Noticias

Beta Film has sold historical epic “Rise of the Raven” to multiple territories ahead of its North American premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. Following the festival premiere, CBC will bring the 10-part series to Canadian audiences on their streaming channel CBC Gem from Sept. 19. Beta recently sold the miniseries to Italy’s public broadcaster Rai, which will air it next year.

Croatia’s Hrt, Telekom Deutschland in Germany, Slovakia’s Stvr, Blue TV in Switzerland, and Yes in Israel have already broadcast the drama this year, with Czech TV being the most recent to join this group. The show broke ratings records in Hungary on TV2 and it was a hit with young audiences in particular when it aired on Austria’s Orf and its streaming service.

“Rise of the Raven” tells the story of fearless army commander János Hunyadi (Gellért L. Kádár), who devotes his life to defending Europe against an Ottoman invasion.

Ahead of Cannes Mipcom confab, Beta Film has closed a string of major deals on six premium series from Central Eastern Europe, a proof of the region’s fast transformation into a prime destination for multi-territory players such as HBO, Canal+ and Walter Presents, hungry for culturally-specific stories with global potential. Five of the shows come with a raft of prestigious accolades.

Case in point is the Serbian “Operation Sabre,“ winner of a Special Interpretation Award at Canneseries and Best Cee Drama at the recent Czech Serial Killer Festival, snapped up by HBO for the Cee region and Filmin for Spain and Portugal.

“We are extremely happy and grateful to have Beta Film on board as they are doing an amazing work with sales,“ said producer Snežana van Houwelingen of This and That Productions who also looks forward to the Serbian premiere on the local pubcaster Rts on Nov. 2. “The...

European giant Beta Film, known for ambitious titles such as “Babylon Berlin” and “The Swarm,” has shared with Variety in exclusivity a first-look picture of 1o-part series “Rise of the Raven,” which it hails as “one of the most epic European TV productions of all time.”

“Rise of the Raven” weighs in as a passion project of Hungarian-born and Canada-based producer Robert Lantos, behind “Sunshine,” “The Sweet Hereafter,” “Barney’s Version,” “Eastern Promises” and “Crimes of the Future.”

A highlight at Beta Film’s showcase this Tuesday at the London TV Screenings, “Rise of the Raven” turns on the extraordinary feat of Hungarian army commander Janos Hunyadi, played by discovery Gellért L. Kádár, who in 1456 won a bloody, brutal Battle of Belgrade against a vast Ottoman force twice the size of his troops who were often farm labourers armed with just slings and patriotic fervor.

Hunyadi largely halted a full Ottoman...

Principal photography is underway near Budapest on “Rise of the Raven,” an epic drama series produced by veteran Canadian producer Robert Lantos’ Serendipity Point Films (“Crimes of the Future”) and Beta Film (“Gomorrah”) that marks the most lavish TV production in Hungary’s history.

Adapted from author Bán Mór’s bestselling novels, the 10-episode series tells the story of the Hungarian warrior Janos Hunyadi, who defeated the Ottoman army in 1456 at the Battle of Belgrade, halting its march across Europe.

Lantos, whose producing credits include “The Sweet Hereafter,” “Johnny Mnemonic” and “Eastern Promises,” spoke exclusively with Variety about a passion project more than a decade in the making. He was joined by Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning director Robert Dornhelm and Hungarian directors Attila Szász and Orsi Nagypal, who joined the conversation fresh off shooting an epic battle sequence outside Budapest.

The Hungarian-born Lantos, who was in Cannes this year with David Cronenberg...

Beta Film CEO Jan Mojto was in his twenties when he left his native Slovakia in the 1970s, embarking on a career as a journalist before joining the German media giant Kirch Group and finally taking the reins of the Munich-based independent in 2004. Nearly half a century later, the 73-year-old admits a part of him has never left. “Obviously, there is a piece of [my] heart there,” he tells Variety.

It would be a stretch, however, to write off Beta Film’s growing investment in Central and Eastern Europe as nostalgia on the part of its venerable head. For a company that partners with and holds stakes in production companies across Europe, such moves are a natural extension of a strategy that has helped it evolve into one of the continent’s more formidable production and distribution powerhouses, behind the strength of titles like “Gomorrah” and “Babylon Berlin.”

“The market [in Central and Eastern Europe] is developing very rapidly,...

Beta Film has closed multiple pre-sales deals on “Atlantic Crossing,” the prestige Norwegian period drama starring Sofia Helin (“The Bridge”) as Crown Princess Märtha, and Kyle MacLachlan (“Twin Peaks”) as U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, ahead of its world premiere at Canneseries and Mipcom.

Sales have been struck with Italy’s Rai and Deutsche Telekom’s Magenta TV for Germany and Austria, as well as with France’ Chérie 25. The series was produced by leading Norwegian banner Cinenord for public broadcaster Nrk, and was co-produced by Beta Film, Svt and Dr.

“Atlantic Crossing” was also snatched up for Russia (more.tv), the Australian public broadcaster Sbs, Greece and

Cyprus (Forthnet) and across Eastern Europe, including Lithuania (Lrt). The event series is competing at Canneseries and will bow on Nrk on Oct. 26.

Directed by Alexander Eik (“Cold Feet”), “Atlantic Crossing” tells the riveting untold story of the Norwegian Crown Princess who became...

Walter’s Choice has taken U.S. streaming rights to Maria Theresa, a The Crown-style period epic about the first, and only, female ruler of the Habsburg Empire.

Sister platform Walter’s Presents acquired rights in the U.K. and New Zealand for the eight-hour mini-series with the original German title Maria Theresia, and sales group Beta Film also closed deals with French-German channel arte, with Rai for Italy, Russia’s Okko.TV and with Rtp in Portugal.

Marie-Luise Stockinger and Stefanie Reinsperger play Maria Theresa in the series, at various stages in her epic, 40-year reign. The Habsburg leader, born 1717, took over ...

Walter’s Choice has taken U.S. streaming rights to Maria Theresa, a The Crown-style period epic about the first, and only, female ruler of the Habsburg Empire.

Sister platform Walter’s Presents acquired rights in the U.K. and New Zealand for the eight-hour miniseries with the original German title Maria Theresia, and sales group Beta Film also closed deals with French-German channel arte, with Rai for Italy, Russia’s Okko.TV and with Rtp in Portugal.

Marie-Luise Stockinger and Stefanie Reinsperger play Maria Theresa in the series at various stages in her epic, 40-year reign. The Habsburg leader, born 1717, took over ...