One scripted production expected to make an international splash in 2024 is Rise of the Raven, an epic 10-part series from Robert Lantos’ Toronto-based Serendipity Point Films.
The story of 15th century Hungarian military hero Janos Hunyadi is a passion project for Hungary-born Lantos. Speaking to Playback, his son Ari Lantos, an executive producer on the series, said he spent two years in Hungary to make it happen, overseeing huge location and studio shoots. “We were determined to make the show as authentic as possible,” he says.
Early on, says Lantos, “we decided we did not want a Hollywood approach to this distinctive story. Instead of making an English-speaking production, every character speaks in their native language – Hungarian, Turkish, Serbian, Italian and so on.”
Inevitably, this influenced the way the series was financed, says Lantos. It was pulled together through contributions from a number of international broadcasters, Hungarian public funding and an investment from German producer and distributor Beta Film.
“It is the type of show that could have found a place on a North American streamer,” he says. “But our approach was to focus on European partners first. Our initial partner was the National Film Institute in Hungary, and Beta Film came on board soon after.”
Several European sales have already been completed, including Austrian pubcaster ORF and Hungarian channel TV2, with other negotiations in the works while the series is in post-production. However, Lantos thinks Rise of the Raven will also appeal to English-language buyers and global streamers: “It has all the hallmarks of the epic, historical pieces that are working on platforms around the world.”
One intriguing question is whether Rise of the Raven‘s distinctive Euro-centric financing model can be a template for further Canadian productions. “I think it’s a viable model, and we will explore it on other productions,” says Lantos. His only proviso is that producers should partner with territories that offer the kind of package available in Hungary. “Hungary’s tax breaks, studio infrastructure and crews made this scale of production possible.”
This story originally appeared in Playback‘s Spring 2024 issue
Photo by Kristof Galgoczi Nemeth