Passion Distribution Closes New Raft of Sales

Passion Distribution has completed a raft of international sales for five titles from its documentary and entertainment slate.

Dinosaur with Steven Fry, telling the chronological story of dinosaurs’ 185 million years on Earth, was acquired by RTL in Germany, FTV Prima in the Czech Republic, Telefonica in Spain and SBS in Australia, with further sales to a pan-regional Asian channel and a Japanese network in the works. The four-part series was originally produced by Mentorn Media for Channel 5.

Engineering Reborn, produced by Pioneer Productions for Passion Distribution, was picked up by Channel in the U.K., Discovery in Spain, RTL in the Netherlands, UR in Sweden, TVNZ in New Zealand and SBS in Australia. Over eight episodes, the series explores the challenges behind the transformation of engineering marvels of the past into icons of the future.

MTV3 (Finland), TV4 (Sweden), DPG (Belgium), Foxtel (Australia) and Videotron (French-speaking Canada) bought the ten-part series Men of West Hollywood, following six well-known male socialites and their boyfriends and girlfriends as they live, work and party in West Hollywood. It is produced by Get Me Out Productions and originally streamed on Crackle in the U.S.

The documentary Afghanistan: No Country for Women, which won Grierson and Rose D’Or Awards, was acquired by Channel 8 in Israel, Yle in Finland, TV2 in Norway, SVT in Sweden and Telefonica in Spain. It exposes the reality of life for women under Taliban rule in Afghanistan, as British-Iranian correspondent Ramita Navai investigated the Taliban’s treatment of women over six months.

Lastly, Passion Distribution sold Elizabeth: A Life Through the Lens to Channel 4 in the U.K., History Channel in Germany, Axess TV in Sweden and True Royalty in the U.S. Produced by Unity House, it explores Queen Elizabeth II’s relationship with the camera using rarely seen film and photographs to chart how her image changed through her seven decades as queen.