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Beta Film has acquired world sales rights to “Estonia,” an ambitious Finnish series telling the true story of Europe’s deadliest maritime disaster of the 20th century. The eight-part event drama will reteam “Bordertown” creator Miikko Oikkonen and helmer Juuso Syrjä (Bordertown), who will split directing duties with Måns Månsson (“Snabba Cash”).

Finland’s biggest drama project to date, “Estonia” is produced by Beta Nordic Studio’s Finnish banner Fisher King, and co-produced by Swedish Kärnfilm Ab, Panache Production Belgium and the Estonian Amrion Oü. Also co-producing are streaming service C More Finland and Sweden, along with the broadcaster TV4 and MTV Finland, in collaboration with Beta Film.

The character-driven series, whose shoot is due to start in the spring, will captures the true event of the sinking of the Ms Estonia, the country’s largest ship, in September 1994. The cruise ferry was hit by a major storm, which led to uncontrolled tilting.

In the run up to Series Mania, European network Arte and German public broadcaster Ndr have boarded “Helsinki Syndrome,” a contemporary Nordic Noir thriller series headlined by “Vikings” star Peter Franzén and created by Mikko Oikkonen (“Bordertown”).

“Helsinki Syndrome” is the first series jointly produced by Beta Film and leading Finnish production banner Fisher King which is part of the Beta Nordic Entertainment Group.

A modern-day tale, the show is set in a post-pandemic society hit by a financial crisis and explores the power struggle between different characters through an intriguing robbery plot. Weaving flashbacks to the 1990’s Finnish banking crisis into the plot, “Helsinki Syndrome” was written by Oikkonen and is directed by Juuso Syrjä, who previously teamed on “Bordertown.”

The eight-part series follows the epic journey of Elias Karo (Franzén) who sets off to reveal the crimes committed by banking officials and the government against his family. Karo...

Small Town Monsters Follows Leads for Extraterrestrial Life On The Trail Of Ufos: Dark Sky Lands August 3rd on VOD. This Latest Doc Investigates Connections Between Unidentified Objects and Energy Sources. Here’s the trailer:

Cryptid documentarian Seth Breedlove and paranormal researcher Shannon LeGro continue their search for the truth behind the enigma of unidentified flying objects in the latest Small Town Monsters release: On the Trail of UFOs: Dark Sky. Dark Sky explores the UFO topic from the point of view of LeGro; a podcast host and author, and focuses more heavily on eyewitness accounts than typical alien fare. “This project excited us because we were able to look into reports from real people in real places that still connect what they’re seeing to what is being talked about in the mainstream media today,” Breedlove said. “Particularly, this idea of why these objects or lights in the sky...

Jan Mojto’s Munich-based production-distribution company Beta Film has boarded Nordic suspense thriller “Helsinki Syndrome,” the first common project with Finland’s Fisher King since Beta took a majority stake in the leading Finnish production company in 2019.

Coinciding with the Fisher King deal, Beta launched the Sweden-based Beta Nordic Studios (Bns), a umbrella hub grouping its production interests in the Nordic region.

Bns aims to leverage Beta Film’s international expertise and distribution muscle to deliver high-end local content with global potential from its members.

Minimum guarantees that Beta Film puts up against future distribution revenues also allow producers to make series at the budgetary level of their artistic ambitions rather than that of local financing available, helping the shows to become standout titles from their territory.

Scheduled to go into production in June 2021, “Helsinki Syndrome” is created for Finnish public broadcaster Yle by Mikko Oikkonen, whose pioneering Finnish Noir...

Beta Nordic Studios, the umbrella for Beta’s production activities in Scandinavia, has acquired a majority stake in Cinenord, a leading Norwegian production banner specializing in high-end series.

Founded in 2004, the company is led by Silje Hopland-Eik and Alexander Eik, the producer-director duo behind the popular Scandi series “Atlantic Crossing” and “Wisting,” as well as the family franchise “Casper and Emma.”

Cinenord’s pipeline of high-profile scripted projects include “Bergman,” a series about the Swedish icon Ingmar Bergman that Alexander Eik is writing and will direct. “Alexander has been working on ‘Bergman’ for nine years and wants to create a fresh, fun and colorful show about the man behind the artist,” said Hopland-Eik.

