Robert Lantos wanted to avoid a Hollywood take on European history and insisted that characters in his period epic Rise of the Raven spoke in their native tongues and that talent was sourced from the countries in question. “I’ve always shot in English, but this is a story that is so deeply rooted in a specific moment in time, specific geographic places, I didn’t want to have everybody speak some kind of a mid-Atlantic English,” the veteran film and TV producer told Deadline.
That also meant the casting pool was smaller and the team had to work harder to find its on-screen talent. “Global stars tend to be from the English language world, with rare exceptions,” Lantos said. “I thought it was a price was worth paying that we wouldn’t have any global stars, only local ones, from the actual countries that are involved in this history, and we’ll keep it real.
I just wanted to feel that this was authentic. I have seen so much of the opposite.” Hungary-born and Canada-based Lantos (Eastern Promises) is at MIPCOM for the world premiere of the series.
ORF (Austria), TV2 (Hungary) are behind the show, which is from Serendipity Point Films, Twin Media, HG Media, MR Film and Beta Film.
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