Nutopia Commissioned for HISTORY, C4 Doc About Bin Laden Killing

LONDON/WASHINGTON: Jane Root’s Nutopia has been tapped to produce a new documentary about the killing of Osama bin Laden for HISTORY in the U.S. and Channel 4 in the U.K., with BBC Worldwide already scoring presales for the project.

The doc is called Targeting Bin Laden in the U.S., where it will air on HISTORY on September 6 in the run up to the tenth anniversary of 9/11. In the U.K., the docudrama is titled Bin Laden: Shoot to Kill, to air on Channel 4 on September 7. The film details the U.S.’s plan to find and destroy Bin Laden. It also features U.S. president Barack Obama’s first documentary interview on the subject.

BBC Worldwide has concluded four presales of Targeting Bin Laden to Canada, New Zealand, Norway and Australia. Discovery Canada, Prime in New Zealand, NRK in Norway and ABC in Australia have all picked up the show from BBC Worldwide, which holds the international distribution rights outside the U.S., Latin America and U.K.

History International has taken a second window from BBC Worldwide in territories where it broadcasts. Root, Nutopia’s founder and former BBC Two controller and former Discovery U.S. president, is executive producing. The doc is directed by Bruce Goodison and produced by Phil Craig.

Root commented, “Everyone wanted this story and we are delighted to have the opportunity to tell it the Nutopia way. Targeting Bin Laden encapsulates extremely detailed journalism and high intensity drama told with Hollywood energy and élan. Nutopia is able to attract first class talent and we were very pleased to secure Bruce Goodison on this project. Phil Craig’s reputation for creating big international contemporary programming is second to none and this film is an immersive drama documentary of the highest order. When we launched Nutopia two years ago we were determined to create programming that was different, big and bold and this is another example of us achieving our goal.”

Mark Reynolds, the director of factual for independents at BBC Worldwide, added: “We’re sure that this latest offering from the EMMY-award winning producers Nutopia will fascinate international audiences. The combination of exclusive interviews, original sources and dramatic reconstruction makes this the definitive documentary about one of the most significant covert operations in recent times.”