For decades the annual television market Mipcom was the wellspring of the "shiny floor show", the bustling French shopfront that gave birth to X Factors, Got Talents and countless false Idols.
In the past few years, however, scripted content has dramatically eclipsed its unscripted sibling, and the market has become the launching stage for major international drama series. The critically exalted Danish drama The Bridge was born here, so too the gritty Borgen and The Killing.
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Flash forward to the present and the business of buying and selling scripted drama has never been more brisk. Though there were scores of new dramas on the market, here are the half-dozen which dominated chatter.
Twin Peaks
Snapshot: the 25-years-later sequel to the iconic David Lynch mystery drama
Selling a drama series for which there is not yet one single frame of film might be tricky, but the name Twin Peaks is soaked in so much television history, and so much unresolved cliffhanger angst that this was making noise before its star, actor Kyle MacLachlan, touched down at Mipcom to spruik it to buyers. The CBS Studios series that launched with the question "Who killed Laura Palmer?" returns, picking up the story 25 years later and doing a deep dive into the greatest small town mystery ever. The streaming platform Stan owns Australian rights to this.
Six
Snapshot: uncompromising war thriller about the special forces in Afghanistan
Headed to the History channel in the US, this A+E-owned drama, which stars one of LA's most intriguing actors, Walton Goggins, wasted no time securing airtime at Mipcom. HBO bought it for their channels in Spain, Scandinavia and Europe, and the streaming platform iFix secured rights in south-east Asia. The series, from Flags of Our Fathers screenwriter William Broyles Jr, stars Goggins - best known for star turns on Justified, Sons of Anarchy and Vice-Principals - as well as Barry Sloane and Kyle Schmid. The series has not yet sold to Australia.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Snapshot: remake of the iconic 1975 musical comedy horror film of the same name
A fairly straightforward idea from 20th Century Fox - a remake of the 1975 film featuring transexual actress Laverne Fox as Dr Frank N. Furter, Ryan McCartan and Victoria Justice as Brad and Janet, Reeve Carney as Riff Raff and Staz Nair as Rocky - went full midnight feature on Mipcom with a late night screening and a lot of glittery lips. The official title - The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again - is a little longer than the original, but this upscales the production and packs a serious creative wallop. Network Ten owns the Australian rights.
Midnight Sun
Snapshot: gritty Scandi noir from the makers of The Bridge
Unequivocally the hot one-hour drama at Mipcom this year, every second conversation seemed to be "I'd have bought it, if only someone else hadn't bought it first." The series is a co-production between Sweden and France and tells the story of a French policewoman who must partner with a Swedish cop after a shocking murder in a remote Swedish mining town where the sun never sets. Studio Canal had the series on sale, and stitched up deals with Germany's ZDF, Israel's Hot, Norway's NRK, Iceland's RUV and Australia's SBS.
The Halcyon
Snapshot: period soap set behind the luxurious drapes of a chic London hotel
The Halcyon is set in the hotel of that name in World War II-era London, this Sony-owned series bends the tension created by the precipice of war with more conventional soap opera tropes such as extramarital affairs and gay offspring. Eight one-hour episodes hit the market and generated huge buzz. Though it actually has little in common with Downton Abbey, the presence of bodices and behind-stairs drama means the comparisons will be immediate and obvious. But this is sexier, sharper and moves at a cracking pace. It has not yet sold to Australia.
Cardinal
Snapshot: Canadian crime thriller takes Scandi noir to North America
A television adaptation of Giles Blunt's award-winning mystery novel Forty Words for Sorrow, this is something of a Trojan horse, borrowing some DNA from the Scandi noir genre and transforming what might be a run-of-the-mill post-The Killing murder mystery into something far more complex and engaging. On the market at Mipcom from eOne, Cardinal stars Billy Campbell and Karine Vanasse as John Cardinal and Lise Delorme, two unwilling detective partners tasked with investigating the murder of a young girl. Australian rights have not yet been sold.