GRB Studios Inks Raft of Deals in Africa

GRB Studios has closed multiple deals in Africa, including one that sees the latest season of Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter headed to the South African pay-TV channel M-Net.

M-Net also acquired a package of holiday films, including A Christmas Blessing, Second Chance Christmas, You Can’t Fight Christmas, Coins for Christmas, Miss Me This Christmas and The Christmas Swap. Additionally, M-Net also took the scripted comedy Love That Girl, originally produced for TV One, about the life and times of a dynamic young woman who wreaks either havoc or harmony, depending on her mood.

Two true-crime series were also sold into Africa. A&E picked up several seasons of On the Case for its African audience. The real-life series explores murder mysteries through in-depth interviews with those closest to the case and the latest forensic methods. Canal+ took celebrity-focused Stalker Files for French-speaking Africa. The series tells the chilling tales behind celebrity stalking cases involving Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow, Steven Spielberg and others.

CBS Chellozone acquired, for Africa and the Middle East, seasons one through three of the competitive-entertainment series Auction Kings, as well as a special; Blackstar TV (aka African Business Channel) took Living by Design, in which brother and sister duo Jake and Jazz Smollett team up to transform the living, work and play spaces of millennial families.

My Channel renewed two factual series, My First Home, taking viewers along as couples experience the trials and tribulations of owning their first home, and Wildlife Docs, following extraordinary veterinarians who save exotic wild animals.

“GRB Studios has enjoyed a strong presence in Africa for many years and these deals represent some of our reach,” said Sarah Coursey, senior VP of international at GRB Studios. “The region is very important to GRB as we see major growth potential here. Liz Levenson will be representing us at DISCOP JoBurg to continue fostering our relationships with African broadcasters and producers and we look forward to announcing even more deals in the near future.”