SVT commissions Apple Tree Productions' event tv series Blackwater based on Kerstin Ekman's multi award-winning crime novel
A coproduction with ARD Degeto and Filmpool Nord distributed internationally by ITV Studios
EUROPEAN FILM MARKET, Berlin, 26 February 2020 - SVT has commissioned a major six-part TV adaptation of Kerstin Ekman's multi award-winning* crime novel, Blackwater from Apple Tree Productions. The event series will be coproduced with ARD Degeto in Germany and Filmpool Nord, supported by the MEDIA Programme of the European Union and distributed internationally by ITV Studios.
International Emmy and BAFTA award winning CEO of Apple Tree Productions, former Head of Drama at DR and producer of The Killing Piv Bernth will lead production. Blackwater will be adapted for television as a landmark, premium crime drama series by Maren Louise K ehne (Queen of Hearts, The Bridge, Borgen) and directed by Pernilla August (The Legacy, A Serious Game). Marek Wieser (Darling, Tigers, The Violin Player) will serve as Director of Photography and Oscar winning Anna Asp (Fanny and Alexander, Wallander) will handle production design.
Originally published in Sweden in 1993, Blackwater has since become available in 25 countries and the drama has pre-sold to DR in Denmark, NRK in Norway, YLE in Finland and RUV in Iceland. The story begins on a Midsummer night in 1970, when two tourists are found murdered in a tent, far up in the mountains of North Sweden, near the small town of Blackwater. The incident intersects four random people's lives, intertwining their destinies for better and for worse.
Blackwater is a powerful and compelling story, filled with unique, intriguing characters and many spectacular events, told through multiple points of view. Its setting - the log-filled Scandinavian forests - matches perfectly the ominous sense of foreboding that permeates the plot.
Anna Cronemann, Head of Drama at SVT, said:
Developing a novel as iconic as Blackwater into a series, inevitably means taking a huge risk. But with a beautiful script by Maren Louise K ehne, Piv Bernth producing and Pernilla August as Director, I'm certain we're about to make something quite extraordinary. I'm also thrilled about the collaboration with ARD.
Sebastian L ckel, Head of Acquisitions and Coproductions at ARD Degeto, said:
With the pedigree of the team behind this project and an outstanding plot we simply could not say no to this collaboration with SVT. We have great trust in the taste and ability of Piv Bernth, Maren Louise K ehne and Pernilla August to deliver something truly amazing that will entertain our audience on all platforms.
Piv Bernth, CEO Appletree Productions, said:
We are so proud to be the company that gets to make a landmark TV series of this iconic novel and feel lucky to be working with the incredibly talented writer Maren Louise K ehne and director Pernilla August in bringing this story to the screen. Together with our partners, SVT, ARD Degeto, Filmpool Nord and ITV Studios we are so much looking forward to presenting the series to Swedish, Nordic and international audiences.
Sandra Warg, CEO Filmpool Nord, said:
It is truly a great privilege to be a co-producer of this project adapted from an outstanding novel. This is a local story aimed for the global market. All the creative powers behind the TV series ensure the best prerequisites for a successful outcome, and I am really excited that Norrbotten will be a part of this - offering, among other assets, the vast and uniquely suggestive surroundings of our Arctic region.
Ruth Berry, Managing Director of Distribution, ITV Studios said:
Were really excited to take Blackwater to market. It's a gripping internationally renowned story, recreated by a team of leaders in their fields and backed by three committed partners from the outset. We couldnt be more delighted to represent Blackwater on the world stage at a time when demand for European drama is going from strength to strength.
Blackwater is the second production from ITV Studios-backed Apple Tree Productions following Equinox, a character-driven supernatural thriller series of 6 x 45 mins., currently shooting in Copenhagen for Netflix. The series has been developed with the support of Creative Europe - MEDIA Programme of the European Union.
* Blackwater was awarded the Swedish Publishers Association's August Prize 1993, the Swedish Crime Writers Academy Prize 1993 and The Nordic Council of Ministers' Literature Prize in 1994.
