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Fremantle telenovelas make new friends FremantleMedia's scripted formats are rolling into new European markets, with Slovakia airing a local version of Between Friends (pictured) from this month and two more telenovelas lined up for Germany, writes Ed Waller.  Slovakia's TV Markiza, backed by New York-based Central European Media Enterprises, will air its own production of Between Friends five times a week. Previous local productions based on the same scripts have been running on RTL Klub in Hungary since 1998 and on TVN Poland since 2003, and began on Romania's Prima TV last year.RTL's Croatian network has also adapted Fremantle's Forbidden Love drama format, following earlier productions in Sweden, Indonesia (RCTI) and Greece. The Grundy drama originally aired as Sons and Daughters in Australia, and was later transformed into Forbidden Love for ARD by Grundy UFA in Germany.  In the much bigger market of Germany, Fremantle's success in importing the telenovela genre is also continuing. Earlier hit Bianca: Road to Happiness for ZDF is being followed by the next series in the franchise, the 250-episode Julia: Road to Happiness, on the same network later this year.Over on Sat.1, Fremantle's local subsidiary Grundy UFA has had a hit with Verliebt in Berlin (In Love in Berlin, an adaptation of Colombian hit Betty la Fea), and next will be Braut wider Willen (aka The Reluctant Bride) for ARD later this year. In Spain, FremantleMedia's scripted format El Autentico Rodrigo has aired on Antena 3 since August this year. The show is based on Finding Rodrigo, the first telenovela to be distributed internationally by Fremantle and the first to be written and produced by Invento, FremantleProductions Latin America's novela format partnership with Colombian independent Teleset. "The telenovela market is growing and local-language drama is always the most-watched genre in any territory," said FremantleMedia's general manager for worldwide drama, Naomi Joseph. Joseph added that she was now looking at local productions in Eastern Europe, where imported Latin American telenovelas are very popular, as well as turning the romantic stories into more edgy series for the UK market. "Maybe the world is ready for a little more escapist romance these days," she said. Ed Waller 22 Sep 2005 © C21 Media 2005 
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