Banijay Group is the world's largest independent content creation Group for television and multimedia platforms. Banijay Group is present in 16 territories.
Banijay Group is the world's largest independent content creation Group for television and multimedia platforms. Banijay Group is present in 16 territories.

Tag Archive: AMC Networks

  1. Banijay Rights Sells Bäckström to AMC Networks’ Acorn TV in US and UK

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    Global distributor Banijay Rights, today announces Swedish crime thriller, Bäckström, will return for a second season. Meanwhile, series one has been picked up by AMC Networks in the UK, Canada and US, for its streaming service, Acorn TV.

     

    The crime drama series centres around detective Evert Backstrom, a man famous for having solved 99% of all cases he has taken on. Bäckström, is produced by Yellow Bird for C More and TV4 in co-production with Film i Väst and ARD Degeto.

     

    Series 1 (6 x 45’) is based on Leif GW Persson’s novel, Can You Die Twice?. When a bullet ridden skull is found in the Swedish archipelago, DNA-results confirm it belongs to a victim of Thailand’s 2004 tsunami. Bäckström is faced with an inexplicable mystery that even he could not have imagined. Can you die twice?

     

    Bäckström’s aversion for bureaucracy, the rules, bosses, colleagues, and well, fellow human beings in general, is rooted in his self-image of being a genius and the only investigator in the world worthy of the name. His role as a criminology expert on the TV show ‘True Crime’ has made him a minor celebrity among everyday citizens as well as the ‘riffraff’. He’s adored and despised in equal measures. He leaves chaos and resentment in his wake, but people put up with it because his track record for solving murder cases is unparalleled in… well, the world.

     

    Premiering on 8th February in the UK, Bäckström, will be available to North American audiences later this Spring.

     

    Bäckström series 2 was recently announced in Sweden, with filming due to commence in Spring. This time the case is connected to a macabre music box, which it seems to rest a curse on. The six-part second season will be largely based on Leif GW Persso’s novel, The Sword of Justice, with Kjell Bergqvist playing the lead once again.

  2. UKTV Acquires High-End Drama Thriller, The Gulf, From Banijay Rights

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    Banijay Rights, the leading distribution arm of Banijay Group, has sold premium drama title, The Gulf to UKTV for its local audiences. The series will air on the broadcaster’s crime drama channel, Alibi.

    The deal, which will see the 3 x 90’ series launching on Alibi in early Spring 2020, was brokered by Chris Stewart, Commercial Director – Scripted at Banijay Rights, and Daniel Thomas, Acquisitions Manager at UKTV.

    Daniel Thomas, Acquisitions Manager at UKTV comments, “We are really pleased to have acquired this exciting new thriller for Alibi as we continue to include the very best of international crime drama in our schedule. Our viewers are extremely discerning and The Gulf, with its unique take on a crime story set against the incredible backdrop of New Zealand, will have wide appeal.”

    Chris Stewart, Commercial Director – Scripted, Banijay Rights adds, “We are delighted that UKTV will be bringing this absorbing and original antipodean series to a UK audience where I’m sure it will engage a new legion of drama fans looking for their next crime fix. The Gulf, co-produced by Banijay Group’s Screentime New Zealand, has launched in New Zealand and in Germany to much acclaim and is proving to be a very desirable drama property for us with further sales already in the pipeline.”

    Elsewhere in Europe The Gulf will also travel to Poland, after being acquired by Canal+ for its channel, Ale Kino+.

    This follows hot on the heels of the previously announced U.S. pick up of the drama, where AMC Networks’ streaming service Sundance Now will feature the exclusive U.S. premiere of The Gulf beginning Wednesday, 4th December 2019.

    Domestically, the series was a ratings winner for New Zealand broadcaster TV3 and is the top performing mini-series of 2019 to date. The drama pulled in a launch audience 40% above the channel average. Meanwhile, in Germany The Gulf consistently outperformed the slot average by more than 10%.

    Recently launched at MIPCOM, German-New Zealand thriller The Gulf, (6 x 60’) centres around the moral disintegration of Detective Jess Savage, who finds herself caught between upholding the legal justice system and morality, as she investigates crimes on her home patch of Waiheke Island, New Zealand. The Gulf is an international co-production from Banijay Group’s Screentime New Zealand, Lippy Pictures, German fiction specialist Letterbox Filmproduktion, a member company of the Studio Hamburg Production Group, and broadcasters ZDF and TV3.