Beta Film has acquired international sales rights to Greek drama series “The Beach”, a prime-time sensation for Greek public broadcaster ERT, the Munich-based production and distribution powerhouse announced on the eve of Mipcom.
The 24-episode hour-long series begins in 1969 in an idyllic commune on the coast of Crete, where love and freedom intertwine until a murder exposes the sordid entanglements of the hippie residents. But even the straight-laced policeman assigned to investigate finds that he can’t resist the temptations of paradise.
Stefanos Blatsos (“Love After”) directs the hit drama, set on the beach at Matala in Crete, from a script by George Chrysovitsanos and Kostas Gerampinis. The cast includes Danai Michalaki (“Wild Bees”) as Hypatia, a London-based doctor who returns to her hometown where she meets Harry, played by Dimitris Mothonaios (“A Day in the Life of a Teddy Bear”).
Since its launch on ERT in early September, when nearly one in three Greek viewers tuned in, the show has gone on to dominate primetime TV and top the trending tab on X (formerly Twitter), reaching a peak market share of 15% – more than doubling ERT1’s daily ratings average and catapulting the channel into the top ranks nationally.
Produced by Foss Productions in co-production with ERT, the show attracted nearly one million viewers to its linear premiere, while more than 3.6 million on-demand views were recorded on ERTFLIX, the official VOD platform of the local commissioning broadcaster – an all-time high. Following the show’s groundbreaking success, future seasons have already been greenlit.
“The Beach” is part of a Mipcom slate for Beta that includes more than 20 new dramas and seasons from 15 countries, totalling 300 hours of new content. Highlights include “Concordia” from multi-Emmy Award-winning EP Frank Doelger and produced by Intaglio, ZDF, France TV, Hulu Japan and MBC, which will have its world premiere at the Palais de Festivals in Cannes, and Channel 4-Starz crime drama “The Couple Next Door” starring Sam Heughan (“Outlander”) and Eleonor Thomlinson (“Poldark”).
Other buzz titles include “Elsa Morante’s La Storia,” based on the iconic Italian novel set in post-World War II Rome, and “Estonia,” a big-budget series about a civil maritime disaster from Måns Månsson (“Chernobyl”), which bowed at the Toronto Film Festival. Also making its market premiere is the Ukrainian drama “In Her Car”, which was filmed in the war-torn country and takes viewers into the heart of the ongoing crisis.
