ZDFE, Nutopia join up for Europe’s Story of Us

German rights distributor ZDF Enterprises and Jane Root’s prodco Nutopia are working on a European version of docu-drama format The Story of Us.

Europe – The Story of Us is currently in development at format creator Nutopia, with ZDF’s commercial arm ZDFE taking international distribution rights.

ZDFE and Nutopia said they are open to further international coproduction partners.

The event TV format tells the history of countries – and in this case an entire continent – through dramatic reenactments, CGI and interviews with experts.

Former BBC Two controller Root, Nutopia’s founder and CEO, said: “It is incredibly exciting to be working with ZDF Enterprises and telling the story of not just a single country, but a whole continent; a place that changed the whole world.”

“We are thrilled to be working with Nutopia on this ground-breaking new series, which will certainly be another milestone in our sales catalogue,” said Ralf Rückauer, head of ZDFE.factual at ZDFE.

The Story of Us format first went out on History in the US as a 12-part miniseries in 2010 (pictured). History also ran Mankind – The Story of All of Us in numerous territories and an Australian remake is currently in the works at Seven Network, with Essential Media & Entertainment attached to produce.