As we race through 2021 and find ourselves in October, producers and distributors from all over the world are offering fresh new scripted and unscripted shows this fall season. Below is C21 Digital Screenings’ selection of Hot Properties for this month.

This month’s list is overwhelmingly dominated by factual content. One development since September has been the number of modern history titles on offer, with no fewer than eight on October’s list.

First up is true crime series A Sinister Sect: Colonia Dignidad, a six-part Netflix documentary from German distributor LooksFilm. The series follows the chilling tale of Paul Schafer, a German preacher who became one of the most influential people in Chile during Pinochet’s dictatorship, all while running his own sect in Santiago for 40 years before being brought down by his former victims.

Another documentary shining a light on lesser-known areas of society is Secrets of Playboy, due to be released early next year by A+E Global Content Sales. The show features testimony from former members and patrons of Hugh Hefner’s empire and views the behind-the-scenes antics at Playboy through a modern lens.

More secrets are to be uncovered beneath the streets of London as railway historian Tim Dunn and the London Transport Museum’s Siddy Holloway venture into the city’s tunnels for Secrets of the London Underground. Commissioned for UKTV channel Yesterday, the six-parter is made by Brown Bob Productions and distributed by DCD Rights.

True crime continues to be popular, with US-based AMC Studios bringing It Couldn’t Happen Here to the table. The six-parter focuses on seemingly innocuous neighbourhoods that have been struck by terrible tragedies and was originally broadcast on SundanceTV in the US as part of its True Crime Stories franchise.

Next up is feature doc Missile From The East (1×90’/1×54’), which tells the story of East German bike racer Ernst Degner’s flight from behind the Iron Curtain with his family to defect to the West in 1961. After moving westward, he began racing with Suzuki and made the Japanese motor company a household name. The distribution rights are held by Amcomri-owned Abacus Media Rights.

Also heading back to the 1960s is Decades That Defined Us, a three-parter that revisits the sixties, seventies and eighties using archive footage and unforgettable moments. UK-based distributor BossaNova Media is selling the show, which is made by local factual prodco Like A Shot Entertainment.

The last three historical shows on the list all focus on people, with the first being The Greatest of All Time With Photographer Walter Iooss, offered by Cineflix Rights. In the intimate three-parter, Iooss looks back on his career and some of the most iconic shots he has taken of stars Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and others. Originally made for US sports network ESPN, the show first aired in March this year.

French distributor GAD is offering Louis Blériot: The Impossible Crossing, a film telling the story of the pioneer who set the course of aviation by flying across the English Channel in 1909. The feature is made by Grand Angle Productions in collaboration with French network TV5Monde and Franco-German channel Arte.

Last to be immortalised is ‘The Greatest’ himself, Muhammad Ali, in a new four-part series from Ken Burns, his daughter Sarah and her husband David McMahon. Using archive footage and testimony from those who knew him best, the series covers up to Ali’s iconic defeat of George Foreman to become world champion. The miniseries, titled simply Muhammad Ali, debuted on US channel PBS in September and is on sale from PBS International.

Another icon to be featured in their own documentary is pop star Janet Jackson, in a two-hour documentary set to premiere on US channel Lifetime and on A&E elsewhere in January to coincide with the 40th anniversary of her first album. The film, titled Janet, features interviews with Mariah Carey and Paula Abdul and is made by A+E Networks. Janet and her brother Randy Jackson both exec produce the film.

As well as history, some titles in this month’s Hot Properties playlist focus on the present day. With Angela Merkel having finished her term as Germany’s chancellor last month, Carte Blanche International has made a drama based on a defining moment of her time in office: allowing a million people to seek refuge in Germany in 2015. Inspired by Robin Alexander’s book The Driven Ones, Merkel – Anatomy of a Crisis is being shopped by Bavaria Media International.

One show blending history and current affairs is The Art Dispute (8×45’), sold by Benelux indie distributor DFW International. Currently in production, the show will air in 2022 on the Netherlands’ BNNVara. The series looks at specific historical artifacts now in Western museums and asks whether they should be there at all, or if they should be returned to their pre-colonial homes.

