BossaNova Media’s Development Day has done the job it was designed for. A week out from the 2026 edition, the UK distributor has confirmed that factual projects greenlit at last year’s event have now been picked up across Europe, North America and Australia.
The deals
Roman Empire by Train, Professor Alice Roberts’ fourth travelogue in search of ancient civilisations, has been acquired by SBS in Australia, Movistar in Spain, Belgium’s VRT and BBC Studios for its channels in the US, Poland and Africa.
RTL in Germany has taken Ruins: Rise & Fall, an 8×60′ historical mystery series from Like a Shot Entertainment. The series uses immersive 3D CGI to reanimate ruins at eight global locations and digitally reconstruct them.
Days That Shocked the World, from BriteSpark Films (part of Argonon Group), has gone to Novo 19 in France, Radial in the US and Sky Germany.
- Roman Empire by Train — SBS, Movistar, VRT, BBC Studios (US, Poland, Africa)
- Ruins: Rise & Fall — RTL, 8×60′
- Days That Shocked the World — Novo 19, Radial, Sky Germany
Why this tells us something
The Development Day format exists to compress the commissioning cycle: projects with international potential move from pitch to buyer conversation without the usual year-long festival route. That model is now showing up in the buyer mix. One greenlit slate has placed with public broadcasters, pay-TV channels and specialist factual brands in at least five markets.
For producers, the sub-genres travelling matter. Presenter-led ancient history, CGI spectacle and archive-driven modern history all sold quickly. Each format carries a built-in visual device that needs little localisation, which is part of why it can be acquired across territories at speed.
The 2026 edition
This Thursday’s Development Day will lean harder into brands and franchises, with briefs submitted by new US channel partners including Radial, Investigation Discovery, History Channel and Oxygen. That shifts the event’s centre of gravity toward US cable and AVOD-style factual, where franchise-able formats support long-term scheduling.
AI-powered content company Gennie Studio joins as a new sponsor, alongside returning sponsor Getty Images. An AI production outfit at the pitch table is its own signal: factual commissioners are courting tech-led, lower-cost production models.
Separately, BossaNova has hired Lavell Charlemagne as strategic operations and finance director. Charlemagne’s background includes full-time and consultancy roles at Rankin and Dazed Group.
If the pattern holds, the sellers who win at the next edition will be those treating a pitch not as a single-commission ask but as a multi-market, franchise-ready proposal. The buyers have already shown what moves.
Source: C21media
