A quick flick through Cineflix’s top picks

Tim Mutimer, Cineflix Media’s CEO of Rights, has new product to show buyers this week but is also emphasising the importance of returning titles, as he talks us through his slate for the London Screenings.

 

Tim Mutimer, the UK-based CEO, Rights of international producer and distributor Cineflix Media, has a busy few days ahead of him but is relishing the return to face-to-face meetings and the normality of industry events.

 

“We love meeting people in person, and doing it in London will be great,” he says. “We have plenty of meetings this week for the London Screenings, we’ll have people at Series Mania and we’ll be going full steam ahead to MipTV, so it feels like we’re getting back to some kind of normality, which is fantastic.”

 

As far as the company’s new programme slate is concerned, Mutimer and the Cineflix Rights team will be giving buyers an early peek at a number of new titles this week. The firm is partnering with Aussie producer Mark Fennessy’s new prodco Helium on Last King of The Cross (10×60’), an Australian original from Paramount+ that Mutimer describes as “a truly authentic depiction of gangster life, set against the backdrop of one of the most iconic locations on the planet.”

 

Inspired by John Ibrahim’s bestselling autobiography, it tells the story of how he rose from a poverty-stricken immigrant to become Australia’s most infamous nightclub mogul in Sydney’s Kings Cross. The show is written and directed by Kieran Darcy-Smith (Wolf Creek).

 

Another upcoming title is Sugar, a feature thriller starring Katherine McNamara (Shadowhunters, Arrow). It follows two young influencers who find themselves on a glamorous once-in-a-lifetime trip through the Caribbean and South Pacific but end up embroiled in drug smuggling. The film is from Canadian prodcos Sepia Films and Cineflix-backed Connect3 Media.

 

Mutimer also hints at an exciting new fantasy comedy-drama about vampires that is aimed at the young-adult market, with a full launch coming at MipTV in April.

 

But if there’s one lesson to be learned from the past few years, it’s that the business these days is about not just launching new programming but also maintaining the quality and reliability of returning content.

 

Returning series deliver ready-made audiences and require less marketing to viewers faced with a multitude of choice, as they already know about the brand and characters involved. Returning series are the “unsung heroes of the schedule,” according to Mutimer, who adds: “We know how essential returning series are to creating audience and channel loyalty in a competitive landscape, whether linear, on-demand or both. High in volume and quality, these are shows you can bank on.”

 

A quick scan of Cineflix Rights’ slate for the London Screenings reveals several schedule stalwarts that have proven themselves over many years. Property Brothers: Forever Home, for instance, has now clocked up 80 hours plus 10 one-hour Family Flashback specials, all from Scott Brothers Entertainment for HGTV in the US, while Mayday: Air Disaster has a healthy 250 hours plus 60 one-hour Accident File compilations.

 

Cineflix Productions makes the latter show for National Geographic Channel (International) with Smithsonian Channel taking it for the US. Recent episodes explore the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, the hijacked plane that hit the Pentagon on 9/11 and US Airways Flight 1549, which landed safely on the Hudson River after losing both engines.

 

Inside Taronga Zoo, meanwhile, is back for season three, once again produced by McAvoy Media for Nine Network (Australia) and National Geographic (US), while season two of Killer Cases is in the London Screenings mix, courtesy of Law&Crime Productions in association with True Crime Network.

 

“Cineflix Rights has years of experience working with producers to build successful, long-running brands such as Property Brothers and Mayday: Air Disaster alongside newer titles like Inside Taronga Zoo and Killer Cases. We continue to target shows that have the potential to evolve into enduring brands that viewers know and love,” says Mutimer.

 

Meanwhile, a series like Renegade Pictures and Motion Content Group’s My Big Family Farm on Channel 5 appeals to the whole family and works in primetime and daytime, says Mutimer. “With 29 episodes available now, it’s a proven ratings hit.”

 

Four seasons of My Big Family Farm, plus a 90-minute special, are also on offer from Cineflix Rights, chronicling the adventures of a couple as they raise nine children and a thousand sheep on one of Britain’s most spectacular farms.

 

Likewise, the “escapism and glorious landscapes” provided by The World’s Most Scenic Railway Journeys resonate globally, and hit crime series Homicide: Hours to Kill “provides 78 episodes – and counting – of top-quality, glossy true crime stories.”

 

The World’s Most Scenic Railway Journeys offers 39 hours plus three one-hour specials, taking viewers on unforgettable rides through some of the most spectacular landscapes on Earth, all narrated by award-winning British actor Bill Nighy. BriteSpark Films makes the show for Channel 5 (UK).

 

Offering a different factual journey, Homicide: Hours to Kill follows investigators as they try to piece together the final 24 hours of the victim’s life. The show is made by Cineflix Productions for A&E Networks (UK).

 

Other returning factual titles that Mutimer highlights include Ainsley’s Good Mood Food, which has clocked up 21 hours over two seasons on ITV (UK), produced by Rock Oyster Media, as well as a second season with 10 additional episodes of Richard Hammond’s Workshop, on Discovery+ (UK & Eire), produced by Chimp Productions and Krempelwood.

 

Cineflix Rights’ emphasis on returning brands isn’t limited to factual, by any means. The company’s recent success in investing in bold dramas from around the world means it has on its London Screenings slate new seasons of Tehran, Coroner, Whitstable Pearl, Happily Married, and Manayek, alongside recently launched scripted series Irvine Welsh’s Crime and French thriller Rebecca.

 

International Emmy Best Drama Award-winning Tehran (16×60’) is a Middle East spy drama from Donna & Shula Productions, Paper Plane Productions, Paper Entertainment and Cineflix Studios for Apple TV+ and Kan 11 (Israel), while Whitstable Pearl (12×45’) offers a different take on the crime genre, following a restauranteur in the beautiful English seaside town of Whitstable who is also an amateur sleuth. Cineflix-backed Buccaneer Media produces for Acorn TV.

 

With 20 episodes on offer, Happily Married is a Quebecoise drama from Productions Casablanca for public broadcaster Radio-Canada that charts the unlikely tale of Quebec’s most infamous criminal foursome. Manayek (20×45’) follows a veteran internal affairs investigator who stumbles upon a police corruption case, produced by Yoav Gross Productions for Kan 11 (Israel).

 

Furthermore, “our procedural crime drama Coroner is back, with season four just launching – the series airs in 150 territories across the world, from The CW in the US to Nine Network in Australia,” says Mutimer.

 

The Serinda Swan-starring episodic drama follows a recently widowed coroner who investigates suspicious, unnatural or sudden deaths in Toronto. The show is from Muse Entertainment, Back Alley Films and Cineflix Studios for The CW, CBC (Canada), NBCUniversal International and Sky Witness (UK).

 

So while the past two years might have seen an upheaval in the TV distribution business, with some disruption even extending into this year’s industry calendar, Mutimer says it’s pretty much business as usual for the UK’s largest independent TV content distributor.

 

“Despite the global challenges faced by our industry over the last couple of years, we’ve been continuing to do what we do best – source compelling projects from our talented producer partners that successfully meet the demand from the global marketplace,” he says.

 

“We look to acquire must-watch shows, with an understanding of what viewers are looking for, whether that’s escapist, feel-good and aspirational content or returning brands your audiences already love.”