Black Widows


Set-tops ‘unimportant’ for SVOD, says Viaplay chief

Modern Times Group (MTG)-owned OTT subscription video-on-demand service Viaplay does not need to be available on set-top boxes to succeed, its CEO claims. Furthermore, the SVOD service will continue to be a complement to MTG’s mainstream pay TV service rather than a replacement for it, according to Jonas Karlén, Viaplay CEO. Speaking at the Connected […]

Nobel drama win for Canal+

French pay TV operator Canal+ has acquired Scandi thriller series Nobel. DRG sells the show and struck the French deal alongside several others for its scripted shows, including new deals for Nordic dramas Black Widows and Eyewitness. Nobel, a conspiracy thriller out of Norway that links the war in Afghanistan and the Nobel prize, was […]

Channels ditching imports for local drama – study

Local dramas are increasingly pushing imported programmes off channel schedules, a new report suggests. Eurodata TV Worldwide’s Scripted Series Report 2016 shows that of the top 15 primetime shows from 103 channels polled, 84% are locally-produced series. Imports appear less on schedules as a result, with Eurodata’s international research manager, Avril Blondelot, saying “true international […]

Nordic drama veterans found Fire Monkey

Two of Scandinavian drama’s biggest-name producers, Roope Lehtinen and Mikko Pöllä, have joined forces to found a scripted development company. Fire Monkey is billed as “an independent drama development and showrunning company serving broadcasters and studios in the Nordics and internationally”. As Nice Entertainment Group co-founder Lehtinen told TBI earlier this month, the company will […]

MTG’s free TV, VOD arms join for drama

Modern Times Group’s free-to-air channel TV3 and online streaming service Viaplay are to coproduce a Nordic drama based on Finnish scripted series Black Widows. Shooting on the eight-part series, which stars Peter Stormare (Fargo) begins this summer ahead of a premiere in Sweden, Norway and Denmark next year. Stormare will play the male lead opposite […]

CBS developing Finnish drama remake

US broadcast network CBS has put Finnish drama Mustat Lesket into development in view of an American adaptation. The show, known internationally as Black Widows, follows three 30-something friends that decide to ditch their husbands and change their lives. It comes from Finland’s Moskito, and scored commercial channel Nelonen’s highest-ever drama series ratings with a 30% audience share. […]

Buyers descend on Scandinavian Screenings

More than 80 international buyers have this week travelled to Denmark to check out the latest wares of Scandinavian producers and broadcasters, according to the Nordisk Film & TV Fund. The three-day 2014 Scandinavian Screenings began in the Danish capital Copenhagen on Wednesday (June 4) at pubcaster DR’s headquarters. Around 130 documentaries, dramas, children’s series […]