Estonian TV Producers Look to Build on Success of Spy Scandal Drama ‘Traitor’
variety.comJohn Bleasdale Guest Contributor Estonian producers and companies are looking to reproduce the success of the breakout drama “Traitor” with two new series set for release in 2024.
Financed by Estonian streaming company Elisa and featuring local talent both in front of and behind the camera, “Traitor” was the first domestically produced TV show to have international legs. “Traitor” tells the story of the biggest spy scandal in Estonian history, when an Estonian defense official was recruited by the Russians in 2004 as the country was set to become the latest member of NATO.
Running over two seasons from 2019, the show has been a hit domestically and was distributed internationally by GoQuest Media and will reach U.S.
viewers via the Spanish-language streaming platform FlixLatino. “The best compliment I received at Mipcom in Cannes this year was from an international producer who said they still feel sad they didn’t get ‘Traitor’ back then,” Toomis Ili, the head of content at the streaming platform Elisa, tells Variety. “Fingers crossed that very soon we’ll have other international titles to offer.” The two as yet untitled shows currently in development are, like “Traitor,” inspired by recent true stories.
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