Beta secures rights to Canadian hits

Shows form part of Mip slate

By ED MEZA

BERLIN — Jan Mojto's Beta Film has picked up international rights to hit Canadian series "The Border" and "Heartland," ahead of the upcoming MipTV programming mart in Cannes, which bows April 7.

Beta acquired continental European rights to the shows, which air on Canadian broadcaster CBC, from the U.K.'s Fireworks/Contentfilm.

"The Border" focuses on a Canadian immigration and customs security squad as it tries to protect one of the longest unsecured borders in the world from terrorists, drug smugglers and other riff-raff.

"Heartland," based on the books of Lauren Brooke, is set on a family ranch in the Alberta foothills where abused and neglected horses find refuge with a kind, hard-working family.

"The acquisition of the two North American series is part of our strategy to offer international product of the highest quality," said Beta's Oliver Bachert.

Beta is also hawking the RTL Television thriller "Ten - Umbra Mortis," a mini series about a police manhunt for fanatic murderer in Vienna, the TV adaptations of Johannes Mario Simmel's best-sellers "The Caesar Code," an Argentinean murder mystery, and "The Phantom's Kiss," the story of a war reporter's search for his missing girlfriend.

Also on offer is "Shattering Silence," a docu produced by pubcaster ARD about the Quandt family, one of Germany's wealthiest families and the main shareholder of automaker BMW and its role during the Nazi era.