StarzPlay, France’s TF1 team up for crime anthology series A French Case

SERIES MANIA: Lionsgate-owned streamer StarzPlay and French commercial broadcaster TF1 have teamed up for a drama anthology series called A French Case.

Superna Kalle

Produced by France’s Cheyenne Federation in coproduction with TF1, the first instalment of the anthology will focus on the real-life murder of four-year-old Grégory Villemin, who was killed after being abducted from his home in Lépanges-sur-Vologne in 1984.

In France, Belgium, Luxembourg and French- and German-speaking Switzerland, StarzPlay will launch the series in a second window beginning 14 days after the last episode airs in those territories on TF1. In Germany, Spain and the Netherlands, the show will be available on the streamer one day after its conclusion on TF1.

Unveiled at this week’s Series Mania, the series has been created by Jérémie Guez (Brothers by Blood, The Night Eats the World, A Bluebird in my Heart) and Alexandre Smia (The Bureau, If You See My Mother). It is being written by Jérémie Guez and Alexandre Smia, with the collaboration of Trân-Minh Nam, and directed by Christophe Lamotte (The First Forgotten, The Share of Suspicion). Federation Entertainment is the distributor.

“It’s been over two years since we brought our streaming service into France and since then we have watched StarzPlay grow in this market with fantastic partners by our side,” said Superna Kalle, president of international networks at Starz.

“We are excited to expand further and take another step into original French programming – joining TF1’s powerful examination of Grégory Villemin’s tragic death, the aftermath of which continues to reverberate even today.”

StarzPlay has recently wrapped production on several local original coproductions, including French-language series All Those Things We Never Said in France and Spanish-language show Express in Spain. It is currently in production on Spanish-language series Toda La Sangre in Mexico.