Agents & Producers Debate Pay Deals And Why Creatives Need Better Financial Chops — Berlinale Series Market

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Following its world premiere in the competition section of the Berlin Film Festival, Beta Cinema has revealed first sales across Europe and to Australia and New Zealand for Andreas Dresen’s “From Hilde, With Love.” The drama about anti-Nazi activists in Berlin, which is led by “Babylon Berlin’s” Liv Lisa Fries and introduces Johannes Hegemann in his first big screen appearance, will be released in France by Haut et Court, in Italy by Teodora and throughout Scandinavia by Angel Films. Beta Cinema also closed deals for Benelux (September Film), Portugal (Outsider), former Yugoslavia (Discovery), Hungary (Cirko) and Czech Republic (Film Europe). Palace Film picked up the film for Australia and New Zealand.

Former HBO Europe execs Johnathan Young and Ioanina Pavel have resurfaced with their own indie.

Slow Horses actress Catherine McCormack is to star alongside Colin Firth in Sky and Peacock‘s retelling of the 1988 terror attack on Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.

Holly Jones Keshet International has commissioned the six-part docuseries “Hitler’s Treasure Hunters” from production outfit Perpetual Entertainment(“Troppo”). KI’s second straight-to-series factual order for international distribution, which figures into a new Greenlight: Factual & Formats commissioning initiative, the show centers Heinrich Himmler’s Das Ahnenerbe, a branch of the Nazi SS that sought religious relics and high-value international artefacts – such as the Holy Grail and Thor’s Hammer – in order to gain solid footing in the war and advance Aryan supremacy.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The Playmaker has closed a raft of pre-sales deals on “Ploey 2 – The Legend of the Winds,” which was presented to international buyers for the first time at the European Film Market this month. The Playmaker screened an exclusive first-look teaser at its booth in Berlin as well as a promo for attending buyers.

Ellise Shafer Catherine McCormack has joined Colin Firth in Sky and Peacock’s upcoming limited series “Lockerbie,” about the 1988 flight disaster in which 259 passengers and crew members were killed. The “Slow Horses” actor will play Jane Swire, the wife of Dr. Jim Swire (Firth).

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor That’s all, Oscar folks! In just 12 days, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will crack open 23 illustrious envelopes to unveil the victors of this year’s 96th Oscars. It’s a night where predictability usually reigns supreme, but hey, there’s always room for a curveball or two. During the past six days of intense voting, Variety has been on the scene, chatting it up with over 50 AMPAS members to get the lowdown on which movies and performances have been getting the thumbs-up on their ballots.

EXCLUSIVE: SkyShowtime‘s drama original Codename: Annika is taking its art crime sensibilities around the world.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Is this now an age of TV caution? A brace of big swings at this week’s London TV Screenings belie that trend, and few come bigger than the English-language action thriller “Paris Has Fallen,” which Studiocanal launches at this week’s London TV Screenings. Like other major LTVS plays, it takes a mainstream genre – such as, elsewhere, the historical drama (“Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light”), true crime (“A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story”) and the bio (“So Long, Marianne”) – and aims to elevate them to another level.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The Match Factory has revealed multiple distribution deals for two Berlinale competition titles: German director Matthias Glasner‘s “Dying,” which won the festival’s Silver Bear for best screenplay, and Russian director Victor Kossakovsky‘s documentary “Architecton.” “Dying,” which stars Lars Eidinger, Lilith Stangenberg and Corinna Harfouch, also picked up the Guild of German Arthouse Cinemas and the Berliner Morgenpost Readers’ Jury Award. Variety‘s review describes the film as “a profoundly affecting exploration of life and loss.” The Match Factory closed deals for the film in France (Bodega Film), Italy (Satine Film), Benelux (September Film Distribution), Norway (Selmer Media), Poland (Aurora), CIS (Provzglyad), Ex-Yugoslavia (MCF MegaCom Film), Hungary (Cirko Films), Greece (Cinobo), Romania (Freealize), Taiwan (Andrews Film) and South Korea (Pancinema).