[end]
About Apple Tree Productions
Apple Tree Productions is a production company established in Denmark and In Sweden, which develops and produces high quality drama series for Nordic and international audiences.
The company was founded by Lars Hermann and Piv Bernth, who were behind international successes like The Killing, The Legacy, Follow the Money, The Bridge, Liberty and Ride Upon the Storm. Backed by ITV Studios, Apple Tree Productions pursues ideas big and small nationally as well as internationally.
SVT
Sveriges Television (SVT) is the Swedish public service television company with the widest range of programming of all TV companies in Sweden. Our vision is to contribute to a more inquisitive, informed Sweden. Our aim is to create content that engages, entertains and enriches - in the service of the public. SVT is together with the public service radio (SR) the most trusted Swedish media and enjoys a very good support from the Swedish TV audience.
ARD DEGETO
ARD Degeto is a wholly owned subsidiary of ARD. Its shareholders are the nine German regional broadcasters and their advertising subsidiaries. ARD Degeto acquires fictional programs for the ARD collective program Das Erste', for the Third Program' of the German regional broadcasters (BR, HR, MDR, NDR, Radio Bremen, RBB, SR, SWR, and W
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
08/09/2026
Comcast Technology Solutions (CTS) has announced a multi-year agreement with A E...
08/09/2026
Spectra Logic today announced the availability of Media Insight, a new capabilit...
08/09/2026
Rogers Communications and Quebecor have announced a 12-year sublicensing agreement for French-language national NHL games beginning with the 2026-27 season. TVA...
08/09/2026
Skyline Communications and Bridge Technologies will demonstrate two integrations...
08/09/2026
Boland Communications will make the European debut of its 4K55HDR7SNB 55-inch super-narrow-bezel monitor at IBC2026 (Stand 12.C57, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-1...
08/09/2026
Ateme and Comcast Technology Solutions (CTS) have announced a collaboration comb...
08/09/2026
Haivision has joined the IBC Accelerator Media Innovation Programme as part of t...
08/09/2026
Blackmagic Design has announced price reductions on its PYXIS 6K and Cinema Camera 6K models, effective immediately through Blackmagic Design resellers worldwid...
08/09/2026
AI-Media will demonstrate its LEXI Suite at IBC2026 (Booth 5.C34, September 11-1...
08/09/2026
Bitmovin and Ad Insertion Platform (AIP) have announced the first live deploymen...
08/09/2026
Grass Valley will demonstrate story-centric media workflows at IBC2026 (Booth 9.A01, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14), connecting newsroom production, content ma...
08/09/2026
M2A Media and Ateme have announced a partnership integrating Ateme's video processing solutions into M2A Media's MediaToAnywhere platform for live sport...
08/09/2026
Ikegami will exhibit at IBC2026 (Stand 12.A31, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14), including a Day 1 introduction of new cameras in the UNICAM XE series. Additiona...
08/09/2026
Broadcast industry analysts will be gathering plenty of insights at the 2026 IBC Show this weekend in Amsterdam, but Caretta Research has offered up some though...
08/09/2026
SENSHI and DAZN have announced a global broadcast partnership that will bring SENSHI's live events free to viewers in more than 200 markets. The partnership...
08/09/2026
New architecture built with Evertz will bring 4K HDR to Monday Night Football, N...
08/09/2026
Built for rap producers, by rap producers
Sauceware Audio, the independent plug-in company founded by Grammy-nominated producer Jacob (Travis Scott, 21 Sava...
08/09/2026
Classic Sound Techniques design revived
Warm Audio's latest release delivers a meticulous recreation of the preamp circuitry employed by the Sound Techn...
08/09/2026
Latest soft synth inspired by the Memorymoog
XILS Lab have just launched a software instrument that draws its inspiration from Moog's iconic Memorymoog,...
08/09/2026
The Airport Chaplain takes off as SBS's biggest launch of 2026
8 September, 2026
Media releases
1.67 million viewers on National Total TV to date
Best...
