Factual Fare Delivers for Parthenon at MIPCOM

LONDON, November 4:
Parthenon Factual scored record sales at this year's MIPCOM, including RTE
scooping up a package of wildlife films.

The 90-minute feature Knut and Friends sold to Japan and
France 5, while Rivers & Life went
to Films Media Group in the U.S. The classic natural history series Two Worlds was picked up by Readers
Digest Canada and VRT Belgium also took on a package of series.

Sales were also strong for
Russia and Eastern Europe. TVR Romania signed up for a package that includes Rivers & Life, Dogs that Changed the World, Killer
Jellyfish, Mystery Skulls of Palau and
Kimono. TVN International Poland
acquired 16 hours of wildlife fare and Inter TV Ukraine licensed Planet Wild, Untamed Europe and Legends of
Santa. RTV Slovenija also took on a package of titles, including Bandits of Selous. In Russia, Studio U7
re-licensed Sea Hunters and SeaScope, while Red Media Group bought
up a large package for 2009.

An IPTV deal was secured
with Cyta Telecommunications Cyprus for some 100 hours. Parthenon Factual also
closed a 100-hour output deal with Skai TV Greece. DVD licenses were signed
with FilmExport in the Czech Republic renewing The Celts, Egypt and Saints and Sinners, and a number of DVD
sales, including Sport Science and Rivers & Life, were made to ABC
Australia.

Christine von Preyss, the head of Parthenon Germany, also announced a
cooperation in Latin America with Autentic Films. Preyss commented, "Our
German productions are proving best-sellers worldwide, especially series such
as Ultimate Journeys and How Does it Work? This global
interest confirms that content from Germany is topical and relevant to the
international marketplace, but that producing international versions for these
shows often still is essential, and Parthenon has established a great
reputation for re-versioning our shows."

Peter Pas, the commercial
director for factual programming at Parthenon, added, "The fall-out of the
financial crisis has had a positive effect on business. People will watch more
TV, but the channels need completed programs,
rather than risk expensive new commissions. This perfectly suits our financing
model and the new programs proved a big hit,
with record screener requests and another output deal with a commercial
channel."

—By Kristin
Brzoznowski