Walter Presents tracks down Baron Noir

MIPTV: The fledgling US version of VoD service Walter Presents has bolstered its offering by acquiring a French political thriller.

Baron Noir follows a French politician out for revenge

Baron Noir (8×60′) was created and written by Eric Benzekri and Jean-Baptiste Delafon (Maison Close) and produced by French prodco Kwaï for Canal+. A second season of the show, which is sold by StudioCanal, is in development for the French pay operator.

It has already been acquired by Sony Entertainment Television for Germany, where it will launch on April 6, as well as SBS is Australia and Amazon Prime in the UK.

The show follows a French politician who plots with colleagues, police and criminals to topple his former boss after he is sacrificed during the election campaign.

Walter Presents, the international drama VoD service backed by UK broadcaster Channel 4 (C4), revealed in February it was launching as a subscription VoD offering in the US.

The US version of Walter Presents marked the first international launch for the streaming platform, which made its debut in the UK last January. It carries subtitled, first-run foreign-language drama acquired from around the world and costs US$6.99 a month.

The ad-free service offers drama from 12 different countries, including Norwegian thriller Valkyrien and French drama Spin. Walter Presents is operated by C4 alongside Global Series Network, which is run by former Fox UK boss Jason Thorp and ex-C4 and Fox exec Jo McGrath, plus Iuzzolino, who was previously creative director at UK prodco Betty.