Cross-border collaboration between TV companies and creatives is producing drama with global appeal
The worldwide dominance of US TV drama over the past 20 years has resulted in international audiences becoming familiar with and now even expecting the long-arc, box-set-friendly US format. Homeland was just as anticipated in Italy, Germany and Sweden as it was in the US. There is a growing taste for foreign drama in America too. Homeland was a remake of Israeli drama Hatufim; The Killing (as it is known in the UK – Forbrydelsen, or “The Crime”, is the Danish title) was remade with a Seattle setting. Other foreign-inspired shows are in the pipeline. “It’s a natural evolution,” says Balcer. “The proliferation of cable channels in the US has meant that there are so many hours to fill that; creative as US writers are, they can’t fill them all.”
