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Munich, 26 September 2012. This fall, Beta Film is presenting over 200 new episodes of series at the international TV trade fair MipCom in Cannes. Buyers from all over the world will be introduced to the North-American crime series Cracked, the Australian investigative series Tricky Business and the drama-series 30 Degrees in February, which has garnered the Swedish television award. Beta presents as many as two productions of U.S. top-show runner Tom Fontana (“Homicide”, “Oz”): the ten-part New York cop drama Copper and the second season of the Renaissance family saga Borgia. Also among the highlights are the premium TV events The Tower and Rommel, which were produced in association with teamWorx, as well as the international fantasy miniseries Merlin. Beta’s family entertainment label Wunderbox is presenting the charming children’s animation series Fennel Vennel.
Topping Beta’s English-language line-up is Cracked (13 x 45‘, White Pine for CBC in cooperation with Beta Film), about a special psychological unit starring David Sutcliffe (“Gilmore Girls,” “Private Practice”) and Stefanie von Pfetten (“NCIS,” “Battlestar Galactica”) on scripts by Tracey Forbes (“Flashpoint,” “Buffy, the Vampire Killer”). In Tricky Business (13 x 45‘, Screentime for Nine Network), two private repossession agents deal with winners, losers and all those in between. The “clients” of the family business on the Australian coast are found throughout the social spectrum, from big-time smugglers to small-time insurance cheats. Record ratings of 33% on average scored the Swedish series 30 Degrees in February (10 x 58’, Fundament Film AB/SVT). Highly praised by the media, the production follows vacationers and rat-race drop-outs who leave snow and ice behind them in an attempt to forge a new life in Thailand. The Canadian family entertainment series Heartland is celebrating its 100th episode; the series, which revolves around a horse ranch in the Rocky Mountains, is now in its sixth season.
The ten-part crime series Copper has been giving BBC America its best ratings of all times since its premiere in August. Academy Award®-winner Barry Levinson, Emmy®-winner Tom Fontana and Academy Award®-nominee Will Rokos paint a dark and opulent portrait of New York society in the 1860s, torn between the immigrants’ slums and the rich Upper East Side. Copper (10 x one hour) is produced by Cineflix for BBC America and Shaw Media; Beta Film is the international partner. Also among Tom Fontana’s hit productions is Borgia, whose second season is currently in production (12x one hour) and will be available in early 2013. Shot on original locations in Italy, Borgia II concentrates on the Pope’s son Cesare Borgia (Mark Ryder), who trades in his cardinal’s robe for a sword and armor. Borgia is nominated for the German Television Award as Best Series.
The Tower (2x90‘, teamWorx, MDR, ARD Degeto, BR, NDR, WDR, SWR, RBB) portrays a gripping family drama set against the backdrop of the collapse of the communist East-German regime. The film is a highly emotional narrative about the moral constraints of dictatorship, about conformism and denial, loyalty and betrayal. The Tower is based on the bestselling novel by Uwe Telllkamp, which won the German Book Award and was acclaimed by the weekly newspaper DIE ZEIT as “one of the most important books of European post-war literature.” Ulrich Tukur (“The Lives of Others,” “John Rabe”) plays the German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, who was in command of the Western front in 1944 at the time of the Allied invasion, and was forced by Hitler to commit suicide for allegedly taking part in a conspiracy. The TV movie (1 x 90’) was produced by teamWorx, SWR, Degeto, BR and ORF. The event two-parter Merlin brings the Arthurian saga to new life with excitement, humor, magic and a touch of Harry Potter. Gérard Jugnot (“The Chorus,” “Asterix & Obelix”) and Cristiana Capotondi (“Sisi”) star in the of GMT and TF1 production (2 x 90’).
The family label Wunderbox presents Fennel Vennel 19 (26 x 7‘), an apartment building on the outskirts of town that houses many children who were searched and found by adventures every day. The English-speaking animated series was produced by Motion Works. After the sensational success of Joachim Masannek’s 13 part book series Wild Soccer Bunch, Wunderwerk and Beta Film are now introducing the first season of the animated series Wild Soccer Bunch(13 x 22’, second season in production), about Kevin, Rico, Vanessa and their friends, seven kids against the rest of the world. Their motto: “everything is great as long as you're wild”. Also in the Wunderbox line-up flies Raven, the Little Rascal, based on the popular children’s books by Nele Moost and Annet Rudolph about the mischievous daring raven with the red-and-white striped sock. The producers of the animated feature film, which is being shot in 2D and 3D and runs currently very successful in German theaters, are Studio 88 and Akkord Film, DDFP, SWR and HR.
For further information: Beta Film Press
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