Premium factual in focus at Blue Ant International

With the popularity of premium factual content continuing to soar, global distributor Blue Ant International has a lot to showcase in its playlist on C21’s Digital Screenings, says executive VP of international Solange Attwood.

 

For any modern-day distributor, having a wide range of content to bring to buyers can make the difference between a successful pitch and a polite pass.

 

For Solange Attwood, executive VP at Blue Ant International, with operations in the US, the UK and Canada, the goal is providing high quality, entertaining storytelling for all audiences. A key factor in achieving this is having a diverse offering for customers across all platforms to resonate with all their audiences. In short, variety is integral to the company’s new slate.

 

“One of the defining features of Blue Ant is that we really have a diversified offering,” Attwood says. “We play and offer premium content across factual entertainment, specialist factual, high-impact documentaries, kids & family and scripted. That broad range of genres helps us super-serve an array of demographics all over the world.”

 

There is a logic to this diversification. Attwood says Blue Ant is “platform-agnostic” and wants to be in constant discussions with all sorts of buyers that are increasingly asking for content that will please a wide range of people. Nonetheless, a quality end-product is still what counts.

 

“Quality really matters these days,” says Attwood. “The way we approach curating a slate on an annual basis is really about going directly to talent. We have one of the world’s most impressive and reliable pipelines of 4K natural history in the world. And part of the reason for that is we’re deeply connected and embedded in the world of natural history storytellers. We look to the creative community and talent as a way of identifying fantastic stories that we think will be premium and meet the needs of our buyers.”

 

In the natural history category, Blue Ant has two new offerings. Battle of the Alphas (12×30’), from Canada’s Yap Films, explores the science behind natural competition, while Osprey: Sea Raptor is a one-off doc following two of the birds of prey in Connecticut as they look to raise their young. According to Attwood, Osprey: Sea Raptor is “a great example of a high-quality story that super-serves that premium blue-chip, natural history market.”

 

In addition to the company’s natural history offering, another show that takes viewers somewhere new is Cops On The Rock (10×60’), a true crime series looking at the police force in the British territory of Gibraltar that was made for UK broadcaster UKTV. Attwood says the show is another great example of the access Blue Ant’s shows offer and feels it will appeal to a global audience.

 

“It’s adrenaline-fuelled programming,” she says. “There’s a long-standing history of audiences consuming this type of show. We’re already seeing lots of buyers putting up their hands to say yes to the series, so I’m pretty optimistic there continues to be a strong audience and desire to watch these sorts of entertaining access-driven shows.”

 

Another category on the slate is the unexplained and paranormal, which undergoes a resurgence every fall for obvious reasons but has increased in popularity in recent years. First up is Encounter: UFO from Saloon Media. Aimed more at a male audience, the 8×60’ show tells first-hand accounts of people who claim to have experienced the unexplained.

 

Next up is high-end horror series Bathsheba: Search For Evil (2×60’), which tells the original story that inspired The Conjuring film franchise, with accounts from the surviving members of the family involved.

 

“There are lots of unique things, that look and feel how the scripted world operates, that are now making their way through the unscripted world,” Attwood says. “It ranges from shows that are based on existing IP to big-name talent being attached. A great example in our offering is a series called Hotel Paranormal with Dan Aykroyd attached. These authentic associations to our offering help to drive the quality of those shows.”

 

Further reflecting the diversity of its slate, Blue Ant International also has plenty of new history titles on offer. History By The Numbers is a 20-part series produced with US platform Curiosity Stream by Saloon Media. The show is an energetic, fast-paced documentary series taking a global dive into the extraordinary and often overlooked numbers that have created our world’s history. Attwood feels the quality the show offers will set it apart as premium, and that is “a distinguishing feature” of the slate overall.

 

World’s Most Scenic River Journeys (16×60’), meanwhile, was produced for the UK’s Channel 5 by Saloon and London’s BriteSpark Media, and is narrated by Bill Nighy. Attwood lists this as being a show that transports viewers at a time when they haven’t been able to travel themselves.

 

Other premium history titles include Silver Spitfire: The Longest Flight (1×60’/1×90’), which follows pilot Matt Jones and his crew as he flies a Second World War Spitfire fighter plane around the world and comes from Red Bull Originals and London’s Stamp Productions, and Secrets of The Imperial War Museum from UK prodco Spring Films. The latter show goes behind the scenes at the world-famous London museum to show the work of the hundreds of staff there and was originally made for the UK’s Channel 5.

 

Another IP-based piece on the slate is Spirit to Soar (1×60’), a Canadian doc about the impact of the deaths of seven indigenous students in Ontario in the 1970s. The doc was made for national broadcaster CBC by local prodcos Makwa Creative and Antica Productions.

 

“Our history offering is, again, quite diverse,” says Attwood. “These shows come to us from very premium producers who are well respected in their craft, and they often have unique access. It’s all of those various features that comprise the totality of our slate.”

 

Lifestyle programming is also in the mix with Fashion Dis (6×30’). Described as a game-changer in the makeover space, the show sees host Ardra Shephard challenge traditional norms and lead a makeover team to help frustrated style-seekers who want to look great but struggle to find stylish options that accommodate their disabilities. From a full closet purge to a hair and makeup redo, to the big reveal – follow each participant’s journey as they learn to rock their best body.

 

“This is a really great example of a fun, entertaining lifestyle series that gets us into a world that we often don’t see,” says Attwood. “With formats, we always approach our commercial strategy as looking at whatever drives the best returns for the IP producers. In this case, we would go market-by-market to see whether it’s appropriate as a format or as a finished tape or as both. We definitely think this is something that is unique and timely.”

 

Also in the lifestyle space is talent-led factual entertainment show David Rocco’s Dolce HomeMade (26×30’) from indie Rockhead Entertainment. Chef Rocco invites viewers into his home kitchen to join friends and family for candid conversations and inspiring recipes.

 

“At the end of the day, our core mission is to help creators have their creative ambitions realised,” concludes Attwood. “And so for us, it’s so important to build long-term partnerships, and to be able to be a problem-solver for our partners to get shows financed and greenlit.

 

“So whether you’ve got the best new documentary, natural history, crime, the unexplained or paranormal, those are all areas that we are actively growing and where we’re looking for more partners.”