"Michael Palin Into Iraq"
Orange Smarty has announced a brace of sales to broadcasters throughout Europe, Australia and Asia for its landmark travel series "Michael Palin Into Iraq" (3x 52 mins). NRK Norway, YLE Finland, Virgin Media Television Ireland, VRT Belgium, RTV Slovenia, HRT Croatia, HOT8 Israel, FTV Prima Czech Republic, SBS Australia and BBC Earth Asia have all acquired the three-part series, which follows Michael on a 1000-mile odyssey along the course of the great Tigris river, from its source in eastern Turkey to its mouth in the Persian Gulf.
Michael Palin said: “For much of my lifetime, Iraq has been a symbol of war and destruction. Now that a tentative peace has broken out, I wanted to see what happens to a country waking from a nightmare, in a land on which the first cities in the world were built. Not only was it my first time there, it was the first time I’d seen such damage and such resilience side by side. So much desperation and so much hope. I’ve never been in circumstances quite like it in all my life. Going into Iraq was, in the best sense of the word, an eye-opener.”
Australia and New Zealand, which continue to be regular buyers for the Brighton-based distributor’s content showed increased demand for Orange Smarty’s factual entertainment and specialist-factual programming, leading a string of sales into the region. Including two substantial package deals with SBS Australia and NBC Universal New Zealand, totalling just over 140 hours of programming.
SBS has acquired a package of nearly 50 hours of content, including "Myths & Legends", a series touching on popular stories from Dracula to the Loch Ness Monster fronted by UK comedian and talk-show host Jonathan Ross (4x60 mins). Also included in the deal is "Paul O’Grady’s Little Heroes" (12x30 mins) and the late and much-loved broadcaster and animal lover’s last project, "Paul O’Grady’s Great Elephant Adventure" (2x52 mins) as well as two Stacey Dooley-fronted titles, "Two Daughters" (1x52 mins) and "Stacey Dooley: Stalkers" (2x55 mins).
NBC New Zealand, meanwhile, has picked up around 80 hours of "A Place in the Sun" and 12 hours of Stacey Dooley-fronted programming. Deals have also been closed with BBC Studios Australia and New Zealand for three of Orange Smarty’s most popular wildlife series all fronted by Steve Backshall: "Meet The Hedgehogs" (3x60 mins), "Foxes: Their Secret World" (2x52 mins) and "Badgers: Their Secret World (2x52 mins)."
In other sales Down Under, Foxtel Australia have signed up to the latest season of "A Place in The Sun", representing 120 hours of content. Warner Bros Discovery New Zealand also picked up "A Place in The Sun for Living" as well as acquiring "25 Siblings & Me" and "Britain’s Child Drug Runners for Three". Finally, TVNZ has acquired three titles: "Hannah Spearritt: Me & Breast Implants", "Katie Price: Trauma" and "Me and Lazy Car Dealer."
Karen Young, CEO of Orange Smarty, said: “The strength of these current deals comes as a result of the carefully curated eclectic mix of quality programmes that Orange Smarty continues to offer to global broadcasters as part of its content output. A combination of premium noisy one-offs together with returnable series makes these acquisitions a smart choice for smart content”.