Critical picks up German TNT drama

Critical Content has taken international rights to The Valley, the murder mystery drama that played on the TNT Series pay TV channel in Germany.

Critical is the content company created by Tom Forman and Andrew Marcus after they took over Relativity’s TV division. It is making and distributing drama and unscripted shows.

It has taken rights to The Valley from Beta Film and Critical is now prepping and packaging an English-language remake.

“The Valley has fantastic potential as a remake,” Marcus told TBI. “The German market has been under-represented, despite being one of the largest TV markets in Europe, it hasn’t been an obvious place to look for scripted or unscripted formats.”

The Valley is set amid Germany’s vineyards and focuses on the mysterious appearance, and then disappearance, of a young girl’s body. On TNT it played as 6x1hr, and Marcus says an English-language version will also likely run in that limited series format.

“It lends itself to that format and limited series are a great way to attract talent,” Marcus said. “We’re on the lookout for returnable limited series and that is also a format international buyers find palatable, they are easily digestible internationally.”

The German drama scene has developed in recent years with the likes of Deutschland 83 and Ku’damm 56 getting international attention, but it still lags the likes of France and Italy in terms of its international profile.

“We’ve spent time getting to know the international marketplace in terms of scripted formats and we’ll continue to look for things that are right for an English-language remake,” Marcus says.

The original version of the The Valley – Weinberg locally – was produced by Bantry Bay Productions and Twenty Four 9 Films, as an original for Turner’s TNT channel. It was part of a push into original programming at the cable net.