MIPCOM: ‘Beforeigners’ Producer Rubicon Enters the Spy Game with ‘E14’

Rubicon TV, the Norwegian production house behind such cross-over drama successes as Lilyhammer, and Beforeigners, is getting into the spy business with its new series E14 Unit for Special Intel.

The show, which Rubicon is presenting to potential co-production partners at the international TV market MIPCOM in Cannes this week, looks at the untold story of how Norwegian officers from the country’s elite E14 unit  played a key role as NATO’s frontline spies for NATO in the 1990 Yugoslav War. When the country’s brutal civil war erupted, a small group of E14 spies were sent to the Balkans to collect intelligence as part of the NATO intervention. The often ruthless and morally-questionable mission stood in start contrast to Norway’s public-facing image as a peace-loving nation.

Sebastian Torngren Wartin and Erik Ivar Sæther will co-write the series, which Gudny Hummelvoll (Occupied, Headhunters) will produce.

E14 will be the first project from Rubicon under its new CEO, Ivar Køhn, who joined the company in January from Norwegian public broadcaster NRK, where he was head of drama and oversaw such productions as State of Happiness, 22 July and the International Emmy winner Atlantic Crossing.

“As my first project at the helm of Rubicon TV, I am proud to be part of the team that will lift the lid on the secret operations of Norway’s first military NATO involvement,” said Køhn. “We are open to co-producing this gripping spy thriller which will expose the horror and courage apparent in war with powerful narratives and strong characters, and how, in the end, working for intelligence services means accepting the only morals are the ones that benefit your country’s mission.”