FRANCE TÉLÉVISIONS, RAI and ZDF make announcements about THE ALLIANCE

European Alliance 

First series projects of France Télévisions, RAI and ZDF to launch soon

France Télévisions, RAI and ZDF have been working together successfully in the European Alliance for a year. During the European Series Festival "Series Mania" in Lille, France, the broadcasters now have reported on the progress of their initiative. The merger aims at strengthening both cultural self-confidence in European series production and one's own position in the competitive environment.

“We are very pleased to have not only created this Alliance but to have made it operational very quickly, as the shootings we are announcing today show, as well as the many developments that are now under way. This is of course the result of a closeness that we have had between our Groups for many years now, but it is above all the fruit of a very strong common desire and willingness now to diversify our offers, and also the proof of a very high level of mutual trust”, declares Takis Candilis, Deputy Director General, Broadcasting and Programs of France Télévisions.

"This year, the Alliance had the chance to test ourselves to reach our ambitious goal", says Eleonora Andreatta, Head of Drama, RAI. "That goal was to create a European alternative to the new global players. I’m proud of the results we’ve achieved and the series we’re launching. These series can speak to our audiences but also look outwards to the wider world. Our partnership is based on the characteristics of public broadcasters and this character emerges in the shared values that have always made public broadcasting stand out. These values of solidarity, inclusion and education influence our choices and encourage us to create series that have a heart, that don’t just entertain but also make you think."

"We are delighted that we have been able to launch a couple of high-quality series projects within the European Alliance in a short time. We are combining the strengths of three public broadcasters in order to jointly produce internationally competitive series. These range from high end productions to innovative series projects for younger target groups", says Norbert Himmler, Chief Content Officer, ZDF.

The shooting of the first European Alliance project, the secret agent series "Mirage", will start in April 2019. In the setting of Abu Dhabi, the thriller tells the story of a security expert for nuclear power systems who is targeted by mysterious secret agents. Marie-JoséeCroze, Clive Standen, Hannes Jaenicke and Jeanette Hain will be part of the cast.

Filming of the historic adventure series "In 80 Days Around the World", based on Jules Verne's novel, is expected to start in the fall of 2019: In 1872, the English gentleman Phileas Fogg and his butler Passepartout, played by the French actor Ahmed Sylla, travel around the world in 80 days. The two adventurers are accompanied by the ambitious journalist Abigail Fix, who hopes for a scoop.

In the mystery series "Survivors", which is supposed to be filmed at the start of 2020 for twelve fifty-minute episodes, the sailing boat Arianna is destroyed by a fierce storm after leaving a small Ligurian port. The vessel and its crew are declared missing. After a year, the wreck is recovered, with seven people on board.How have they changed after what they’ve been through? And what happened to the others? It looks like the survivors are hiding some terrible secret.

The shooting for "Leonardo", the biographical series about the great Italian genius and polymath, has been confirmed this year. The mystery of one of the most fascinating and enigmatic men in history will unravel over eight fifty-minute episodes. What stirred his endless imagination? How much work went into his great creations? Who was the unknown woman, that inspired his lost masterpiece, "Leda and the Swan", but left no trace in history? Using the detection genre as frame of the series, each episode eventually will bring us closer to the secret of Da Vinci’s personality and art.

In the European Alliance, the public broadcasters France Télévisions, RAI and ZDF exchange their views and ideas about co-productions for series. The purpose is to accelerate existing processes in international co-productions and to synchronize editorial and production perspectives.

Here is the french press release