Since opening its doors in 1999, Tandem Communications, a Studiocanal subsidiary, has established itself as a leading European address for international coproductions and worldwide distribution of television event programs.
It celebrated its 15 years at Mipcom, the international audiovisual program market in Cannes this week, by announcing a series of new productions.
Donald Sutherland (The Hunger Games) joined Tandem in presenting Pirate’s Passage, a new animated family adventure film that he co-produced, co-wrote and is the star voice talent. Tandem will handle the worldwide distribution of this production inspired by the Oscar-winning Japanese animation legend, Hayao Miyazaki.
Tandem also brought in the cast of its crime drama series Spotless currently being shot together with Canal+ production executives since this 10×1-hour production is a Canal+ Création Originale. On this occasion, Fabrice de la Patellière, Director of French drama and coproductions at Canal+, explained to Le Monde that, after the international success of its series The Retuned, “we want to make advantage of our French and European identity to offer an interesting alternative [to the global market]. To export, you’d better have a strong identity”.
Canal+ Création Originale and Cattleya, Italy’s leading independent film and television producer, also unveiled at Mipcom a new 8×1-hour drama series, ZeroZeroZero, created by Roberto Saviano and directed by Stefano Sollima, the highly acclaimed director of Romanzo Criminale The Series and Gomorrah – The Series. ZeroZeroZero, to be shot in English, is based on Roberto Saviano’s recently released book of the same title and is the follow-up to his international best-seller, Gomorrah. It will be distributed worldwide exclusively by Tandem.
Furthermore, Haut et Court TV (The Returned) and July-August Productions announced in Cannes that they will develop a new, 10×1-hr ecological & psychological thriller/drama series, Rubber Ducks, co-developed with Tandem, which will handle the exclusive worldwide distribution. A fictionalized story based on an actual experiment undertaken by NASA, Rubber Ducks explores ideas of ecological change not only on the environment but also on human behavior.
Finally, there was also much talk about The Last Panthers, a 6×1-hour crime drama series which starts filming at the end of the month. Commissioned by Canal+ Création Originale and Sky Atlantic, the series about the world-famous network of jewel thieves is developed and coproduced by Haut et Court TV and Warp Films (This is England, Four Lions, Southcliffe) while worldwide distribution is being handled by Tandem and Sky Vision.
