French Streamer Salto Gets ‘Happily Married’ in One of First Acquisitions (EXCLUSIVE)

Soon to launch French streaming service Salto has acquired Canadian-French dark comedy series “Happily Married,” which premiered at the Berlinale, from distributor Cineflix Rights.

“Happily Married (C’est Comme Ça Que Je T’aime)” is one of the first programme acquisitions to be announced by Salto, the long delayed SVOD jointly created by French public broadcaster France Télévisions and commercial networks TF1 and M6. The streamer is due to launch in the autumn.

“Happily Married” premiered as an Official Selection at Berlinale Series 2020.

The 10-episode first season of the comedy drama is produced by Montreal-based Productions Casablanca, and is the latest series from writer François Létourneau and director Jean-François Rivard, who previously worked together on “Les Invincibles” and “Série Noire.”

Made for Radio-Canada Télé and Tou.Tv Extra, “Happily Married” is set in the 1970s and revolves around two couples in crisis. After dropping their children off at camp in July 1974, their search for marital bliss leads them to take a series of drastic decisions and ultimately they become the most infamous quartet of criminals in Quebec history.

Salto, seen as France’s answer to Netflix, has been subject to lengthy delays while facing European and French regulatory scrutiny. It was scheduled to launch in the first quarter, and then in June, but the date has been pushed back because of the coronavirus lockdown.

Thomas Crosson, head of content at Salto, said: “This show represents exactly what Salto wants to embody – an offering with bold and original content which has a perfect mix of freedom of tone and dark humour.”

Cineflix Media’s Julien Leroux said: “The hugely positive response to the series at Berlin – and interest from buyers – was well deserved given the strength of the creative talent on and off screen, and we look forward to further international sales to come.”