TVF International Closes Raft of Deals in France

The London-based distributor TVF International has sold over 100 hours of specialist factual content to broadcasters in France.

ARTE picked up the Matchlight-produced Empires of Silver (3×60 min.), a series that journeys from the 16th century to the present day, exploring how silver has shaped global history from the Americas to the Far East. It is slated to air in the Sunday night prime-time slot. The Franco-German broadcaster also snapped up the rights to the BAFTA-winning one-off Basquiat: Rage to Riches.

France TV licensed the tenth season of The World From Above (14×26 min.) to sit alongside the previous nine seasons, as well as Thailand From Above (2×60 min.), Vietnam From Above (1×60 min.) and Laos From Above (1×60 min.). FOX Voyage also licensed aerials from the distributor, including the 4×60-minute Aerial Asia—which features India, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia—as well as the two-parter Korea From Above.

The cable operator Planete+ licensed Smart Cities (8×23 min.), PBS’s one-off Extreme Realities and the David Attenborough-narrated four-parter Wild City, produced by Singapore-based Beach House Pictures. RMC Découverte picked up the Blink Films-produced Classic Car Rescue (14×60 min.).

Meanwhile at TF1, Histoire licensed several history and arts titles, including Channel 4’s Jesus’ Female Disciples (1×47 min.), BBC’s The Man Who Shot Tutankhamun (1×60 min.), Channel NewsAsia’s The Asian Century (8×48 min.) and China on Film (2×48 min.), as well as the NHK and British Museum co-pro Hokusai: Old Man Crazy to Paint (1×59 min.).

Ushuaia secured a package of wildlife and science titles, including the 26×45-minute The Snake Master, produced by Thailand’s TV Burabha and re-versioned for the international market by TVF; the natural history one-off Rise of the Great White Shark; Discovery- and UKTV-commissioned Frontier Borneo (10×23 min.); and the space one-off Voyage of Curiosity.

Harriet Armston-Clarke, director of TVF International, commented: “France has long since been at the heart of our programming, co-pro and sales strategy, and it’s great to see that the appetite for high-quality specialist factual remains as strong as ever. Collaborating with our fantastic French TV partners on co-pros, pre- and completed-content sales really is one of the highlights of the job!”