Viaplay coproducing adaptation of Emelie Schepp’s Jana Berzelius books with FLX

Nordic streamer Viaplay is coproducing a series based on novels by Emelie Schepp about a public prosecutor and former child soldier.

Filippa Wallestam

Set to shoot this autumn in Norrköping and Stockholm, Jana: Marked for Life is due to premiere exclusively on Viaplay in autumn 2023.

Created and directed by Felix Herngren (The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window & Disappeared) and Henrik Björn (Jordskott), the six-part series will be coproduced by Viaplay and FLX.

Schepp’s books follow Jana Berzelius, who viewers will meet during an investigation into the murder of a high-ranking official at the Swedish Migration Agency. When the main suspect is also found dead, Berzelius immediately recognises something on his scarred body. To understand her own traumatic past, she must reach the killer before the police.

Jana: Marked for Life is supported by Norrköpings Filmfond and is produced by Sussan Treschow at FLX. The exec producers are FLX’s Elin Kvist, former Netflix exec Erik Barmack of Wild Sheep, Martin Rea of Reaz and Lotta Dolk of Viaplay Group. It will be scripted by Maria Karlsson, Daniel Sawka and Charlotte Lesche. Viaplay Content Distribution will handle global sales of the series.

Filippa Wallestam, Viaplay Group’s chief content officer, said: “There are good reasons why Emelie Schepp has been named Sweden’s top thriller writer three years in a row and sold over three million books across 30 countries.

“Her stories are taut and unsettling, and Jana is an intriguing character. With Viaplay soon available directly to Nordic noir fans in 13 countries, this is an ideal time for Emelie’s unique heroine to step onto the screen.”