Hulu puts its money into Bad Banks

Bad Banks was commissioned by ZDF and cultural network Arte

US streaming service Hulu has acquired a Franco-German financial thriller from French distributor Federation Entertainment.

Bad Banks is set in the ruthless world of international finance and the stock market and was originally commissioned by German pubcaster ZDF and French cultural network Arte.

It is produced by Letterbox Filmproduktion in Germany and Iris Production in Luxembourg and a second season of six episodes is currently in pre-production following a successful debut of its first run in March.

Hulu has bought both seasons totaling 12×52’ and season one will be available to stream in the US immediately.

In Europe, the series was acquired recently by RTL Luxembourg and by NPO in the Netherlands.

Prior to that, the series had been sold to HBO Europe for Central Europe and Scandinavia, along with RTÉ in Ireland, Sundance TV Iberia in Spain and Portugal, RTP in Portugal, SBS in Australia and Rialto in New Zealand.

The series was written by Oliver Kienle (Stronger Than Blood, Four Hands) and directed by Christian Schwochow (Paula, NSU German History X).

Federation Entertainment holds worldwide rights to the series outside of first windows in France and Germany.