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Germany’s newest scripted confab, Seriesly Berlin, takes place later this month and the schedule is coming together.

Four-part Prime Video series German Cocaine Cowboy from Beetz Brothers Film Production will be teased, while the streamer’s Country Director for Germany, Christoph Schneider, will appear in a fireside chat that I’ll be moderating to offer insights into content strategy. German Cocaine Cowboy tells the story of a German who became involved in the Cali Cartel in the 1990s.

Also scheduled to appear at Seriesly is Mel Eslyn, the President of Duplass Brothers Productions, which is known for Netflix’s Wild Wild Country and HBO’s Somebody Somewhere. She’ll discuss indie filmmaking in the context of serial production, and will present the European premiere of Penelope, the indie young adult series that premiered at Sundance. Netflix later snagged U.S. rights to the show, which Eslyn co-created with Mark Duplass,...

European powerhouse Studiocanal, part of Vivendi’s Canal+ Group, has rolled out robust sales on Xavier Dolan’s Sundance-selected psychological thriller “The Night Logan Woke Up,” Spanish period drama “The Vow” and a bevy of first documentaries.

The deals underscore the continuing upside for Studiocanal of illustrious cinema talent exploring premium TV direction, as well as the company’s beneficial diversification into documentary sales and daily series.

A Sundance world premiere and Canal+ original based on Michel Marc Bouchard’s play “La Nuit où Laurier Gaudreault s’est réveille,” “The Night Logan Woke Up” has sold to Netflix for the U.S., Star Channel Japan, Sbs Australia, Filmin for Spain and Portugal and Wdr Germany, among major territories.

Among a slew of deals, “Logan,” which marks the first TV series from Cannes Jury Prize-winning Quebecois actor-director Dolan, has also been licensed by Studiocanal to BeTV Belgium, Lumiere Benelux, Ltv Latvia,...

The French pay-TV giant also announced a surprise film festival-focused channel.

French pay-tv powerhouse Canal Plus unveiled its autumn line-up in Paris this week and announced a new channel devoted to films from well-known directors selected at global festivals called Canal+ Cinema(s) that will launch on September 1 alongside Canal+ Box Office.

The latter will feature primarily blockbusters from the US majors in addition to crowd-pleasing local fare, capitalising on themedia chronology that allows Canal+ to air films six months after their theatrical release, a major leg up compared to fellow streamers inlcuding Netflix and Prime Video that have to wait 15-17 months.

Ziad Doueiri, the French-Lebanese filmmaker of the Oscar-nominated movie “The Insult” who made his TV debut with the hit series “Baron Noir,” will next direct “Fièvre” (“Fever”).

“Fièvre” was penned by “Baron Noir” screenwriter Eric Benzekri and has been co-developed by French pay TV group Canal+’s Creation Originale label.

The show is being produced by Quad, the Paris-based company behind Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache’s “Intouchables” and the series “The Bonfire of Destiny.”

“Fievre” is headlined by two female characters played by Nina Meurisse, who notably starred in Celine Sciamma’s Berlinale competition film “Petite Maman,” and Julia Piaton, from Emmanuel Mouret’s “Love Affair(s)” which was part of Cannes 2020’s official selection.

Doueiri told Variety that the series will follow a woman who leads a crisis management firm and comes across a massive scandal involving a Black soccer player who beat the team’s coach, who is white.

Colcoa is keeping up with the times. Now in its twenty-first year, the lauded French film festival, sponsored by the Franco-American Cultural Fund, has added a pair of forward-thinking new categories for its newest edition. This year will include a virtual reality program and a web series competition, in addition to its Cinema, Television and Shorts competitions.

“These two new popular formats offer more opportunities to showcase the creativity of French producers and filmmakers as well as the diversity of French production,” said François Truffart, Colcoa Executive Producer and Artistic Director. “While entertainment is still the key word for the program, with a balanced mix of comedies and dramas, several topical issues will cover the program this year, including the environment, discrimination, racism, terrorism, and the role of the artist in society. More than ever, Colcoa will offer a unique opportunity to see these universal topics from different angles.”

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Studiocanal has sold political thriller Baron Noir to the new U.S. Svod platform Walter Presents, a joint venture between Channel 4 and Global Series Network. The 8×60 suspenseful drama from creators and writers Eric Benzekri and Jean-Baptiste Delafon (Maison Close) is directed by Ziad Doueiri and produced by Kwai with the participation of Canal+. The second season, a Canal+ Creation Originale series, is currently in development and has been acquired by Sony Entertainment…...