Historical Doc With A Hint of ‘Game Of Thrones’ Sold To Global Broadcasters
EXCLUSIVE: Docu-drama The Real War of Thrones: A History of Europe, produced by French/UK indie Pern..
EXCLUSIVE: Docu-drama The Real War of Thrones: A History of Europe, produced by French/UK indie Pernel Media, has closed a raft of deals across Europe, Russia and Australia. While the producers are not aligning themselves with Game of Thrones, the four-part series tells a number of stories that are as bloody as those in HBO’s epic drama.
The docu-drama charts the history of Europe through lavishly realized drama reconstruction. It tells the story of the turbulent conflicts between the French royal houses of Valois and Burgundy and their Plantagenet rivals in the UK, which lead to the Hundred Year War. Each episode of the show focuses on a different moment of the clashes, which damaged France so much that the British briefly took over rule of the country.
The doc was originally commissioned by French broadcaster France 5 before A+E Networks’ History UK ordered an English-language version fronted by historian Dan Jones. It has been sold to Foxtel’s History Channel in Australia, while Viasat World has acquired it across 29 territories in Russia, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe as well as 20 territories in Portugese-speaking and sub-Saharan Africa. Canada’s TV5 has also acquired the series for broadcast in Quebec.
The deals were struck by France TV Distribution and it follows the non-exclusive sale to streaming service CuriosityStream.
“We always envisaged The Real War of Thrones: A History of Europe as a premium docu-drama series that will travel well so we’re delighted with the sales achieved by France TV Distribution so far,” said Samuel Kissous, President of Pernel Media.
Julia Schulte, Director of Foreign Sales at France TV Distribution added, “Our commitment is to provide viewers from all around the world access to original creations and high-end content. We are pleased to work with Pernel Media and are proud to sell The Real War of Thrones: A History of Europe internationally, which has also enjoyed success on France 5. We adopted a two-beat rhythm strategy, first with presales in Australia and Canada and then a sale to Viasat World. Other deals are also in progress.”
