BossaNova Media, the content creation, funding and distribution company, has announced a string of sales for two new series from Los Angeles-based Stampede, the production company behind the long-running “Borderforce USA” franchise. The deals were brokered by Bossanova Media’s Head of Sales, Tatiana Grinkevich.
Stampede’s “Seized at Sea” (12 x 60 mins) and “Airport Security: USA” (12 x 60 mins) have been acquired by Warner Bros. Discovery for its streaming platforms and linear networks across Iberia, Italy, Poland, Turkey, the Benelux and the Nordic territories and CBS Reality (the Middle East, Africa and Romania).
In addition, both “Seized at Sea” and “Airport Security: USA” have been picked up by Hearst Networks EMEA (formerly A+E Networks EMEA) for the UK. In a third deal, “Airport Security,” which is due to be delivered in Q3 of 2024, has been licensed by WELT for Germany and German-speaking Europe.
“Seized at Sea” follows the successful template established by Stampede’s “Borderforce USA” (aka “Contraband: Seized at the Border”), which rolled out in May 2023 on Discovery Channel. The new 12-part series again centres on the work of the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) as it battles to stop smugglers and traffickers from breaching U.S. borders. At the heart of the narrative are three two-person CBP crews based in Puerto Rico, New Orleans and Houston, who between them cover some 1,600 miles of coastline — a coastline, moreover, that is a notorious corridor for both drug and human traffickers. “Seized at Sea” not only transports viewers into a world of high-octane drug busts, ship seizures and undercover operations, but it also tells the very human stories of the men and women who risk their lives working for one of the largest law-enforcement agencies on the planet.
“Airport Security: USA” also focuses on the work of border-security agents, but this time on land rather than at sea. Every day in the U.S., some two million people travel by plane — and every one of them is screened and their baggage checked by one of the 40,000 officers who work on America’s front line. Stampede’s new 12-part series documents the post-pandemic challenges faced by the security teams at four very different U.S. airports: Los Angeles’ LAX, infamous for its “entitled, bratty and rude” travelers; Las Vegas’ Harry Reid, populated by an eclectic mix of gamblers, strippers, cocktail waitresses and convention-goers; Austin’s Bergstrom, the fastest growing airport in the U.S.; and NYC’s John F Kennedy which, processing 200,000 passengers a day flying to and from 75 countries, is North America’s gateway to the world.
Tatiana Grinkevich said: “If ever there was a safe bet in terms of pleasing audiences of all cultures, creeds and demographics, it’s these latest offerings from Stampede. In subject matter, pace and structure, both ‘Seized at Sea’ and ‘Airport Security: USA’ are based on the fail-safe formulas pioneered by ‘Borderforce USA,’ whose episodes weave together multiple stories, some heartbreaking, some horrifying but all compelling. I predict that many more broadcasters and platforms will follow Discovery, CBS Reality and WELT’s lead and buy into these sure-fire hits from a production company at the top of its game.”