Minority productions are the way to go these days: The Borgias, from Take 5 Productions and its British partners, is selling widely internationally.

CBS Studios International, which is selling the Showtime drama overseas, unveiled major distribution deals at MIP-TV for Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East.

Recent international sales for the European costume drama include deals in Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Korea and Turkey.

The biggest sales to Britain’s Sky Atlantic, Telecinco in Spain and Germany’s ProSiebenSat.1 were signed pre-MIP.

“This is a series tailor-made for the international market,” said Armando Nuñez, President of CBS Studios International.

“From the subject matter to the production values to the star power, The Borgias is a project that stood out from the beginning and the sales momentum soon followed,” he added in a statement.

The Canadian-British co-production, created and co-written/co-directed by Neil Jordan (The Crying Game), stars Jeremy Irons and portrays a powerful and corrupt 15th-century Italian family.

The Borgias joins a growing list of internationally co-produced dramas with minimal Canadian content but a source of work for Canadian indie producers and post houses.