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New deals for Ukraine’s Servant

The original Servant of the People

KIEV MEDIA WEEK: Hit Ukrainian comedy Servant of the People has been picked up for local adaptation in Greece and France, with the original selling into South Korea.

The show has been optioned for a French remake by Paris-based Elephant Story, while Star Channel in Greece will also create its own version of the political comedy.

The original series will air on HQ Plus in Korea this November, marking the first non-Korean content on the family-themed network, according to the show’s producers.

The company behind Servant of the People, Kvartal 95, announced the deals at Kiev Media Week today. Eccho Rights handles international distribution of the show.

The deals come after Eccho secured agreements with Fox Studios in the US for the remake rights and with Netflix for the Ukrainian original, which airs on broadcaster 1+1 in the country.

“These deals are the latest examples of the enormous buzz generated in the international marketplace by this product. The format is universal and understandable to people from all over the world,” said Vladimir Zelenskiy, co-founder and creative producer of Kvartal 95, who also stars in the show.

The show follows a schoolteacher who becomes so disillusioned with the politicians in his country that he stands for election as president and, against all odds, wins.

The Ukrainian original series was previously sold to Estonia, Moldova and Kazakhstan, and a movie based on the show was released last year. The second season of Servant arrives on 1+1 next month.

“Servant of the People is a hilarious series but also a very relevant story for people all over the world,” said Eccho managing partner Nicola Söderlund.

“As political shifts are increasingly dictated by what people see on the internet, so the story becomes more and more relatable, and close to the reality that many of us are now living in.”

Kvartal 95, one of the pioneers of exporting Ukrainian intellectual property, is also behind the travelling formats Crack Them Up and Claim to Meladze.

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