All the latest news from the global content industry on Friday, 21 February

 

IZZY adds dramas, docs & reveals Kugel live show

Israeli global streamer IZZY has lined up a raft of new shows to launch in March, including three-part docuseries Fighters, which is produced by Baron Productions and chronicles the journey of Israeli soldiers wounded in the Israel-Hamas conflict.

The factual series has been co-produced by Keshet 12 and the Israel Entertainment Fund (IEF), a JNF-USA initiative that supports Israeli storytelling for global audiences. 

IZZY has also added The Echo of Your Voice, Aviram Katz, The Exchange Principal and Mama’s Angel to its slate, while unveiling a live preview of Shtisel prequel Kugel. The drama will be available on the streamer from Friday, 28 February but a live global virtual launch will also be available on 25 February at 5.30pm EST, allowing subscribers to watch the first episode of Kugel live.

 

Bayern Munich doc sets distribution

OneGate Media will distribute Bayern Munich documentary FC Hollywood globally. 

Co-produced by ZDF and btf, the five-episode series has reached six million views on ZDF Mediathek in Germany. It covers the Bundesliga football club from 1996-2001, which saw the club become one of the most successful in Europe but also suffer from internal team disagreements. 

FC Hollywood includes never-before-seen archive footage, as well as interviews with players such as Lothar Matthäus, Jürgen Klinsmann, Mehmet Scholl, Mario Basler, and Stefan Effenberg, and journalists including Reinhold Beckmann, Patrizia Riekel, and Marcel Reif. 

The series was supported by the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW and the FFA German Motion Picture Fund, and produced by Stepan Arapovic, Philipp Käßbohrer, and Matthias Murmann. It was directed by Nicolas Berse-Gilles, and written by Markus Brauckmann, Simone Schillinger, and Florian Nöthe. 

 

Bunim/Murray ups Jesse Daniels to SVP of development & current

Banijay Americas-owned Bunim/Murray Productions has promoted producer Jesse Daniels to senior vice president of development and current.

Daniels, who has been with Bunim/Murray since 2017, leads the company’s efforts into documentary development and production and has served as an executive producer on many of BMP’s recent series, including the upcoming Confessions of Octomom for Lifetime.

He also created, developed and executive produced Surviving R Kelly, Part 1, and also served as an executive producer on Surviving R Kelly, Part 2 and Part 3 for Lifetime.

Before joining Bunim/Murray, Daniels was director of development for Entertainment One’s unscripted television division. During that stint, he headed the development of Nicole and Jionni’s Shore Flip, On Tour With, and Growing Up Hip Hop, Atlanta. He also has held roles at Maverick TV, One Three Media, and Jenner Communications.  

 

Canada’s Go Button lines up more Animal Within

Canadian producer Go Button Media is in production on a second 6 x 60 minute season of The Animal Within.

The series represents the second greenlight from its latest 36-hour slate deal with partners distributor-producer Autentic, and Super Channel, Go Button’s longstanding Canadian broadcast partner.

In total, the collaboration is set to deliver six series, each of six hours’ duration, over the next three years. Secrets of Ancient Structures was confirmed as the first series when the slate deal was announced last autumn. 

The Animal Within, meanwhile, combines science and natural history with visuals to investigate the inner workings of some of the world’s most majestic beasts, examining the physiological features that allow them to adapt, endure, target, collaborate, defend and even move as if invisible. The first series was sold by Autentic to more than 20 territories, including National Geographic and NHK in Japan.