Keshet’s unscripted commissioning initiative titles score sales

Hearst Networks EMEA and Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) are among the buyers to have picked up the debut docuseries commissioned through Keshet International’s (KI) Greenlight: Factual & Formats initiative.

Perpetual Entertainment’s six-part docuseries Hitler’s Treasure Hunters is to be broadcast in more than 60 territories through deals with Hearst and WBD while Woodcut Media’s 10-part true crime docuseries Catch Me If You Can will head to TVNZ in New Zealand.

KI has secured three licensing deals for Hitler’s Treasure Hunters with Hearst Networks EMEA sealing a pan-regional acquisition for Belgium, Bulgaria, Hungary, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden, and sub-Saharan Africa.

WBD in Spain and Andorra has also taken the series, while Polsat has acquired it for a free-TV second window in Poland.

Both titles were ordered in 2023 through KI’s factual and formats commissioning initiative, aiming to commission up to three English-language projects a year which are either fully funded by the producer-distributor or in partnership with at least one broadcast or streaming partner.

In its most recent round, Anke Stoll told Broadcast the initiative had seen 130 submissions, with 18 indies pitching in December.

Hitler’s Treasure Hunters tells the stories of the treasures and relics sought out by the Nazi SS, including the Holy Grail and Thor’s hammer, while Catch Me If You Can investigates murderers who taunt their victims’ families and law enforcers until they are brought to justice.

Bumper Kiwi package

The TVNZ deal for Catch Me If You Can also includes Double Act’s recently acquired SAS: Catching the Criminals, the first five series of Crackit Productions’ Trucking Hell and all three series of Hello Halo Productions’ River Hunters.

KI managing director of distribution Kelly Wright said: “Our Greenlight: Factual & Formats commissioning initiative is a collaborative response to the market needs. For us, it’s a different way of getting fresh, new content on TV screens around the world, while also supporting TV producers during a difficult time.

“It is so rewarding to see ideas that started off as just a pitch to us and a roomful of buyers are now fully produced TV series that we are selling well on the open market.”

KI recently signed four shopping agreements for shows pitched during its Greenlight: Factual & Format Producer Pitch events - two with Woodcut Media for true crime docuseries Hotel Horrors and Captive Calls, a second with Flicker Productions for Million Dollar Alien Hunters, a third with Hello Mary for Subterranean Secrets and a fourth with Yeti Television for its Hugh Bonneville-fronted docuseries Secret Royal Homes.