New partnership greenlights 18 hours for production; Blue Ant Studios to retain worldwide distribution rights
(Marrakesh, Morrocco / London, UK – December 9, 2024) – Blue Ant Studios, an international production studio and rights business, has struck an innovative deal with leading Australian independent producer WildBear Entertainment, working in partnership to finance three new factual series. The news was announced today from the World Congress of Science and Factual Producers in Marrakesh.
Brokered by Lilla Hurst, Global Head, Acquisitions & Content Strategy at Blue Ant Studios and WildBear Entertainment’s representative, Edwina Thring of Wild Thring Media, the new deal has been struck to deliver content that meets market demand in the current challenging commissioning climate. WildBear Entertainment has just gone into production on each series, led by CEO and executive producer Michael Tear. Blue Ant Studios will retain full worldwide distribution rights, and Lilla Hurst will serve as an executive producer on each title.
The three new series, all due for delivery in Q3 2025, are a mix of history and engineering titles:
Secrets of the Lost Cities (6 x 60’) combines the latest science, leading experts and high-end graphics to explore the world’s most ancient and mysterious cities, looking to discover the secrets of their power and the reasons for their downfall. Each episode will focus on one region with a featured city plus secondary stories. For example, an episode in Egypt will examine Thebes in detail and visit additional cities such as Memphis and Alexandria.
As the 80th anniversary of the start of the Nuremberg trials nears (November 2025), World War II: History on Trial (6 x 60’) will explore the courtroom trials that took place in Germany, Japan and other countries across the 20th century. It will examine the arguments made by the Allies and Axis powers and, by doing so, provide fresh insights into the trajectory of the Second World War. The series will also explore how these events reverberate to this day as the complicated questions of responsibility and justice continue to be debated.
Engineering by Catastrophe (6 x 60’) follows the construction of some of the world’s latest and most failsafe structures. These are the buildings, dams, stadiums, container ships or bridges that incorporate the very latest in engineering science to overcome previous disasters. As each safety feature is built into the structure, the series relives the historical disasters that we learned from to make each safer – including the floods, fires, tornadoes and bombs that have taught engineers how to build better.
“As both a creative and financial partner with producers and buyers around the world, Blue Ant Studios is committed to finding new ways of working and investing in different financial models to bring great content into the marketplace and onto the screen,” says Mark Bishop, Co-President, Blue Ant Studios. “Having already acquired numerous completed WildBear titles for international distribution, we know that its programming is extremely well-produced and always in demand. So, while greenlighting these 18 hours could be considered a risk, working with a trusted partner like WildBear mitigates that risk and ensures we continue to fuel our pipeline with the sort of great factual series that buyers are seeking.”
Michael Tear, CEO, WildBear Entertainment adds: “We are delighted to be working so closely with Blue Ant Studios in this way, sharing the potential risk – and, hopefully, the upside. It is wonderful to have such backing from Lilla and the team. This support not only demonstrates confidence in our productions but also greatly speeds up the process and allows us to quickly get series into the marketplace at a time when commissioning decisions are being made rather slowly.”
Blue Ant Studios is an international production studio and rights business with offices in Toronto, Los Angeles, New York, Miami, London, Singapore and Sydney. The company’s diverse production slate spans scripted comedy and drama, unscripted entertainment, formats, high-impact documentaries, live-action kids + family, and animation. The studio is anchored in original storytelling, with award-winning series that include Blown Away (Netflix), Canada’s Drag Race (Crave), the scripted teen comedy series, Davey and Jonesie’s Locker (Hulu and Prime Video), Casey Anthony: Where the Truth Lies (Peacock), Drink Masters (Netflix), Race Against the Tide (CBC), The Kids in the Hall: Comedy Punks (Prime Video), 9/11 Kids (CBC), See No Evil (Investigation Discovery US), and the adult-animated series, Gary and His Demons (Prime Video, Amazon Freevee). The company’s recent feature-length documentary, Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe (Prime Video), was awarded the Toronto International Film Festival’s People’s Choice Award for Best Documentary in 2023. Blue Ant Studios’ distribution arm has a vast catalogue of over 7,000 hours of premium programming from the studio and third-party, top-tier producers around the world. Blue Ant Studios is a subsidiary of the global media company, Blue Ant Media. blueantmedia.com⼁Instagram⼁LinkedIn⼁X⼁
WildBear Entertainment combines the skills and experience of respected producers Bettina Dalton, Veronica Fury, Serge Ou, Alan Erson, Craig Meade and Michael Tear. An integrated factual entertainment company, WildBear Entertainment works across television, theatrical, corporate, educational, and government communications. WildBear has been commissioned by leading international platforms including BBC, National Geographic, Discovery, Netflix, PBS, ZDF/Arte, CCTV, NTV, France Televisions, Mediawan, Viasat and Australian broadcasters Nine, Seven, Ten, ABC, SBS and Foxtel, With offices in three Australian capital cities as well as New Zealand and a comprehensive catalogue of completed projects, WildBear is an ideal co production partner. WildBear also owns Content Mint (formerly Absolutely Wild Visuals), an internationally renowned stock footage library. The library holds thousands of hours of HD, 35mm, S16mm, and other high-end video stock footage with a focus on travel, worldwide locations, wildlife and nature.
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