MIPTV News: Prime sells Hollywood show to BSkyB

David Freydt with Bernardo Bertolucci

UK satcaster BSkyB has picked up a series about iconic film directors from Prime Entertainment Group. The show will be part of Prime’s MIPTV slate and the Paris-based distributor has concluded the deal in the run-up to the market.

The UK pay TV operator has acquired 78x26mins Hollywood’s Best Film Directors. Its deal covers all Sky channels but the show is expected to bow on Sky Arts.

The series profiles Tinseltown’s most well-known directors including Ridley Scott, Ron Howard and George Lucas. The latest season features episodes on Bernardo Bertolucci and Rob Marshall among others.

Prime has already shopped the series to Sky in Italy and Sky in New Zealand (Sky in the UK and Italy are sister companies and count News Corp. as a major shareholder, unlike Sky New Zealand, which is not backed by the media giant).

David Freydt, Prime’s MD: “We are glad that our show is now in UK and on Sky. We have already deal in place with Sky New Zealand and Sky Italy, it’s very encouraging for us to see how successful our programmes are on these leading movie networks and we hope to add more Sky channels.”

Prime will be shopping the show in Cannes as part of its MIPTV slate.