SBS, Movistar, RTL acquire factual greenlit at BossaNova’s 2025 Development Day

Ruins: Rise & Fall uses CGI to recreate ruins from the ancient world

SBS in Australia, Spain’s Movistar and Germany’s RTL are among the latest buyers to acquire factual programming pitched at last year’s Development Day initiative held by UK content creation, funding and distribution company BossaNova Media.

The BossaNova event aims to fast-track the commissioning and production of factual projects with international potential.

The 2026 edition takes place this Thursday. Ahead of that, SBS, Movistar, Belgium’s VRT and BBC Studios in the US, Poland and Africa have acquired Roman Empire by Train, one of last year’s Development Day greenlights. The series is Professor Alice Robert’s fourth travelogue in search of ancient civilisations.

RTL, meanwhile, has picked up 8×60’ historical mystery series Ruins: Rise & Fall. Produced by Like a Shot Entertainment, the show uses immersive 3D CGI to reanimate ruins from the ancient world, taking viewers to eight global locations and digitally restoring them to their former glory.

Elsewhere, Novo 19 in France, Radial in the US and Sky Germany have taken Days That Shocked the World, produced by UK factual specialist BriteSpark Films, part of Argonon Group.

Development Day 2026 will focus particularly on brands and franchises with briefs submitted by new US channel partners, including Radial, Investigation Discovery, History Channel and Oxygen. AI-powered content outfit Gennie Studio joins as a new sponsor of the event, alongside returning sponsor Getty Images.

In related news, BossaNova has hired Lavell Charlemagne as strategic operations and finance director. Charlemagne has previously held similar full-time and consultancy roles at agencies and publishers including Rankin and Dazed Group.