Passion Pictures and Kailash Films are behind Helmand: Tour of Duty
BBC orders Afghanistan feature doc
The BBC has commissioned Passion Pictures and Kailash Films to co-produce a feature doc marking 10 years since the withdrawal of British combat troops from Afghanistan. The 1 x 80-minute Helmand: Tour of Duty will air on BBC2 and BBC2 Wales on Wednesday 30 October. It will tell the intimate story of ten Welsh Guards deployed to the frontline of the war in Helmand Province in 2009, a period which became known as the British Army’s bloodiest summer in more than half a century. The film was co-commissioned by BBC Factual and BBC Cymru Wales by head of docs Clare Sillery and head of BBC Wales content Nick Andrews and commissioning editors Tom Pullen and Julian Carey. It is directed by Hannah Lowes, edited by Tom Dixon Spain and exec produced by Hamish Fergusson and Gwenllian Hughes.
StudioCanal ties with doc indie River Road
European production and distribution company StudioCanal has signed a multi-territory distribution deal with US film and documentary indie River Road Entertainment. The deal will see StudioCanal distribute 11 River Road productions, including two docs and nine feature films. The two documentaries are Robert Kenner’s revolutionary Academy Award-nominated 2008 doc Food, Inc and Brett Morgen’s 2007 doc Chicago 10. The films include Steve McOueen’s 12 Years a Slave and Sean Penn’s Into the Wild. River Road Entertainment was founded in 1987 by writer, director, and producer Bill Pohlad.
BBCS lands back catalogue sales
BBC Studios has landed several deals for its scripted and factual back catalogues across Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa. Warner Bros. Discovery has acquired a package for its streamer Max, which launched in the France earlier this year. The package includes Sherlock and Luther, Misfits, The North Water and comedy Extras (series one and two). Arte.tv has banked FVoD rights for literary adaptations in French and German-speaking territories including War & Peace, Les Misérables, Little Dorrit, Great Expectations, and Oliver Twist, as well as dramas Top of the Lake and In My Skin. M6+ has acquired costume dramas including Pride and Prejudice, Great Expectations and Sense and Sensibility for French viewers. Sky Italia has acquired crime titles including Sister Boniface (series one to three), Death in Paradise and Luther. Network 4 has also acquired Death in Paradise and Beyond Paradise, The Chelsea Detective and Silent Witness (series 16-17). Mediawan has acquired Doctor Who (series eight to 13) for cable channel AB1.
Unscripted packages have been secured with AMCNI CNE (Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Romania and Slovakia) and SABC (South Africa) including The Great South African Bake Off (series 4), Nigella’s Amsterdam Christmas, Earth and Universe. South Africa’s SABC has bought natural history series Spy in the Ocean, Serengeti II & III, Frozen Planet II and Wild Scandinavia.
Channel 4.0 launches first big money game show
Channel 4.0 has ordered its first game show with a cash prize. Presented by Harry Pinero, five-part series £20K Play sees five friends split up to win up to £20,000 for their team, but in order to do so they mush secretly answer eight brutal questions about their friends, including ‘Who is the most two-faced?’ and ‘Who is the biggest disappointment to their parents?’. Players can only rely on their intuition to choose their responses and incorrect answers cost the group prize money. One final twist sees the group decide how much of the pot they each want to split but if their total is more than the actual prize fund, they go home with nothing. £20K Play comes from Wall of Entertainment and was commissioned for C4.0 by digital commissioning exec Kaio Grizzelle, with Tafara Makopa exec producing and Chris Goodson directing. Craig Capeone serves as head of productions and Yovan Chamroo is assistant producer. The series launches later today on C4.0’s YouTube page.
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