“Beta Nordic Studios is looking to work with the best producers and Cinenord is one of them — it’s a real diamond in Norway with a consistent track record,” said Martin Håkansson, the co-director of Beta Nordic Studios.

The platform created by France Télévisions, TF1 and M6 focuses mainly on French content.

New French content-focused streaming service Salto finally went live on Tuesday, some two-and-a-half years after founders state broadcaster France Télévisions and commercial channels TF1 and M6 announced their intention to launch the platform.

In the meantime, the broadcasters have been tied up in protracted negotiations over digital rights with independent producers, who were previously free to sell their shows to the likes of Netflix and Amazon, as well as awaiting the green light from France’s Csa broadcasting regulator.

Billed as a French version of the UK’s Britbox,...

Beta Film’s drama “The Turncoat,” which was just honored as best TV movie at the Seoul Intl. Drama Awards, has scored a series of territory deals, including the U.S.

The German miniseries, based on the bestseller by Siegfried Lenz and directed by Florian Gallenberger, winner of the Oscar for best live-action short, was sold around the world. Among others buyers include MHz Networks (U.S.), AMC Networks (Latin America), 1Hdtv and Mts (Russia), Npo (Netherlands), Rtp (Portugal), and Filmin (Spain).

Viasat World acquired “The Turncoat” for Epic Drama across Central and Eastern Europe. It is also going to be broadcast on Nrk (Norway), Yle (Finland), Dr (Denmark) and Svt (Sweden).

“The Turncoat” tells the story of the young German soldier Walter, who is posted to a unit in the Polish woods in 1944, surrounded by partisans. He is soon torn between a sense of duty, guilt and his conscience,...

Over the last five years, presented by industry icons such as Guillermo del Toro, Ron Perlman and Vincenzo Natali, the Sitges Pitchbox has been built up by its organizers, Filmarket Hub and the Sitges Festival, into the industry centerpiece of Sitges itself, a pilgrimage destination for fantastic film creators and fans worldwide.

A movie project showcase, the Sitges Pitchbox Online 2020 will for the first time also feature genre series drawn from Europe, as the Sitges Pitchbox expands from nine to a total of 14 titles.

The inclusion of series at the Sitges Pitchbox looks near inevitable. Long gone are the days when just sports and Hollywood movie blockbusters ruled the pay TV premium content space in Europe.

“Many of the trends that we are seeing now, if you follow the path back to the gestation, you get to Netflix somehow,” says Guy Bisson, at Ampere Analysis.

It was Netflix that established...

Nicholas Hope in an episode of ‘Deadhouse Dark’ (Photo: Lauren Orrell).

Enzo Tedeschi’s horror anthology Deadhouse Dark will have its world premiere in the short form competition at Canneseries, the only Australian entry in the event which runs alongside the Miptv market in Cannes.

The other nine contenders are Broder (Argentina), Dog Days (Canada), Christmas on Blood Mountain (Norway), Cryptid (Sweden), First Person (Canada), Replay (France), The Writers. A Short Series (Poland), Tony (Argentina) and Zero Day (Us).

Jamie Bamber is the president of the short form competition jury, serving with Erin Moriarty and French actor/filmmaker Timothée Hochet.

The award of Best Short Form Series will be presented during the festival’s closing ceremony on April 1.

Screen Australia and Screen Queensland funded the series of six short horror films for YouTube and Tedeschi’s deadhouse.tv, anchored by a woman who orders a ‘mystery box’ from the dark web,...

Beta has taken a majority stake in Finland’s Fisher King and created Beta Nordic Studios.

German film and TV group Beta Film is expanding its presence in the Nordics, taking a majority stake in Finnish film and TV production company Fisher King and creating regional umbrella group Beta Nordic Studios (Bns).

Beta Film first entered the Scandinavian production scene in 2016, with the creation of Dramacorp, its joint venture with veteran Swedish-French drama executive Patrick Nebout.

Its newly created Bns will serve as an umbrella for all of Beta’s production activities in the Nordics. It will focus on local scripted projects with international appeal,...