Monday round-up: Latest news, deals & hires

ZDF, Mediawan, Rai among Espresso buyers

Espresso Media International has closed a slew of factual sales, including selling Roswell: The Final Evidence and Foo Fighters to Germany’s ZDF/ZDF Enterprises.

Roswell: The Final Evidence follows Dr David Hall and his team as they investigate famous UFO stories, while Foo Fighters traces sightings of strange airborne objects from WWII to modern military tech.

Welt has also picked up alien life doc A Message to the Stars, while Rai in Italy has added Decoding Turner, which uncovers potential hidden codes in the paintings of J.M.W. Turner.

Finally, in France, Mediawan has acquired space and history programming including Off Earth, which follows the companies behind the private space race and JFK: 24 Hours that Changed the World, which tracked the final hours of John F Kennedy’s life before his assassination.

Big Media moves into movies

US-based Big Media is expanding into global movie distribution with the acquisition of a slate of feature films from Plymouth Blvd Productions.

The package includes holiday-themed films such as Cupid For Christmas, My Christmas Fiance, and Menorah in the Middle, and action films such as Hands and To get Her.

Many of the films will be first-run outside of the US, according to Big Media co-founder and president Danny Wilk, who revealed the news.

Paramount UK’s 5 revives Play For Today

LA Productions and Vertigo Films have emerged as indies behind projects in 5’s rebooted Play For Today drama strand.

The anthology drama strand, which Broadcast revealed last month, is designed to support new writers, directors and producers as well as low-income on-screen talent.

LA Productions and Vertigo Films are set to produce two hour-long episodes each.

Play For Today originally ran on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984, producing Mike Leigh’s seminal work Abigail’s Party, starring Alison Steadman. Read more

Disney enters Coven Academy

Disney Branded Television has greenlight Coven Academy, a single-camera, supernatural dramedy from Tim Federle (High School Musical: The Musical: The Series).

The show, which will premiere next year on Disney+ and Disney Channel, is set in New Orleans and follows a trio of teenage witches-in-training who are bound by destiny to guard their city against dangerous, ancient forces.

The series stars Malina Pauli Weissman (Ick), Tiffani Thiessen (90210), Malachi Barton (ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires), Louis Thresher (Boarders), Jordan Leftwich (Family Switch) and Ora Duplass (Their Town).

Federle wrote and directed the pilot, which he also executive produced alongside Kimberly McCullough and Bronwyn North-Reist, Federle’s head of creative at his Chorus Boy Productions. 

Harry King TV format snagged by Norse Key Studios

Norse Key Studios, the distribution firm launched by former YLE exec Maria Kivinen earlier this summer, has picked up global sales rights to Harry King Television’s format Curiosity.

The unscripted format is set in a shop that buys and sells collectibles and curiosities, with celebrities entering to browse products on sale. Raj Bisram and Mark Turner created the show, with Nicholas Sercombe and Ian Bailie developing the format for both digital and linear distribution.

The show has also attached Izzie Balmer (Bargain Hunt) and Bee Harford (The Travelling Auctioneers) to join presenters Raj Bisram and Henning Wehn.