Round-up: Discovery+ Finland gets re-‘Connected’; CBeebies pre-buys new ‘Kiri And Lou’; Quintus bolsters factual offering

Connected

Discovery+ Finland gets re-‘Connected’

Discovery+ has commissioned a sixth season of Armoza Formats’ docu-reality show Connected for Finland.

Created by Koda Communications, the half-hour format gives cameras to four people who don’t know each other, which they use to film their lives. Through the cameras, five parallel stories unfold and gradually become connected.

A ninth season of the Israeli version of the format recently launched on HOT VOD, while the format has previously aired in 13 countries, including the US, India, the Netherlands and Norway.

Pete Paavolainen, MD at ITV Studios Finland, commented: “We are proud to continue with this unique format that had it’s first launch here already 10 years ago. It shows that appealing characters and real stories are still an unbeatable combination.”

Kiri And Lou

CBeebies pre-buys new ‘Kiri And Lou’

BBC-owned UK kids’ channel CBeebies has pre-bought the upcoming new season of children’s series Kiri And Lou, following a deal with distributor Cake.

A further 26 episodes of the series are in production and planned for delivery later this year, with the series produced by Fiona Copland for Stretchy.

Kiri And Lou follows the friendship between Kiri, a feisty little dinosaur and Lou, a gentle and thoughtful creature, as they explore the world of feelings through laughter, song and outdoor adventure.

“We are absolutely delighted BBC has come on board for the Kiri And Lou journey. These characters have a life of their own and an exciting vision for their future – we love that CBeebies shares that,” said Copland.

Big Cats Of The Serengeti

Quintus bolsters factual offering

Germany’s Quintus Studios has struck several factual content deals to strengthen its on-demand documentary offering on its channels FD Real, Free Documentary, Free Documentary History, Free Documentary Nature and ENDEVR.

Through a volume deal with All3Media International for Free Documentary History in the US, Canada, Australia and India, Quintus is adding titles such as Secrets Of The Royal Babies (1 x 60-minutes) and Rome: Empire Without Limit With Mary Beard and Engineering Giants (3 x 60-minutes) for Free Documentary.

Adding to the FD Real channel is Border Force (10 x 60-minutes) and Dangerous Flights (8 x 60-minutes) from distributor Cineflix Rights.

Meanwhile, through a deal brokered with German distributor Autentic Distribution, Quintus Studios has secured Hot Roads – The World’s Most Dangerous Roads (5 x 45-minutes) and several wildlife documentaries such as King Of The Mountains – Golden Eagle (1 x 52-minutes) and King Of The Seas – Sea Eagle (1 x 52- minutes) for Free Documentary Nature.

Quintus Studios has also acquired Big Cats Of The Serengeti (1 x 52-minutes) and Billion Dollar Base: Dismantling Camp Bastion (1 x 52-minutes) for its Free Documentary Nature and Free Documentary channels from Scorpion TV, while from French producer and distributor Prime Entertainment Group comes the crime investigative show Women On Death Row (1 x 52-minutes) and Oakland’s Juvenile Squad (1 x 52-minutes) for Free Documentary.