Factual

Sphere Abacus has secured a raft of international sales for its premium history programming portfolio, with multiple broadcasters and platforms acquiring titles across Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas. The distributor is attending Sunny Side of the Doc with Global Content Director Will Stapley and Sales Director Laura Masson, where it is continuing to expand its factual catalogue and seek new partnerships.

Leading the latest deals is 1776: American Independence, the six-part drama documentary produced by Dash Pictures for National Geographic. The series has been acquired by Viasat World, Now TV Hong Kong, BBC Select Americas, Foxtel Group Australia and VRT, covering territories including Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, North America, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Another Dash Pictures production for National Geographic, Gladiators: Warriors Of The Ancient World, has been sold to Foxtel Group Australia, Czech Television, ZDF Germany and JCG Korea.

Woodcut Media’s Queens That Changed The World continues its international rollout, with seasons one and two travelling to more than 100 territories. New buyers include SBS Australia, BBC Select Americas, Viasat World, NRK Norway, SVT Sweden, DR Denmark, Sky Germany, RAI Italy, ARTE, TVP Poland, Foxtel Group Australia and several additional broadcasters across Europe, Asia and Oceania. Meanwhile, Mint Pictures’ feature documentary The Hunt for the Last Nazis has been acquired by AMC Global Media for Central Europe and RTL Netherlands.

Pernel Media’s four-part documentary The Maya: War of the Five Kingdoms has been picked up by Viasat World, Foxtel Group and Luk Internacional for Movistar Plus+ in Spain and Portugal. In addition, BBC Select Americas has acquired FirstLook TV’s Great British Castle Rescue, a three-part series produced for Sky History.

“History programming has always intrigued and fascinated viewers around the world. We’re seeing a big shift in the number of platforms and broadcasters that are looking at new ways for high-end historical storytelling to cater for their audiences’ continued appetites – from learning new details about well-known struggles and history’s huge characters to discovering largely unknown events from ancient times,” said Hana Palmer, Executive Director Global Distribution & Partnerships at Sphere Abacus.
Will Stapley added: “We are looking for more ancient and contemporary history ideas from producers and are hoping to have some promising discussions around this type of programming, amongst other genres, while at Sunny Side of the Doc.”