08/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/09/2026
Mo-Sys, the world-leading developer of virtual production, camera robotics and image tracking technology, has completed a business restructuring, which has incl...
08/09/2026
New York, September 8, 2026 The TSAmediaHUB audiovisual contribution and distribution infrastructure developed by Telef nica's Audiovisual Services area re...
08/09/2026
Expanded Riyadh operation brings Asharq and Thmanyah services together on a resilient on-premises Pebble platform.
Pebble, the leading automation, content mana...
08/09/2026
Techex, a pioneering leader in live video workflows, will showcase its broadest software feature set to date at IBC 2026 (Stand 2.B45), extending its lead in so...
08/09/2026
Visitors to Grass Valley's booth at IBC2026 will be introduced to new Framelight X capabilities that connect content acquisition, management, editing and pu...
08/09/2026
BCNEXXT will showcase the latest evolution of Vipe at IBC2026 (Stand 2.B09), introducing a series of innovations designed to deliver higher-quality audience exp...
08/09/2026
Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Ad Insertion Platform (AIP), a leading innovator in advanced ad insertion technologies, to...
08/09/2026
Brainstorm, a leading manufacturer of real-time graphics and augmented and virtual production, is announcing a major package of enhancements to its Suite 7 soft...
08/09/2026
Big Blue Marble is supporting TDF, French infrastructure and network operator, broadcasting Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) and radio services, as a techno...
08/09/2026
Agents work inside a single production environment, from incoming wire copy to a live studio show...
08/09/2026
Building on their strategic partnership, Ceeblue and Layercake make the unthinkable possible: scalable sub-second streaming over standard DRM, SSAI, and CDN wor...
08/09/2026
Brainstorm, a leading manufacturer of real-time graphics, augmented and virtual production, is completing the environment for fast-paced broadcast production wi...
08/09/2026
A SaaS portfolio built to work together, helping operators grow audiences, monetise smarter and run leaner, on their own terms
At IBC 2026 (stand 1.B49) Synam...
08/09/2026
Accedo, global provider of video streaming software and services, has been selected by PlayOn Sports, a national leader in high school sports technology, to exp...
08/09/2026
LiveU, the leader in live IP-video solutions, is enabling The Associated Press to take global newsgathering to the next stage with intelligent connectivity and ...
08/09/2026
Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitably connect the right content to the right audience, today announced the latest evolution of it...
08/09/2026
Compact, power-efficient X Platform performance brings broadcast-grade reliability and ultra-low latency to space-constrained remote production (REMI) workflows...
08/09/2026
Zixi, the leader in live video delivery and workflow orchestration, and Kiloview, a leading provider of professional IP video encoding and decoding solutions, t...
08/09/2026
Collaboration gives content owners scalable CDN capacity and broadcasters enhanced flexibility, including for C-band transition planning
Quortex today announce...
08/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/09/2026
Telos Alliance and Pluxbox Announce Dynamic Media Facility Integration Partnersh...
08/09/2026
J nger Audio Showcases Industry-First S-ADM Cloud Workflow at IBC 2026
Search
Dolby, MainConcept, Techex and J nger Audio will showcase the industry's ...
08/09/2026
Tuesday 8 September 2026
Sky Go gets a major upgrade for Sky Glass and Sky Stream customers
Today, Sky launches a new version of the Sky Go app for Sky Glass ...
08/09/2026
Documentary thriller simulating a Russian attack on UK soil will culminate in a live final episode reuniting the playersTuesday 8 September 2026
Trailer releas...
08/09/2026
Tuesday 8 September 2026
Jamie Demetriou and Amelia Dimoldenberg to host next t...
08/09/2026
Wuppertal September 8, 2026
Riedel Introduces New OnAir Headset PlatformRiedel Communications today announced the launch of its new OnAir headset platform, a...
SVT commissions Apple Tree Productions' event tv series Blackwater based on Kerstin Ekman's multi award-winning crime novel
