ZDF Studios packs crime, dark comedy and romance for Series Mania

Lippy Pictures’ Bust Up follows a small-town murder investigation

SERIES MANIA: A buddy-cop series made by ZDF in Germany and Sky in New Zealand is among the projects being taken to Series Mania next week by German distributor ZDF Studios (ZDFS).

Bust Up comes from Auckland-based Lippy Pictures in coproduction with Berlin-based MadeFor Film, ZDF, ZDFS and Sky New Zealand.

The six-part crime series is set in the picturesque north of New Zealand and follows a pair of ex-lovers, played by Roimata Fox (Muru) and Morgana O’Reilly (Housebound), who, after 10 years apart, are thrown together as reluctant cop partners in a small town.

The ZDFS execs in Lille next week meeting international partners and seeking buyers will be Tim Gerhartz, Sebastian Krekeler, Mirela Nastase, Nik Sivaloganathan, Yuliya Fischer, Rodrigo Herrera and Viviane Richard.

Also part of the ZDFS programme line-up is detective drama Benidorm is Murder (6×60′), a project led by BlackBox Multimedia and Clapperboard Studios and commissioned by Channel 5 in the UK.

Featuring a cast led by John Hannah (Sliding Doors), the series blends humour with crime as a seasoned detective uncovers the darker side of a bustling Spanish holiday resort, where glamour and secrets collide.

ZDFS will also present the eight-part romantic period drama Grand Hotel by the Sea (8×45′), the first series of its kind produced in the Netherlands.

Created by Fleur Winters and produced by Big Blue in coproduction with KRONCRV and VRT, the drama is set between 1912 and 1919 on the North Sea coast at Noordwijk.

The series stars Thekla Reuten (Narcosis) as a woman who inherits a grand seaside hotel and aims to transform it into a premier destination for Europe’s elite while navigating societal and personal challenges. The cast also includes Joes Brauers, Florence Vos Weeda and Mustafa Duygulu.