Beta Film Locks Deals for 'Queen Silvia' and 'La Vida Barcelona' — SkimNews
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- Beta Film closed major deals for two female-led series — SVT acquired Swedish second window rights after Prime Video for royal drama 'Queen Silvia,' while ZDF joined 'La Vida Barcelona' as co-production partner alongside Beta Film and Millstreet Films.
- 'Queen Silvia' premieres Tuesday in the Grand Auditorium at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, charting the romance between interpreter Silvia Sommerlath (Alicia von Rittberg) and Swedish Crown Prince Carl Gustaf (Edvin Endre) from their 1972 Munich Olympics encounter onward.
- 'Queen Silvia' is produced by Germany's Pyjama Pictures and Sweden's Unlimited Stories for Prime Video in German-language territories and the Nordics, and Sat.1, with Emil Wiklund calling it 'a privilege to bring the love story of our King and Queen to the Swedish audience.'
- 'La Vida Barcelona' comes from the producers of hit series 'Máxima' and director Katina Medina Mora ('Emily in Paris,' 'The Summer I Turned Pretty'), who directs alongside Charlotte Scott-Wilson and Ayla Spaans.
- The cast of 'La Vida Barcelona' includes Holly Mae Brood as young Dutch designer Julia, Priscilla Delgado ('Euphoria'), Greta Fernández ('The Walking Dead'), Martiño Rivas ('El Internado') and Agustín Della Corte ('Society of the Snow').
- Frank Seyberth, ZDF's head of co-production, international fiction, said the series has 'all the ingredients to reach young audiences both in Germany and internationally,' as it moves through post-production.
- Beta Film handles international sales for both titles, with 'La Vida Barcelona' supported by the Netherlands Film Fund Production Incentive, the Spanish Tax Rebate and the Creative Europe Media program.
Why it matters: Beta Film's locked-in pre-Cannes sales give two female-led, international-cast dramas guaranteed broadcaster footprints in Germany and Sweden, where public broadcasters historically move the needle on ratings and cultural prestige — ZDF's co-production stake in 'La Vida Barcelona' especially signals that German public money is behind a Spanish-Dutch coming-of-age story aimed at young audiences.
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