Format

Keshet International launches its MIPCOM 2019 slate, headlined by an impressive roster of star-studded English language dramas, including BBC One’s The Trial of Christine Keeler, ABC Australia’s Black B*tch and the brand new acquisition, Seven Australia’s Secret Bridesmaids’ Business.

Writer Amanda Coe and director Andrea Harkin bring one of the most controversial political sex scandals of modern times with their contemporary retelling of the infamous “Profumo Affair”. Starring James Norton, Sophie Cookson, Emilia Fox, Ellie Bamber and Ben Miles, The Trial of Christine Keeler evocatively recreates London in the Swinging Sixties to retell this compelling true story of sex, politics and power from Christine’s perspective for the very first time. Produced by Ecosse Films and Great Meadow Productions, The Trial of Christine Keeler (6x60’) is slated to premiere on BBC One in Q1 2020.

Starring Deborah Mailman as the charismatic and contradictory Indigenous senator helicoptered in by Rachel Griffiths’ embattled Prime Minister Rachel Anderson, Black B*tch (6x60’) is a story of high stakes ambition, betrayal and treachery, played out in the sun-drenched Outback and Australia’s capital. Produced by Blackfella Films and directed by Rachel Perkins, Black B*tch – which received its world premiere earlier this month at TIFF -debuts on the ABC from 13 October.

Based on the successful stage play written by Elizabeth Coleman and starring an ensemble cast led by Abbie Cornish, Katie McGrath and Georgina Haig, Secret Bridesmaids’ Business (6x60’) is a taut, action-packed romantic thriller of tangled secrets and dangerous obsessions that has been described as “Dirty John meets Fatal Attraction”. This hotly anticipated series, produced by Seven Studios and recently acquired by KI for its MIPCOM slate, will premiere on Australia’s Channel Seven from 29 September.

Keren Shahar, KI’s COO and President of Distribution says, “We are proud to be headlining our latest MIPCOM slate with these three beautifully crafted dramas that perfectly complement a strong line-up of entertainment formats and factual shows. Featuring strong female–led casts and crews alongside compelling “globally local” storylines, each of these dramas explores the very current issues of feminism, womanhood and society in a way that feels so relevant and watchable.”

KI’s scripted slate also includes the controversial HBO / Keshet Studios’ co-pro, Our Boys. Based on the real-life events that led to the outbreak of war in Gaza in 2014, this gripping series has been described as “riveting” and “incredibly important” by TV Guide and Deadline Hollywood. The series is currently airing in the US, Europe and Latin America on HBO, and in Israel on all four major platforms ahead of its premiere in France on CANAL+ soon.

In addition, Gum Films Productions’ tense thriller The Missing File (8x30’) for Keshet 12 and Kan sits alongside Telemundo’s Mexican super-series Prisoner No1 (60x60’), which was co-developed with KI, and Age Appropriate (20x25’), Donna Productions and Spiegel Productions’ witty, character-driven sitcom for Keshet 12.

The international distributor’s non-scripted slate boasts fresh entertainment formats: KI’s and NTV Russia’s co-developed format, Drive Master (10x120’) is a shiny floor talent-competition show featuring regular people performing extraordinary stunts in vehicles in a 3,400sqm studio. Produced by Weit Media, Drive Master premieres in Russia on NTV from 29 September. Keshet Productions’ new dating reality show, Singletown (15x60’) – currently airing on ITV2 weeknights at 9pm – sees five couples press pause on their relationships to spend a summer of fun, living their best single lives. KI is also showcasing Tuesday’s Child Productions’ brand new quiz, Head Hunters (30x60’) for BBC One, and the British indie’s captivating horror-themed reality format, Killer Camp (5x60’) for ITV2.

Also launching is a strong line-up of English Language factual finished tape, including a number of new Crackit Productions’ series, including: the emotional doc-reality show Animal Ambulance (8x30’) for ITV1; the daring documentary series Deadliest Kids (6x60’) for Quest Red (Discovery); John Prescott’s food manufacturing journey Made In Britain (6x60’); The Good Girls' Guide to Kinky Sex (6x60’) and the shocking When… All Goes Horribly Wrong (3x60’) – all three for Channel Five. KI is also taking a number of Crackit Productions’ hard-hitting documentaries to market, including Snatched and Sold for Sex, Teacher’s Pet: Groomed at School, Eating Ourselves to Death, My Dad the Paedophile, My Mother The Monster, Husbands From Hell; Hoarders: Buried Alive in My Bedroom (all 1x60’ for 5Star) and A Very British Sex Shop (1x60’ for Channel Four).

KI is also launching two celebrity-fronted factual series from Flicker Productions: Dom Does America (10x60’) sees Dom Littlewood put himself in dangerous US institutions for BBC One; while Reggie Yates Meets World (4x60’) takes an immersive look at issues affecting young people today for MTV UK. Meanwhile, entrepreneur and daredevil Zef Eisenberg and his team of mechanics attempt to break British land speed record for ITV4 in Keshet Productions’ Speed Freaks (6x60), and Pi Productions’ Secrets of the Factories (4x60’) looks at how companies like Heinz and Kellogg's reach their immense quotas and product demands for Channel 5.

KI’s slate is rounded off by a number of returning series, including on the scripted side: Fifty Fathoms’ and Keshet Productions’ The A Word (S1 6x60’, S2 6x60’, S3 6x60’) for BBC One; Drugi Plans’ highly acclaimed, provocative drama The Paper (S1 12x50’, S2 11x50’, S3 10x60’) for Croatia’s HRT; Artza Productions’ black comedy Stockholm (S1 4x60’, S2 8x30), which follows a lively group of 70-somethings for Keshet 12 and Kan; and FLX’s Happy at Sea (S1 10x22’, S2 8x30’), a cross-generational comedy drama for TV4 from the creative team behind some of Sweden’s biggest ratings hits.

Entertainment series returning for MIPCOM 2019 include: Rumpus Media and Money Management’s Spencer, Vogue and Baby Too (S1 3x60’, S2 4x60’) for E4; Crackit Productions’ Greatest Celebrity Wind-ups (S1 6x30’/3x60’, S2 3x30’) for Channel 5; Tuesday’s Child Productions’ The Hit List (S1 6x60’, S2 7x60’), a sing-along game show format for BBC One; and two internationally successful talent shows returning to Keshet 12 for their fourth and seventh seasons respectively - Tedy Productions’ Master Class and Tedy Productions and Keshet Broadcasting’s Rising Star.

While on the factual side, returning titles include: Around the World By Train (S1 6x60’, S2 6x60’) by Rumpus Media and Motion Content Group for Channel 5, which sees Sir Tony Robinson take a whirlwind journey around the globe; and Prison Girls: Life Inside (S1 4x60’, S2 6x60’), where Flicker Productions unlocks the real lives of incarcerated women in America for Channel 5.