Zed builds copro with US streamer

Paris-based producer and distributor Zed has signed a coproduction agreement with Arte in France and US SvoD platform CuriosityStream for a major 4K project about sacred monuments.

Christine Le Goff

Sacred Space (4×90’, 4×52’ or 15×26’) will be produced by Zed’s Christine Le Goff and will tell the history of the world’s most remarkable religious constructions, looking at how holy architecture has evolved over the centuries and also focusing on the human aspect of the buildings.

It’s not the first time Le Goff has studied sacred monuments – while working for Telfrance, she produced the Nova GBH copro Building the Great Cathedral, which became a major hit for Arte.

She said: “Unlike Building the Great Cathedral, which was really focused on the architecture side, Sacred Space will not be just science, it will also focus on history and culture, and will tell the story of man’s relationship with the sacred from a more humanist perspective.”

The docs are currently at the writing stage, with principal photography due to start at the end of the year.

The four films are budgeted at €3.6m (US$4.05m), with Zed looking for pre-sales at upcoming market Sunny Side of the Doc in La Rochelle, France. “We are also looking for local partners in the various countries where we will be shooting that can contribute cash or their technical means,” Le Goff added.

It is the second Zed show in which CuriosityStream has become involved at an early stage after Living Universe, also produced by Le Goff for Zed.