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HBO Max backs The Winner from Czech prodco ETAMP Film for CEE launch

Vitaz team (l to r) Jan Bilek of ETAMP Film, director Jan Hřebejk, actors Milan Ondrik and Ady Hajdu, and cinematographer Martin Sacha

HBO Max has greenlit an original series currently being filmed in Slovakia and the Czech Republic ahead of its launch in Central and Eastern Europe next year.

The Winner (working title, 6×35′) is a family comedy produced for the WarnerMedia-owned streaming service by Czech prodco ETAMP Film (Burning Bush).

Written by Zuzana Dzurindová, the daughter of a former Slovak prime minister, and Peter Nagy, it tells the story of Viktor Hudák (Ady Hajdu), a fictional premier of a small European country ending his career in politics and returning to everyday life.

However, when his successor radically overturns all the policies that he spent a lifetime building he quickly realises there is very little power in being an ex-prime minister.

In a bid to demonstrate that he is still relevant he attempts to step up and take the lead at home where he lives with his wife and three daughters. But having spent so long away from them, and not having the first idea how the real world works, he finds a family that has long become used to living without him and a group of women far superior to any political opponents he has faced in his career.

The show will be known locally as Vítaz and is being directed by Berlinale- and Czech Lion-winning director Jan Hřebejk (Kawasaki’s Rose, Head Over Heels). It will be executive produced for HBO Max by Steve Matthews and Johnathan Young.

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