Your once-a-month recap for trends in the scripted sector, with news digests, interviews, analysis & more.
ScreenMDM Scripted
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ScreenMDM Scripted recaps a busy month in global drama, from library and FAST deals to the ongoing push for known IP, real-life events, mysteries, romance, and the rapid rise of serialized short-form.
What's Inside:
- Day at the Library: Library & FAST deals
- On the Pod: Jeff Biederman & Jake Horowitz, creators of Estate of Mind
- Real People, Scripted Drama: True-life drama commissions
- Brand Aware: Book and other adaptations
- From Asia with Love: Cross-border collaborations and manga wins
- Medical, Mystery & Romance: Commissioning roundup
- Back for More: Update on renewals
- Window Watching: The scripted acquisitions market
- Micro Moves: The latest in short-form vertical drama
- ScreenMDM Scripted at MIPCOM
Day at the Library
According to a Luminate report this summer, library content consumption is outpacing original viewing on streaming platforms by more than three times, logging 25 billion hours streamed in the first three months of this year, with originals at 7.3 billion. Netflix put a $500 million value on AMC Global Media’s The Walking Dead universe, scoring co-exclusive rights to the original and its spinoffs for five years. Meanwhile, Rakuten TV partnered with AMC Global Media to launch a dedicated The Walking Dead Universe FAST channel in the U.K.
Elsewhere in the AVOD/FAST space, a dedicated NCIS: New Orleans FAST channel launched on Samsung TV Plus for viewers across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Tubi acquired over 450 library movies and TV episodes from NBCUniversal Global TV Distribution and Sony Pictures Entertainment for Australia, Canada, and the U.K. The platform also rolled out a dedicated horror hub, expanding its annual Terror on Tubi stunt. Tubi’s more than 13,000 hours of horror content log 53 million hours of streaming every month, across blockbusters and cult classics, originals, and creator content. The hub is set to expand to international markets, including Canada, the U.K., Australia, Mexico, and Latin America.
On the Pod
Jeff Biederman and Jake Horowitz joined ScreenMDM Talks to discuss their hybrid docu-comedy series Estate of Mind, which launched last week on Bell Media’s Fibe TV1. From indies Sideways Dog Productions and Grainey Pictures, the 4×20-minute series blends real interactions with improvised comedy.
Real People, Scripted Drama
Not long after Meta’s $18 billion settlement related to child safety on Facebook and Instagram, Channel 4 commissioned Billionaires (w.t.), a three-part factual drama from Halcyons Heart Films exploring social media disinformation, big tech accountability, and real-world human consequences. 5 ordered To Nicola, Love Peter (w.t.), a 90-minute title from Wonderhood Studios examining former Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and her ex-husband Peter Murrell’s embezzlement scandal. Lux Vide (a Fremantle company) is developing an international event series dramatizing the life, career, and legacy of fashion icon Giorgio Armani. In the U.S., HBO greenlit The Trial of Louise Woodward, a drama series starring Meghann Fahy based on the 1997 trial of a British au pair in Massachusetts, written by Matthew Barry and directed by Susanne Bier.
Brand Aware
We covered several book and other scripted IP adaptations this past month. Prime Video ordered a six-part limited series adapting Stephen King's London-set short story Crouch End from Mammoth Screen. Element Pictures is adapting David Nicholls’ best-selling novel You Are Here for the BBC and STARZ, with Fremantle handling international distribution. Production has begun on The Detection Club, a 10-part mystery-solving period drama for the BBC and BritBox starring Miles Jupp, Bryony Hannah, and Cara Theobold as celebrated crime authors G.K. Chesterton, Agatha Christie, and Dorothy L. Sayers. Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson and his G-Unit Film & Television are working with VICE Studios and Starbreeze Entertainment on the adaptation of the video game franchise PAYDAY. Alicia Silverstone is reprising her role from the 1990s teen comedy Clueless in an event-series sequel on Paramount+. In a radically different take on being inspired by known IP, FX ordered Legends, a meta-thriller created by and starring Charlie Hunnam, alongside his Sons of Anarchy co-stars, as fictionalized versions of themselves reuniting at a fan convention.
From Asia with Love
Lots of news from Japanese studio The Seven, backed by TBS, including a series based on Yugo Aosaki’s award-winning mystery novel Rock, Paper, Landmines, and an adaptation of Saki Hiwatari's landmark sci-fi romance manga Please Save My Earth, both for Prime Video. Elsewhere in the region, streamer Viu partnered with Thailand's TrueVisions NOW to launch a branded content hub across Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines for premium Thai series; and Netflix announced an expanded South Indian programming lineup, committing to release an average of one new Tamil, Telugu, or Malayalam title per week through the remainder of 2026. The slate features major theatrical acquisitions, licensed titles, and new originals.
