French TV rights firm Banijay Group has signed a first-look development deal with British producer John Osborne and his Touchdown Films.
The first project under the new agreement will be the one-off documentary Apollo 8: The Mission That Changed the World on the first manned mission to the moon. The archive-driven doc will deliver in time for the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 8 mission in December 2018.
As part of the development deal, announced Wednesday, Banijay and Touchdown will work to develop and produce factual series in the history, crime and celebrity genres. The two companies said they already have several projects in development at U.S. and U.K. networks.
“Working with Touchdown Films has given us a really exciting opportunity to develop programs, which we believe will have broad international appeal — especially those linked to landmark events and anniversaries,” said Emily Elisha, head of factual at Banijay’s licensing division Banijay Rights. “Touchdown’s John Osborne has renowned expertise in unearthing previously unseen archive. Add to that his ability to secure strong contributors who can speak personally about the events featured and we believe we have a winning formula.”
Osborne is a veteran TV producer specializing in primetime television documentaries. He directed 2009’s Hillsborough Remembered, which became the most-watched U.K. documentary for the History Channel and produced such feature docs as Rock ‘N’ Roll Exposed for Showtime and The Story of Skinhead for Sky Arts.
Banijay, one of the world’s leading independent television production and sales companies, has been aggressively expanding its international operations of late, recently launching new production operations in Germany and Italy. Earlier this year, Banijay launched Little Wonder, a shingle for unscripted fare, in the U.K., to be run by Brit producer Claire Morrison.
