Scripted

New Italian young adult drama, The Sea Beyond, fulfills the expectations scoring sensational ratings at its premiere on Italian pubcaster RAI. The series about young offenders, both male and female, who are imprisoned in a notorious juvenile detention center on the Gulf of Naples, asserts itself against Italy's most popular pastime, football, doubling RAI 2's ratings. The 12-hour season finished with a peak of 12.4 % market share (9.4 % in average) against the free-to-air broadcast of the Champions League match Juventus versus Barcelona last October 28.

"We haven't lost a single viewer," says Picomedia's producer Roberto Sessa. "The series impresses with its ratings well above channel avarage, fantastic. The perfect storm for any producer!"

The series is set in Naples, still an organized crime stronghold. For many teenagers, doing time is part of their "job". Yet Filippo and Carmine never imagined themselves to go down this path. Filippo, who comes from a well-off family from the North, has dreams of becoming a musician. Carmine, from a Camorra family, wants to become a famous hairdresser instead of taking up the family business. Both of them have committed serious crimes, their dreams cut short as their freedom is taken away. While dealing with the power structures, adult expectations and first love, they discovered that being locked up does not stop them from dreaming of a better tomorrow.

The Sea Beyond, 12-hours (and also available as a 10-hour version), is produced by Picomedia and Rai Fiction. Beta Film handles the world sales.