Unscripted round-up: Nat Geo, SVT among TVF deals; Big Brother sets 65th remake; Talpa first for ‘Big Balance’

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Nat Geo, SVT among TVF deals

Nat Geo and SVT are among a slew of broadcasters to have picke dup shows from distributor TVF International, as the World Congress of Science and Factual Producers gets underway.

Carbon: The Unauthorised Biography, originally commissioned by ABC, CBC and ZDF/Arte, has sold to more than 15 territories worldwide, including to pan-regional broadcaster National Geographic in Latin America, SVT in Sweden, Al Jazeera in the Middle East, Canal Plus in Poland and Radio Canada.

The documentary, narrated by Sarah Snook and featuring Neil deGrasse Tyson, is from Genepool Productions and Handful of Films.

Elsewhere, Frontier Sumatra from Beach House Productions, has sold to Arte, Discovery Networks Asia and EarthX TV, while Rain: The Untold Story – produced by Cwmni Da for the BBC, TG4 and LIC – has been picked up by National Geographic Eastern Europe, Movistar Plus+ in Spain, Česka Televize in Czech Republic as well as Al Jazeera across the Middle East.

Big Brother sets 65th remake

Klan Kosova is preparing to lauch a local version of Big Brother, marking the 65th country for the Banijay Rights format.

The Kosovan version will be co-produced by Klan Kosova and Artmotion, debuting 5 December. Big Brother recently returned to Telefe in Argentina after five years and a UK reboot is also in the works with ITV2 and ITVX. A total of 32 productions will air across 25 markets this year, up from 2021.

Talpa first for Big Balance

Lithuanian commercial broadcaster LNK has picked up remake rights to The Big Balance, from John de Mol’s Talpa.

The three-episode TV event follows how six celebrities will conquer their fears by learning to walk and balance over a meters-long, few centimeter-wide highline that’s stretched above the most spectacular locations.

The Big Balance will be produced by Elitaz Group, Talpa’s partner in the region, and will launch on LNK in 2023. The format was created by Talpa Concepts and Spektr, produced by Talpa Entertainment Productions and distributed by Talpa Distribution.