With Mipcom just around the corner and programme buyers in acquisitive mood, distributors are preparing new slates of content to showcase to the world via C21’s Digital Screenings.

This month’s playlist has no fewer than 11 dramas, such is the insatiable appetite for scripted series, miniseries and movies from audiences and network acquisitions execs around the globe this fall.

European studios have been particularly busy in recent months, as demand for local content soars. First up, we have Greek drama Save Me (Antenna Studios), in which a woman returns to her culturally diverse hometown in Northern Greece when her younger sister goes missing. Tow (MarVista Entertainment), meanwhile, follows twin sisters who must confront their past when their attempted killer re-enters their lives.

The disappearance of a young boy is the main theme of drama Fenris (Viaplay), and rumours of wolves soon start swirling, while One of Us (Federation Entertainment) is billed as a “coming of age dramedy about tolerance and inclusivity, inspired by a true story,” according to the producers.

From Germany comes Boundless (ZDF Studios), in which explorer Ferdinand Magellan leads an epic voyage in search of precious spices that establishes the existence of an ocean route west, and The Young Doctors (Bavaria Media International), a popular and youthful hospital drama “with its fingers on the pulse of life,” according to the modern soap’s producers.

Japanese drama The 13 Lords of the Shogun (NHK/NHK Enterprises), about “a war of all wars that ushers in the age of warriors,” is also on the playlist, as is My Neighbor, Chikara (TV Asahi Corporation), a comedy about an indecisive guy who helps lonely people, also from Japan.

From US-based AMC Studios comes Dark Winds, a new Western noir that follows a Navajo Tribal Police cop and his deputies as they investigate a series of seemingly unrelated crimes. The series is based on the Leaphorn & Chee book series by Tony Hillerman and has George RR Martin and Robert Redford attached.

Bali 2002 (Banijay Rights) is a four-part drama that explores how everyday heroes from Bali, Australia and beyond defied the odds during the 2002 Bali bombings, while My Life Is Murder S3 (DCD Rights), about a woman who moves back to Auckland but gets involved in an unsolved murder case, is also in the mix.

On the factual front, this month’s playlist includes The Frontier (Abacus Media Rights), which explores the legends, events and folklore of the American frontier that have embedded themselves into our culture, while Abandoned Americana (Beyond Rights) travels across the US to explore the relics of everyday American institutions that have made the country what it is today.

For buyers looking for more topic fare, Prince Andrew: Banished (Blue Ant International) shines a light on Prince Andrew’s scandals and his friendship with sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, which nearly sank the British monarchy. Wanted – The World’s Most Dangerous Arms Dealer (Autentic Distribution), meanwhile, documents Karl Lee, aka Li Fangwei, the Chinese businessman and arms dealer who is probably the most dangerous unknown person in this world.

The US & the Holocaust (PBS Distribution) is from Ken Burns, Lynn Novick and Sarah Botstein, and examines how the American people and their leaders responded to one of the greatest humanitarian disasters of the 20th century, and Backlight: The World According to China (Dutch Core) focuses on the Qatari soccer stadiums and the Nepalese labourers who built them.

For lighter factual, check out The Yorkshire Auction House (Cineflix Rights), in which Angus Ashworth travels the UK to clear homes of clutter, while Time Travel Earth’s History (Off the Fence) takes viewers on a journey through time to see some of the Earth’s greatest natural wonders.

For more formatted factual and entertainment content, this month’s playlist includes Family Piggy Bank (Armoza Formats), which puts one family’s knowledge and trust in each other to the test as they work together to try to fill their family piggy bank. Wedding Diaries (Rabbit Films) is summed by the line: “Four couples, eight unique stories and, finally, four weddings!”

EXchange (CJ ENM) follows eight men and women with their own respective stories who gather in a house to reunite with their past lovers and start meeting with new people, and Celeb Cooking School (Sony Pictures Television Formats) is a reality cooking format that sees celebrities who can’t cook compete in an intense cookery crash course.

Rounding out the October playlist are a couple of kids series: Built to Survive (Australian Children’s Television Foundation), in which Phil Breslin gets up close to the world’s most unique creatures to reveal the ultimate survivors of Australia’s most extreme habitats; and Super Sema (Cake), billed as “the world’s first-to-launch African animated kids’ superhero franchise,” which is exec produced and stars Oscar-winning actor Lupita Nyong’o.

That’s all for October, stay tuned for more Hot Properties in November!

With Mipcom just around the corner and programme buyers in acquisitive mood, distributors are preparing new slates of content to showcase to the world via C21’s Digital Screenings.

This month’s playlist has no fewer than 11 dramas, such is the insatiable appetite for scripted series, miniseries and movies from audiences and network acquisitions execs around the globe this fall.

European studios have been particularly busy in recent months, as demand for local content soars. First up, we have Greek drama Save Me (Antenna Studios), in which a woman returns to her culturally diverse hometown in Northern Greece when her younger sister goes missing. Tow (MarVista Entertainment), meanwhile, follows twin sisters who must confront their past when their attempted killer re-enters their lives.

The disappearance of a young boy is the main theme of drama Fenris (Viaplay), and rumours of wolves soon start swirling, while One of Us (Federation Entertainment) is billed as a “coming of age dramedy about tolerance and inclusivity, inspired by a true story,” according to the producers.
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