ZDF Studios has licensed a range of top scripted titles for the US and UK to their long-standing partner, Global Series Network (GSN), the company behind the renowned VOD service Walter Presents. The deal, brokered by Yi Qiao, Director Drama for ZDF Studios, includes the award-winning title “The Shadow” (6 x 45’) and the chilling Danish series “Suplex” (4 x 42’), both part of the US deal. Dramas headed for the UK market are “Sløborn Season 3” (3 x 90’, 6 x 45’) and “The Shadow” plus a number of re-licensed series.
Walter Presents, curated by Walter Iuzzolino, is dedicated to hand-picking prestige foreign language drama from around the world delivering its viewers high quality, award-winning content. Iuzzolino said: ”We are delighted to be partnering once again with ZDF Studios to acquire a wonderful collection of premium series for the Walter Presents brand in the UK and the US. From a classic slice of Nordic Noir to a twisted and unusual high concept thriller set in Vienna, the breadth and range of these series will delight all fans of great subtitled drama.”
Yi Qiao, Director Drama for ZDF Studios, added: “GSN are very discerning when choosing titles for their video-on-demand service so I’m delighted that these critically acclaimed dramas will be entertaining overseas audiences on Walter Presents.”
Multi-award winner, “The Shadow” (6 x 45’), was honored with the Audience Choice Award at Seriencamp 2023 and voted Best Director Fiction at the German Television Awards 2023 as well as earning nominations for Best Drama Series and Best Cinematography Fiction. The series, about a dark prophecy that comes true as a female journalist, embarking on a new life in Vienna, meets a beggar woman who tells her she is going to kill a man, won Silver (Entertainment Programme/Crime Drama) at New York’s TV & Film Festival Awards 2024. The suspenseful drama was also nominated for Best Fiction at the Grimme Prize 2024 and Best Crime Series at the German Television Thriller Awards 2024.
“Suplex” (4 x 42’) is a gripping murder mystery where buried secrets come to light as an eagerly awaited wrestling tournament takes a sinister turn when a young competitor is found brutally murdered. In this chilling whodunnit, everyone is a suspect.
Premiering in the UK is “Sløborn” Season 3 (3 x 90’, 6 x 45’), the final series from the showrunner of Netflix’s “Dogs of Berlin.” A coming-of-age drama and pandemic thriller, “Sløborn” tells the story of a group of islanders confronted with a fatal virus. Season one launched in 2020, was nominated for Best Drama at Berlinale 2020 and TVSF and received two further nominations at DAFF and Deutscher Fernsehpreis, Germany’s equivalent to the Emmys.
Previous scripted sales by ZDF Studios to GSN included, amongst many others, “Hide and Seek,” “Maltese,” “Ku’damm 56,” “The Crimson Rivers,” “Stockholm Requiem,” “Boundless,” “Unbroken,” “Top Dog” and earlier seasons of “Sløborn.