Max Original international series Spy/Master debuts Friday, May 19 with the first two episodes, which had their world premiere at Berlin Film Festival’s Berlinale Series in February. Created by Adina Sădeanu and Kirsten Peters, the six-part espionage drama series starring Alec Secăreanu continues with one new episode debuting weekly leading up to the season finale on June 16.
Logline: Spy/Master is set during the height of the Cold War and covers a week in the life of fictional character Victor Godeanu, played by Secăreanu, the right-hand man and closest advisor to Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu. However, Godeanu is also a secret agent for the Kgb and must escape Romania and Ceaușescu before his cover is blown. With only one shot at staying alive, he uses a diplomatic trip to Germany as a springboard to the United States. Helped by an undercover Stasi agent and former flame played by Svenja Jung (“Deutschland...
Logline: Spy/Master is set during the height of the Cold War and covers a week in the life of fictional character Victor Godeanu, played by Secăreanu, the right-hand man and closest advisor to Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu. However, Godeanu is also a secret agent for the Kgb and must escape Romania and Ceaușescu before his cover is blown. With only one shot at staying alive, he uses a diplomatic trip to Germany as a springboard to the United States. Helped by an undercover Stasi agent and former flame played by Svenja Jung (“Deutschland...
- 4/19/2023
- by Martin Cid Magazine
- Martin Cid - TV
HBO Max’s period drama “Spy/Master” is more John le Carré than Ian Fleming, state its creators. Following Victor Godeanu, a high-ranking officer in Romania’s secret service, advisor to president Nicolae Ceaușescu – and a spy – who decides to defect in 1978.
“As a child, I used to watch James Bond, which is a very cartoony version of espionage. It was something we really wanted to avoid. We wanted it to feel real,” says Kirsten Peters.
Adina Sădeanu adds: “John le Carré’s novels, for example ‘A Perfect Spy,’ are so complex. These characters run away from their own humanity. I have always wondered: How do they live? How do they wake up in the morning, after saying so many lies?”
For Sădeanu, her journalistic background – as well as Romanian roots – came in handy as well.
“Over the years, I met many people working in intelligence. They weren’t these ‘James Bond’ types,...
“As a child, I used to watch James Bond, which is a very cartoony version of espionage. It was something we really wanted to avoid. We wanted it to feel real,” says Kirsten Peters.
Adina Sădeanu adds: “John le Carré’s novels, for example ‘A Perfect Spy,’ are so complex. These characters run away from their own humanity. I have always wondered: How do they live? How do they wake up in the morning, after saying so many lies?”
For Sădeanu, her journalistic background – as well as Romanian roots – came in handy as well.
“Over the years, I met many people working in intelligence. They weren’t these ‘James Bond’ types,...
- 2/22/2023
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
The Berlin Festival’s ever larger three-day Berlinale Series Market kicks off today, Feb. 20. Below just a small selection of the series screening at the Market or in Berlinale Series, the festival strand. The selection could have been much larger.
About Antoine
Berlinale Series Market Selects
Canada
Creator: Cathleen Rouleau
Production company: ComediHa!
Broadcaster: Club illico, Tva (Quebecor)
An insight into the life of a family with all the quirks, highs and lows it entails, tackling a rarely explored theme in fiction: Life with a multi-handicapped child.
Rouleau: “I didn’t want to write a gut-wrenching story. A good show is wrapped in truth. It doesn’t matter if the hero spits fire from his mouth, as long as he is true to himself.”
Agent
Berlinale Series
Denmark
Creator, director: Nikolaj Lie Kaas
Production company: Zentropa Productions2
Broadcaster: TV2
Johan’s job is to solve his clients’ problems. Chronically overstretched,...
About Antoine
Berlinale Series Market Selects
Canada
Creator: Cathleen Rouleau
Production company: ComediHa!
Broadcaster: Club illico, Tva (Quebecor)
An insight into the life of a family with all the quirks, highs and lows it entails, tackling a rarely explored theme in fiction: Life with a multi-handicapped child.
Rouleau: “I didn’t want to write a gut-wrenching story. A good show is wrapped in truth. It doesn’t matter if the hero spits fire from his mouth, as long as he is true to himself.”
Agent
Berlinale Series
Denmark
Creator, director: Nikolaj Lie Kaas
Production company: Zentropa Productions2
Broadcaster: TV2
Johan’s job is to solve his clients’ problems. Chronically overstretched,...
- 2/20/2023
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Berlinale Series, established in 2015, keeps offering new shows proper cinema treatment. But it’s not just about that “dark room and the level of concentration you hardly get when you sit on a sofa,” explains head of the event Julia Fidel, noting a surge in stories with a “reasonable” budget.
“We want to screen very different episodic narrative styles from any country in the world. There is this expectation of showcasing ‘blockbuster’ series, which we also include, but the real benefit of [having] a series section at a major festival are the discoveries.”
Such as Market Selects’ Israeli offering “Traitor.” “If the story is outstanding and the characters relatable, the language doesn’t matter,” state showrunners Ron Leshem and Amit Cohen.
“Good shows have to be meaningful,” states Cristina Iliescu, creator- director of Co-Pro Series title “Export Only,” the first foray into series by “Bad Luck Banging” producer Ada Solomon.
“We want to screen very different episodic narrative styles from any country in the world. There is this expectation of showcasing ‘blockbuster’ series, which we also include, but the real benefit of [having] a series section at a major festival are the discoveries.”
