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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has opened the National Film Institute’s expanded studio complex in Fót, on the outskirts of Budapest.

“Filmmaking has been in the blood of Hungarians since the silent film era and we were also there at the birth of Hollywood,” the Hungarian leader said at the opening.

Nfi Studios has been the major production facility in Hungary since the 1980s. The expansion added four new soundstages, totalling 10,000 square meters of new studio space, 20,000 sqm. of auxiliary facilities, and 135,000 sqm. of green areas. Two of those four new stages can be connected using a soundproof mobile wall.

In recent times projects including The Witcher, Blade Runner 2049 and Terminator: Dark Fate have shot at Nfi Studios. It also housed Robert Lantos’ sprawling TV epic Rise of the Raven.

There are four new soundstages at Nfi Studios

The Nfi estimates the annual value of film and TV...

Next year promises to be a hot one for European productions, with everything from Netflix’s Italian period drama The Leopard to Max Turkey’s The First Göktürk drawing audiences to non-English-language fare. Throw in the second season of young adult crowd pleaser Maxton Hall: The World Between Us and Prime Video Italy’s Jesse Williams vehicle Costiera and it promises to be a bumper 2025. Read on for our selection, and add your own in the comments.

‘Whiskey On The Rocks’

Sweden

We’re starting our tour with Disney+’s first Nordic original series, given that it premieres in select countries and on Hulu in the U.S. on January 22. It began airing on SVT1 in Sweden over Christmas, but we’ll give it a pass given the worldwide launch is etched in for 2025. The political satire — from Patrick Nebout, Henrik Jansson-Schweizer and Magnus Bimberg’s Humanoids — revolves...

Welcoming a bevy of stars, led by “NCIS'” Cote de Pablo and Michael Weatherly, talking up spinoff “NCIS: Tony & Ziva,” and some big new shows, such as “Rise of the Raven,” a sword and mace epic, Cannes’ Mipcom confab hit its final straits Wednesday evening announcing 10,500 delegates in attendance.

That’s down some 500 from 2023’s edition but still makes Mipcom the biggest TV sales and production market in the world.

And the wheels of business are still turning. “The market is definitely picking up, and deals are being made. All our key buyers were here, although the Asian presence was a bit soft. Mipcom is definitely the biggest fall market for us,” said Helene Aurø, sales and marketing director at REInvent, Scandinavia biggest international TV distributor.

Despite massive attendance, however, the event also registered multiple strains in the TV business sparked by a saturation of shows and investor backlash...

Changing windows, increasing co-productions, streamer licencing deals and the demand for“cosy crime”were the topics on the lips of delegates at this week’s Mipcom programme market in Cannes.

Mipcom remains, in its own words, the ’Mother of all Entertainment Content Markets’ – and a huge number of execs from all over the world beat a path to its anniversary 40th edition this year. But it took place against a backdrop of challenged broadcaster and studio finances, inflationary pressures on TV budgets and the aftermath of the last year’s Hollywood strikes.

Not surprisingly, many execs with whom Screen spoke...

Exclusive: Italian drama ‘La Storia’ has been picked up for the U.S. and Israel. The series, adapted from the iconic Elsa Morante bestseller, is set in Rome during and soon after World War II. It stars Jasmine Trinca (The Gunman) in the lead role.

MHz Choice, the SVOD service that majors in bringing prestige international television to North American viewers, has acquired it for the U.S. and Canada. Elsewhere, Yes and Hot have picked it up for Israel. Beta Film is handling distribution and cut the deals. It has already sold it to Nrk in Norway, Yle in Finland, Svt in Sweden, Dr in Denmark and Ruv in Iceland.

The series is set during World War II and its immediate aftermath. It turns on the story of a Jewish woman, Ida Ramundo, a widowed mother living in Rome, and her two sons. The book was first published in...

Veteran filmmaker Robert Lantos is generating buzz at MIPCOM with his latest television series “Rise of the Raven.” Unlike many historical dramas, the production prioritizes authentic language and cultural representation.

Lantos, known for work on acclaimed movies like “Eastern Promises,” made the unusual choice to have characters speak in their native tongues rather than defaulting to English. “This story is deeply tied to specific moments in history and places,” Lantos explained. “I didn’t want all the characters using some mixed English.”

