ZED announces the production of “Knut, the Viking Emperor”, a documentary series dedicated to the story of the greatest conqueror of the Viking era, produced for Histoire TV in France using the most advanced generative artificial intelligence software.
Manuel Catteau, President - Founder at ZED: “Knut is a great European epic, brought to life by an outstanding team of European partners. This means a lot to ZED, and I hope the series will travel across all continents, allowing us to share our rich history and creative expertise with a global audience”.
Directed by Fabrice Buysschaert, the series has already been pre-bought by SVT in Sweden, ZDF Studios in Germany, and Sky HISTORY in the UK and the first images will be unveiled at the upcoming Sunny Side of the Doc, and delivery is scheduled for spring 2026.
Christophe Sommet, CEO Histoire TV: “As always, we strive to bring Histoire TV viewers the highest- quality entertainment and information series. Working with ZED on series of exceptional quality such as KNUT affords us a competitive advantage in a crowded French TV landscape”.
In four episodes, the series traces the astonishing rise of a Viking warrior who, through a series of conquests, unites Denmark, Norway, Sweden and England under a single crown. A true epic that recounts the creation of a Nordic empire of unparalleled size and power, the vestiges of which still shape Europe today.
Nikolas Huelbusch, Director Unscripted at ZDF Studios: “We are delighted to continue our successful relationship with ZED with this exceptionally high-quality production. Following on from such great high-end factual programmes as 'Ancient Mega-Cities' and 'D-Day - 100 Days for Freedom', we are excited to be able to add this outstanding production to our German-speaking catalogue, in close collaboration with ZDFinfo's history department”.
Kelly Hornsby, Head of Acquisitions for Hearst Networks UK, said: “We’re excited to be a part of this innovative visual approach to the life and career of one of medieval Europe’s most iconic figures; a Viking warrior who, through cunning, guile and not a little ruthlessness conquered not only England but united her with Denmark and Norway in the great North Sea Empire. ZED are becoming a great partner of Hearst Networks EMEA and we look forward to working more with them”.
Mikael Osterby, head of Factual SVT International: “Working with ZED is always a pleasure. KNUT is the most thrilling of all viking stories and almost too good to be true. We will work closely on developing the A.I. drama reconstructions and I feel that my viking genes will once again explore new grounds finding new ways of telling Factual stories. Our business is changing rapidly and ZED is discovering ways of modernizing and developing how to make the audience keep watching our content”.
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