France TV, Nine Network, Sky Italia among buyers for 72 Films’ Michael Jackson doc series 

Michael Jackson: An American Tragedy has been sold worldwide

France TV, NPO Netherlands, Sky Italia and Australia’s Nine Network are among a raft of buyers for 72 Films’ documentary series about the rise, fall and legacy of Michael Jackson.

The announcement comes as commissioning broadcaster the BBC prepares to premiere the project in the UK on Wednesday, April 8 on BBC Two and iPlayer. In the UK, the docuseries is titled Michael Jackson: An American Tragedy, while internationally it is called The Michael Jackson Story.

Fremantle, which handles global sales, also licensed the project to Sky TV (New Zealand and Oceania), Asharq (Middle East), Vodafone Greece, Now TV (Hong Kong), Sveriges Television (Sweden), The Danish Broadcast Corporation, YLE (Finland) and V.R.T (Belgium).

It includes interviews and contributions from Jackson’s sister La Toya Jackson, singer Dionne Warwick, manager Dieter Wiesner, bodyguard Bill Whitfield, family lawyer Brian Oxman and prosecutor Ron Zonen.

The docuseries is executive produced by Mark Raphael and Rob Coldstream of London-based 72 Films, which is behind project such as The Tony Blair Story; The Donald Trump Show; Vietnam: The War That Changed America, and directed by Sophie Fuller (House of Kardashian, The Met: Policing London).

“It’s a complex tale of fame, family, and legacy, exploring the extraordinary rise of the King of Pop and the controversies that surrounded him later in life,” said Fremantle’s global head of documentaries and factual Mark Reynolds.

“The team at 72 Films have approached this story with remarkable insight and care, and offers audiences a unique glimpse into moments of Jackson’s life that are rarely shared.”