All the latest news from the global content industry on Wednesday, 19 February

 

Cineflix Rights boards Iceland’s Hildur

Production has begun in Iceland on crime drama Hildur, based on the novels by Satu Rämö, with Cineflix Rights picking up global distribution rights.

The show features a surfing female detective who fights against time to confront a serial killer in the fjords of Iceland while unraveling the mystery of her long-lost sisters.

Hildur is being co-produced by Take Two Studios for Nelonen Media’s streamer Ruutu and Sagafilm for Siminn, with financing provided by IPR.VC.

The director is Tinna Hrafnsdóttir, (Reykjavik 112) and is being written by Matti Laine (Bordertown) with Margret Örnolfsdottir (Trapped). Executive producers are Sara Norberg and Eero Hietala for Take Two Studios, Kjartan Thor Thordarson and Tjörvi Thorsson for Sagafilm and Timo Argillander, James Baker and Andrea Scarso for IPR.VC.

 

Happy Accidents joins Aussie series Gnomes

LA-based film and TV firm Happy Accidents has joined forces with Australian production outfits Total Fiction and Screen Invaders to co-produce upcoming series Gnomes (6 x 30 minutes).

The twisted genre series has been commissioned by Stan in Australia and picked up by ZDFneo in Germany via production company Network Movie, a subsidiary of ZDF Studios. Happy Accidents is handling international distribution.

Gnomes has been created by Joel Kohn, who runs Screen Invaders, and is a genre-bending dramedy series that is set in a fading small-town that finds itself under siege by an army of murderous garden gnomes. 

Production is slated for early 2025, with filming set to take place in Australia, and will feature a mix of practical effects and VFX to bring the gnomes to life.

 

NBCU takes rights to UK’s Win! Win!  

NBCUniversal Formats has picked up distribution rights outside of the UK to entertainment format Win Win!, which it will present to buyers at London TV Screenings and MIP London next week.

The format, which was created by UK-based Hello Dolly, features 40 contestants in a studio playing against viewers at home as they compete for a jackpot of at least £1m.

Players must answer questions based on a nationwide survey, with the show building to a final episode in which the £1m top prize becomes available.

 

Beta sells Bookish into Lat Am, Europe 

Germany’a Beta Film has unveiled a raft of sales for Bookish, the UKTV crime drama created by and starring Mark Gatiss (Sherlock), ahead of London TV Screenings and MIP London next week.

The show has been picked up by BBC First for Benelux and AMC Networks in Latin America and Brazil, Turkish Radio and Television TRT for Turkey, and HRT for Croatia. Negotiations in further key territories are underway. The six-part series is produced by Eagle Eye Drama for UKTV and PBS in the US. 

Beta’s London TV Screenings slate also includes Other People’s Money, the Spanish thriller Shades, Unforgettable - Memories of Revenge, the French remake of the Turkish success format Persona with International Emmy Award winner Haluk Bilginer, and the Norwegian drama A Better Man. 

 

Netfix unveils Pulse launch

Netflix has revealed its launch plans for Pulse, the streamer’s first English-language medical procedural.

The show will launch globally on 3 April and explores life inside a trauma centre in Miami as workers prepare for the arrival of a hurricane.   

It has been created by Zoe Robyn, who is co-showrunner alongside Carlton Cuse, and stars Willia Fitzgerald, Colin Woodell, Justina Machado, Jack Bannon, Jessie T. Usher, Jessy Yates, Chelsea Muirhead and Daniela Nieves.