The Media Pioneers scores deals with Alibaba and Youku 

BBC1’s Tom Hardy drama Taboo has been picked up by two Chinese online platforms in a pair of deals by London-based UK-China firm The Media Pioneers.

Multinational online retailer Alibaba will feature Scott Free/Hardy Son and Baker’s eight-parter on its platform, while streaming service Youku will offer it to its 500 million monthly active users from this month.

The Media Pioneers sold the series to both platforms alongside New Zealand children’s properties The Moe Show (104 x 11 minute series and a 27 x 23-minute series) and Pop Up (42 x 3-minutes).

The company specialises in co-producing, financing and distributing scripted, non-scripted and children’s programming for the international marketplace, with a particular focus on China. Other UK dramas it has sold into China include Hillbilly Films’ ITV crime series The Level.

Taboo co-producer Sonar Entertainment handles sales of the drama for the rest of the world, with deals completed in countries including Spain, Portugal, Greece, the Nordic territories, Russia, Turkey, the Americas and the Caribbean.

A second series is currently in the works for BBC1 and FX.

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