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DOGWOOF DOCS MAKE GLOBAL BUYERS BITE LONDON-based Dogwoof, whose credentials include four Oscar- and three BAFTAwinning documentaries, reports a string of preMIPCOM sales for its Cannes headliners. Making Waves: The Art Of Cinematic Sound, which explores how sound is used in filmmaking, has been picked up for France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Israel, Finland, Japan, China, Taiwan and Yugoslavia. In addition, the airline rights have been acquired by Encore. The film, directed by Midge Costin, features sounddesign legends Walter Murch (Apocalypse Now; The Godfather), Ben Burtt (Star Wars; Raiders of The Lost Ark) and Gary Rydstrom (Saving Private Ryan; Toy Story). Also generating global interest is Richard Lowenstein’s Mystify Michael Hutchence, an intimate portrait of the INXS frontman. The documentary, which features rare archival footage of Hutchence with Kylie Minogue and Paula Yates, has been sold to Belgium, the Netherlands, Israel, Spain, Denmark and CEE, again with the airline rights taken by Encore. There have been more sales for Mark Cousins’ Women Make Film, whose narrators include Tilda Swinton, Jane Fonda and Thandie Newton. The 14-hour series has now been licensed in Finland, Sweden, Greece and Poland, with theatrical deals inked in Spain, Portugal, India, China and North America. And Watergate, directed by Oscar-winning Charles Ferguson, has been snapped up for the UK, South Africa, Norway, Denmark, Czech Republic, Poland, Spain, Canada and France. The limited series is billed as the definitive telling of the scandal that took down a presidency.
Doc Martin heads down under as DRG celebrates raft of big deals DOC MARTIN is one of many DRG titles to have been sold to broadcasters in Australia and New Zealand in the run-up to MIPCOM. The 8 x 60 mins ninth series of Buffalo Pictures’ hit medical comedy drama, which stars Martin Clunes as the irascible GP of a Cornish village, has been picked up by Australia’s ABC, which has also bought the fifth season of Rise Films’ comedy Plebs (8 x 30 mins), set in ancient Rome. SVOD platform Stan, meanwhile, has taken three series of Tracey Ullman’s Show (19 x 30 mins), in which the actor and comedian plays high-profile characters, including Angela Merkel, Melania Trump and Dame Judi Dench. Foxtel has acquired a pack of WildBear Entertainment titles, including Titans Of The 20th Century (6 x 60 mins), Jungle War (4 x 60 mins), A Royal Tour Of The 20th Century (4 x 60 mins) and Dynasties: The Families That Changed The World
(4 x 60 mins). Also headed for Foxtel is Mid Oil Pictures’ truecrime series Detectives: My Killer Case (4 x 60 mins). And Australia’s Channel Seven has acquired series six and seven of Daisybeck Studios and Motion Content Group’s The Yorkshire Vet (20 x 60 mins). Over in New Zealand, Sky has acquired new DRG titles The Art Of Architecture (10 x 60 mins) and Auction 11 (5 x 30 mins), both produced by Colo-
nial Pictures. Sky New Zealand has also picked up Handmade In The Pacific (4 x 60 mins), Oceans Apart: Art And The Pacific (3 x 60 mins), War Of Art (1 x 60 mins), Lazy Boy Garage (10 x 30 mins) and series seven and eight of Inside The Ambulance (20 x 60 mins). Remarkable Places To Eat (4 x 60 mins) has been picked up by TVNZ, while Viacom’s Comedy Central channel in has also acquired series five of Plebs.
Doc Martin (DRG)
Markuss gives GoQuest dramatic boost INDEPENDENT distributor GoQuest Media Ventures has strengthened its drama portfolio by acquiring Markuss (8 x 60
mins), a detective series from Media Group Ukraine (MGU). The series tells the story of lonely English teacher Polina Kloch-
Markuss (Media Group Ukraine)
MIPCOM News 1 • 46 • 14 October 2019
ko who, five years after her son disappeared from kindergarten, spots him in a crowd on a TV newscast. To find him, she enlists the help of ex-police officer Denis Denisov. Produced by Ukraine TV Channel (an affiliate of MGU) and Riga-based Helio media, Markuss is the first ever Latvian/Ukrainian co-production. Jimmy George, vice-president of sales and acquisitions at GoQuest Media said: “We look forward to continuing our special relationship with Media Group Ukraine, which has given us another really engrossing drama to add to our expanding catalogue.”