Australian drama boost after Hallmark pre-sale

In something of a coup for Ozzie drama, The Hallmark Channel has pre-bought the 22×60' primetime drama series McLeod's Daughters, after a deal with Australian distributor Southern Star Sales.

The Crown Media-operated broadcaster is to premiere the show in the US, and later on its international network of channels, which currently reaches into 100 countries (including the UK, Scandinavia, Japan, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Central Europe and Turkey, as well as territories through Lat-Am, the Middle East, Asia and Africa.)

Hallmark has taken {key international rights{ to the {dynamic{ series, said the channel's svp of programming Kirstine Layfield. The show will be used to target adults 25-54 in Hallmark's 68m international subscriber base.

{This the first time an Australian drama series has been pre-sold into the US market for some time,{ enthused Southern Star Sales chief exec Cathy Payne. The Hallmark pre-sale was described as {an enormous stamp of approval for the series{ by Nine Network's director of drama, Kris Noble.

Produced by Posie Graeme-Evans, the drama is a co-production between Millennium Television and Nine Films & TV, with the assistance of the South Australian Film Corporation.

It follows the lives of the two McLeod sisters who run a vast all-woman cattle station in outback Australia. The show will air on Australia's Nine Network in late 2001 and on Hallmark Channel early next year.