All the latest news from the global content industry on Friday, 11 September

 

World Congress lines up Nat Geo exec

National Geographic’s Tom McDonald has been lined up to headline World Congress of Science and Factual Producers (WCSFP) 2026.

McDonald, executive vice president of content at Disney-owned Nat Geo, will join this year’s Congress in Tallinn for a fireside chat exploring how factual storytelling is evolving beyond the traditional confines of the genre.

The exec will explore how unscripted storytelling is expanding beyond formats and how ideas can evolve as they move across mediums.

World Congress of Science & Factual Producers 2026 will take place 9-12 November in Tallinn, Estonia.

 

Rainmaker lands Crash Course drama

UK distributor Rainmaker Content has acquired international distribution rights to restaurant drama Crash Course (aka Casse-Gueule), which airs on Bell Media streamer Crave.

The show is from Montreal-based Duo Productions and was part-financed by Rainmaker in collaboration with German production company Bravado Equity.

S2 of the 8 x 60 series, which rolled out in Feburary on Crave, is in production and slated for delivery in spring 2027.

The show centres on a visionary chef who risks everything to open his own restaurant. However, his life is turne dupside down when his estranged 18-year-old daughter comes back into his life.

 

BBC offers £20m for Silent Witness tender

The BBC has set aside more than £20m to produce two fresh series of long-running forensic crime drama Silent Witness.

It was revealed in July that the BBC Studios-produced BBC1 show will go out to competitive tender after 30 years and 29 series.

The invitation to tender doc, published on Thursday (10 September), asks for two series of 10 episodes, airing from early 2029, with the option to extend the contract for a further two years. Each series will have a licence fee budget of just over £1m per episode, or £10.8m in total, meaning £21.6m will be available across the two runs.

This is the second biggest budget for a BBC in-house programme yet, following Holby City which went out to tender in 2016 with a budget of £50m over three years. BBC Studios won the contract the following year. Read more

 

 

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