MIPCOM 2012: ITV Pre-Sells Jeremy Piven Series 'Mr. Selfridge'

CANNES – Mr. Selfridge, a period drama starring Jeremy Piven (Entourage) has proved a strong early seller for British producers ITV Studios.

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The series traces the rise and fall of the titular Mr. Selfridge (Piven), an ambitious American retail mogul who made and lost his fortune in London in the three decades from 1909 to 1939. ITV pre-sold the 9-episode series to a series of territories at MIPCOM, including Ireland’s TV3, Norwegian public broadcaster NRK and Finland’s YLE. PBS in the United States has already secured broadcast rights to Mr Selfridge. ITV Studios produced the series, which will go out in Britain on leading commercial channel ITV1.

ITV Studios has also had success early on in the MIPCOM market with two new series from independent production house Mammoth Screen. The crime drama Endeavour, a prequel to the hit Inspector Morse series, was snatched up by, among others, Pramer’s Film & Arts channel for Latin America, Sweden’s SVT, Norway’s NRK and Danish public broadcaster DR. WGBH has the detective drama for the U.S. with Seven Network holding Australian rights.

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Falcon, a European crime drama which Mammoth Screen co-produced with Germany’s ZDF and Canal+ in Spain, pre-sold to HBO Latin America, Sweden’s SVT and HOT Israel. The series stars Marton Csokas (The Bourne Supremacy) as Javier Falcon, a brilliant detective with a dark, secret past. Sky Atlantic has the series for the U.K. market.