MetFilm Sales takes Meat the Future

London-based MetFilm Sales has acquired the world sales rights, excluding Canada, for Liz Marshall’s Meat the Future.

The feature-length documentary, which premiered at Hot Docs ’20, looks at ‘cultivated meat,’ a food science that grows real meat from animal cells. Cardiologist Dr. Uma Valeti, the co-founder and CEO of Memphis Meats, is one of the leaders in the field, and the film follows him over three years as the industry evolves. In 2016, a meatball cost US$18,000 per pound, while in 2017 the world’s first “clean” chicken fillet was half the cost.

The deal was negotiated between MetFilm’s Vesna Cudic and Marshall.

Meat the Future will be at the upcoming Cannes virtual market.

Cineflix Rights pre-sells Killer Cases to UK, EMEA

Cineflix Rights, Law&Crime Productions and Justice Network U.S. have partnered on a newly greenlit crime series Killer Cases (pictured), which already has pre-sales to A+E Networks Crime + Investigation channels across the globe.

The 10 x one-hour series comes from Live PD host and executive producer Dan Abrams’ shingle, Law&Crime Productions, and examines the twists and turns of America’s most chilling murder trials. It features police officers, forensic experts, witnesses and defendants to tell the story.

The distributor has pre-sold the series to Crime + Investigation channels across its EMA territories, including the UK, Africa, Italy, Iberia, Germany, and Poland. In Africa, the series will air under the title Murder Masterminds.

Investigative reporters Brian Ross and Rhonda Schwratz serve as executive producers.

The deal was negotiated by Cineflix’s Felicia Litovitz, VP of acquisitions for North America, while the pre-sale to A+E Networks was brokered by Kelly Hornsby, head of acquisitions for UK & International at A+E Networks, and Cineflix Rights’ Sandra Piha, SVP of sales for pan-regional UK, Eire and Scandinavia.

Beyond Distribution sells over 400 hours to streamers 

Indie television distributor Beyond Distribution has secured more than 400 hours of digital sales deals with SVOD and AVOD platforms across its factual titles.

The recently launched Roku Channel UK has acquired MythBusters seasons five and six, while New York-based film acquisition and distribution company Filmrise picks up seasons one through eight of the MythBusters franchise.

Filmrise has also acquired seasons one through five of the Discovery series Deadly Women (58 x 60-minutes).

Digital content studio and broadcaster Little Dot Studios, meanwhile, has taken a package of 28.5 hours, which includes the BBC doc Jane Austen: Behind Closed Doors, while Endemol Shine Group has bought a package of 100 hours, which includes Animal 999 seasons one through five and You Should Really See a Doctor seasons one to three, for its AVOD channels Fresh Lifestyle and Reel Truth.

The deals were negotiated on behalf of Beyond Distribution by Zoe Allen , VP of sales for Central Eastern Europe, Benelux, Israel, AVoD and Inflight, and Munia Kanna-Konsek, head of sales.

Earth Touch expands history slate 

Factual entertainment producer-distributor Earth Touch has acquired two documentaries, The Iran Iraq War and Burning Sky. 

The company holds global rights, excluding Arabic and Farsi languages, for OR Media’s The Iran Iraq War, a four-part 50-minute documentary series. It features newly discovered front-line archive footage and first-hand testimony from soldiers from both sides of the conflict, private photo collections, personal recollections, expert historians and government insiders.

Earth Touch, meanwhile, will represent Burning Sky for global distribution. The one-off special from filmmaker Hans Rosenwinkel through his Evolution Media company, features exclusive access to recently de-classified footage and witness testimony on the landmark nuclear tests in Bikini atoll over 60 years ago.