Hat Trick International adds three true-crime docs to Mipcom slate

Stranger-than-fiction :The Catfish Next Door

Hat Trick International (HTI), the UK-based factual and scripted distributor, is launching three true-crime documentary series at Mipcom.

HTI has also announced more deals for 5’s unflinching documentary Rose West: Born Evil? about one half of the UK’s worst serial-killer couple.

Making their international debut at Mipcom are two Nine Network Australia documentaries – The Toolbox Murders and The Byron Bay Murders – both produced by Perpetual Entertainment in association with Marmalade Sky.

Also premiering internationally in Cannes is The Catfish Next Door, produced by STV Studios Factual for BBC iPlayer, BBC Scotland and BBC Three.

The Toolbox Murders (2×60 mins) which has sold to Channel 4 in the UK delves into the double murder of Cory Breton and Iuliana Triscaru in Queensland, who were lured to a drug den by a violent gang and subjected to horrific torture before being locked in a large metal toolbox and drowned alive.

The Byron Bay Murders (2×60’) sets out to solve a decades-long mystery: what happened to the 67 women who vanished without trace along Australia’s east coast, from New Castle to Byron Bay? The doc launched successfully on Ch9 Australia in July in a 21.00 slot and will air on A&E in the UK later this year.

The Catfish Next Door (3×45’) explores the stranger-than-fiction crimes of one of the UK’s most prolific female cyberstalkers. The three-part documentary tells the story of former NHS nurse Adele Rennie who, over a 10-year period, duped numerous women in sophisticated ‘catfish’ campaigns that began online but had devastating real-life consequences for her victims.

Rose West: Born Evil? Has been picked up by A+E Germany and BritBox Australia. Kalel Productions’ one-hour documentary charts West’s journey from harsh childhood to brutal mother to sadistic, sexually motivated murderer. Since it first aired on 5 in 2021, Rose West: Born Evil?, has been sold to Foxtel Australia, TV4 Finland, Planete+ France, AVRO/TROS Netherlands and TV4 Sweden.