Julia Schulte, Sales Manager, spoke about the French group’s vast catalog of new titles, which cover current trends like YA series, event dramas, light crime and even animations for adults, to answer the demand for content from audiences worldwide.
As one of the biggest content distributors in Europe, France TV Distribution is the proud owner of a notably varied catalog of content, ranging from fiction to factual and animation, with multiple genres within each category.
This vast selection of high-quality content makes the catalog a truly coveted one for the international market, with titles that are suitable for audiences not only across France and Europe, but all around the world.
“As long as you have series that are well written, interesting, funny, and have high-quality production values and characters, they have the power to attract audiences around the world”, Julia Schulte, Sales Manager for France TV Distribution, explained to ttvnews.
And when it comes to the global demand for content, one of the main trends this year has been the demand for fiction series, something France TV Distribution does very well.
“We’ve had a lot of fiction sales this year. There’s a need for fiction from the international market and we’ve had a lot of success with platform sales,” she said, highlighting recent deals with players as big as Disney or Netflix, or even Brazilian giant Globoplay in Latin America.
As the star of its catalog, fiction content is a flagship for the French group, with three pillars that continue to perform very well. “The fist is Young Adult (YA) shows, which come with lower budgets but very creative stories. Shows like Stalk or Parliament, which interest a lot of SVOD buyers, as well as linear buyers as well”, the executive explained.
“Then we have event drama series, which we sell to international platforms. These are high-budget shows, ambitious productions which get lots of attention from the global market,” she added.
“And lastly we have light crime shows, which attract more linear buyers in European markets, but also far away places like Asia or the US. They come as standalone episodes which perform very well in France, registering the highest audience numbers in the country. Titles like Captain Marleau or Bright Minds, for example.”
In this regard, the executive explained that French light crime shows tend to be very popular with audiences worldwide due to “French producers’ ability to push comedy elements further and how they create their characters and heroes”.
Apart from fiction, the Sales Manager also highlighted the group’s varied slate of factual content, with documentaries and wildlife titles suited for global platforms. “Documentaries have the power to be quite universal. New for this year is we are presenting titles that touch on modern issues and current affairs, such as Afghan Women, for instance. We also have wildlife films that are very well produced and are also universal, such as The Secrets of Wild Gatherings.”
Lastly, the executive highlighted the company’s animation slate, which is “performing quite well in the international market”, with titles such as Disco Dragon or Super Caribou, as well as Lastman, which is an animated series for adults.
“I think if you have a certain ambition, quality of narration and production such as our shows, you can touch a lot of audiences,” she explained. “We are currently working on bigger projects that I believe will be of interest to international audiences”, she concluded.
France TV Distribution’s Highlights for Spring 2023
ASPERGIRL (Fiction – Comedy Series)
Louison, a 38-year-old woman recently separated from her son’s father, discovers that she is on the autism spectrum when her son Guilhem is diagnosed with autism. While she suddenly understands why she has always felt different, her son only wishes to be like any of the other school kids. When a social investigation is opened to determine if she is able to keep custody of Guilhem, Louison decides to learn how to be “normal”. But neither she nor her family really knows what normal means.
BRIGHT MINDS (Fiction – Crime Series)
When Commander Raphaëlle Coste visits the police records bureau in search of information for one of her enquiries, she has noidea that she is about to have a life-changing encounter. The brilliant but unsettling young Astrid is autistic and a living encyclopedia of criminal investigations. She has Asperger’s, which makes her very original and rather finicky in some situations. When she gives Raphaëlle a helping hand, the two realize that their perfectly complementary skills are the key to solving cases, despite or even because of their differences.
CAPTAIN MARLEAU (Fiction – Crime Series)
Solving baffling crimes with style! Behind her deliberately offbeat facade, Captain Marleau, a Columbo in female form, has a hunter’s finely-honed instincts. As she herself explains, she does not dabble in criminal cases, but “gets down and dirty.” Ever alert, she collects clues and then ambushes her unsuspecting prey. In each episode, the storyline pits her against a central character played by a distinguished guest actor. Despite their cunning and intelligence, each finally realizes that the brilliant detective is more than a match for them.
STALK (Fiction – Young Adult)
Lucas aka Lux, an exceptionally gifted nerd who studies engineering, stalks the students who made fun of him during Freshers’ Weekend, and manages to befriend them, with the idea to take revenge. He quickly gets what he has always dreamt of… but then falls into his own trap.
THE SECRETS OF WILD GATHERINGS (Documentary – Wildlife)
All around the world, an unknown force drives millions of animals to meet up in the same place every year. Whether they take place on the ground, in the sky or under the water, all these gatherings are prompted by some compulsive circumstance. While telling powerful and intense stories of strategy and cooperation, unity and sacrifice, The Secrets of Wild Gatherings sheds relevant light on the reasons behind each of these spectacular phenomena. From January to December, discover these extraordinary happenings set against the backdrop of some of the planet’s most stunning landscapes.
AFGHAN WOMEN (Documentery – Current Affairs)
Afghan Women are rarely given a chance to personally express themselves. But this documentary gives several women a platform from which to speak. Aged from 17 to 70, they give their personal stories but also share their views on key events in Afghan history. This documentary paints a picture of Afghanistan as viewed through female eyes – a far cry from the caricatures we’re used to seeing. An ambitious, militant film that recounts 50 years of struggles, hopes, love and war.
LASTMAN (Animation – Adults)
An explosive cocktail of action, mystery, fantasy and humor! In Paxtown, a capital city reeling from media hype, torn apart by inequalities and blighted by organized crime, trouble is the natural state of things. This is the home turf of Richard Aldana, a streetwise brawler with no allegiance and no aspirations. This part-time boxer sees his life turned upside down when his friend Dave is murdered and he finds himself with his strange child, Siri. Hunted by fanatics, Richard and Siri embark on a quest that goes beyond them, where the name of the ”Valley of the Kings” comes up, a mythological place of magic and demons, and whose key is the dreaded Fist Fight Funeral Cup… the Paxtown martial arts championship.
