CANNES, France — wedotv, the global free ad-supported streaming network, is partnering with Germany’s ZDF Studios, to create and distribute a FAST channel dedicated to just one title: landmark South African drama series “Legacy.”
ZDF Studios already represents the series globally outside , bringing it to market at 2023’s Mipcom.
As many companies turn to YouTube to build IP, then approach streaming services with masses of data on the result, the single IP channel – wedotv: Legacy — now created and distributed by wedotv – shows companies approaching IP the other way round. 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 tears itself apart in a succession battle built a huge fandom in South Africa and fame abroad. It is now leveraging digital to open up new audiences.
M-Net’s first telenovela, “Legacy” also underscores a new pathway to success – think Spain’s “The Vow” and “Sueños de Libertad” – by bringing premium production values to a novela narrative which, despite this, doesn’t hide telenovelas’ melodrama heart.
This comes with the series creators and its fictional world. “Legacy” was produced by South African powerhouse Tshedza Pictures, behind the International Emmy-nominated telenovela “The River” whose co-founders, Gwydon Beynon and Phathu Makwarela, created the series.
It is set in a world of dazzling opulence, caught by the mansion of the Price family, whose patriarch, Sebastian Price has built up Legacy Investments into a billionaire behemoth. The family mansion is a huge white marble affair replete with a pool and rose garden. The women wear stunning fashion numbers, Sebastian’s wife Dineo Price slinking down a staircase in a cleavage revealing skimpy number in its opening minutes.
Sebastian chooses and then rejects at least two successors in Ep. 1’s first 15 minutes, prompting his own murder, and a succession war as his bitter ex-wife and their unprincipled daughter Felicity will do anything to stop Dineo from shaping their playboy son into his successor. Legacy swept best telenovela and multiple other plaudits at South Africa’s 2021 SAFTA awards.
Among a large South African star-studded and notably diverse cast, the series toplines Dawid Minnaar (“Poppie Nongena”), Sean-Marco Vorster (“Warrior”) and the late Michelle Botes (“Isidingo”) who won SAFTA Golden Horns for actress and supporting actress for her performance.
The smash-hit, Award-winning series “Legacy” (104×45’) transports viewers into the high-stakes world of investment 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 came to us with the idea of a channel dedicated to ‘Legacy,’ we wanted to make sure the key elements of a successful single IP channel were in place: quality, quantity, story, and proven audience ratings generator,” noted Philipp Rotermund, CEO of wedotv. “Legacy” has all of those key qualities in spades. It’s also incredibly compelling and binge-worthy, which helps keep viewers engaged within the platform ecosystem, which is essential for advertisers.”
“There is a real upside to creating and launching a channel like wedotv: ‘Legacy’ — It has a built-in fan base,” said Florian Streit, Director, Drama, ZDF Studios. “Single 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 across all episodes.”
