Scorpion TV, the London-based independent content distributor, reported a string of documentary sales into Spain and Portugal. The sales were brokered by Carolina Pribanic, Scorpion’s Head of Sales for Spain and Latin America. Spanish national broadcaster RTVE has been one of the first to acquire the recently launched "Holy Silence" (1x52’) for its Documentos channel. The doc tells the dramatic story of the Vatican’s actions – and inactions – in the lead up to World War II and finally reveals the truth about “Hitler’s Pope”, Pius XII, accused of being a Nazi sympathizer. The documentary first aired on PBS, produced by PerlePress Productions and directed by Steven Pressman.
Televisio de Catalunya’s TV3 has acquired "Siyaya: Come Wild With Us" and "Siyaya series: Wildest Cape" for its kid's strand. Produced by Francois Odendaal Productions (FOP Films) for South African public broadcaster SABC, "Siyaya: Come Wild With Us" is a fun, fast-paced adventure series for kids, set in and around South Africa’s national parks. In "Siyaya series: Wildest Cape" (13 x 30 mins; HD) thos show travels to South Africa’s Western Cape Province, which is flanked by two major marine ecosystems — the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean. In the series teams of explorers take on a series of white-knuckle challenges, including jumping into cauldrons of white water, scaling cliffs, and hanging on ropes between heaven and earth.
SIC in Portugal has bought "Fortune Fights" (10x45’) for its Caras channel, a series that examines the careers, personal lives, and legal battles of the biggest stars, both famous, and infamous. Each episode tracks the story of how a star’s money was earned and later compromised through a divorce, family dispute, publicity disaster or personal meltdown. Featuring Johnny Depp, Harrison Ford, Madonna, Robin Williams, Hulk Hogan, and more. RTP3 in Portugal has acquired "A Cure for Fear" (1 x 52 mins; HD) from First Look Media, a documentary directed by Emmy-winning filmmaker Lana Wilson which focuses on the work of clinical psychologist Dr. Merel Kindt, who has discovered a cure for phobias using common medication.
"Chile: A Wild Journey" has also been picked up by US Hispanic broadcaster HITN — a documentary that explores the fascinating creatures, some virtually unknown to science, to be found in the South American country. Intrigued by the art world’s unsolved mysteries is Spanish-language OTT operator Olympusat, buying "The Search for Mona Lisa" and "The Search for the Last Supper". Both 52-minute documentaries, which were originally produced for PBS by Pantheon Studios, take the form of a thriller-like quest to discover, respectively, the identity of the ‘Lady in the Louvre’ and whether Leonardo da Vinci painted a mysterious second version of the world’s most famous fresco. Olympusat has also acquired "Siyaya: Come Wild With Us" and "Siyaya series: Wildest Cape The Art of Nature" and "Zapped: The Buzz About Mosquitos" (1 x 45 mins), which unpacks the awesome power of a tiny insect — not least in terms of its ability to infect the world.
Carolina Pribanic said: “Traditionally Latin audiences have shied away from documentaries, which have been stigmatized as tedious and turgid in a TV culture dominated by reality, celebrity, and sport. But these deals demonstrate not only that Spanish and Latin viewing taste is changing, but that documentary programming, driven by the SVODs, has evolved into a much more compelling proposition. Scorpion’s carefully curated docs from world-class directors and producers are part of this new wave. They don’t just tell the important stories of our time, but they tell them brilliantly.”