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18. September 2013

Beta Film brings star power to Cannes - Hollywood icon Andie MacDowell to present new TV series at MIPCOM

Munich, 18 September 2013. Beta Film is bringing international star power to Cannes: Hollywood icon Andie MacDowell and award-winning author of “Gomorrah,” Roberto Saviano, will be presenting new TV series at MIPCOM, the TV industry trade fair taking place in Cannes from 6 to 10 October.
Andie MacDowell and her co-star Dylan Neal will introduce Cedar Cove to international buyers and journalists their Hallmark series,set in an idyllic North American costal town, currently airing with unprecedented success in the U.S.
The ambitious Sky Italia crime series Gomorrah takes the viewers to the dark and gritty streets of Naples. The high-level crime series is based on Roberto Saviano's bestseller and the Cannes Grand Jury Prize winning feature film of the same name by Matteo Garrone.
Also making personal appearances at MIPCOM are the stars of the North American series Cracked, David Sutcliffe and Brooke Nevin. Further highlights of the new Beta Film line-up are the drama Sarajevo, which marks the centennial of the outbreak of World War I, as well as, in the family entertainment segment, the animated series The Adventures of the Young Marco Polo.
Cedar Cove
presents Andie MacDowell (“Sex, Lies and Videotape,” “Short Cuts,” “Four Weddings and a Funeral”) in her very first lead role in a TV series. The Hollywood star plays the charming judge Olivia Lockhart, who sees not only to law and order, but also to the emotional well-being of her fellow citizens. This is what also interests the good-looking editor of the local newspaper Jack Griffith (Dylan Neal, “Percy Jackson,” “Blood Ties”). The production (14 x one hour), based on the bestselling novels of Debbie Macomber, is currently scoring record ratings in the U.S. and is one of the most successful productions in Hallmark’s history. Show-runner is Carl Binder (“Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman”) for Orchard Road Production in coproduction with Front Street Pictures / Dan Wigutow and Unity and in association with Beta Film.
From Sky Italia, Cattleya and co-producer Beta Film comes one of the most anticipated new crime series of 2014, Gomorrah (12 x one hour), an intense drama that draws the viewer into the inner sanctum of organized crime in Naples, the Camorra. When Pietro Savastano (Fortunato Cerlino), one of Naples biggest and most-feared Camorra bosses, is captured and sent to jail, his right-hand man Ciro Di Marzio (Marco D’Amore, “A Quiet Life”) sees an opportunity to finally become the new leader. But his time has not come yet; while in jail, Pietro’s wife Imma (Maria Pia Calzone) initially takes over, while Pietro's heir apparent, son Genny (Salvatore Esposito) learns the ropes in Honduras and a rival clan led by Salvatore Conte (Marco Palvetti ) plots to destroy the Savastanos once and for all. The war to control “The System” has just started, in a territory that keeps fighting not to surrender to crime and lawlessness.
The series' concept has its roots in Roberto Saviano’s critically-acclaimed best-selling novel of the same title (10 million copies worldwide); a shocking exposé of the Camorra, for which he conducted years of research and which triggered an unmatched reaction in Italy.
Stefano Sollima, helmer of the critically-acclaimed Sky Italia series “Romanzo Criminale”, serves as artistic director and directed six episodes. Award-winning directors Claudio Cupellini (“A Quiet Life”) and Francesca Comencini ("The White Space") directed the remaining episodes. The series shot on location over thirty weeks in Naples, Rome, Milan, Ferrara, Ventimiglia and Barcelona. Gomorrah is a coproduction of Sky Cinema, Cattleya (“Romanzo Criminale”, "Siberian Education"), Fandango (feature film “Gomorrah”), La 7 and Beta Film.
Further highlights in Beta’s series portfolio are new seasons of Tom Fontana’s Copper (in total 23 x one hour, Cineflix Studios/BBC America/Shaw Media in association with Beta Film) with Franka Potente (“Bourne Identity,” “Run, Lola, Run”) and Tom Weston-Jones (“World Without End”), which is set in New York in the 1860s, as well as of the North American crime series about a special psychological police unit, Cracked (in total 21 x one hour, White Pine Pictures/CBC/Group M Entertainment in association with Beta Film) with David Sutcliffe (“Private Practice,” “Gilmore Girls”) and Brooke Nevin (“Chicago Fire”).
On 28 June 1914, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were assassinated in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo. An ambitious examining magistrate struggles to uncover the truth behind the assassinations. The events of Sarajevo have set into motion an inescapable course of events that will escalate to become ... the Great War, which changes the whole world at the beginning of the 20th century. Andreas Prochaska (“A Day for a Miracle,” “Anatomy of Evil”) directs the TV event (2 x one hour) by Dor Film and Beta Film for ZDF, ORF and Czech Television.
No fewer than two Golden Nymphs were awarded at the Monte Carlo TV Festival to the Spanish production Letter for Evita by the multiple Goya-award winner Augusti Villaronga (“Black Bread”), a true story about the visit of the Argentinean president’s charismatic wife to the Spanish dictator Franco in 1947 and her efforts to save the life of a female Spanish resistance fighter. Letter for Evita was produced by Televisión Española (TVE), Televisó de Catalunya (TVC) and Copia Cero Producciones in association with Beta Film.
Beta Film’s family entertainment label Wunderbox travels with the Young Marco Polo on a globe hopping cartoon comedy adventure. With a burning curiosity, a thirst for knowledge and a knack for stumbling into trouble, young Marco Polo sets off through distant lands and mystical times to find his missing father, who vanished while exploring the Road to the East. The Adventures of the Young Marco Polo (26x25‘) is produced by MotionWorks, MDR/ARD, YOWZA!Digital Inc. Canada, Melusine Productions, Magpie 6/Media Entertainment/Monster Entertainment in association with Beta Film for Ki.Ka, BBC Canada and Irland’s RTE. Spooksville (26x30’) seems to be a great place to live – for the living, the dead and everything in between… The live action mystery adventure show, which will premiere on the U.S. Kids Broadcaster THE HUB, thrills kids and teens with big suspense and spooky and supernatural elements. Based on the book series by Christopher Pike, Spooksville is produced by Springville Productions in association with Front Street Pictures and Jane Starz Productions in association with Beta Film.