In today’s Global Bulletin, Aardman and Bandai Namco team to create new trans-media IP, About Premium Content sells “Man in Room 301,” Filmlance International will adapt “Jana Kippo” for TV and BBC Three sets a new esports docuseries for BBC iPlayer.
DEVELOPMENT
Stop motion pioneers Aardman are teaming with video game developer and publisher Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe to develop new IP based on a “shared vision of the future of entertainment.”
The companies’ first collaboration will be transmedia, delivered on several platforms. The team will begin looking for production partners in early 2021 with the development materials available at that time. Aardman will employ its decades of world-class experience in character development on the project, with Bandai Namco contributing its expertise in publishing and development on multiple platforms.
This is hardly the first time Aardman has played in the world of games and interactive storytelling. In 2018 the company produced ”11-11: Memories Retold,” and are set to release “Wallace & Gromit: The Big Fix Up,” a new immersive AR experience for Aardman’s best-known characters, in collaboration with Fictioneers, backed by funding from UK Research & Innovation.
ACQUISITION
About Premium Content’s (APC) award-winning “Man in Room 301,” nominated for Finland’s best drama, director, actress and actor at this year’s Golden Venla Awards, has sold in several major territories, including to BBC Four in the U.K. where it will be the first Finnish-language production to appear on the network.
Other key deals were closed with Arte for France and Germany, MHZ in the U.S., NPO for Netherlands, SBS Australia, RTBF and Proximus in Belgium, Rialto in New Zealand and RTP in Portugal.
Produced by Warner Bros. International Television Production Finland and Wall to Wall Media, APC also co-produced in addition to distributing the series. Kate Ashfield (“Born to Kill,” “Shaun of the Dead”) and Mikko Kuparinen (“2 Nights Till Morning”) wrote the series for Elisa Viihde.
Courtesy of Warner Bros.
SERIES
Banijay-owned Filmlance International has announced it’s working on a series adaptation of Karin Smirnoff’s Swedish book series “Jana Kippo,” a best-seller adapted into several languages, including English.
Anna Wallmark, Teresa Alldén and Olof Spaak, producers of popular Swedish series “Top Dog,” will produce for the Scandinavian streaming platform C More.
Set in the fictional town of Smalånger, the series and books turn on the titular Jana Kippo who returns to her rural home to care for her alcoholic brother. Tragedy strikes when a young woman is found dead in a nearby forest glade.
ESPORTS
BBC Three has been commissioned to go behind the scenes of the emergent esports scene with “Fight for First: Excel Esports,” a new five-part docuseries following Excel Esports, one of the U.K.’s largest esports organizations, from their home facilities at Twickenham stadium to the League of Legends European Championships in Berlin.
Golden Globe and BAFTA nominee Cillian Murphy will narrate the docuseries, set to appear on BBC iPlayer in early 2021. It’s being made by the BBC Three’s in-house team, produced and directed by Simon Rawles. James Corbin and Jo Smith are the show’s executive producers for BBC Three.
League of Legends
Riot Games, Michal Konkol