Unscripted round-up: Mediapro Studio hires Zeppelin’s Castellano; Abacus takes Uplands TV medical doc

Amparo Castellano

Zeppelin’s Castellano lands at The MediaPro Studio

Spanish prodco The Mediapro studio has appointed former Zeppelin exec Amparo Castellano to head up non-fiction development and production.

Castellano takes up the newly-created role following her exit from Banijay Iberia-owned Zeppelin last month, having joined the company as general director at the start of 2021.

During her tenure, she oversaw productions including LOL: If You Laugh You Lose for Amazon Prime Video and Secret Story for Telecinco.

Laura Fernández Espeso, CEO of The Mediapro Studio, commented: “Amparo Castellano is a reference in the television industry and her incorporation to The Mediapro Studio responds to our commitment to have the best professionals in each area in the team.

“Her great professional experience and her creative leadership will be key to promoting new non-fiction productions worldwide, in an increasingly competitive and exciting international market.”

Race And Medical Experiments: What’s The Truth

Abacus takes rights to Uplands TV medical doc

UK-based Abacus Media Rights has acquired global distribution rights (excluding the UK) to the 1 x 60-minute feature documentary Race And Medical Experiments: What’s The Truth.

Produced by Uplands TV for UK broadcaster Channel 4, the documentary follows television presenter and investigative journalist, Seyi Rhodes, who sets out to discover the links between vaccine hesitancy in ethnic minorities and a toxic history of racially charged experiments that contributed to a mistrust of medical science.

Edmund Moriarty directs the documentarty, which is executive produced by David Olusoga and Mike Smith.

Jonathan Ford, MD Abacus, said: “This is an extremely topical and eye-opening documentary.  We are pleased to have this timely film to offer to our international clients.”