Irish Productions, distributor of the Luxembourg co-production tv series "Bad Banks" has announced that the US video-on-demand platform "Hulu" (a company of NBC Universal, Fox Entertainment Group and Disney-ABC Television Group) has purchased the US rights for the series.

The news comes after Bad Banks received the Audience Award at the Festival of German Films in New York. The six episodes of the first season are now available for streaming.

Bad Banks is one of the first foreign drama series that Hulu has purchased. With acclaimed productions such as "The Handmaid's Tale" and "The Looming Tower" and around 17 million subscribers in the US, Hulu is one of the world's leading online video-on-demand providers. Hulu has already confirmed the pre-purchase of the second season of Bad Banks.

Already in February, the production of Letterbox Producktions and Iris Productions, in co-production with ZDF and in collaboration with ARTE, crossed Europe and went as far as Australia. Recent sales to Kino Lorber, RTL Luxembourg, NPO for the Netherlands, alongside sales to Netflix in Germany and France, HBO for the Scandinavian countries and Central Europe, Channel Four and Sundance Channel, etc., show strong interest for Bad Banks and its second season. More commercial successes are expected for the coming months with the series being available in nearly forty countries.

Asia

After the American premiere and numerous sales in the West and Central Europe, it is Asia's turn to succumb to the Bad Banks phenomenon that was screened for the 24th edition of the "International Film Festival" with Shanghai Television (STVF). The series has been nominated in the category "Best Foreign TV / Mini-Series" in competition for the Magnolia Award, and the German / Luxembourg co-production joins other successful international series such as "Ooulander", "Game of Thrones" and "Modern Family". The "Shanghai International Film and Television Festival" is one of the most influential festivals in the Chinese market.

Bad Banks Synopsis

The series plunges us into the world of high finance with its power games, manipulations and betrayals. It is written by Oliver Kienle and directed by Christian Schwochow. Its cast include Paula Beer, Desiree Nosbusch, Tobias Moretti, Barry Atsma and Marc Limpach.

Developed over a period of five years between Germany and Luxembourg with ZDF and ARTE, the series also benefited from the support of the Luxembourg Film Fund, the German Motion Picture Fund and the HessenFilm und Medien. Federation Entertainment handles international sales of the series.

Broadcast in March on ZDF and ARTE, the series has already gathered more than 7 million viewers just in first broadcast on Germany and France. Operating in all countries over the next five years is expected to attract tens of millions of viewers worldwide.