Factual round-up: Quintus expands originals; Peacock seeks ‘Baby Gabriel’ doc; White Spark sets ‘Milky Way’ debut

Illegal Gold: The New Cocaine

Quintus expands originals

Berlin-based factual content distributor and channel owner, Quintus Studios, has greenlit two new original factual co-productions.

The new projects to be greenlit include Illegal Gold: The New Cocaine, a 6 x 60-minute series produced by Mazdoc, exploring how illegal gold extraction threatens to destroy one of the world’s most biodiverse areas

The series features exclusive access to operations of the Military Brigade Against Illegal Mining of the Colombian national army – the only unit in the continent fully dedicated to fighting this activity and protecting the region.

The second titles is Red Zones, a 6 x 60-minute docuseries from Frederick Gillingham, which explores the lives of ordinary people living in the world’s most precarious places. As the world enters a dangerous new cold war with new battle lines being drawn between rival superpowers and old ones intensifying, this series will reveal what it’s really like to live, work, grow-up, love and survive in the world’s most hotly contested ‘red zones’.

Executive producer on both series is Adam Jacobs, creative director at Quintus Studios.

Peacock seeks ‘Baby Gabriel’ doc

US streaming service Peacock has picked up true crime docuseries Where is Baby Gabriel? in a pre-sale deal with distributor Espresso Media International.

Exclusive to Peacock in the US, the three-part series from Revolutionary Leader Productions explores the case of a missing baby whose mother claimed she killed her baby, only to later retract her confession and say that she gave the child away.

Briege Whitehead

White Spark sets ‘Milky Way’ debut

White Spark Pictures, the Australian production company established by Briege Whitehead, is launching its latest VR film, Beyond the Milky Way, at the Royal Institution in London for its UK and European premiere this summer.

Narrated by Professor Brian Cox, the experience launches to the public on 24 July and will run until 19 August, telling the story of one of the greatest-ever scientific endeavours in human history – the SKA Observatory, a global effort to build two of the world’s largest radio telescopes.

“We are thrilled that Beyond the Milky Way’s first major international run is taking place at such a prestigious and well-loved venue as the Royal Institution. If our experience in Australia is anything to go by, it will prove an excellent draw for people looking for a unique experience and will be a big hit with young and old alike who will get the opportunity to visit both the stunning remote outback and outer space without leaving London,” said Whitehead.