“The Catfish Next Door”
Hat Trick International (HTI) is presenting three high-end true-crime documentary series at MIPCOM, two of them commissioned by Nine Network Australia — “The Toolbox Murders” and “The Byron Bay Murders” — both produced by Perpetual Entertainment in partnership with Marmalade Sky. Making its international debut in Cannes is “The Catfish Next Door”, created by STV Studios Factual for BBC iPlayer, BBC Scotland, and BBC Three.
“The Toolbox Murders” (2x60 mins), already sold to Channel 4 in the UK, explores one of Queensland’s most terrifying double killings: the murder of Cory Breton and Iuliana Triscaru, who were enticed to a drug house by a violent gang and subjected to brutal torture before being trapped in a large metal toolbox and drowned alive.
“The Byron Bay Murders” (2x60 mins) investigates a decades-old enigma: what happened to the 67 women who disappeared without a trace along Australia’s east coast, from Newcastle to Byron Bay? The documentary premiered successfully on Nine Australia in July and will broadcast on A&E in the UK later this year.
“The Catfish Next Door” (3x45 mins) recounts the story of former NHS nurse Adele Rennie, who, over a decade, deceived numerous women through elaborate ‘catfishing’ schemes that started online but caused devastating real-life consequences for her victims.
At the same time, one of the strongest-selling programs on HTI’s expanding line-up of premium crime content, “Rose West: Born Evil?”, continues to travel internationally. A+E Germany and BritBox Australia are the most recent broadcasters to acquire the Kalel Productions one-hour documentary, which retraces West’s path from a troubled childhood to abusive parent to sadistic, sexually driven killer. Since its premiere on Channel 5 in 2021, Rose West: Born Evil? has been licensed to Foxtel Australia, TV4 Finland, Planete+ France, AVRO/TROS Netherlands, and TV4 Sweden.
Sarah Tong, director of sales at Hat Trick International, said: “In the case of 'The Toolbox Murders', 'The Byron Bay Murders' and 'The Catfish Next Door', we’re proud to be an accessory to crime — all three titles tell sensational stories that chill and thrill, offer an insight into the justice system and invite viewers to solve real-life whodunnits. We have every confidence that our new true-crime launches will perform as well internationally as 'Rose West: Born Evil?', 'Click for Murder', 'Killer Women with Piers Morgan' and 'Serial Killer with Piers Morgan', all of which continue to do buoyant business, particularly in the AVOD space.”
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