Viaplay goes Pro with Danish original

Nordic streaming service Viaplay has ordered a con-artist drama that marks the first Danish original to come from its MTG Studios division.

Jakob Mejhede

Pro’s and Con’s has been created by writer Thor Bjørn Krebs and writer/director Mikkel Serup, and is being produced by Sam Productions’ Stine Meldgaard and Morten Kjems Hytten Juhl.

Meta Louise Foldager Sørensen, who worked on Oscar-nominated A Royal Affair, is attached as exec producer.

The series stars Lars Ranthe (The Reunion 2: The Funeral) and Lene Maria Christensen (The Legacy) as a couple leading a quiet family life in the Copenhagen suburbs while trying to hide their past as Denmark’s most notorious con artists.

It will premiere exclusively on Viaplay across the Nordics in 2018 before airing on MTG’s Danish free-to-air channel TV3.

The production is supported by the Danish Film Institute’s Public Service Fund, with StudioCanal, which backed Sam Productions’ launch in 2014, handling global sales.

Jakob Mejlhede, MTG’s exec VP and head of programming and content development, said: “Our objective is to be the Nordic region’s leading producer of original drama, and our slate of original series now covers unique storytelling from Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and the US.”

MTG has more than 50 original scripted drama projects in the pipeline, with recent original premieres including ALEX, geopolitical thriller Occupied and Nordic noir series Hassel.

Crime comedy-drama Straight Forward and political thrillers Conspiracy of Silence and Embassy Down are also on the slate, joining series such as LA-based comedy Swedish Dicks, which is now in its second season.

The latter is distributed globally by Lionsgate, which has sold the show to US network Pop.

MTG also ordered Stella Blómkvist, its first Icelandic original, earlier this year while fellow drama Veni Vidi Vici will premiere on US streaming service Hulu in December 2017.