Such as Market Selects’ Israeli offering “Traitor.” “If the story is outstanding and the characters relatable, the language doesn’t matter,” state showrunners Ron Leshem and Amit Cohen.
“Good shows have to be meaningful,” states Cristina Iliescu, creator- director of Co-Pro Series title “Export Only,” the first foray into series by “Bad Luck Banging” producer Ada Solomon.
- 2/20/2023
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Also world premiering is HBO Max series ‘Spy/Master’ and Indian drama ‘Roar’
Italian crime drama The Good Mothers is among the seven titles selected for Berlinale (February 16-26) Series strand.
Scroll down for full list of titles
The Disney+ series is directed by the UK’s Julian Jarrold, whose credits include Kinky Boots, Becoming Jane and Brideshead Revisted, and Italian filmmaker Elisa Amoruso. The Good Mothers is a UK-Italy co-production and follows three women trying to bring down the Italian mafia.
The first two episodes of the six-part series is one of five series world premiering at Berlinale.
These...
Italian crime drama The Good Mothers is among the seven titles selected for Berlinale (February 16-26) Series strand.
Scroll down for full list of titles
The Disney+ series is directed by the UK’s Julian Jarrold, whose credits include Kinky Boots, Becoming Jane and Brideshead Revisted, and Italian filmmaker Elisa Amoruso. The Good Mothers is a UK-Italy co-production and follows three women trying to bring down the Italian mafia.
The first two episodes of the six-part series is one of five series world premiering at Berlinale.
These...
- 1/16/2023
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
Now firmly established as a key component of the Berlin Film Festival, this year’s Berlinale Series will welcome Italy’s “The Good Mothers,” Norway’s “Arkitekten” and “Dahaad,” about a female police officer dealing with misogyny and traditional Indian society while also chasing a possible serial killer.
“Why Try to Change Me Now” and “Agent,” Denmark’s answer to the French smash, will also be shown, joined by Australia’s “Bad Behavior” – made by Matchbox Pictures, also behind Yvonne Strahovski and Cate Blanchett starrer “Stateless” – and HBO Max drama “Spy/Master,” all vying for the newly established Berlinale Series Award. Already announced eco-thriller “The Swarm” will debut out of competition.
“Stories with a reasonable budget – that’s certainly a new trend coming from commissioners,” said Julia Fidel, head of Berlinale Series.
“It’s no longer all about dramas that will cost ridiculous amounts of money. The argument is that people value good ideas,...
“Why Try to Change Me Now” and “Agent,” Denmark’s answer to the French smash, will also be shown, joined by Australia’s “Bad Behavior” – made by Matchbox Pictures, also behind Yvonne Strahovski and Cate Blanchett starrer “Stateless” – and HBO Max drama “Spy/Master,” all vying for the newly established Berlinale Series Award. Already announced eco-thriller “The Swarm” will debut out of competition.
“Stories with a reasonable budget – that’s certainly a new trend coming from commissioners,” said Julia Fidel, head of Berlinale Series.
“It’s no longer all about dramas that will cost ridiculous amounts of money. The argument is that people value good ideas,...
- 1/16/2023
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Reservoir Docs has acquired the documentary “The Right to Be Forgotten,” by Romanian director Adina Sădeanu, which is being pitched this week during the Co-Production Forum of the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, Variety has learned. The company has secured worldwide sales rights apart from Romania, Moldova and Benelux.
Through a mix of investigation and observation, “The Right to Be Forgotten” tells the story of three women deeply wounded by years-long online attacks, harassment and death threats, who each respond to the attacks in their own way. Pic is produced by Axis Media Production, in co-production with Squarefish (Belgium) and HBO Europe. It’s currently in production and slated to be delivered in summer 2022.
“I started this film from the idea that the virtual world impacts our lives in ways that we don’t yet fully understand,” said Sădeanu. “One major influence comes through cyber violence and private life violations. Going beyond...
Through a mix of investigation and observation, “The Right to Be Forgotten” tells the story of three women deeply wounded by years-long online attacks, harassment and death threats, who each respond to the attacks in their own way. Pic is produced by Axis Media Production, in co-production with Squarefish (Belgium) and HBO Europe. It’s currently in production and slated to be delivered in summer 2022.
“I started this film from the idea that the virtual world impacts our lives in ways that we don’t yet fully understand,” said Sădeanu. “One major influence comes through cyber violence and private life violations. Going beyond...
- 6/30/2021
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Titles are split between Coming Soon and Industry Screenings.
Meeting Point - Vilnius, the industry strand of Vilnius International Film Festival, has expanded its selection for its 2021 online event, confirming 32 projects today.
The projects are selected across two strands: 24 are in the Coming Soon pitching selection, consisting of 12 fiction features and 12 documentaries; with a further four of each in the Industry Screenings.
Some 23 countries are represented among the titles, including Maysoon Pachachi’s fiction feature Our River… Our Sky, a co-production between the UK, France, Germany, Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE, in the main Coming Soon strand.
Further sections of...
Meeting Point - Vilnius, the industry strand of Vilnius International Film Festival, has expanded its selection for its 2021 online event, confirming 32 projects today.
The projects are selected across two strands: 24 are in the Coming Soon pitching selection, consisting of 12 fiction features and 12 documentaries; with a further four of each in the Industry Screenings.
Some 23 countries are represented among the titles, including Maysoon Pachachi’s fiction feature Our River… Our Sky, a co-production between the UK, France, Germany, Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE, in the main Coming Soon strand.
Further sections of...
- 3/24/2021
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
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