Medical, Mystery & Romance
USA Network ordered Diplomatic Immunity, a Rome-set medical drama from FOX Entertainment Studios, with FOX Entertainment Global handling international distribution. Channel 4 and Virgin Media Television Ireland slated Complicit, a six-part murder mystery from Tall Story Pictures and Metropolitan Pictures (ITV Studios oversees global sales). Sky commissioned Charmer, an eight-part thriller about a "seducer for hire". Disney+ greenlit Mad Love (w.t.), a romantic comedy-drama series set in Italy, co-produced by Fremantle's Element Pictures and Brooklyn-based production company Sinestra.
Back for More
Disney+ renewed Clerkenwell Films’ British comedy series Alice & Steve for a second season. BBC One opted for a second season of the sci-fi comedy-drama Ann-Droid. The Mark Gatiss U&alibi detective drama Bookish received a third-season renewal (six episodes) alongside a two-part 2026 holiday special from Eagle Eye Drama, with Beta Film managing global distribution. Sky greenlit a second season of the Welsh crime thriller series Under Salt Marsh.HBO renewed the Stephen King prequel series IT: Welcome to Derry for a second season. Elizabeth Meriwether's Furious, starring and executive-produced by Emmy Rossum, was renewed for a second season at Hulu. Prime Video went for more of the YA series Sterling Point. Also in the buzzy YA space, Netflix revealed a raft of new commissions and originals, including Sid & Zoey, a supernatural mystery-romance hybrid from writers/showrunners Jon Kasdan and John Shiban, executive produced by Blumhouse Atomic Monster and Bad Robot.
Window Watching
The Stan-commissioned medical drama The F Ward notched up sales in 100 markets for Paramount Global Content Distribution. Broadcasters and platforms include Channel 4, CBC in Canada, SkyShowtime, Claro video across LatAm, Streamz in Belgium, COSMOTE TV in Greece, RTE, JioHotstar, Sky NZ, HBO Asia, AMedia Networks, and more. MGM+ picked up All3Media International's espionage thriller Secret Service for the U.S., Canada, Latin America, and Italy. All3Media International also closed key global presales for the Two Brothers Pictures’ thriller Maya. Peacock picked up U.S. rights to Dynamic Television's Ms. X, commissioned by Sky’s Three and ThreeNow in New Zealand. Dynamic Television also closed multi-territory international sales for Acorn TV's Brooke Shields-led mystery series You're Killing Me, selling to UKTV, BBC Channels, Stan, and Disney+ across EMEA. Austrian distributor ORF-Enterprise signed a licensing pact with Prime Video for a slate of German-language scripted series across the DACH region. BBC Three bought the U.K. broadcasting rights for the Australian dark comedy-drama series He Had It Coming from Fifth Season. Global platform MUBI acquired global streaming rights for the acclaimed Spanish original series La Mesías from Movistar Plus International. Mediaset acquired the Italian broadcast rights for the Turkish romantic drama series My Sweet Lie from Eccho Rights. Netflix acquired the LatAm streaming rights for Kanal D International's classic Turkish drama Fatmagül.
Micro Moves
Positioned to help drive the branded-entertainment market for short-form vertical, COL Group, VIRTUE Asia, and V47 Entertainment have partnered to host "Inside Microdramas" on October 27 in Singapore, billed as the first-ever upfront event dedicated to microdramas and the vertical video economy. COL Group also sealed a pact with Thailand's CP Group for a short-form video initiative featuring a talent incubation program, local adaptations using AI and COL's IP library, and the launch of FlareFlow Mini on TATANG by TrueID. Meanwhile, ReelShort partnered with Vidio to debut a dedicated "Short Drama" tab on the platform, launching over 200 Indonesian-dubbed titles and planning local co-productions.
In Europe, International distributor Primitives signed a global rights agreement with Belgium's Play Media to handle an initial slate of 20 vertical microdrama series spanning romance, fantasy, and drama.
WEBTOON Entertainment introduced a live-action vertical short-form slate on its English and French apps, premiering adaptations of popular webcomics and webnovels. And Vivian Yin’s Y+X Entertainment Group recruited more than 50 authors and screenwriters—including New York Times bestsellers—to expand the creator network for its forthcoming premium microdrama platform, LumiView.
ScreenMDM Scripted at MIPCOM
- Print with Tier 1 Distribution (Palais, Croisette, Hotels) at MIPCOM: Financing & copros / Known IP / Microdrama
- Digital Thought-Leadership Strand: We'll be doing a series of MIPCOM-pegged interviews for our High Drama strand.
- Plus, ScreenMDM Selects, ScreenMDM Hit List, pre-market dailies, and a hub for all of our MIPCOM news.
Contact Mansha Daswani (editorial) or Kate Roach (advertising) for more information.
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