The Canada-based producer of Hungarian descent carried this dedication to precision into casting. He sought actors from the nations depicted rather than employing famous international stars. “Global celebrities tend to come from English-speaking backgrounds, rarely elsewhere,” Lantos noted. “I felt it was worth finding local talent from the real countries involved in this history.”

Lantos acknowledged challenges finding suitable performers from smaller pools. However, he believes worthwhile to generate an immersive viewing experience.

Robert Lantos wanted to avoid a Hollywood take on European history and insisted that characters in his period epic Rise of the Raven spoke in their native tongues and that talent was sourced from the countries in question.

“I’ve always shot in English, but this is a story that is so deeply rooted in a specific moment in time, specific geographic places, I didn’t want to have everybody speak some kind of a mid-Atlantic English,” the veteran film and TV producer told Deadline.

That also meant the casting pool was smaller and the team had to work harder to find its on-screen talent.

“Global stars tend to be from the English language world, with rare exceptions,” Lantos said. “I thought it was a price was worth paying that we wouldn’t have any global stars, only local ones, from the actual countries that are involved in this history,...

Beta Film has released a swashbuckling, pulse-pounding trailer for “Rise of the Raven,” its epic 10-part drama series based on the bloody 15th-century battle that changed the course of Europe. The show will world premiere at Mipcom in the Grand Auditorium of Cannes’ Palais des Festivals on Oct. 22.

Adapted from author Bán Mór’s bestselling novels, the 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 and marking a turning point in the history of the continent.

The series is produced by veteran Canadian producer Robert Lantos’ Serendipity Point Films and Beta Film, the production and distribution powerhouse behind series including “Gomorrah” and “Babylon Berlin.” The Munich-based company is also repping the show internationally as part of a packed Mipcom slate.

In a trailer shared exclusively with Variety, Hunyadi (Kádár L. Gellért) delivers...

Welcome to Deadline’s The Hot Ones — Drama, our guide to some of the best scripted TV being sold at MIPCOM this year. Our editorial team has done extensive research in the run-up to the 2024 market and has handpicked a selection of the projects set to be big talking points at this year’s event in Cannes.

In between meetings and cocktail parties, you’re sure to hear whispers about the next potential global hit, and The Hot Ones is here to guide you. So scroll down for the juiciest fare including Beta Films’ Rise of the Raven, Lionsgate’s Spartacus prequel and Fremantle’s Jesse Williams-starrer Costiera.

A Better Place Komplizen/StudioCanal/Wolfgang Ennenbach

Distributor: StudioCanal

Length: 8 x 45’

Producers: Komplizen Serien, Studiocanal Series, Film Ag, The Post Republic, Wdr, Ard Degeto

Network: Ard (Germany), Canal+ (France & Austria)

What happens to a society that ditches prison? That’s the...

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...

Beta Film, one of Europe’s biggest and most ambitious independents, has unveiled its Mipcom sales slate, led by 10-part epic “Rise of the Raven,” plus a new pick-up, “Last to Brake,” based on the true story of Finnish motorcycle racing great Jarno Saarinen, and now 288 episodes of Greek daily series smash hit “The Beach.”

Also brought to market are two Eagle Eye Drama shows: singular PBS and Channel 4 procedural “Patience,” starring Laura Fraser (“Breaking Bad”); and “Bookish,” created and starring Emmy Award winner Mark Gatiss, as well as Internet troll redemption’s tale “A Better Man,” from public broadcast powerhouses Nrk and Zdf.

Promising one of Mipcom’s biggest world premieres and billed by Beta Film as one of the most epic European TV productions of all time – which is something coming from Beta, the producers of “Babylon Berlin” and “Swarm” – “Rise of the Raven,” produced by the...

“Rise of the Raven,” the anticipated European event series from Beta Film, behind “Babylon Berlin” and “The Swarm,” and producer Robert Lantos, will world premiere at Cannes content trade fair Mipcom on Oct. 22.

Beta Film has shared in exclusivity with Variety a first teaser to the series, which is a bracing introduction to the scale and ambition of “Rise of the Raven’s” production values, as well as the brutality of its battles scenes as it tells in an 10-part epic the extraordinary real-life feat of Hungarian army commander Janos Hunyadi, played by discovery Gellért L. Kádár, who turned back the tide of the Ottoman Empire’s seemingly unstoppable advance into Europe.

