Monday round-up: Latest news, deals & hires

WBD buys Pelicot Rape Case doc

Warner Bros Discovery has struck a deal with Orange Smarty for ITN Productions’ fast-turnaround documentary, The Pelicot Rape Case: A Town on Trial.

The 1 x 90-minute show, commissioned by 5 UK, examines last year’s mass rape trial in France and has been picked up by WBD in 90 countries across Europe and Africa. WBD has network and streaming rights. 

Orange Smarty has also struck sales for South Shore Productions’ two-part documentary Eat Smart: Secrets of the Glucose Goddess, which has been picked up by SBS Australia, RTL Netherlands, TV2 Denmark and TV2 Norway. The 2 x 60 minute show for Channel 4 follows Jessie Inchauspé as she tries to help people control their blood sugar levels.

Other deals struck in the wake of London TV Screenings last month include Canada’s Corus Entertainment buying Freeform Productions’ evergreen property-search series A Place in the Sun and Corus Entertainment acquiring 120 hours of the Channel 4 stalwart for its Home Network. 

Australia’s Muster Dogs head to UK

UK producer Ricochet has picked up rights to Australian reality series Muster Dogs, Broadcast can reveal. 

Based on an original concept by producer Michael Boughen (Interceptor) for Ambience Entertainment, the surprise hit was developed in partnership with public broadcaster the ABC and has run for three series with a fourth in production. Read more

Italy welcomes Nippon’s Man or Mannequin?

Man or Mannequin?, the competitive gameshow format produced by Japan’s Nippon TV, has been optioned for adaption in Italy by Casta Diva.

The format, which launched globally at Mipcom 2024, is a team-based gameshow where celebrity contestants race against time to find mannequins cleverly hidden throughout a city while attempting to avoid humans pretending to be mannequins.

Sayako Aoki, head of international sales at Nippon TV, said the format “can provide viewers with a little break from their busy everyday life”, while Massimo Righini, chief operating officer at Casta Diva Pictures, added that the format’s unique nature stood out.

”We immediately understood that Man or Mannequin? has a very high entertainment potential that comes from a simple but brilliant idea that only the Nippon TV team could create. We can’t wait to propose it to an Italian broadcaster. We are sure that an idea like this has never been proposed.”

Warp to remake 1984 film Threads

Adolescence producer Warp Films has picked up the rights to develop seminal 1984 TV film Threads into a series.

Threads aired on the BBC and was acclaimed for its groundbreaking portrayal of a fictional nuclear apocalypse. It followed two Sheffield-based families as they endure unimaginable hardship following a nuclear strike, and offered viewers a chilling depiction of the potential medical, economic, social and environmental consequences of a nuclear war in Britain.

Sheffield-based Warp’s adaptation will examine prescient issues through character-driven storytelling and will highlight the working class experience, while finding new layers of meaning and elements of hope. Read more

Prime Video takes Yes Studio’s #NOVA

Israel’s Yes Studios’ documentary #NOVA, which captures the Hamas terrorist attacks at the Nova Festival in southern Israel on 7 October 2023, is now available on Amazon’s Prime Video globally. 

The 1 x 52 minute doc uses self-shot and mostly exclusive footage from festival attendees to chronicle, minute-by-minute, the tragic events when Hamas terrorists executed more than 350 partygoers and kidnapped a further 44, 14 of whom returned alive, while 17 were murdered.

The film portrays real-time reactions and emotions to the unfolding horror, transporting viewers and allowing them to decide the truth of what happened on that fateful day. It was produced by Kastina Communications for Yes Docu, with Dan Pe’er directing. Yes Studios is the documentary’s international distributor. 

RTÉ, Banijay Right link on Sacred Vows

Irish public broadcaster RTÉ, in association with Banijay Rights and Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland, has unveiled comedy drama, These Sacred Vows.

The series is written and directed by Irish screenwriter John Butler and is about an Irish wedding in Spain, a week of day-drinking and chaotic nights where secret fears, jealousy and desire bubble to the surface.

The cast includes Tom Vaughan-Lawlor (Love/Hate), Justine Mitchell (Derry Girls), Jason O’Mara (Agents of SHIELD) and India Mullen (Normal People), with shooting starting today in Tenerife. 

Banijay Rights handles distribution, with Rob Walpole and Rebecca O’Flanagan directing for Treasure Entertainment. The show was commissioned by David Crean, acting head of drama, RTÉ. It is set to debut 2026.