EXCLUSIVE: Israel’s Keshet International (KI) has struck its latest co-development deal, a partnership with British presenter Bettany Hughes‘ indie SandStone Global.
The deal will see both outfits co-develop shows including two premium ancient history documentary series – Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and Vikings – both of which will be presented by the award-winning historian and presenter who also runs SandStone.
Headquartered in London, SandStone has made a wealth of history docs mainly for British broadcasters and mainly helmed by Hughes, including the likes of Bettany Hughes’ Treasures of the World and Bettany Hughes’ Grand Tour: From Paris to Rome. She launched the company with Ruth Sessions, Nigel Gardner, Ed Richards and Peter Guilford.
Based on Hughes’ book, Seven Wonders of the Ancient World follows in the footsteps of the very first tourists, travelling between these marvels of human ingenuity as the ancients once did. In the four-part historical docu-series Vikings, she sets out to discover more about the greatest warriors in human history.
The move comes following Keshet signing a similar deal with Arthur Essebag’s Satisfaction for non-scripted formats. Last year, the Israeli major launched its Greenlight: Factual & Formats commissioning initiative, which has seen a duo of straight-to-series factual orders in Perpetual Entertainment’s Hitler’s Treasure Hunters and Woodcut Media’s Catch Me If You Can.
KI Distribution MD Kelly Wright said the SandStone deal is “another exciting example of how we’re working more collaboratively with independent producers.”
“By coming on board at an earlier stage to co-develop premium docuseries like Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and Vikings, we not only help producers get their best ideas commissioned and on-air, we’re also curating an ongoing pipeline of high-quality factual content for our international buyers,” she added.
SandStone MD Dixi Stewart said the move is “perfectly timed.”
The deal has been unveiled at MIPTV in Cannes.