouraged us to build on this success and continue to
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Tandem is coming to MIPCOM with a slate that includes the second season of Crossing Lines; the new crime series Sex, Lies and Handwriting, co-produced with Lionsgate; and the drama series Spotless, produced for CANAL+ Création Originale.
Almost three years ago, Tandem was approached by two studios, one in the U.S. and one in Europe, interested in making a strategic acquisition into Tandem. We spoke intensely with both, but were ultimately convinced to enter into a relationship with a major European studio. That is when STUDIOCANAL became Tandem’s majority shareholder. This happened at a time when the international market was in need of procedural series as the hugely successful U.S. versions were coming to an end and that market was not showing signs of gearing up for the next generation of this genre. With STUDIOCANAL, we were now able to enter the narrative of one-hour drama very quickly. We wanted to create a show that focused on the very real and dangerous situation in Europe of criminals being able to escape justice simply by crossing over borders. Ed Bernero immediately saw the similarity to the historical situation in the U.S. before the inception of the FBI. Europe still has no proactive law enforcement agency that can effectively handle cross-border crimes and bring these criminals to justice. Crossing Lines, our first one-hour series, has a familiarity to audiences worldwide who have enjoyed U.S. procedural series and is set in recognizable locations. For the U.S., the narrative is very familiar, however the locations are exotic. We worked hard to attract a cast like William Fichtner, Marc Lavoine and Donald Sutherland. In our second season, we were able to secure recurring guest stars Carrie-Anne Moss and Ray Stevenson. This past summer, we began production on our second one-hour drama series since joining the STUDIOCANAL family: Spotless, for the prestigious CANAL+ Création Originale [banner]. This is a unique and dark drama, peppered with black humor, shooting on-location in London and starring Marc-André Grondin, Denis Ménochet, Miranda Raison and Brendan Coyle. The co-creators, BAFTA Award-winner Ed McCardie and Academy Award-winner Corinne Marrinan, have dreamed up a story line and characters which are so special and unique. Our third one-hour drama, Sex, Lies and Handwriting, based on Michelle Dresbold’s book, is a coproduction with Lionsgate. We are currently in develop-
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ment at ABC in the U.S., TF1 in France, Sat.1 in Germany and Bell Media in Canada, with a targeted start of principal photography in early 2015. This is a totally new take on the crime genre that follows the exploits of Katie Pratt, an accomplished artist and forensic handwriting expert—with her own newspaper column on the subject. Katie also happens to possess all the genius of Sherlock Holmes and is drawn into the world of crime-solving because of her extraordinary skills. The problem is that Katie is very much a “fish out of water” on a crime scene—she is awkward and out of her comfort zone. Complicating matters further is the fact that these very same skills which prove so helpful in fighting crime are an absolute disaster for her love life. Tandem has always and continues to represent thirdparty distribution. One of the major highlights of this year is our new relationship with producer, writer and showrunner Frank Spotnitz. We have a first-look distribution deal with him and his company, Big Light Productions, and in addition have three projects we are co-producing with him. Frank represents the perfect example of the highly respected top-tier talent with whom we wish to work. In addition to his writing talent, he is a highly esteemed creative executive producer. Among the third-party distribution projects that we’ll be presenting at MIPCOM is Pirate’s Passage, an animated movie co-produced, co-written and starring the voice talent of Donald Sutherland. The look and style of the production, to be unveiled for the first time at the show, was inspired by the Oscar-winning Japanese animation legend Hayao Miyazaki. Pirate’s Passage, based on an award-winning adventure novel, is about a boy coming of age, learning self-reliance and grit in overcoming his adversities. The book, written by William Gilkerson, resonated with Donald in a very personal manner—he is passionate about the story. WS: What gives Tandem an edge over its competitors in the drama co-production business? BAUER: We’ve been producing with this business model since the beginning of Tandem and have established a strong track record with it. Our long-term relationships, experience in producing international co-pros, and our
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Incredibly proud to have been part of your first 15 years
WORLD WITHOUT END THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH THE COMPANY Congratulations from Ridley, David and your friends at Scott Free
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Big-budget event miniseries are a specialty at Tandem, led by The Pillars of the Earth, World Without End and Labyrinth.
history of high-end productions with cinematic quality have established confidence and trust among our partners and clients. WS: Tell me about the synergies you can now pursue with STUDIOCANAL. BAUER: There are so many synergies, such as remake rights from the vast STUDIOCANAL library, producing originals for CANAL+ and co-productions with our “cousins” in the TV production unit, RED Production
Company and SAM, all of which we are presently doing. In addition, we are already in co-production with RED in the development of a format idea for the U.S. and German market. With STUDIOCANAL we’ve set a benchmark to increase the program hours that we produce and sell per year. This will include increasing our output in all of Tandem’s departments: originals, co-productions, third-party distribution and remakes from STUDIOCANAL and STUDIOCANAL companies.
1999 Rola Bauer and Tim Halkin launch Tandem and soon enter co- 2008 The book rights to Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth are optioned, pro deals for Relic Hunter and Frank Herbert’s DUNE.
and production begins on Lost City Raiders for Syfy and IMPACT for ABC.
2000 Tandem enters a multiyear TV distribution deal with Lionsgate. 2009 Production begins on The Pillars of the Earth and Tandem signs up as a partner on the Patricia Cornwell adaptations. 2001 Tandem expands its co-pro slate and takes on additional third-party fare in When Dinosaurs Roamed America. DUNE wins two Emmy Awards. 2010 The Pillars of the Earth begins its worldwide rollout while 2002 Tandem begins development on Ring of the Nibelungs and Tandem options the rights to the sequel World Without End. begins working with James Cameron on the production of Vision and 2011 STUDIOCANAL takes a majority stake in Tandem. Pillars wins an the distribution of Expedition Bismarck.
2003 Production begins on Ring of the Nibelungs as well as the Syfy TV movie P.I.: Post Impact.
Emmy, 4 Canadian Screen Awards and is nominated for three Golden Globes. The company begins developing its fourth miniseries, Labyrinth, based on Kate Mosse's best-seller. Production begins on World Without End.
2012 Tandem greenlights its first one-hour crime procedural, 2004 Jonas Bauer joins the Tandem team. Crossing Lines, developed in partnership with Ed Bernero. 2005 Tandem receives several Emmy nominations for its Discovery 2013 Crossing Lines has its world premiere at the Monte-Carlo doc Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real, while Ring of Nibelungs picks up the DIVA Award for most successful TV movie. A co-pro pact is inked for the CBS miniseries Covert One: The Hades Factor.
2006 Tandem strikes a co-financing and distribution deal with Mandalay Television for the Nora Roberts franchise, encompassing four TV movies for Lifetime. 2007 Jonas Bauer becomes a partner in Tandem. A distribution deal is made with Starz Media and a co-pro pact inked for Syfy’s Painkiller Jane.
Television Festival, followed by premieres in the U.S. on NBC, Italy, France, Germany and more than 180 countries worldwide and is renewed for season two. World Without End wins an Emmy Award.
2014 Tandem receives a greenlight for Spotless, to be produced for CANAL+ Création Originale. Rola Bauer and STUDIOCANAL CEO Olivier Courson present a MIPTV Keynote. Spotless begins production in July. A first-look distribution deal is signed with producer, writer and showrunner Frank Spotnitz.
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