Netflix Orders Dutch Series Dirty Lines, About Adult Phone Lines Firm

August 2024 · 4 minute read

Netflix has ordered Dutch original series “Dirty Lines,” about the rise of erotic phone lines in the late 80s.

The screenplay, inspired by Fred Saueressig’s book “06-Cowboys,” is written by Pieter Bart Korthuis (“Fighter’s Heart,” “Penoza”) and produced by Amsterdam-based production company Fiction Valley.

The series tells the story of young businessman Frank Stigter. After several unsuccessful attempts to start his own business, Frank sees his chance when the national telephone company PTT introduces premium-rate numbers. With the help of his brother and sister and some dubious investors, he starts the first telecom sex company in Europe. What starts as a clumsy improvized experiment in their parents’ garage, rapidly develops into a multi-million dollar industry.

A statement from Netflix explains the background: “Set at the end of the Cold War, the series inspires a young generation to shake off the doomsday thinking of the ‘80s and focus on how to celebrate life to its fullest. Amsterdam becomes the center of that cultural revolution with a radical new form of music, House, and a new love-drug, XTC.”

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“The erotic phone lines offer the opportunity to experience anonymous sex in a new way, changing the morality of its consumers, but also the people creating it. Both of them looking for new ways to express their hidden erotic fantasies.”

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Tesha Crawford, director international originals, Northern Europe, described the series as being about “young entrepreneurs seizing a once in a lifetime opportunity.” Crawford added: “‘Dirty Lines’ is a raw portrayal of the liberal Amsterdam of the late 80s [that] combines elements of Amsterdam we have seen before but is told from an angle
that is new to many.” She said the production company would seek to “create a unique feeling of that era.”

Fiction Valley specializes in drama, including crime series “Mocro Maffia,” family features “Taiki” and “Jackie & Oopjen,” nail-biting suspense, like “Suspects” and “Mother Dear,” and feel-good drama, such as “Finders Keepers” and “The A-Word,” as well as Christmas series, such as “Christmas with De Kuijpers” and “Christmas with Koosje.”

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