EXCLUSIVE: Walter Presents has stocked up on premium international drama and bought a trio of titles from ZDF Studios. The on-demand service is operated by Global Series Network and its lineup is curated by Walter Iuzzolino. It majors in the best of foreign-language drama from around the world and Iuzzolino has duly snapped up The Shadow, Suplex and more Sløborn.
The Shadow follows a female journalist embarking on a new life in Vienna. Once there, she meets a beggar who tells her she is going to kill a man, setting a dark prophecy in motion. The six-parter was for German streamer ZDFneo and scooped the Audience Choice Award at the German Seriencamp festival in 2023. It will be on Walter Presents services in the U.S. and the UK.
Danish series Suplex will also be on the U.S. service. The show is a whodunnit following events after a competitor is murdered at a wrestling tournament.
For the UK, Walter Presents has landed the third season of Sløborn. Billed as a coming-of-age drama and pandemic thriller, the show was for German pubcaster ZDF and was nominated for Best Drama at Berlinale 2020.
Iuzzolino said: “From a classic slice of Nordic Noir to a twisted and unusual high concept thriller set in Vienna, the breadth and range of these series will delight all fans of great subtitled drama.”
Walter Presents and ZDF Studios are long-term partners and these deals follow earlier agreements for series including Italian crime drama Maltese, Olivier Marchal-starrer The Crimson Rivers and Annette Hess’ Ku’damm 56.
ZDF Studios’ Director Drama Yi Qiao brokered the latest deals. “GSN are very discerning when choosing titles for their video-on-demand service so I’m delighted that these critically acclaimed dramas will be entertaining overseas audiences on Walter Presents,” she said.
