Disney Licenses Five Shows For The Balkans And Bulgaria

 The Walt Disney Company has licensed the pay-TV and SVOD rights for five shows from ZDF Studios for Bulgaria and the Balkans.

The deal - the first between the two companies - includes Concordia, Dead Still, Queens of Mystery and The Puzzle Lady for both regions. It has also taken the rights for The Swarm for the Balkans.

“We are delighted that Disney will be the home for these top titles, giving audiences in the Balkans and Bulgaria the opportunity to enjoy some fantastic chilling, thrilling dramas and light-hearted whodunits,” said Mirela Nastase, Director Drama at ZDF Studios in a statement announcing the deal.

The Swarm, based on Frank Schätzing’s bestseller of the same name, follows as scientists from around the world rush to determine what is causing strange happenings in the oceans. It recently aired in the U.S. on The CW.

Queens of Mystery, starring Olivia Vinall (The Woman in White, Apple Tree Yard, Maigret), Julie Graham (The Bletchley Circle, Shetland) and Sarah Woodward (The Politician’s Husband, New Blood), follows a perennially single female detective sergeant. Her three aunts, who are well-known crime writers, help her solve murders and set her up on blind dates.

Dead Still centers on the adventures of two of Dublin’s most famed memorial photographers and is set in the Victorian era. It was written by John Morton (People Like Us, Twenty Twelve, W1A).

Concordia, from multiple Primetime Emmy Award winner Frank Doelger (Game of Thrones, The Swarm, John Adams, Rome) and Intaglio Films, tells the story of an experimental utopian community.

The Puzzle Lady, a ZDF Studios co-produciton with December Films and Factual Fiction, is based on Parnell Hall’s best-selling series of books. It centers on a crossword puzzle columnist who has a penchant for solving crimes.