Scripted

Starzplay, the premium international streaming service from STARZ, has acquired the critically acclaimed six-part drama Little Birds in a substantial multi-territory deal for Belgium, Brazil, France, Luxembourg, Spain, French-speaking Switzerland, the Netherlands and Latin America.

Little Birds has also been acquired by the premium SVOD service STAN in Australia, TVNZ in New Zealand, Lionsgate in India, KT Corporation in Korea and PCCW Media Limited in Hong Kong, as well as RTL in Germany, the online TV platform MORE.TV in Russia and IPTV and Satellite TV operator COSMOTETV in Greece.

Originally commissioned by Sky in the UK, the series received rave reviews when it premiered last August on Sky Atlantic, with The Radio Times calling it "sultry and seductive, and a feast for the eyes" while the Daily Mail described it as "a period drama like no other."

Ruth Berry, Managing Director, Global Distribution at ITV Studios said, “It comes as no surprise to me that the sumptuous Little Birds has been picked up in these multi-territory and premium streaming deals. An assault on the senses and a gripping storyline – viewers will be mesmerized and seduced by this unique show.”

Directed by Stacie Passon (The Affair, House of Cards), written by Sophia Al-Maria and produced by Ruth McCance and Peter Carlton (The Last Panthers, Southcliffe) Little Birds is based on Anaïs Nin’s erotic short stories. Kara Manley serves as Executive Producer for Sky Studios. The series stars Juno Temple (Dirty John), Yumna Marwan (The Translator, One of These Days), Hugh Skinner (Fleabag, Harlots), Raphael Acloque (Mission Impossible, Humans, 24, Versailles) David Costabile (Billions, Breaking Bad, The Wire), Rossy de Palma (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Julieta) and Jean-Marc Barr (The Big Blue, Big Sur).

Inspired by the short stories created by Anaïs Nin, this new original drama set in Morocco in 1955 is about two very different women whose lives - and those of their lovers - become dangerously entangled in Tangier’s ‘International Zone’. One of the last outposts of colonial decadence, Tangier is a culture shock in more ways than one for troubled American heiress Lucy Savage (Juno Temple). Fresh off the boat, Lucy must navigate the sexual, personal and political tensions of Tangier, all while longing for a more unconventional life free from the society cage she’s been kept in. Her fiancé Hugo Cavendish-Smyth (Hugh Skinner), an aristocratic English Lord, is torn between his duty to Lucy and his lover Adham Abaza (Raphael Acloque), the most eligible man in Tangier. Meanwhile, Cherifa Lamour (Yumna Marwan), a Moroccan dominatrix famous in this colourful, bohemian town where anything goes, attempts to change the world around her. Her presence enraptures Secretary Pierre Vaney (Jean-Marc Barr), who is desperately in love with her. As Lucy and Cherifa struggle to find independence amid a country breaking free of its past, a passionate, sexy and witty melodrama unfolds. Little Birds weaves together stories of private desire and public politics against a backdrop of hedonism and conflict, to deliver a modern tale of freedom and feminism.