Buyers take premium science titles dealing with AI, carbon and bats from TVF Int’l
AI & You is produced by Dublin-based Animo TV Productions
Broadcasters in Europe and the Middle East have acquired a documentary that examines how AI technology is rapidly transforming the human experience from UK-based indie factual distributor TVF International.
Saudi state-owned international Arabic news television channel Al Arabiya, AMC Networks International Southern Europe, Turkey’s TRT World, France’s Mediawan and RTP in Portugal are among the broadcasters covering 30 territories to take AI & You (1×52′).
Commissioned by RTÉ in Ireland and produced by Dublin-based Animo TV Productions, the doc sees Anne-Marie Tomchak exploring positive developments in areas like health, education and climate action, as well as the negatives of misinformation, deep fakes and the threat to jobs.
Ahead of World Congress of Science and Factual Producers (WCSFP), which takes place in Marrakesh, Morocco, this week, TVF has also sold Carbon: The Unauthorised Biography (1×89’/1×55′) to US streamer Curiosity Stream, RTVE in Spain, SVT in Sweden, National Geographic, Al Jazeera Documentary and AMC.
Narrated by Sarah Snook and commissioned by ABC in Australia, the Genepool Productions and Handful of Films made doc aims to demystify the most talked about but least understood element, with testimony from Neil deGrasse Tyson.
CBC documentary Fluid: Life Beyond the Binary (1×48′), hosted by comedian Mae Martin, has been picked up by Virgin Media. The documentary explores gender and sexual fluidity in the natural world, from sex-changing fish to lions, hyenas, and chimpanzees with non-binary traits.
AMC and Maori TV in New Zealand have taken The Secret Life of Bats (1×43′), produced by Blue Paw Artists for ARD, which follows a team of scientists armed with state-of-the-art ultrasonic cameras as they uncover the science behind sonar.
ZDF/Arte’s Planet Soil (1×52′), exploring the vital ecosystem beneath our feet, has gone to Plattelands TV in Belgium and FTV Prima, while The Good Virus (1×52′), which explores the use of bacteriophages to fight disease, has sold to RTP Portugal.
“Buyers across the globe have a keen appetite for cutting-edge science documentaries, and we are proud that TVF International are at the forefront of delivering high-quality science programming to international audiences. Our slate represents some of the most innovative science producers from six continents, and we are looking forward to forging new partnerships at WCSFP this year,” said Poppy McAlister, head of TVF, and senior acquisitions manager, Sam Joyce, in a joint statement.
