'A wonderful alternative to Nordic crime': DR Sales strikes deal with Walter Presents for UK and US on 'Carmen Curlers' (EXCLUSIVE)

DR Sales has reached an agreement with Walter Presents on the popular drama series "Carmen Curlers". The company picked up the show for the UK and Ireland, as well as North American rights for PBS Masterpiece.

Based on true events and starting in the 1960s, the show chronicles the invention electric hair curler in Denmark. It also focuses on its workers, who are earning their own money for the first time in their lives, and on the societal changes, which are already imminent.

"I am absolutely delighted to welcome 'Carmen Curlers' to the Walter Presents collection of top international players drama," says executive director Walter Iuzzolino, calling it "a warm, incisive and emotionally absorbing play with a gorgeous vintage aesthetic and a truly remarkable storyline."

"I wasn't surprised to hear it was such a hit in Denmark: A wonderful alternative to Nordic Crime, this show takes us on a heartwarming emotional journey and I'm sure viewers will fall in love with it as much as I do."

So far, "Carmen Curlers" has also been sold to Filmin (Spain), SBS ( Australia), NPO (Netherlands), RTP (Portugal) and ERR in Estonia.

The second season, currently in production, will be released in the fall of 2023.

"I've been fascinated by this story ever since I heard about it 12 years ago. It's not just about the invention of the electric hair curler, it's also the story of all the women who produced them and how society has changed because of it,” says the writer-creator. Mette Heeno. "I love that something so feminine really started the women's liberation [movement] in Denmark. The show would be extremely boring and predictable if it was just the stuff behind Carmen Curlers. This are the characters we are interested in. Their families, their dreams and their hopes."

Heeno – and producer Stinna Lassen – watched various shows for inspiration, from “Mad Men" to "Babylon Berlin," "The Knick," and Rachel Brosnahan starred "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel."

"They're explosive and modern, and [yet] are all vintage shows," says she.

"I think playfulness is kind of unavoidable when you're working with an unfolding story set in the 1960s, centered around the invention of the electric hair curler and with the main character as quirky and colorful as [ours]. We tried to capture the energy, the bustle and the dreams of that era.

With its split-screens, voice-overs and dynamic flashbacks, "Carmen Curlers" will maintain the standard of energy in its second season as well. But some things will change, Heeno teases.

"It's set in 1965 and 1966, and the themes are more political. The world is shaking and everything is about to explode.

"It was actually an eye opener for me to realize how little women had of power and freedom 60 years ago. You don't learn that in school. I am so grateful to all the women who fought the great battles and enabled others to dream and be independent. We owe so much respect."

DR Sales is also behind all eight episodes of "Nordland '99," currently on air honor in Berlinale Series Market Selects. Directed by Kasper Møller Rask - and produced by Nevis Productions - it centers on a young man who disappears without a trace in 1999. As his loved ones begin their search, they uncover terrifying secrets.

The show will premiere at Series Mania's International Panorama in March, "introducing a new generation to a classic a genre story, but at the same time talking about relatable issues,” says Møller Rask.