Svensk Filmindustri’s controlled Sonet Film has announced in Cannes the creation of a new television division, Sonet Television managed by the company’s CEO Peter Possne (pictured) together with producer Rickard Petrelius.
Crime stories written by some of Scandinavia’s most celebrated authors such as Henning Mankell, Anne Holt, Leif GW Persson are the backbone for six TV series in development, including Blackwater, said to be of interest to Susanne Bier.
The new Stockholm-based entity Sonet Television will focus on the production of TV drama series for the local and international markets. Besides Possne and Petrelius, the production team counts Sandra Harms and Ingrid Dahlberg, former SVT Head of Drama and Director of Stockholm’s Royal Dramatic Theatre. “I am extremely happy and proud that we can announce the launch of our new TV production unit that will give Sonet Film an even stronger market position in the fast changing global media market” said Possne in Cannes.
The seven crime TV series are the following:
- Blackwater (3 part TV series) based on Kerstin Ekman’s 1993 award-winning book, one of the first Swedish crime novels to become a best-seller in Germany. The script is written by Klas Östergren.
- Welcome to Nesserland (3 part TV series) based on three novels by successful Swedish writer Håkan Nesser. The series will be mainly in the English language.
-Vik/Stubö (8x45’ TV series) based on five books from Norway queen of crime Anne Holt featuring superintendent Yngve Stubö and ex FBI profiler Inger Johanne Vik.
-The Embassy (10 part series) based on Henning Mankell’s work. In this new drama, the central character is a new female ambassador, sent to a remote and dangerous country. The series is inspired by Capitol Hill and House of Cards.
-The Infiltrator (12 part TV series) is based on a story by Leif GW Persson, set in Gothenburg’s crime underworld.
-The Hypnotist (10 part TV series) based on Lars Kepler’s novel. The series is a spin-off of Lasse Hallström’s feature film.
-The Jägarna TV series (4 part TV series) is a continuation of the investigations of inspector Erik Bäckström (Rolf Lassgård) from the feature films Jägarna (The Hunters) and Jägarna 2 (False Trail). Principal shooting of the first series is scheduled for early 2014.