Another doc challenging the status quo is Milked (1×90’), a feature piece from Ahimsa Films and sold by the UK’s Beyond Rights. Focusing on New Zealand’s dairy industry, activist Chris Huriwai explores how the country has gone from having almost no cows to being the largest exporter of dairy produce in the world and the issues this is bringing to the local environment.

With many parts of the world still mired in Covid uncertainty, some distributors are selling escapist factual content from exciting places. Australian pubcaster ABC’s offering is Back to Nature, a show that attempts to increase viewers’ wellbeing as well as broaden their horizons. Hosts Aaron Pedersen and Holly Ringland travel all over Australia to visit the most beautiful spots in an eight-part series made by Australia’s Escapade Media.

Italy: Made With Love, meanwhile, attempts to showcase the best of Italian craftsmanship while tourists face difficulty visiting the country and local businesses are suffering. This six-part series features local people telling their own stories and was made by Dutch prodco Off The Fence.

Another travel show is Dan & Paddy’s Bucket List, a 10-part series that sees the former bare-knuckle boxer and prostate cancer survivor Paddy Doherty take a trip to Kyushu, Japan with his co-host Daniel Coll. Both men have suffered from health problems and use the trip to open up to each other about their struggles, as well as completing difficult and entertaining challenges along the way. The series, sold by Japan’s RKB Mainichi Broadcasting, aired on Indian pay channel TravelXP at the beginning of the year.

One final factual offering is Wrecks (3×52’), sales of which are being handled by Germany’s Autentic Distribution. The miniseries follows passionate shipwreck divers on their escapades around the world, while at the same time considering the long-term impact these sunken behemoths have on the ocean and the wider world.

In the area of factual entertainment, there seems to be no end to the stream of successful formats coming out this year.

Flanders distributor Primitives has 99 To Beat, an innovative gameshow that rewards contestants not for being the best but simply not being the worst. In each round, one out of 100 contestants – the one who performs the worst – is kicked out. The format has been sold into Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany and has spawned both kids’ and celebrity versions.

Eight-part adventure reality show Ultimate Escape, meanwhile, is due to air on October 6 on new SVoD platform Discovery+. Commissioned by Discovery Finland, the show pits a celebrity against a series of clues that give them 24 hours to solve a puzzle and find a celebrity locked up in a secret location. The series is distributed by Finland’s Rabbit Films.

One fact ent show on the list is sure to give viewers a much-needed lift after not being able to travel for so long. Kiwi series Reunited sees Alex Gilbert, an adopted orphan from Russia who grew up in New Zealand, track down his birth family in Northern Russia, including his father, who he didn’t know existed. After posting the meeting on Facebook, he is suddenly inundated with messages from adoptees all over the world looking for support. In this six-part series sold by global distributor Parade Media Group, Gilbert attempts to help six adoptees like himself reconnect with their birth families. The series is made by London prodco Stripe Media and aired on Kiwi pubcaster TVNZ.

In the only culinary offering on this month’s menu, Farm To Feast: Best Menu Wins celebrates the very best of farm-to-table food. In the competition, seven chefs go up against each other to try to delight viewers the most with their locally sourced produce. Originally shown on UK public broadcaster BBC1, the show is behing handled by Sony Pictures Television Formats.

Nowadays a Hot Properties list wouldn’t be complete without high-quality scripted crime content, and October is no exception. Ben Richards, creator of smash BBC crime series Bodyguard and Vigil, has been working on Showtrial, an upcoming 6×60’ BBC series that shows what happens when a trial is consumed by a media frenzy. When the spoiled daughter of a businesswoman is accused after a less well-off girl disappears, both sides of the case battle to find out what really happened to the victim. Global sales are handled by the UK’s ITV Studios.

Another high-end drama is La Fortuna (6×45’), starring Stanley Tucci and directed by Oscar winner Alejandro Aménabar. Produced by Spanish streamer Movistar+ in collaboration with AMC Studios, the show premiered on the Spanish platform on September 30. In it, a group of law enforcers are tasked with retrieving a shipwreck that has been stolen by an underwater pirate (Tucci). Beta Film is distributing.

Another Spanish series is Operación Marea Negra, in which a group of three amateur drug smugglers attempt to cross the Atlantic in a submersible with kilos of cocaine while avoiding the authorities. Available on SVoD platform Amazon Prime Video and inspired by real events, the show is the first Spanish-language series to be acquired by distributor eOne.

