CONTENT LONDON: We hear from the people behind the eight drama projects shortlisted for the Content London Drama Series Pitch, held today. The winner, which will pick up a £30,000 prize, will be announced this evening.
This year’s Content London Drama Series Pitch saw more than 100 submissions from all over the world, showcasing the most exciting development projects in the scripted space.
Producers from New Zealand, Finland, Estonia, France and the UK are behind the eight shortlisted projects that were pitched today at Kings Place. They are looking for international partners and financiers to help take their TV series to the next level.
Hosted by Chukwudi Iwuji, Hollywood actor and founder of Chudor House Productions, the judging panel comprised Rachel Okine, head of scripted at Australia’s ABC; Wim Janssen, head of drama at Belgium’s VRT; Brittany Little, principal at Little Bell Productions; Michele Zatta, commissioning editor of international copros at Rai Fiction in Italy; and Steve Matthews, content partnership executive at Banijay Entertainment.
The winning project will be announced this evening from 6pm in Hall 3, with the winner receiving a £30,000 (US$37,900) marketing prize from C21Media to support development and pre-sales promotion of the show. For more information about the projects, click here.
The Island Cookery Show
Black Camel Pictures, UK
All3Media International has boarded The Island Cookery Show as a distribution partner, with Italy’s Rai and an unspecified UK broadcaster also attached to the project, which has a budget of £12m. The story follows a lawyer who travels to an Italian island to search for her missing mother and take over a cookery school. Glasgow-based prodco Black Camel Pictures is seeking more international broadcast and coproducer partners. “We’re looking for an Italian coproducer to partner, raise funding and then to oversee physical production on location,” says executive producer Arabella Page Croft. “This is not a service production but an equity partnership.”
Good Bones
Luminous Beast, New Zealand
Sky New Zealand has commissioned this spooky deadpan comedy about a man who uncovers a historic crime scene while renovating a rundown house. The project was developed with the support of the Kiwi government and Luminous Beast is now seeking international finance partners to bring a pilot script to the screen. From a total budget of NZ$3.2m (US$1.87m), the prodco now needs to find NZ$690,000 in the form of a sales advance and/or pre-sale. “With its winning combination of home renovation and murder mystery, Good Bones has huge international marketability,” says executive producer Dan Musgrove. “With Good Bones, we’ll meld comedy with a quirky, yet relatable love story.”
Jevgeni Supin
A Girl From Tallinn
Zolba Productions, Estonia
In modern-day Kyiv, a reformed criminal meets a girl who looks exactly like the love of his life, who was murdered in Tallinn during the 1990s. That’s the premise for an intriguing Eastern European project coproduced by Estonia’s Zolba Productions, Ukraine’s FilmUA and Bulgaria’s Agitprop, and commissioned by Eesti Telefilm and pan-Baltic VoD platform Go3. Latvia’s LTV has pre-bought the title and Zolba is now seeking a distribution partner and broadcaster to provide the remaining €250,000 (US$264,000) out of the €1.1m budget.
“At its heart, A Girl From Tallinn is a universal tale of love, betrayal and redemption, resonating across borders,” says producer Jevgeni Supin. “This unusual Estonian-Ukrainian-Bulgarian coproduction exemplifies a true European approach to telling local stories in a way the whole world will relate to.”
Dead Women Talking
Helsinki-filmi, Finland
Finnish pubcaster YLE is attached to this Nordic drama about two crime podcast hosts whose lives are threatened when they discover a serial killer is at large.
Producer Helsinki-filmi hopes to start shooting in 2026 with the project described as being in the early development and financing stage. YLE and the Finnish Film Foundation have provided a total of €102,000 to finance development. The show was created by Johanna Holvikallio and written by Tua Harno and will be directed by Jojo Erholtz. Exec producer Mia Ylönen is seeking a distributor and pre-sales outside Finland. “Dead Women Talking is a uniquely modern concept that combines the popularity of the podcast world with the intensity of a high-stakes murder investigation,” she says.
Vendetta
CPB Films, France
France Télévisions has boarded this mafia revenge thriller set in Paris and on the island of Corsica. With France Télévisions Distribution looking after global sales, the France 2 project is now aiming to advance beyond its current pre-production stage. About 60% of the budget has been secured through external finance including €4.64m from France Télévisions, €507,000 from the Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image Animée and a further €300,000 from a regional fund.
Producer Marco Cherqui (A Prophet) says: “Vendetta aims to be both an original mafia show and family tragedy, where the hero wants to break the deadly spiral of revenge. We’re seeking international pre-financing from major platforms and networks interested in a thriller taking place on the island of Corisca, a place that still maintains its centuries-old mythology of revenge to this day. We are targeting a mainstream and international audience.”
Aftershave
Rabbit Films, Finland
LGBTQ+ drama Aftershave is set in Helsinki’s underground nightlife scene of the 1990s, as four drag queens navigate life and friendship amid the biggest depression in Finland’s history. Currently at the development stage, with full scripts forthcoming, the project has been boarded by Finnish broadcaster YLE and has also benefitted from €30,000 (US$31,700) investment from the Finnish Film Foundation. Anna Brotkin serves as screenwriter while Minna Haapkylä will executive produce.
From a total budget of between €3.5m and €4m, Rabbit Films is seeking to fill a deficit of €750,000 from an international broadcaster or streamer, sales agent, investors, pre-sales and copro partners. “Audiences crave stories that go beyond clichés, especially in the portrayal of LGBTQ+ lives,” says producer Tiina Pesonen. “Aftershave brings a fresh perspective, highlighting friendship, resilience and authenticity in a world that’s often glamorised or tragicised.”
The Vespiary
United Heroes, UK
Pan-European thriller The Vespiary sees three intelligence agents – A British analyst, a German operator with PTSD and a Norwegian agent with a tragic past – uncover a vast Russian sleeper network that threatens NATO. A coproduction between international prodco United Heroes and LGH Entertainment, it will be produced by Lasse Hallberg, Egor Olesov and Pavlo Cherepin, with Terry Clark and Thomas Theirner attached as writers. Funding talks with broadcasters and platforms are ongoing, with United Heroes looking to secure around €5.9m to close the financing for the €10m budget.
Egor Olesov, producer and co-founder of United Heroes, says: “We aim to find a dedicated coproducer with strong international and local connections who can help us finalise the packaging and secure financing to bring the project to life. We’re particularly interested in partners from the UK, Germany, France, Spain and the Balkan countries.”
Blood Red Thread
ZDF Studios, Germany/France/Belgium
Described as journey into the heart of darkness behind the shimmering façade of style, Blood Red Thread sees a British detective investigate the suspicious death of a French fashion designer. Germany’s ZDF Studios (ZDFS), Berlin-based prodco Boogie Entertainment, France TV Distribution (FTVD) and Belgium’s Beluga Tree have partnered for a crime drama with an €11m total budget and are looking to find €1m to close the financing. ZDFS and FTVD each contributed €3.6m to the six-part series. Titus Kreyenberg is attached as executive producer and showrunner, while Zoe Laband will serve as head writer. The first two episodes have been scripted, with the remaining four near completion.
Robert Franke, VP of drama at ZDFS, says: “Blood Red Thread is not your average six-part crime series. It’s a vivid portrayal of a world where beauty is fleeting and creativity faces the constant threat of extinction. In an industry dominated by brand supremacy, the timeless art of couture is overshadowed by the relentless pace of fast fashion and the looming presence of artificial intelligence.”
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