Dahomey,” a highlight of this year’s Berlinale competition and directed by Cannes prizewinner Mati Diop (“Atlantics”), for North America, Latin America, U.K., Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Turkey and India. The feature film is represented in international markets by Films du Losange, which negotiated the deal with Mubi. “Dahomey” marks the sophomore outing of Diop, a French-Senegalese talent who is considered one of the leading figures in international arthouse cinema and of a new wave in African and diasporic cinema.

Marta Balaga Amsterdam-based Big Blue is set to produce the upcoming series “Kiss My Feet,” alongside Finnish company Helsinki-filmi. Selected for Series Mania’s Forum Co-Pro Pitching Sessions, the six-episode drama is created by Daan Gielis and Mark Van De Grift, loosely based on their own experiences. In the show, successful marketer Max finds himself in a spiritual community in Finland, trying to help out his brother Lucas – apparently, his mysterious guru is interested in building an international brand.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Hong Kong director Ray Yeung ‘s “All Shall Be Well” has sold in several key markets following its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. Represented in international markets by Films Boutique, “All Shall Be Well” is playing in the Panorama section at the Berlinale and is eligible for the Teddy Award.

Carey Mulligan and Adam Sandler are hitting the red carpet at the 2024 Berlinale International Film Festival.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Playtime has had a busy EFM, where it’s locked a raft of major deals on “The Devil’s Bath,” a period psychological thriller in competition at the Berlin Film Festival. “The Devil’s Bath” is directed by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, the Austrian filmmaking duo behind “Goodnight Mommy.” Set in rural Austria in 1750, “The Devil’s Bath” stars Anja Plaschg, the up-and-coming singer and composer known as Soap & Skin. Plaschg plays Agnes, a young married woman who feels oppressed in her husband’s world, which is devoid of emotions and limited to chores and expectations.

Marta Balaga As the Berlinale Series Market celebrates its 10th anniversary, series continue to stand “side by side” with films at the German fest, observes EFM director Dennis Ruh. “BSM continues to be a beacon for all aspects of serialized content, even in years where space feels tighter with less films and series, giving selected titles more exposure,” he says, mentioning a “vibrant influx” of international professionals eager to showcase their shows.

Ahead of what looks to be a certain – at the time of writing – best actor win for his work on Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, Cillian Murphy leads this absorbing drama from Belgian filmmaker Tim Mielants; a story about a working-class father who has questions about the local convent who has more than a hold on a small town in Ireland.Based upon the 2021 novel of the same name by Claire Keegan (whose previous work, Foster was adapted into The Quiet Girl to international acclaim), and from a screenplay by Enda Walsh, the film is set in the mid-eighties, specifically during the lead-up to Christmas. Murphy is Bill Furlong, owner of a small coal and fuel firm in the harbour town of Wexford on the southeastern coast of Ireland.

“The first shape I had in mind for this film was fiction,” filmmaker Mati Diop told a Berlin Film Festival presser this morning when quizzed on the structure of her inventive documentary Dahomey. 

Saoirse Ronan is hitting the red carpet at the 2024 Berlinale International Film Festival.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Highland Film Group has locked key territory deals for sci-fi thriller “The Astronaut” from “A Quiet Place” producer Brad Fuller Pic stars Kate Mara (“A Teacher”), Laurence Fishburne (“John Wick” films) and Gabriel Luna (“Terminator: Dark Fate”). The film wrapped shooting late last year in Ireland. “The Astronaut” has sold to Signature Entertainment for the U.K., Capelight Pictures for Germany, Blue Swan Entertainment for Italy, Nos Lusomundo Audiovisuais for Portugal, DeAPlaneta for Spain, Spentzos Film for Greece, Cinemania Group for former Yugoslavia, Shoval Film Production for Israel, Falcon Films for the Middle East, Filmfinity for South Africa and Roadshow Films for Australia and New Zealand.