NENT adds French drama strand to Viaplay

Paris etc was created by actress and author Zabou Breitman

MIPTV: Scandinavia’s Nordic Entertainment Group (NENT) is set to launch a French drama strand on its SVoD Viaplay service on the back of a content deal signed with Canal+ Group’s production and distribution arm Studiocanal in Cannes.

The Vive La France strand, which launches across the region in June, will include three new titles from Studiocanal’s Canal+ Creation Originale slate of high-profile French productions, extending an existing relationship with NENT.

Paris etc (12×60’), from Les Films Du Kiosque, follows five very different Parisian women whose lives intersect over the course of a season. It was created by award-winning actress and author Zabou Breitman and screenwriter Anne Berest (Declaration of War) and is produced by Denis Pineau-Valencienne and François Kraus.

The second is futuristic thriller Section Zero (8×60’), coproduced by EuropaCorp Television, Bad Company and Umedia for French pay TV channel Canal+. The series is set in a world where multi-national corporations govern Europe and replace the police with their own militias. An idealistic law enforcement officer, played by Ola Rapace (Skyfall), leads a unit working to restore traditional law enforcement.

Lastly, medical drama Interns (8×60’) is created and directed by Thomas Lilti (Hippocrates: Diary of a French Doctor) and produced by 31 Juin Films. It follows three inexperienced medical interns who have to take over when their supervising doctors are unexpectedly quarantined. The production’s young cast included Louise Bourgoin (The Romanoffs).

Last year, Studiocanal launched a new label in France called Studiocanal Original.

Studiocanal is already involved with NENT and Viaplay via the upcoming internationally coproduced post-war Berlin thriller Shadowplay from Måns Mårlind, co-creator of The Bridge.

The series is produced by Studiocanal’s German prodco Tandem Productions and Canada’s Bron Studios, with Studiocanal handling world sales. The coproduction partners are Viaplay, ZDF, Dutch pubcaster NPO and Canal+ for France and Poland.