Discovery’s Military Channel Adds New Nazi Series

LONDON: World Media Rights has sold the World War II history series Nazi Collaborators to Discovery’s Military Channel in the U.S. to premiere in October.

The 13×30-minute series first aired in the U.K. on Yesterday in 2010 and distributor IMG has sold it to Foxtel in Australia, Hong Kong TV, Czech Television, Discovery in Poland, YLE in Finland, ZDF Enterprises in Germany, Telecom Italia Media and across French-speaking Europe and Africa on Histoire.

Nazi Collaborators delves into details of the collaboration that occurred across Europe with the Nazis. It reveals the range of people who assisted the regime, including Chaim Rumkowski, who ran the Jewish administration in the Lodz ghetto to Quisling in Norway, the 1,600 Belgians who served in the SS and the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem.

“We have only had this program in the market since the beginning of 2011,” said Mark Young, the senior VP of IMG Entertainment. “I knew that this series would sell globally, as it’s very hard hitting but also story-driven, which is a hallmark of World Media Rights’ output. Our sales teams worked very hard on this, as they felt it would have worldwide impact—and indeed it has.”

Alan Griffiths, the CEO of World Media Rights, added, “We wanted to make Nazi Collaborators because we believed that a new generation in Europe no longer wanted just the myths of the war, but what actually happened in it. The series is heart-rending, with actual footage of Jews being marched out to trenches and shot in Latvia, filmed as holiday snaps by a German Naval Officer.”