This looks set to climax in the series as in history in 1456 when Hunyadi won a bloody Battle of Belgrade against a vast Ottoman force twice the size of his troops who were sometimes armed with just slings and patriotic fervor.

Veteran producers Koby Gal Raday (The Band’s Visit, On the Spectrum) and Ilda Santiago (Concrete Jungle) are teaming up with Brazil’s Mymama Entertainment and Germany’s Beta Film to launch a new international production company, Janeiro Studios, that aims to produce high-end TV and indie feature films out of the Latin America and beyond. Koby Gal-Raday will serve as CEO, and Santiago will be managing director.

The company has the backing of Beta Film, one of Europe’s leading indie outfits, producers of Babylon Berlin and period romancer Sisi. Mayra Faour Auad’s Mymama Entertainment, a leading Brazil production group, and International Emmy winner for 2018 documentary series Hack The City and doc feature Our Blood, Our Body.

“Brazil is ready to expand its creative and commercial boundaries, and the international market expects it from us now,” said Faour Auad.

With offices in Brazil and Europe, Janeiro Studios aims to...

When it comes to the wild success of the film industry in Hungary, which is the largest production hub in continental Europe and second in Europe only to the U.K., film commissioner Csaba Káel is quick to credit a rich cinematic legacy dating back more than 100 years. “There is a huge tradition,” he said. “We have a special film DNA in Hungary.”

The industry’s ongoing success, however, as well as its hopes for the future, is just as reliant on sound policy and investment from the country’s National Film Institute, along with a deep pool of world-class talent that is the envy of industries twice its size.

Those were among the takeaways of a panel during the Cannes Film Festival’s Marché du Film that included Káel, Hungarian producer Ildikó Kemény (“Poor Things”), Hungarian-born and Canadian-based producer Robert Lantos (“Crimes of the Future”), and the U.K.

Filming in Hungary offers everything from a massive amount of production space and a 20-year strong tax rebate to eight symphony orchestras and thermal baths.

On a panel during the Cannes Film Festival at the Marche du Film, film commissioner Csaba Kael, as well as producers Ildikó Kemeny, Robert Lantos and Mike Goodridge, spoke about the experiences of filming in Hungary.

Kael noted that commercial film production began in the country in the early 1900s. “It is built into our DNA,” he said of filmmaking. Only the U.K. has more film production than Hungary, Kael added. This year, Hungary is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its tax rebate program, which offers films produced in Hungary a 30 percent rebate based on their expenditure.

Lantos, who has been filming in the country since the 1990s prior to the tax credits, said, “Whenever I have a project that needs a European-looking city,...

A French adaptation of Beta Film’s International Emmy-winning Turkish thriller series Persona is in the works with a female protagonist.

Mémoire Vive is starring Six Women’s Clémentine Célarié as Esther Lefevre, the reinterpreted female lead from the Turkish series, which has been greenlit for a second run. The French version is being produced by Calt Studio for M6.

The Turkish original stars International Emmy-winner Haluk Bilginer as the antihero Agâh. In the second season, Agâh, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, regains his memories piece by piece when his daughter takes him into her care. And while Agâh is looking for a way to handle his new-found freedom, he doesn’t realize yet that he has made some powerful enemies who yearn for revenge.

Both Persona and Mémoire Vive are entering production during this half of 2024, with the former filming 22 episodes and the latter four.

Beta is handling...

Exclusive: Beta Film’s Crown-esque high-end drama series Maxima has sold to networks in Lat Am, Israel and across Europe.

The series, which is one of the German major’s biggest being shopped at the London TV Screenings, will air on Hot in Israel and on Warner Bros. Discovery networks across Latin America following the deals. Other buyers include Croatia’s Hrt, Austria’s Orf and broadcasters in Latvia and Slovakia.

Millstreet Films’ Maxima tells the story of Dutch queen Máxima Zorreguieta and is one of the few shows about a living royal out there. Dropping on The Netherlands’ Videoland from April 20, it takes up the story the moment the Argentina-born queen appears at the Dutch crown prince’s side. Heated discussions subsequently erupt about her father’s political career in the Argentinian Videla regime – something she never faced in her own circles.

