A German-Irish coproduced docudrama about the ordeal of the engineers who battled to save the Titanic has been sold to broadcasters in the US, UK and Ireland.
Saving the Titanic (1×90’/2×50′) is coproduced by Dublin-based factual specialist Tile Films and German documentary maker Gebrüder Beetz Filmproduktion.
The show is distributed by ZDF Enterprises and has been picked up by Irish broadcaster RTÉ, History in the UK and US pubcaster PBS.
The programme is a dramatic interpretation of the ship’s final hours told from the point of view of the engineers in the boiler room who battled to keep it afloat.
Keith Farrell, the programme’s writer, director and coproducer, and Stephen Rooke, MD of Tile Films, confirmed broadcast details on the final day of History Makers International in New York on Friday.
PBS will air the programme on April 1 at 22.00 and again on April 10 at 21.00. RTÉ will show the full 90-minute version on Tuesday April 12, after the 21.00 news, and History will air it a day later in the UK.
April 15 marks the 100th anniversary of the ship’s sinking en route from the UK to New York on its maiden voyage, killing 1,517 passengers and crew.
Programmes on the disaster are expected to be in high demand around the anniversary, and in related news Italian producer and distributor De Angelis has signed up to sell Titanic: Blood and Steel, a miniseries from Tandem Communications.
The 12×60′ US$30m series is a drama set in Belfast in 1907 and focuses on the people who built the biggest cruise liner of its time. The cast includes Neve Campbell (Scream) and Kevin Zegers (Gossip Girl, Transamerica).
De Angelis Group is coproducing the series with Rai Italy, LA-based 3 Arts, CBC in Canada, Artists Studio in the UK, Tandem Communications, Epos Films in Ireland and Antena 3 in Spain.
Artists Studio holds the rights for the UK and Ireland and CBC Canadian rights.
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