Bell Media picks up Reelz feature doc Siegfried & Roy: The Original Tiger Kings

Canada’s Bell Media has acquired feature documentary Siegfried & Roy: The Original Tiger Kings from London-based content creation, funding and distribution specialist BossaNova, which has announced its third set of Development Days.

Olivia Daines

Produced by AMS Pictures for US cablenet Reelz, Siegfried & Roy: The Original Tiger Kings centres on German-American magicians Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn who had a Las Vegas show featuring lions and tigers in the 1990s.

The 1×60’ doc features exclusive interviews with activists such as Carol Baskin and friends and contemporaries of Siegfried and Roy, whose career dramatically ended in 2003 when Horn was attacked during a show by one of the tigers.

Siegfried & Roy: The Original Tiger Kings was first pitched to the international market at BossaNova’s 2022 Development Days.

BossaNova has now announced its third set of Development Days on January 10-11, 2023 and is calling on independent producers interested in pitching their new factual and true crime projects to key UK and international buyers.

The event will combine virtual and in-person pitching sessions, with the latter taking place in London. BossaNova said this year it is seeking “fewer, more targeted producer pitches.”

BossaNova’s acquisitions and copro executive Olivia Daines said: “By dialling back on numbers, there’s a higher probability that the projects we showcase will get made as we will be honing in on subjects gathered in our research.

“In response to buyer feedback, this year’s line-up will focus on factual and crime projects. We all understand the pressure our broadcast partners are under when it comes to accessing fresh ideas that can be made within ever-tighter constraints of time and budget and BossaNova’s Development Days can help make that happen.”

Previous projects coming out of BossaNova’s Development Days include Searching for Michael Jackson’s Zoo (1×75’) from Rare TV for ITV in the UK, history-mystery series Ancient Egypt by Train and Lost Temples of Cambodia, produced in partnership with the UK’s Channel 4, and Con Girl, which is slated to air on Paramount+ and Network Seven in Australia later this year.