French pay TV group Canal+ and Italian public broadcaster RAI take over Audrey’s Back , Quebec The drama The Resurrection of the Comatose Patient, which won the grand prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
Germany’s Beta Film, which is working on international shows, has struck a deal with Canal+ and RAI, with future deals in the works processing. Earlier this year, Beta launched Audrey’s Back on the MIPTV market.
Florence Longpré, who co-wrote 10 part of the series, plays the titular coma Patient Audrey, who was admitted to the hospital after a prom night accident, woke up suddenly fifteen years later and slowly returned to life, learning to talk, walk and remember who she was before. Co-creator Guillaume Lambert called Audrey’s Back a classic coming-of-age story “just years too late.”
Co-stars Denis Bouchard, Josée Deschênes and Zeneb Blanchet. Audrey’s Back is produced by Pixcom in collaboration with Quebec Media.
In a separate TV deal, About Premium Content (APC) completes the first sale of another MIPTV highlight: Icelandic thriller Blackport .
Topic acquires North American rights to 8-episode crime series, SBS acquires Australia, AMC Networks International acquires Spain and Portugal, TG4 acquires Irish TV rights and RTS take away Switzerland.
Gísli Örn Garðarsson, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson and Nína Dögg Filippusdóttir created and starred in Blackport , produced by Vesturport Turbine Studios of Arte (France) and RÚV (Iceland), APC handles worldwide distribution rights. The series follows a young couple (Garðarsson and Filippusdóttir) trying to build a small fishing empire in their Icelandic village, only to find their plans threatened when the government begins imposing restrictive fishing quotas.
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