UK-based distributor Fugitive has struck a deal with South African entertainment company MultiChoice, under which the former will become the exclusive distributor for the latter’s original scripted series.
MultiChoice operates linear channel M-Net and SVoD platform Showmax, both of which have a slate of originals in development and production. Fugitive is launching three series at this year’s MipTV, with a further nine to be delivered in the 2021-22 financial year.
The first of the initial three series is Lioness, a 10×60’ crime drama produced by M-Net about a woman who is framed and sent to prison for a fraud committed by her husband, who has recently been found dead. Eight years later, she’s released and, while fighting to reunite with her children and prove her innocence, sees her husband on TV, alive.
Dam, meanwhile, is an 8×60’ psychological thriller about a woman who returns from Chile to the Eastern Cape to bury her father, only to be tormented by spirits in the farmhouse she has inherited. But with her mother institutionalised and her own meds running out, she starts to wonder if the spirits are real or just in her head. Dam is produced by Picture Tree.
The third series is Legacy (208×30’), a telenovela produced by Tshedza Pictures for M-Net. The show follows an investment billionaire who is approaching retirement, clearing the way for a family member to take the reins to the empire. The ensuing power struggle turns nasty, with a mix of betrayal, secrets, lies and revenge playing out on screen.
In addition to representing completed drama programming, Fugitive will also help MultiChoice secure future coproductions and pre-sales from the international market for titles on its originals slate.
tagged in: Fugitive, MultiChoice