Coming of age thriller “The Gymnasts,” one of the most recent titles from Europe’s public broadcaster partnership The Alliance, has been licensed to over 30 territories, London-based super indie All3Media International confirmed on Monday at the Berlinale Series Market.
Based on Ilaria Bernardini’s bestselling novel “Corpo Libero” (“The Girls Are Good”), the six-part series is produced by the Oscar-winning team at Indigo Film, behind “The Great Beauty,” in co-production with ZDF Neo’s German company Network Movie.
The series has been made in collaboration with Rai Fiction and Paramount+, and in association with All3Media International.
Such powerful partners feeds through to the distribution. Spearheaded by the collaboration of Paramount+ Italia, Paramount +/Viacom has acquired rights to Australia, South Korea, Canada and the U.K.
Now newly announced territories take in New Zealand where “Gymnasts” will air on Paramount+/Viacom.
In a combination of multi-territory streamer deals and individual territory sales which now power much of the international TV business, further sales have been made to Greece (pay TV/streamer Cosmote), Finland (MTV) and Sweden (TV4).
Written by Chiara Barzini (“Arianna”), Bernardini, Ludovica Rampoldi (“Gomorrah”) and Giordana Mari (“1993”), the series turns on a team of elite female teen gymnasts competing in an international event high up in the snowbound Italian Alps. This is the most important week in their lives and the stakes in career terms could hardly be higher: Selection for the Olympics.
“As tensions and obsessions escalate within the team, and the drama of adolescence clashes with the brutal pressures of competitive training, a ticking time bomb is created,” the synopsis runs.
“Many of them have spent years dreaming of this event and would do anything to win, so when it is revealed that a competitor has died, the police suspect murder.”
The series is directed by admired documentarian Cosima Spender (“Palio”), in her first fiction project, and well-respected editor Valerio Bonelli whose credits run from “SanPa: Sins of the Savior.”
“We’re very pleased to see that our partnership on Indigo Film’s fantastic drama has attracted a brilliant slate of international sales,” said Stephen Driscoll, EVP EMEA and Co-Productions at All3Media International.
“Stunningly made and helmed by leading creative talent, “The Gymnasts” is utterly compelling, packed with engrossing personal drama and set in the captivating high-pressure world of gymnastics, he added. “With a tense murder mystery at its centre, the series has been cemented as a must-see for a global audience.”
Sales also play off a bullish festive and market run – increasingly essential in Europe as series fight for industry and audience attention in a hugely crowded marketplace. Bowing at the Rome Film Fest, then segueing to the Cologne Film Festival before being launched by All3Media International at Mipcom and the Asia Television Forum late last year, “The Gymnasts” U.S. Festival Premiere will shortly be announced.