COLD COURAGE
(8×45, crime/thriller)
Two Nordic women collide during a series of murders in present-day London. Mari, a fierce psychologist, fights for the underdog by any means necessary. Lia, a shy graphic artist is on the run from an abusive stalker. Mari’s obsession is to stop the meteoric rise of a dangerous, charismatic politician, Arthur Fried. She needs an unknown face to infiltrate his campaign. Who better than Lia??
International crime drama ‘Cold Courage’ is written by David Joss Buckley and Brendan Foley and it is based on the bestselling Studio novels by Pekka Hiltunen.
The eight episode returning series will premiere exclusively on Nordic video streaming service Viaplay 3rd of May in 2020 before being released internationally later in the year. Starring Pihla Viitala (Deadwind) and Sofia Pekkari (Arne Dahl) alongside international cast including John Simm (Collateral, Mad Dogs), Arsher Ali (Line of Duty), Caroline Goodall (The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard), Peter Coonan (Love/Hate) and Matteo Simoni (Call Boys).
Cold Courage’ is directed by internationally awarded Agneta Fagerström-Olsson (Wallander, Knockout, Kniven i Hjärtat, Hammarkullen, Den förste zigenaren i rymden) and Kadir Balci (Amigos, Marry Me, Turquaze). Co-producers are Peter de Maegd and Tom Hameeuw/Potemkino (Belgium), Cormac Fox/Vico Films (Ireland) and Kjartan Thor Thordarsson/Sagafilm Nordic (Iceland). ‘Cold Courage’ will be distributed internationally by Lionsgate. The producers are Markku Flink and Pauli Pentti / Luminoir (Finland).
THE MAN WHO DIED GETS A NEW LEASE ON LIFE
(6×45’, black crime comedy)
FINNISH telecoms giant Elisa has boarded The Man Who Died, a new limited series from Luminoir (Finland) and ndF International Production (Germany).The darkly funny Nordic crime drama is based on the international bestseller by Antti Tuomainen, described by The Times as “The funniest writer in Europe,” with scripts by Brendan Foley (Cold Courage).
Foley describes the six-episode series “as if the Coen brothers had been parachuted into small town Finland”. It tells the story of Jaakko, a mushroom entrepreneur who finds out too late that he has been fatally slow-poisoned by persons unknown. He sets out to find the culprits before he expires.
“Jaakko has been sleep-walking through life and only gets his mojo back when he discovers he is dying – if Breaking Bad was Mr Chips becomes Scarface, then this is Breaking Good. The Man Who Died is such a visual story with larger-than-life characters, it is a joy to adapt at a time when the world needs all the joy it can get” he commented. “
Lead producer Markku Flink describes the Finnish-language project The Man Who Died as one of the smartest and funniest he had read in years. “While it is in one way the most Finnish of all stories, we think the characters also give it great international potential for people who like the quirky dark humour of the Coens or Wes Anderson. “
German producing partner ndF International Production’s joint managing director Eric Welbers said “It’s a true pleasure to collaborate with talented partners like Luminoir and Elisa on a series of this caliber. My partner Matthias and I created our ndF International banner for just this sort of project.”