Relationship drama is en vogue for October, with Estonian series Divorce In Peace (10×28’) featuring on the playlist. The dramedy is a relatable look at the breakdown of a modern marriage and aired in 2019. It is being sold by India’s GoQuest Media and was made by Estonia’s Eesti TV, and has also been adapted in Latvia.

Another relationship show, from Germany’s Studio Hamburg Enterprises, is My Husband’s Wife, in which a widow whose husband has just passed away from a stroke has to deal with his other wife and mother of his child when they show up to grieve. Based on the book of the same name by Jane Corry, the series is produced by London’s Big Talk Productions.

Another series with a heavy female presence is Japanese show 7 Secretaries, from local broadcaster TV Asahi. Fed up with their bosses turning the other cheek to inequality, seven personal assistants decide to use their bosses’ money and status to help the less fortunate.

Finally, another show addressing female issues is List of a Lifetime, on sale via LA’s Marvista Entertainment. A breast cancer diagnosis becomes an opportunity for the show’s protagonist to reconnect with the daughter she gave away for adoption as they plan her bucket list together.

With the enduring popularity of ‘the beautiful game,’ Germany’s ZDF Enterprises is bringing a football series to market. Following a 17-year-old wunderkind footballer, The Window (10×45’) begins in the English football league’s summer transfer window, with the protagonist sought after by many clubs. The series is coproduced by ZDF Enterprises and Japan’s Fuji TV.

Finally in drama, apocalyptic series Blackout: Tomorrow Is Too Late explores what happens when Europe’s power grid shuts down and a former hacker realises he was responsible for the problem 20 years ago. Germany’s Red Arrow Studios International is handling distribution.

Five kids’ shows also feature on the Hot Properties slate for October. Australian show First Day attempts to help kids through back-to-school nerves by following a 12-year-old girl’s first day at high school. The series is for sale via the Australian Children’s Television Foundation.

Another school series is Dodo, an animated show based on the short toon Not The End of The World and made by Bristol’s Wildseed Studios. Again, the show depicts the awkward and sometimes humiliating world of school life and is sold by global kids’ distributor Cake.

Next up is Chinese kids’ animation Rainbow Bubblegem (52×11’), which centres on seven mermaid princesses who live the life under the sea. One day, they have to go on to dry land to save their kingdom from an evil witch. The show first featured on Chinese streamer Tencent Video and has also been bought in South Korea. Tencent Video holds distribution rights.

Another quest continues with The New Legends of Monkey season two, which is based on 1970s Japanese live-action series Monkey. The new Australian-Kiwi show is available on Netflix and sees the monk Monkey and his friends travel the world to collect seven sacred scrolls and save their world. The live-action series is being sold by Serious Kids and backed by Australia’s Screen NSW.

Pip & Posy (52×7’) is an animation shown from the UK’s Channel 5 about two best friends who learn through playing together. The show is on offer from the UK’s Magic Light Pictures, also known for its work with The Gruffalo franchise.

Last but not least, Mechamato (26×22’) is an animated show to be released in December. The series, made by Malaysia’s Animonsta Studios, is about a shy and creative boy called Amato who combines with a robot to form the eponymous hero Mechamato. Kids’ distributor Jetpack is selling the show worldwide.

Enjoy the Hot Properties playlist for October 2021!

As we race through 2021 and find ourselves in October, producers and distributors from all over the world are offering fresh new scripted and unscripted shows this fall season. Below is C21 Digital Screenings’ selection of Hot Properties for this month.

This month’s list is overwhelmingly dominated by factual content. One development since September has been the number of modern history titles on offer, with no fewer than eight on October’s list.

First up is true crime series A Sinister Sect: Colonia Dignidad, a six-part Netflix documentary from German distributor LooksFilm. The series follows the chilling tale of Paul Schafer, a German preacher who became one of the most influential people in Chile during Pinochet’s dictatorship, all while running his own sect in Santiago for 40 years before being brought down by his former victims.

Another documentary shining a light on lesser-known areas of society is Secrets of Playboy, due to be released early next year by A+E Global Content Sales. The show features testimony from former members and patrons of Hugh Hefner’s empire and views the behind-the-scenes antics at Playboy through a modern lens.
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