Shine Premieres 50 New Hours of Network Commissioned Drama
28th May 2012
Shine International, the sales and distribution arm of Shine Group, will launch its largest ever volume of primetime commissioned drama at MIPTV 2012, while it also announces 15 new sales deals for The Hour and The Listener.
Shine International’s 2012 MIPTV slate will feature more than 50 hours of new and returning high-profile drama series, including the world premiere of Hunted (BBC One & Cinemax) starring Melissa George (The Slap) and from Golden Globe winning screenwriter Frank Spotnitz (The X-Files); the thrilling new Nordic Noir series Real Humans (SVT1) and the second season of The Hour (BBC Two & BBC America).
Today’s news coincides with the announcement of 15 new primetime sales deals for CTV’s primetime crime-drama The Listener, together with the first season of The Hour, screenplay by Abi Morgan (The Iron Lady) and co-starring Dominic West (The Wire).
The Hour is now distributed to more than 100 territories worldwide, and the first season has today been acquired by a further five broadcasters, including MBC (Middle East and Africa), Orange Cinema Series (France), TV Norge (Norway) and MNET (Africa). The Hour (Season 1) was acquired in November 2011 by ABC Australia, Fox International Channels, SVT Sweden and Netflix in Canada and Latin America.
Finally, Shine International confirmed today 10 new primetime deals for the third-season of CTV’s The Listener. The new drama deals include TV Norge (Norway), MTV (Finland) and separately SBS in The Netherlands, Denmark and Belgium. The Listener is recognised as one of the world’s most popular drama series, distributed worldwide to more than 180 territories.
Noel Hedges, SVP & Head of Acquisitions at Shine International said, “We are increasingly seeing a need from our clients for quality, original scripted series. It is a focus for us at Shine International to introduce a new generation of fresh and returnable scripted primetime series that will excite worldwide audiences. At MIPTV 2012 we will launch our biggest ever number of primetime scripted hours, all from some of the most trusted names in storytelling. We’re achieving this through investment, expertise, strategy and most importantly, partnering with the very best creative talents.”
Hedges continued… “From BAFTA-award winning Kudos Film & Television and the iconic screenwriter Frank Spotnitz, we’re bringing the electrifying new 8-part action-thriller Hunted, starring the brilliant Melissa George. We have the breathtaking second season of Abi Morgan’s The Hour, which scooped three Golden Globe nominations for its first outing in 2011. From Canada’s Shaftesbury Film & TV we have CTV’s most dramatic, most explosive season of The Listener and from Scandinavia’s SVT, the truly thrilling and original Real Humans.”
