Asian buyers shop for factual at Drive

Oxford Digital Media’s The Spy Who Stole the Atom Bomb

Broadcasters across Asia, including Hong Kong’s ViuTVsix and Japan’s NHK, have picked up a number of ready-made factual programmes from UK distributor Drive.

ViuTVsix has taken a total of six titles, including Auschwitz Untold: In Colour (2×60’/1×90’), produced by UK indie Fulwell73 for local broadcaster Channel 4 and History Channel in the US.

The HK channel has also taken The Spy Who Stole the Atom Bomb (1×60’), from Oxford Digital Media, and Building Star Trek (1×60’/1×120’), from Yap Films for Smithsonian and Discovery Canada.

Rounding out the ViuTVsix package are two seasons of History of Britain (8×60’), produced by Blakeway for Channel 5; Volatile Earth (3×60’), from Blink Films for Nova and Channel 4; and Cash in the Spare Room (10×60’), a new renovation series from Friel Kean Films for Discovery UK.

Also in Hong Kong, four titles have been sold to public broadcaster RTHK. They include 10 Mistakes That Sunk the Titanic (1×60’/1×80’), produced by Blink Films for Channel 5; and Reef Rescue (1×60’), produced by Merit Motions Pictures, Les Films a Cinq/Capa Presse and Arte France in association with CBC and Vulcan Productions.

Also in the RTHK package are Should We Bomb Auschwitz? (1×60’), from Oxford Films for BBC2 and WNET; and The Good Nazi (1×60’), from Emmy-winning Associated Producers in Canada for Vision TV.

Japanese broadcasters have also been shopping at Drive. Pubcaster NHK has licensed Reef Rescue and 10 Mistakes that Sunk the Titanic, while Discovery Japan has acquired Trains That Changed the World (4×60’), produced by October Films for Channel 5.

Lastly, Hubu Media Group has taken two Drive titles to air on state-run CCTV in China. They are First Contact: Lost Tribe of the Amazon (1×60’), from Ronachan Films for Channel 4, and Australia On Fire: Climate Emergency (1×60’), from ITN Productions for Channel 4.

All sales were secured by Drive senior sales executive Lulu Prutton, who said: “There continues to be a good appetite for well-made history and lifestyle programming across Asia, and broadcasters whose acquisitions were on hold at the start of the pandemic are now returning to previous buying levels and budgets.”