Abacus Media snags sales rights to Media Musketeers’ African drama ‘Pulse’

Pulse

Abacus Media Rights (AMR) has partnered with European producer group Media Musketeers to pick up sales rights to Pulse, the upcoming survival horror drama being produced with South African streamer Showmax and Spain’s The Mediapro Studio.

The 6 x 60-minute series, which also has UK-based Forlan Films onboard, is being produced by Steve Lanning (Superman, The Omen) and directed and produced by Sallas de Jager (Varraaiers), with Jake Lanning, Ben Lanning and Potego Matseke among others attached.

AMR will manage worldwide distribution for the show, excluding Africa, Spain, Latin America and the Caribbean. The series is currently in production in Mauritius and is due for delivery in Q2 2022.

The series is set in present-day Johannesburg and follows a group of video game designers scrambling to get a newly funded re-boot of their classic game finished. However, an electromagnetic wave hits their building and affects the bioelectric signals in people’s minds, with the designers then required to turn to their gaming skills to battle the new world of lockdowns and collective paranoia.

Pulse stars Tarryn Wyngaard (Raised By Wolves), Thapelo Mokoena (Wild At Heart), Carel Nel (Grant), Sven Ruygrok (Zulu) and Earl Wan (Just Mates).

Jonathan Ford, MD at AMR, said the show’s “contemporary setting coupled with a futuristic storyline is sure to have global appeal across multiple demographics.”

Media Musketeers invests in development and secures distribution finance. It was launched by former Canal+ exec Sébastien Janin, Apple alum Andy Docherty, Chris Law formerly of Warner Bros. and film financier Patrick Swiderski.