TALKING SHOP: Ahead of the second season of the US version of Danish drama The Killing on AMC, Henrik Bastin, CEO of series producer Fuse Entertainment, says the hype around Scandinavian adaptations has peaked.
C21’s Talking Shop is a daily strand on C21Media.net that goes behind the news to talk to leading players in the international content business.
Says Bastin: "Have we created a monster with The Killing? Yes. Have format sales skyrocketed? Yes. Is it going to end? Yes, because of the output in Scandinavia if nothing else. The turnaround for Scandinavian drama projects from pitch to air is five sometimes six years, so it's getting bought up in the US or the international market space much faster than it's getting produced."
But he sees no sign of the current demand for foreign scripted drama remakes abating. As US cable continues to lead innovation in this space, the broadcast networks are increasingly taking note and warming to the notion that not all series have to be close-ended procedurals, Bastin says. The next 'wave' of remakes, he believes, will come from Israel, Germany and France.
