New8 showcases second slate of international drama series at Series Mania Forum
New8 is a unique achievement for European public service broadcasters and their audiences. The alliance with the strong drama partners attached is the largest drama collaboration in Europe. New8 strengthens the PSBs throughout Europe and gives their audiences a unique access to bold, modern and innovative drama from all the partners. A key aspect of the collaboration is ensuring broad distribution of each other's projects.
Following the success of the first series of New8, the new projects of this international drama collaboration of eight public broadcasters were presented today at Series Mania in Lille. The partners of New8 – SVT (Sweden), DR (Denmark), YLE (Finland), RÚV (Iceland), NRK (Norway), VRT (Flanders, Belgium), NPO (Netherlands) and ZDF (Germany) – have co-produced eight drama series since the start of the collaboration in autumn 2023. The aim of New8 is to co-produce high-quality series across national borders that reflect the values of public service media and appeal to a broad audience.
The projects selected for the second slate once again present an exciting variety of genres and topics. These range from historical and social drama series to family stories, crime series and mystery series:
"Breendonk"(VRT, Belgium, 6x54 minutes, which tells the story of young lovers Elisabeth and Rik in Flanders during the Second World War), "Phoenix" (ZDF, Germany, 6x45 minutes; an environmental thriller-drama which tells the story of a group of youngsters who decide to kidnap the kids of tycoons responsible for polution), "The Machine", (NPO/BNNVARA, The Netherlands, 6x54 minutes; the tagline of the Booking.com-inspired series is "massive success has a monstrous price"), "Henki" (NRK, Norway, 6x45 minutes; the inspired by a true story drama about the battles of a HIV positive guy), "Cold Song" (SVT, Sweden, 6x45 minutes; suspense drama based on Linn Ullmans book "Det dyrbara" about the disappearance of the nanny of a family during their idyllic retreat), "Generations" (DR, Denmark, 6x60 minutes; a family drama with a crime plot about an old lady who claims the 30-old body of a baby found in the attic is that of her child), "Death of a Horse" (RÚV, Iceland, 6x52 minutes; a murder investigation of a death of a horse in competitive horse-riding community) and "The Dark Ones" (ZDF, Germany, 6x45 minutes; a supernatural mystery thriller about the worst versions of ourselves from different dimensions).
The projects were presented during a session part of the Creative Business Inspirations strand, featuring Jarmo Lampela, Head Of Drama YLE - Finnish Broadcasting Company; Sebastiaan Leeman, Drama Commissioner NPO - Netherlands; Marianne Furevold-Boland, Head of Drama, NRK - Norway; Jasmin Maeda, SVP Intl Fiction Coproduction and Acquisition - ZDF Germany; Henriette Marienlund, Head of Drama - DR - Denmark; Johanna Gardare, Commissioner at SVT - Sweden; Wim Janssen, Head of Drama at VRT - Belgium and Margret Jonasdottir, Head of TV - RUV Iceland.
The first eight series of the coproduction initiative have been already produced: "Vanguard" (SVT), "Elixir" (NPO), "Queen of fucking everything" (YLE), "Holmlia Love" (NRK), "Other People's Money" (DR/ZDF), "This is not a murder mystery" (VRT), "Push" and "Kabul" (ZDF). Some of them have already been honoured nationally and internationally. These include ZDF's New8 series "Push" (German Television Award 2024) and ‘"Kabul" (Series Mania 2025 – International Competition), as well as "Other People's Money" (Berlinale 2025 - Panorama section) and "Generations" (Series Mania 2025 – International Competition), both of which were brought into the cooperation by the Danish broadcaster DR.
The projects selected for the second slate once again present an exciting variety of genres and topics. These range from historical and social drama series to family stories, crime series and mystery series:
"Breendonk"(VRT, Belgium, 6x54 minutes, which tells the story of young lovers Elisabeth and Rik in Flanders during the Second World War), "Phoenix" (ZDF, Germany, 6x45 minutes; an environmental thriller-drama which tells the story of a group of youngsters who decide to kidnap the kids of tycoons responsible for polution), "The Machine", (NPO/BNNVARA, The Netherlands, 6x54 minutes; the tagline of the Booking.com-inspired series is "massive success has a monstrous price"), "Henki" (NRK, Norway, 6x45 minutes; the inspired by a true story drama about the battles of a HIV positive guy), "Cold Song" (SVT, Sweden, 6x45 minutes; suspense drama based on Linn Ullmans book "Det dyrbara" about the disappearance of the nanny of a family during their idyllic retreat), "Generations" (DR, Denmark, 6x60 minutes; a family drama with a crime plot about an old lady who claims the 30-old body of a baby found in the attic is that of her child), "Death of a Horse" (RÚV, Iceland, 6x52 minutes; a murder investigation of a death of a horse in competitive horse-riding community) and "The Dark Ones" (ZDF, Germany, 6x45 minutes; a supernatural mystery thriller about the worst versions of ourselves from different dimensions).
The projects were presented during a session part of the Creative Business Inspirations strand, featuring Jarmo Lampela, Head Of Drama YLE - Finnish Broadcasting Company; Sebastiaan Leeman, Drama Commissioner NPO - Netherlands; Marianne Furevold-Boland, Head of Drama, NRK - Norway; Jasmin Maeda, SVP Intl Fiction Coproduction and Acquisition - ZDF Germany; Henriette Marienlund, Head of Drama - DR - Denmark; Johanna Gardare, Commissioner at SVT - Sweden; Wim Janssen, Head of Drama at VRT - Belgium and Margret Jonasdottir, Head of TV - RUV Iceland.
The first eight series of the coproduction initiative have been already produced: "Vanguard" (SVT), "Elixir" (NPO), "Queen of fucking everything" (YLE), "Holmlia Love" (NRK), "Other People's Money" (DR/ZDF), "This is not a murder mystery" (VRT), "Push" and "Kabul" (ZDF). Some of them have already been honoured nationally and internationally. These include ZDF's New8 series "Push" (German Television Award 2024) and ‘"Kabul" (Series Mania 2025 – International Competition), as well as "Other People's Money" (Berlinale 2025 - Panorama section) and "Generations" (Series Mania 2025 – International Competition), both of which were brought into the cooperation by the Danish broadcaster DR.
