Sales round-up: ZDF, RTÉ & Mediawan join ‘Harry Wild’; Fred’s ‘Space Invaders’ continue; Flame closes factual sales

Jane Seymour

ZDF, RTÉ & Mediawan join Harry Wild

Germany’s ZDF has joined as a co-producer on upcoming Irish murder mystery drama Harry Wild.

The show, from producer-distributor Dynamic Television and AMC-owned streamer Acorn TV, has also been pre-bought by Mediawan for French-speaking Europe, while RTÉ in Ireland has come on board as the Irish broadcaster.

The 8 x 60-minute series has been created and written by David Logan (Lost Christmas) and co-written by Jo Spain (Taken Down). It follows a recently retired English professor who discovers a knack for investigation and cannot help but interfere with the cases assigned to her police detective son. It’s set to debut early 2022.

Nine, TVNZ, SBS welcome Space Invaders

Nine Network in Australia has extended factual entertainment show Space Invaders into a second season, with TVNZ and SBS in Belgium among those picking up finished tape rights.

The original 10 x 60-minute series, which follows people de-cluttering their houses, was created and produced by WTFN for Nine, with WTFN parent Fred Media selling globally.

The Australian broadcaster’s second 10-part season will go into production in the second half of 2021, with channels in eight territories also in talks to acquire finished tape to the show.

Local versions are also in the works with producers across Europe, with Leonine Studios in Germany, WeMake in France and Aito Media in Finland among those to have optioned format rights.

US producer Critical Content has also struck a deal with Fred Media to rep the format stateside.

Flame closes factual sales

Broadcasters and platforms in North America, Europe and Asia have picked up a range of factual content, following deals with Australia’s Flame Distribution.

Fuse TV in the US has acquired the 7 x 44-minute Unbreakable, which follows a group of remarkable individuals with disabilities as they pursue their life goals.

In Canada, TVO has taken the fashion-focused historical series A Stitch In Time (6 x 30-minutes) and season two of Off The Beaten Track With Kate Humble (4 x 30-minutes) which explores the lives of people living in the most remote areas of Wales.

Bell Media’s Canal D has also picked up season one of the reality series Outback Opal Hunters (8 x 45-minutes), while France’s RMC Découverte took season six and season nine of long-running series Outback Truckers.

Chinese SVOD platform Tencent, meanwhile,  took three-part documentary series Life In Colour With David Attenborough, while BS4 in Japan and Viu TV in Hong Kong both acquired Work On The Wild Side (20 x 60-minutes/10 x 30-minutes).  Further titles also taken by Viu TV include Cat Hospital, Under The Sea: The Great Barrier Reef, The Dinosaur Echo, Think Like An Animal, Volcanic New Zealand and Striking Balance.

JCG in South Korea went big on the Food Safari franchise with Food Safari Earth, Food Safari Water and Food Safari Fire, as did National Geographic Channel in India, with a package deal that also included Italian Food Safari, French Food Safari and Food Safari.

“We have seen such a boom in the demand for content from a multitude of buyers across the board and these deals are just a few highlights,” commented Fiona Gilroy, content sales & acquisitions director at Flame Distribution.