Andie MacDowell, Gomorrah’s Saviano add star power to Beta

Hollywood actress Andie MacDowell and Gomorrah author Roberto Saviano will attend MIPCOM to present new series from Germany’s Beta Film.

MacDowell (Four Weddings and a Funeral) is co-starring in 14x60mins US legal drama series Cedar Cove, which is currently broadcasting on Hallmark Channel in the US while Saviano will be on hand to present Gomorrah, the upcoming 12x60mins Sky Italia adaptation of his mafia expose novel of the same name that has already spawned a successful film.

Saviano, who wrote Gomorrah with a team of TV scribes, told TBI there were “several stories within the book that didn’t make it into the film that were waiting to be seen” and that “they were particularly apt for being told in the TV serial format”.

Beta is selling both shows, and has also lined up David Sutcliffe and Brooke Nevin to represent another of its new programmes, 21x60mins police procedual series Cracked.

MacDowell and Saviano will hold press conferences on October 6. For Saviano, such an appearance is unusual, as he has been under police protection since the launch of his book in 2006 after receiving threats from Italian mafia sources.

Beta’s other new shows include World War I series Sarajevo, which is going out on ZDF, ORF and Czech Television; TVE’s Spanish scripted series Letter for Evita; and The Adventures of the Young Marco Polo through family entertainment imprint Wunderbox.