BBC, HBO link up with Neverland’s Reed

The award-winning producer behind Michael Jackson exposé Leaving Neverland is working on a new feature doc about the threats posed to antibiotics, for HBO and BBC2.

Dan Reed

Dan Reed is working on Superbug (1×110/120’), which looks at the history of antibiotics and how the development of modern medicine could now be under threat from resistant forms of viruses.

The factual and scripted hybrid is being produced by Reed’s AMOS Pictures for US premium cablenet HBO and UK pubcaster BBC2.

London-based sales house Kew Media Distribution will shop the doc international, having also handled the sales of the controversial Leaving Neverland.

Head of documentaries Nancy Abraham greenlit the new project for HBO and commissioning editor for documentaries Clare Sillery did likewise for BBC2. It is due to premiere on both channels in 2021.

Reed said: “Superbug will tell an important story that will make viewers question their relationship with modern medicine while sweeping them up into an immersive journey like no other.

“It will feel like an epic, entertaining movie, using the full arsenal of screen storytelling: movie-grade computer-generated imagery, scripted drama and cinematography, and an orchestral musical score alongside classical documentary techniques with all the truth, intimacy, immediacy and sense of engagement that they deliver.”