"Cursed Histories"
The international distribution arm of factual content specialist Off The Fence (OTF) closed a string of deals with broadcasters in Spain and Portugal, alongside volume deals with two of the largest Spanish-language channels in the US.
Warner Bros. Discovery in Spain has picked up two Big Media series: "Hitler's Secret Missions" (6x60 mins), which investigates six audacious operations personally commissioned by the German dictator as he sought to conquer Europe; and series one of "Truthseekers" (12x60 mins), co-produced with RMC Story, which uncovers the facts behind the myths and legends that have grown up around certain civilisations, events and phenomena, including the Great Pyramid of Giza, The Holy Grail and The Bermuda Triangle.
In addition, Warner Bros. Discovery has acquired the first season of "Cursed Histories" (6x60 mins), which is the first project to be launched internationally from OTF’s six-series factual partnership, announced last year, with Canada’s Super Channel and Go Button Media to be broadcast on Spanish FTA channel DMAX. The series explores puzzling and unnerving locations, icons and events, from the tomb of Tutankhamun through the Hope Diamond, that are believed to have triggered death, disaster and destruction.
The first series of "Cursed Histories" has also been acquired by AMC Networks International Southern Europe for Spain and Portugal, along with two seasons of "Truthseekers". Also headed for AMC’s Iberian channels is "How to Lose a War" (5x60 mins), produced by Wildbear Entertainment and Cut2Clock. The series opens in 1941, when the Axis powers of Germany, Italy and Japan look set to conquer the world. So how, within two years, did Hitler and his allies go from victorious to vanquished?
Meanwhile, a second Wildbear/Cut2Clock title — "Wild Battleground" (4x60 mins) — has been sold to Spanish public broadcaster RTVE. The four-part documentary takes viewers into a war zone of a different sort: the animal kingdom, where battles break out over rivers, reefs and watering holes, as predators strive to dominate vital resources.
Over in Portugal, public broadcaster RTP has acquired multi-award-winning travel and adventure documentary "Exposure" (1x90 mins). In the Powderkeg Studios/Blumhouse production, a Muslim chaplain, a French biologist, a Qatari princess and eight other women from the Arab World attempt to ski across the fast-disappearing Arctic sea ice to become the last-ever team to reach climate-change ground zero: the North Pole.
Lastly, OTF has closed volume deals with HITN in the US; and 2042 Media. HITN has picked up 65 hours of documentary content, including both seasons of "Meteorica Cine’s The Great Way" (4x60 mins), which follows backpackers Alba and Raul along some of the world’s most spectacular hiking routes; and Pernel Media’s "Butterflies: Superheroes of Nature" (3x60 mins or 1x60 mins), which explores the ephemeral insects’ astonishing and largely unknown super-powers.
A second US volume deal sees some 195 hours of premium documentary head to 2042 Media’s doc-dedicated Family Central Explorer TV channel. Package highlights include WildEarth TV/otf studios’ "A Game of Leopard Thrones" (3x60 mins), filmed over 10 years in South Africa’s Djuma Private Game Reserve; China Review Studio/Colorful Nature Films’ "March of the Elephants" (1x60 mins), which chronicles the epic, 1,300-mile migration of a herd of elephants across China; and series three of NHNZ Worldwide’s "Our Big Blue Backyard" (6x60 mins), which invites viewers into the stunning underwater world off the coast of New Zealand.
Stefanie Fischer, OTF’s managing director of sales, said: “Documentary has traditionally been a difficult sell into the Latin speaking markets, with their love of sport, celebrity and reality. But these sales indicate that today’s documentaries can rival any genre in terms of pace, narrative and drama. All these documentaries, whether focusing on Hitler’s failed plans for European domination or the butterfly’s conquest of the world, share a common quality: they are great stories told brilliantly by filmmakers at the top of their game.”