Factual

Blue Ant International announced, leading into NATPE, that it has secured several sales of more than 300 hours, to platforms in the United States, the Carribean Basin and Canada, across the distributor’s Factual, Specialist Factual, High-Impact Documentaries and Kids & Family categories. In Canada, sales include various English- and French-language linear and streaming platforms.

“We’ve had incredible interest from both our current customers and emerging streaming services in the United States and Canada,” says Solange Attwood, EVP, Blue Ant International. “The broad audiences that our platform partners offer speaks to the universal appeal of Blue Ant International’s catalogue, which has a diverse array of genres and includes programming narrated by the iconic voices of some of Hollywood’s top talent.”

These sales follow two recently announced deals including the sale of natural history series, A Wild Year on Earth (6 x 60; Northern Pictures), narrated by Laura Carmichael (Downton Abbey), to BBC AMERICA and the sale of two kids and family series to HBO Max, including Detention Adventure Seasons 1 and 2 (20 x 11’; LoCo Motion Pictures & Broken Compass Films) and Make it Big, Make it Small (7 x 30’; Blue Ant Studios). Both of these previously released sales reach English- and Spanish-speaking audiences across the U.S. and its territories.

AMC Networks’ streaming service Sundance Now, has picked up Fight for Justice: David and Me (1 x 90’; Markham Street Films), which chronicles the efforts of filmmaker Ray Klonsky, in his 10-year struggle to get a prison sentence overturned for David McCallum, who was just a 16-year-old kid from Brooklyn when he went to prison for a crime he didn’t commit.

Modern media company, Tastemade, has picked up David Rocco’s Dolce Napoli (13 x 30’; Rockhead Entertainment), which will be available on the lifestyle streaming network in the U.S., UK, and Canada. The series follows celebrity chef David Rocco to Naples, where he uncovers hidden gems in the city and explores the surrounding scenic islands of Capri, Ischia, Procida and the beautiful Sorrento peninsula.

Across the U.S. and Canada, Quintus Media has licensed a multitude of factual and high-impact documentary titles for its AVOD platform Free Documentary that includes more than 180 hours of content.

BYUtv will broadcast Paul Brandt’s Build It Forward (7 x 60′; Corkscrew Media). Hosted by country music star Paul Brandt, the series follows the goodwill and grace of volunteers who create a new home for a family in need, who, in turn, help build a new home for another family, this time in a developing country.

In Canada, Seasons 3 through 6 of Hope for Wildlife (52 x 60’; Arcadia Entertainment), which follows wildlife advocate Hope Swinimer and her team who rescue thousands of sick, injured and lost animals and return them to their natural habitats, will air on Corus Entertainment’s specialty channel Nat Geo WILD, while TVO has picked up the second season of Hope For Wildlife. Additionally, TVO has picked up ER Vets (30 x 30’; Rhino Content), which is narrated by renowned singer/songwriter Jann Arden, and follows the stressful situations faced by veterinary professionals as they deal with emotional pet owners, and Seasons 2 and 3 of Great Blue Wild (12 x 60’; Blue Ant Studios), in which the wildest adventures of the world’s greatest dive shops are revealed in their own underwater video footage, featuring encounters with massive humpbacks, manta rays and sharks.

French Canadian network, Quebecor Content has licensed Life Below Zero: Canada (8 x 60’; Saloon Media, a Blue Ant Studios company), a documentary series about a diverse group of people who live off the grid and content with long, dark, frozen winters in remote regions of northern Canada, based on BBC’s successful format.

The CBC/Radio-Canada has picked up French Canadian rights for the first season of Detention Adventure (20 x 11’; LoCo Motion Pictures & Broken Compass Pictures) for its Ici.Tou.tv streaming service. SRC has also licensed several natural history titles including: Hope for Wildlife Season 9 (10 x 60’; Arcadia Entertainment); Animals at Play (2 x 60’; Offspring Films), a look at the significance of play in young animals, which uncovers why play is so much more than just having a good time; Malawi Wildlife Rescue (6 x 60′; Icon Films); a look inside a unique wildlife rescue centre that cares for injured and abandoned animals until they are ready to be released back into the wild; Epic Yellowstone (2 x 90’; Grizzly Creek Films); Life on the Reef (3 x 60’; Northern Pictures); and Epic Warrior Women: Vikings (1 x 60’; Urban Canyons Ltd.).