Arte France’s Alexandre Piel Unveils New Nordic TV Buys, Talks Co-Production Spirit (EXCLUSIVE)

variety.com:

Annika Pham Arte France, the upscale French public service broadcaster, has made the Nordic region one of its biggest shopping destination of TV drama with the U.K., since the Danish cult series “The Killing” (2010) and “Borgen” (2012). “Occupied”, the Norwegian futuristic political thriller was another landmark show which kick-started in 2015 the channel’s venture into event co-productions with European partners.

Today, the prestige broadcaster has widened its series acquisitions and co-productions to the rest of Europe, but the Nordic region remains central to its overall drama programming, which boasts a €33 million($34.3 million) budget across co-pros and acquisitions for 2025.

On the eve of a major drama get-together between French and Nordic professionals, the French-Nordic Series Connection at Göteborg’s TV Drama Vision showcase (Jan.

28-29), Arte France’s deputy head of drama Alexandre Piel, has unveiled his latest Nordic drama pick-ups and co-productions, lined up for 2025. “Liv,” produced by genre specialist Shuuto for the Scandi platform Altibox, is a Norwegian hospital drama about family dynamics and intertwined secrets starring Jesper Malm (“Ragnarok”) and Charlotte Grundt (“22 July”).