Breakthrough Closes Deals for Factual Programs

TORONTO, May 20:
Breakthrough Entertainment has sold more than 500 hours of its factual
programming throughout the U.K., Canada, Europe, Asia and South Africa.

In lifestyle fare, Manic
Organic was picked up by
broadcasters in Hungary, Russia, Israel and South Africa. The 13×30-minute
program, produced for HGTV and Life Network, is also airing on Discovery Home
& Leisure in the U.S. and BBC Food. Design Match, which has been sold to Fine Living Channel and
HGTV, has been licensed to South Africa and Kuwait. Season one of Plastic
Makes Perfect, produced for Slice
Network in Canada, was acquired in Israel and by Polsat in Poland. The
525×30-minute program What’s for Dinner has been sold to Russia.

The medical drama series Little
Miracles, which was previously
licensed in more than 180 territories, has been sold to broadcasters in Sweden, the Middle East and Korea.
The hour-long historical/war series The Secret Liberators was picked up in Russia, while Uganda Rising was sold to the History Channel in the U.K.

Entertainment series
scoring sales include Crime Stories,
sold to Teleset in Germany and TV4 in Sweden as well as broadcasters in Turkey
and Poland; Disasters of the Century, acquired by broadcasters in Greece and Turkey; Outdoor Journal, sold into Russia, Turkey and the Middle East; and
Very Odd Jobs, which has been
licensed in Turkey. War of the Wheels has been licensed to Discovery in Germany, along with broadcasters in
Russia and Canada, and Europa Mystery of the Ice Moon has been licensed in Germany.

“Our
efforts coming out of MIPTV 2008 have shown unparalleled growth for
Breakthrough’s original productions and our third-party acquisitions
initiative,” said Tanya Kelen, the head of distribution at Breakthrough. “We
are actively growing this division to meet our broadcasters’ increased appetite
for factual programming.”

—By
Kristin Brzoznowski