ACORN TV COMMISSIONS ROMANTIC PROCEDURAL "CANNES CONFIDENTIAL" FROM DRAMACORP

Filming in early 2021, the 8-part Acorn TV series CANNES CONFIDENTIAL will feature unprecedented access to iconic Cote d'Azur city

Co-created and written by Chris Murray (Agatha Raisin, Midsomer Murders)

London, UK; July 30, 2020 - Following this week's announcement on its commissioning of Ms. Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries, Series 2, AMC Networks' Acorn TV is excited to announce the commissioning of new romantic procedural Cannes Confidential with Acorn Media Enterprises from Dramacorp. Marking the first English-language procedural drama to be produced and set on the Cote d'Azur since the 1970s, the 8-part romantic procedural will blend comedy, mystery and crime detection with a love story. The Acorn TV Original Series is casting now. Production will begin in early 2021 and film across the renowned city. The series will exclusively premiere on Acorn TV in North America, New Zealand, Australia, and United Kingdom in late 2021.

The co-creator and lead writer for the series is popular UK writer Chris Murray, a frequent writer for Acorn TV's British mystery series Agatha Raisin starring Ashley Jensen, and writer for Van der Valk, Casualty, Midsomer Murders, and creator of BBC's Doctors. Maria Ward (Agatha Raisin) will co-write the series. Producer Dramacorp is the Stockholm-based production company founded by Patrick Nebout, part of Jan Mojto's Beta Film. Acorn Media Enterprises is Acorn TV's commissioning and co-producing development division.

Cannes Confidential centres on the relationship between an idealistic, local underdog female cop and an ex-conman and master of counterfeit, who's on the run from both the police and the mob. The pair are forced into an unlikely - and surprisingly successful - crime-fighting partnership, which sees them solve a murder case in each close-ended episode. However, the drama's long arc focuses on the main character's quest to find the criminals who framed her father, a local-hero police officer who was jailed for a murder he didn't commit.

The series will be the first English-language procedural drama to be produced and set on the Cote d'Azur since the classic 1970s action-adventure comedy The Persuaders, starring Roger Moore and Tony Curtis, and will have exclusive access to film across the City of Cannes, which enables the series to use the trademark-protected name 'Cannes' in the show title. Cannes Confidential will also introduce viewers to a rarely seen view of Cannes beyond the yachts and superstars to its fishing boats, local tradesmen and working-class characters. These two worlds and two versions of reality will meet and be reflected in the personalities of the two main characters.

Catherine Mackin, Managing Director, Acorn Media Enterprises, noted, "Acorn Media Enterprises is thrilled to commission this highly entertaining new procedural from prolific UK writer Chris Murray and Dramacorp. With its engaging, blue sky script and beautiful setting, Cannes Confidential is the kind of program the world could use right now and is sure to entertain Acorn TV subscribers worldwide."

Patrick Nebout, CCO and executive producer of Dramacorp, said: "We are excited to have AMC's Acorn TV board Cannes Confidential. There's truly a shared vision of the show with Catherine and her team. As his credits prove, head writer Chris Murray has a genius for creating deeply loved and witty characters and stories that run and run. The setting of Cannes Confidential is upbeat, colourful and spectacular, the wittiness is there, yet Chris and Maria are developing multi-layered main characters and strong emotional arcs, taking the procedural genre into a more elevated and romantic direction. And then there's that other star of the show - Cannes - which will bring its own magic and nostalgic touch to our story. We're looking forward to delivering something unique and distinctively romantic, far from the tons of very dark shows that have taken over the international market."

Executive producers are Patrick Nebout and Henrik Jansson-Schweizer, who recently joined Dramacorp from Nice Drama. The pair are behind a number of TV-hits, among which the series Thicker Than Water, Midnight Sun, and the Swedish blockbuster comedy The Hundred Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared.

AMC Networks' ACORN TV is North America's largest streaming service specializing in British and international television with over 1 million paid subscribers in the U.S and Canada as well as subscribers worldwide in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Latin America. Acorn TV adds exclusive new programs every week to a deep library of mysteries, dramas, and comedies with no commercials. In 2020, Acorn TV has featured the Irish period mystery series Dead Still, British dramas Deadwater Fell starring David Tennant and Cush Jumbo and Gold Digger starring Julia Ormond; as well as several returning favorites with Series 2 of Welsh drama Hidden and Acorn TV's first feature film with Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears. Acorn TV has the U.S. Premieres of the highly-rated BBC One drama The Nest (Monday, July 13), Swedish drama Rebecka Martinsson, Season 2 (July 27), BBC One sitcom The Other One (Aug. 10), French drama Family Business (Aug. 24), as well as award-winning Australian drama Mystery Road, Series 2 and New Zealand thriller The Sounds this fall. Website: Acorn.TV

ABOUT AMC NETWORKS

Known for its groundbreaking and celebrated original content, AMC Networks is the company behind the award-winning brands AMC, BBC AMERICA, IFC, SundanceTV, WE tv, and IFC Films. Its diverse line-up of popular and critically-acclaimed series and independent films include Killing Eve, Better Call Saul and The Walking Dead, which has been the #1 show on basic cable television for nine consecutive years, as well as Portlandia, Brockmire, Love After Lockup, and the films Boyhood, Death of Stalin, and many more. Its original series Mad Men and Breaking Bad are widely recognized as being among the most influential and acclaimed shows in the history of TV. The Company also operates AMC Studios, its production business; AMC Networks International, its international programming business; the subscription streaming services Shudder, Sundance Now; Acorn TV; and UMC (Urban Movie Channel); and Levity Entertainment Group, the Company's production services and comedy venues business. For more information, visit HTTP://WWW.AMCNETWORKS.COM.

About Dramacorp

Dramacorp was launched in 2016 by veteran drama producer Patrick Nebout and Jan Mojto, founder of German distribution powerhouse Beta Film, which is a major shareholder in the company. Based in Sweden, the company focuses on the origination, development and executive production of high-concept drama with international appeal. Nebout's credits include the origination and production of the Canal + and SVT crime thriller series Midnight Sun - the first-ever TV project to be co-produced by French-Swedish partners; the family drama series Thicker Than Water; and the theatrical blockbuster The Hundred Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared.