Cineflix Rights acquires “The History of Comedy”

International distributor Cineflix Rights has acquired The History of Comedy — a new eight-part series from Turner.

The series combines archival footage and contemporary interviews with comedy legends such as Norman Lear, Carol Burnett and Larry David. It explores what makes comedic minds tick and examines how comedy has affected the social and political landscape throughout history.

Cineflix Rights closed deals with a number of  broadcasters including: Sky Arts (UK), Discovery (Poland), Movistar+ (Spain) and YES DBS (Israel), with additional sales expected in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.

Anthony Kimble, SVP, co-production and North American acquisitions at Cineflix Rights closed the deal to acquire The History of Comedy.

“Featuring candid interviews with some of the genre’s biggest stars, The History of Comedy leaves viewers in stitches,” said Chris Bonney, CEO Rights, Cineflix Media, in a statement. “This one-of-a-kind series is already proving popular with our buyers in the international marketplace. It’s exactly the type of high-quality, stand-out programming that we’ll be looking to acquire more of as we attend Realscreen West.”

The CNN Original Series was executive produced by Sean Hayes and Todd Milliner (Hazy Mills) with Emmy Award winners Mark Herzog and Christopher G. Cowen (Herzog & Company).

Beyond announces pre-sales for “Escobar’s World”

Beyond Distribution has signed pre-sales with broadcasters in the U.S. and Latin America for its new documentary series about Pablo Escobar.

Escobar’s World (2 x 60) has been acquired by Comcast NBCUniversal’s Telemundo network, securing the exclusive rights to broadcast the documentary in the U.S., while History Channel Latin America has secured the cable rights to broadcast the title in Latin America.

Produced by Éric Hébert in Canada, Escobar’s World features exclusive interviews with the infamous Colombian drug lord’s son, Juan Pablo Escobar, as well as footage of Pablo Escobar with his friends, family and associates. The doc is due to launch at MIPCOM later this year.

TRT to produce Dražen Petrović doc

Turkey’s TRT World is producing a documentary about Dražen Petrović, a renowned European basketball player and a pioneer for Europeans in the NBA.

At the height of his career, Dražen tragically died in 1993 at the age of 28 in a horrific car crash

The doc, filmed by Semra Hunter, follows Petrović’s mother as she tries to find the other individuals in the car during the accident, hoping to ask about her son’s final words.

Hunter finds the woman — a Turkish-German by the name of Hilal Edebal — and brings the two together for the first time.

The 30-minute documentary will air on TRT World at 7:30 GMT on June 7 to commemorate the anniversary of Petrović’s death.