‘A Bit of Craziness,’ ‘Amazing Talents’: Greece’s Growing TV Biz Takes Bold Swings and Sets Sights on Global Market

variety.com:

Christopher Vourlias If you wanted to gauge how far the growing Greek TV industry has come in just a few short years, you’d have to look no further than last month in Lille, France, where Series Mania offered a splashy showcase for the Mediterranean nation’s sudden rise.

The prestigious French fest opened with Amazon Prime Video’s “Greek Salad,” director Cédric Klapisch’s follow-up to his beloved “Spanish Apartment” trilogy that chose Athens as the setting for its portrait of contemporary Europe at a crossroads.

Meanwhile, a Greek series bowed in the festival’s international competition for the first time: Vasilis Kekatos’ “Milky Way.” Directed by the short film Palme d’Or winner and inviting comparisons to “Euphoria” from festivalgoers, the envelope-pushing teen drama (pictured) is part of a bold new wave of Greek storytelling that reflects an industry striving to reach new heights. “We have amazing talents in Greece.

What was missing was a little bit of craziness … and a huge willingness to take a risk,” says Vasilis Chrysanthopoulos, of series producers Foss Prods. “But it’s possible.” The Series Mania standout is among a raft of recent high-end Greek series to reach global audiences, among them “Maestro in Blue,” directed by and starring heartthrob Christoforos Papakaliatis, which was the first Greek TV show to bow on Netflix, and the abduction thriller “Silent Road,” written by Melina Tsampani and Petros Kalkovalis and directed by Vardis Marinakis.