The Mediapro Studio Distribution has confirmed a flurry of new sales deals on “The Head,” “Paraíso,” “Express” and “Hunting Ana Bravo” and state-of-play roll-out on the first two titles which underscores a still bullish demand for high-end titles sold on the open market at events such as last week’s MipTV.
The sales also have a bigger picture. With major studio sales to third parties plunging as they retain productions for their own platforms – Netflix carried 748 Disney titles in 2015, just 221 in 2021, according to Ampere Analysis – it’s a great time to be an independent, the consultancy’s Guy Bisson announced at MipTV. The Mediapro Studio’s latest sales details are also yet another indication of how geographical and language-targeted pay and global platform deals are driving so much of open market sales business for big independent players.
‘The Head’
In a new deal, Canadian public-broadcaster CBC-SRC has clinched rights to English-language survival thriller “The Head,” TMS’ banner international franchise, bringing its distribution roll-out to more than 90 territories, including HBO in the U.S.
“The Head” is now building up to Season 2 which maintains the series’ hallmarks – an isolated place; a survival thriller; no police and a super-international facing drama – and its two protagonists, played by John Lynch and Katharine O’Donnelly. Introducing new cast members such as “Money Heist’s” Hovik Keuchkerian, the new season is set on a huge ocean freighter carrying a scientific mission at the Pacific’s Nemo Point where the closest human beings are astronauts aboard the International Space Station when it passes overhead. It drives deep into the core dilemma of Season 1, Ran Tellem explained at Series Mania.
‘Paraíso’
Retro creepy-fun nostalgia for the whole family kickstarted when three 15-year-old girls disappear from a nightclub in 1992 down on a Spanish coast, “Paraíso,” teaming TMS and Movistar Plus, has also been acquired by CBS-SRC, which has bought both its seasons. A standout sales proposition for TMS, “Paraiso” has now clinched sales, among major deals, with Sky for Germany, Austria, Luxembourg and Switzerland, HBO in the U.S., Latin America and Europe; Canal Plus for France, French-speaking Switzerland and overseas French territories, and SBS for Australia.
‘Express’
Starzplay’s first Spanish-language original, also produced with U.S. streamer Pantaya, TMS’ abduction procedural “Express” has sold to Prime Video in India. Starzplay handles release in Spain and Latin America, Pantaya in the U.S.
‘Hunting Ana Bravo’
A propulsive womanhunt thriller set in the snows of Utah, “Hunting Ana Bravo” has been acquired for Latin America by Prime Video. A regional deal looked almost inevitable. Set up at Cholawood Productions, Erik Barmack’s Wild Sheep Content, both in L.A., and Park City-based Top Dead Center Films, headed by Gary and Julie Auerbach, and produced in association with TMS, “Ana Bravo” stars Kate del Castillo who also executive produces. As is indicated by audience figures for Telemundo’s “La Reina del Sur,” few actors match her marquee value in Latino territories.
