CANNES, France — wedotv, the global free, ad-supported streaming network, is partnering with German studios ZDF to create and distribute a FAST channel dedicated to a single title: the iconic South African drama series “Legacy.”
ZDF Studios is already representing the series globally, marketing it at Mipcom 2023.
While many companies look to YouTube to develop their intellectual property, then approach streaming services with masses of bottom line data, the unique IP channel – wedotv: Legacy – now created and distributed by wedotv – shows companies approaching intellectual property the other way. First released in 2020 on South Africa’s M-Net, a division of MultiChoice, and now a Canal Plus company, the thriller about how a family is torn apart in a succession battle has built a huge fandom in South Africa and fame abroad. It is now using digital technology to open up to new audiences.
M-Net’s first telenovela, “Legacy,” also highlights a new path to success – think of Spain’s “The Vow” and “Sueños de Libertad” – by bringing premium production values to a novel-like narrative that, despite this, does not hide the melodrama heart of telenovelas.
This comes with the creators of the series and its fictional world. “Legacy” was produced by South African company Tshedza Pictures, behind the international Emmy Award-nominated telenovela “The River,” whose co-founders Gwydon Beynon and Phathu Makwarela created the series.
The action takes place in a world of dazzling opulence, captured by the mansion of the Price family, whose patriarch, Sebastian Price, built Legacy Investments into a billionaire giant. The family mansion is a huge white marble affair complete with a swimming pool and rose garden. The women wear stunning fashion numbers, with Sebastian’s wife Dineo Price gliding down a flight of stairs in a cleavage-revealing skimpy number in its opening minutes.
Sebastian chooses and then rejects at least two successors in ep. The first 15 minutes of 1, sparking his own murder and a succession war as his bitter ex-wife and their unprincipled daughter Felicity will do anything to stop Dineo from making their playboy son his successor. Legacy won Best Telenovela and several other plaudits at the 2021 South Africa SAFTA Awards.
Among a particularly diverse cast of South African stars, the series stars Dawid Minnaar (“Poppie Nongena”), Sean-Marco Vorster (“Warrior”) and the late Michelle Botes (“Isidingo”) who won the SAFTA Golden Horns for Actress and Supporting Actress for her performance.
The hit and award-winning series “Legacy” (104×45′) transports viewers to the high-stakes world of investing billionaires – where wealth is limitless, rivalries run deep and family loyalty comes at a deadly price. Behind the glittering façade of the Price dynasty lies a battlefield of power, passion and betrayal. As long-buried secrets explode and nothing and no one is safe, wedotv and ZDF Studios announced Monday at Mipcom.
“When ZDF Studios approached us with the idea of a dedicated ‘Legacy’ channel, we wanted to ensure that the key elements of a successful single IP channel were in place: quality, quantity, story and a proven audience generator,” said Philipp Rotermund, CEO of wedotv. “Legacy” has all of these key qualities in spades. It’s also incredibly compelling and newsworthy, helping to keep viewers engaged within the platform’s ecosystem, which is essential for advertisers.
“There is a real advantage to creating and launching a channel like wedotv: ‘Legacy’ – It has a built-in fan base,” said Florian Streit, director of drama at ZDF Studios. “Unique IP channels work well because they are immediately identifiable to fans. ‘Legacy’ is also a long-running series that maintains an exceptional level of quality in all episodes.”
