Deals round-up: Flame snags Attenborough rights; Will & Kate travel with Cineflix; ZDFE preps ‘Our Continents’ for the world

Life In Colour With David Attenborough

Flame to sell Attenborough’s Life In Colour globally

Australia’s Flame Distribution has taken global sales rights outside of the UK to three-part natural history docuseries Life in Colour With David Attenborough.

The show, from Humble Bee Films and SeaLight Pictures, uses ground-breaking technology to reveal how animals use colour, with Attenborough travelling to locations including the rainforests of Costa Rica and the snowy Scottish Highlands for the series.

The show is co-produced by Bristol-based Humble Bee Films and Sydney-based SeaLight Pictures for the BBC, Netflix, Nine Network and sibling Aussie streamer Stan.

Flame has previously worked independently  with Humble Bee and SeaLight, before introducing the two companies – which consequently led to the co-production alliance.

The Day Will And Kate Got Married

Will & Kate travel with Cineflix

TV4 in Sweden, YLE in Finland, TV2 in Denmark, NRK in Norway and BBC Poland have struck pre-sale deals with Cineflix Rights for its recently acquired ITV documentary marking the tenth wedding anniversary of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

The Day Will And Kate Got Married (1 x 60 minutes) is from UK-based Finestripe Productions and reveals the inside story of the star-studded wedding that captivated global viewers. It features exclusive interviews with family members and the creatives who made the event happen.

Further deals are currently in negotiation with Cineflix Rights, which has previously worked with Finestripe on documentaries such as Diana: The Day the World Cried, The Day We Walked on the Moon, Inside Dior, and The Day Kennedy Died.

ZDFE takes Our Continents to the world

Germany’s ZDF Enterprises (ZFDFE) has secured global distribution rights to six-part series Our Continents, from Story House Media Group.

The show, which was commissioned by ZDF and co-produced by Arta and ZDFE, takes viewers through the history of human civilisation on Earth and explores major milestones of each continent’s geology, climate, flora and fauna. It will begin filming middle of 2021 and deliver in early 2023.

Each episode will focus on one continent, beginning with the story from its birth and exploring subjects such as how the climatic pattern in the Andes is linked to the modern cuisine of the Americas or what the Australian surf lifestyle has to do with the early civilisation of the Pacific.

Decoys

Portfolio expands with Decoy

Canada’s Portfolio Entertainment has picked up global distribution rights to comedy series Decoys, the 6 x 15-minute mockumentary series produced for CBC Gem.

Decoys is produced by Counterfeit Pictures and “follows small-town folks with big hearts and oversized dreams” as they attempt to be crowned the victor in competitive wooden duck carving.

The series launched on CBC Gem in July and was created and written by David Pelech (Fighting with My Family, Hello Ladies).

Journalists launch Project Brazen

Journalists Tom Wright and Bradley Hope have launched a new company that will explore true stories from around the world via podcasts, books, documentaries, TV series and films.

Project Brazen will focus on tales of geopolitical intrigue and malfeasance that have been overlooked by mainstream media sources, and infuse them with a sense of adventure.

Wright and Hope were longtime collaborators at the Wall Street Journal, where they wrote stories on the 1Malaysia Development Bhd. (1MDB) scandal, a $6bn fraud which brought down a government and forced Goldman Sachs to pay the largest ever penalty under US bribery laws.

“Project Brazen’s stories transport audiences inside hidden worlds. Through our painstaking and challenging reporting process we peel back the cover on international crime, business and politics,” Wright and Hope said.

Nevision signs Jeff Murphy development deal

UK indie Nevision has entered signed an exclusive development agreement with screenwriter Jeff Murphy to develop high-end scripted projects for the international market.

Murphy will work with Nevision’s creative director of scripted, Neil Zeiger, on his own original ideas as well as helping to develop the company’s scripted TV and feature film slate.

Two initial projects have already been announced from the new partnership: supernatural police thriler series The Furies, co-created by Hidden showrunner Mark Andrew and family movie Moifaa.

Both projects are being developed in association with New Zealand-based production company Pukeko Pictures.

Also in development with Murphy is Saul (working title), a series following a reluctant mother and her estranged son on a journey of discovery that crosses Europe.

“Jeff is a talented, inventive and dynamic screenwriter whose taste and skills are both eclectic and far reaching,” said Zeiger. “The stories Jeff chooses to tell always go to the heart of the human condition. Consequently, they will appeal to a broad global audience. We are thrilled to have him on board to add to our slate and help move it forward.”

Mountain Rescue

Quintus adds factual titles

Quintus Studios has acquired a range of factual titles for its documentary channels Free Documentary, FD Real and ENDEVR.

From DCD Rights, Quintus took the Electric Sky-produced Sky High Scrapers (5 x 60-minutes) for its Free Documentary and FD Real channels.

Meanwhile, through a deal brokered with Beyond Rights, it has added Mountain Rescue (6 x 60-minutes) and Airshow (12 x 60-minutes) to FD Real. The series is produced by Candela, a co-production with Helion Pictures, Discovery Channel France and RMC Découverte France.

Quintus has also acquired 97% Owned (1 x 130-minutes) for its Free Documentary and ENDEVR channels from documentary and factual sales agency Sideways Film.