BBC Partners with BRITDOC

LONDON: BRITDOC has signed on to co-fund up to four BBC documentaries a year as part of a three-year partnership with the public broadcaster.

The co-funding and engagement strategy partnership sees BRITDOC recognizing the BBC as its exclusive U.K. broadcast partner. BRITDOC will primarily co-fund titles for the Storyville strand. The deal gives the BBC the chance to acquire TV or iPlayer rights to new and existing BRITDOC-supported projects. BRITDOC will also provide its expertise in documentary audience and community engagement. Kate Townsend, commissioning editor of Storyville, will serve as the editorial lead on the partnership.

Clare Sillery, head of commissioning for documentaries at the BBC, said: “We are very excited to be entering into this partnership with BRITDOC. The BBC has long been a home for outstanding international feature documentaries, from Blackfish to A Syrian Love Story, and we believe this new partnership will enable a great new slate of films and filmmakers to develop.”

Townsend noted, “Storyville has a proud tradition of showcasing the very best in international filmmaking and I’m delighted that we will be working with BRITDOC to develop a fantastic slate of new films for our audience.”

Jess Search, chief executive at BRITDOC, commented, “Working in partnership with the world’s leading public-service broadcaster has been a long-held ambition for BRITDOC. It’s a great honor to share our expertise with the BBC and help documentary films flourish on television, the most democratic of all visual storytelling mediums. We need great documentaries to help us understand the world now more than ever before.”