Máxima is portrayed by Argentinian rising star...

Exclusive: Beta Film has has sold a slew of dramas to Australia’s Sbs including big-budget TIFF entry Estonia as part of the pair’s multi-year license deal.

Several of the German-headquartered major’s dramas will head to the Sbs On Demand platform as the multi-year deal enters its second year.

Included in the partnership is Estonia, one of Scandinavia’s most expensive TV series of all time that launched at TIFF. Speaking to Deadline recently, the creatives behind the show opened up about the ethical issues surrounding a series spotlighting a tragedy that claimed the lives of 850 people.

Sbs has also picked up the third season of Rtl’s Sisi, which stars Dominique Devenport as the Bavarian tomboy turned Empress, along with crime thriller Pagan Peak. Sbs also relicensed the first seasons each of these dramas.

Sbs has also bought Alpine thriller Snow, YA drama Saving the Fucking Planet and I Am Scrooge.

Beta Film, the powerhouse behind hits like ‘Babylon Berlin,’ has just given us a sneak peek at their latest project, ‘Rise of the Raven.’ Thanks to Variety, we got our hands on an exclusive first-look image of this 10-part series. They’re calling it one of the grandest European TV productions ever, and that’s saying something.

The story is a labor of love for Robert Lantos, a producer with roots in Hungary and Canada. You might know him from big titles like ‘Eastern Promises’ and ‘Barney’s Version.’ ‘Rise of the Raven’ is his latest passion project, and it’s shaping up to be something special.

This series dives into the life of Janos Hunyadi, a Hungarian army commander. With the actor Gellért L. Kádár bringing Hunyadi to life, we’re taken back to 1456. That’s when Hunyadi pulled off an incredible win at the Battle of Belgrade against a much larger Ottoman army.

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...

Enough with the winter gloom: Feel-good shows are about to take over TV market London Screenings, as distributors echo Russell Crowe’s Maximus iconic words: “Are you not entertained?”

“Most platforms are looking for entertaining shows. Escapism is a big thing,” says Fremantle International CEO Jens Richter.

“You want to take the audience somewhere else and make sure they forget about their reality for a minute. ‘We want to entertain you.’ That’s the headline, basically.”

Beta Group’s chief distribution officer Oliver Bachert agrees – in a world challenged by many conflicts, watching something “accessible and easy” feels more appealing than ever.

“We see things that are maybe not that ambitious, but they work as entertainment. A bit of blue sky helps us deal with everyday news. Even up north, Nordic Noir just got lighter.”

Crime and thrillers are still “major export genres,” notices Rachel Glaister of All3Media International, but...

With the resolution of the Hollywood writers strike in September, hopes were high for a return to business as usual in bustling Budapest, host to such recent high-profile productions as Yorgos Lanthimos’ Venice sensation and Oscar frontrunner “Poor Things.” But the sudden breakdown in negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP in early October dampened that enthusiasm.

“We were starting to get momentum back, which was leading us to believe that we would be opening up offices on new shows in early November, on the assumption that the strike would be over by the end of October,” says Adam Goodman of Mid Atlantic Films, which is currently servicing Peacock and Sky’s spy series “The Day of the Jackal.”

Instead, a waiting game is playing out in studios and C-suites across the globe, as actors, talent reps, executives and other industry players not only try to hash out a blueprint for...

Frank Doelger’s The Swarm has sold to the UK and Spain, while a U.S. partner is in the final stages of talks.

As Mip TV kicks off, the German eco-thriller, which already has around a dozen partners, has sold to Sky in the UK and Movistar Plus+ in Spain.

Distributors Beta Film and Zdf Studios are shopping in Cannes and the show played out of competition at the Berlinale Series Market, where its modern themes and bevvy of buyers dominated conversation.

Having scored “phenomenal ratings,” according to Beta, for Germany’s Zdf and Austria’s Orf, the show from Game of Thrones EP Doelger chronicles the struggle of humankind against an unknown enemy that lives in the depths of the sea. When the reckless treatment of the oceans threatens the natural habitat of this mysterious collective, it strikes back.

The Swarm, which is being referred to as one...