A young woman watches First World War biplanes crossing a dramatic sky.

FEATURED PROJECT

WHERE THE
HEART BREAKS

Premium Historical Drama Series

THE SERIES

Where the Heart Breaks is a premium historical drama set in 1916, at a moment when Europe is being transformed by war.

At its heart is Marthe Hartmann, a young Franco-American woman who refuses to remain a spectator. Determined to find her brother, a French pilot held prisoner in Germany, she crosses borders, social conventions and the invisible lines drawn by war.

8 × 52' · Historical Drama / Adventure · Europe, 1916

THE WORLD OF THE SERIES

Marthe Hartmann aboard an Atlantic liner approaching New York in 1916.
French military aircraft and airmen at a First World War airfield.
Marthe Hartmann at the Brandenburg Gate in wartime Berlin, 1916.

THE STORY

1916. Europe is at war.

When Marthe Hartmann learns that her brother, a French pilot held prisoner in Germany, may face execution after the Germans discover his involvement in an espionage mission, she decides to find him before it is too late. Leaving America behind, she crosses the Atlantic and enters a continent transformed by war — from London and Paris to occupied Belgium, and Berlin — determined to reach him.

But the deeper she goes, the more the journey becomes about something larger than rescue: the choices people make when borders close, loyalties fracture, and remaining a spectator is no longer possible.

A woman writing at her desk overlooking wartime London.

THE LONG ARC

A woman with her notebook overlooking a lake and snow-covered mountains.

Where the Heart Breaks begins in 1916, but Marthe Hartmann’s story does not end with the war.

Across the decades that follow, her journey opens onto a changing world — from the fragile peace of the interwar years to the forces that will lead Europe into another conflict.

What begins as one woman’s determination to save her brother grows into a multi-generational historical saga, following the personal consequences of the choices made in times of upheaval.

DEVELOPMENT

Where the Heart Breaks is being developed as an international premium historical drama series.

The project is based on the published French novel Ce que la guerre fait aux cœurs, with the underlying audiovisual rights held by Montagu Productions.

Development materials available:

  • Season One Bible

  • Pilot Screenplay

  • Visual Deck

  • Character & Historical Background Materials

  • English-language edition of the original novel

    Created by Éric Georget