Category: Factual

  • Go Button strikes slate deal with Autentic and Super Channel for new series

    Toronto-based prodco Go Button Media has struck a new slate deal with factual distributor and producer Autentic and Super Channel, Go Button’s long-standing Canadian broadcast partner, for the delivery of six series, each six hours long, over the next three years.

    According to a release announcing the deal, the agreement is intended to encourage cost efficiencies in production and operations while ensuring that the budget stays on screen, guaranteeing an effective and creative pipeline for all three partners. The deal will leverage Go Button’s expertise in producing science, wildlife, history and engineering content while also capitalizing on Autentic’s experience in both the editorial development and international distribution of factual content. 

    The first greenlit title under the deal is Secrets of Ancient Structures (pictured, 6 x 60 min.), which examines some of the most remarkable achievements by ancient civilizations, from huge medieval fortresses to deep crypts and catacombs. The series will seek to dispel myths and unravel mysteries by piecing together clues from modern science and ancient artifacts. 

    Secrets of Ancient Structures will deliver in summer 2025, with Autentic handling international distribution outside of Canada.

    Read more on Realscreen

  • BossaNova Media Orders More Mysteries Of The Ancient Dead

    BossaNova Media Orders More Mysteries Of The Ancient Dead

    BossaNova Media has greenlit a second six-hour season of Go Button Media’s Mysteries of the Ancient Dead.

    The new season will feature three stories in each episode that reveal ancient civilizations’ attitudes toward death. It will cover the Nubian mini pyramids in Sudan, which allowed common people to be buried like pharaohs; the hanging burials of the Igorot tribe in Sagada in the Philippines, where coffins have been mounted in vertical graveyards for thousands of years; and more.

    It will also explore the ancient Kurgan burial mounds for the rider-nomads of the Russian steppe and the cave child burials in Makpan, Indonesia, which involve strange post-mortem rituals.

    The second season sees Canadian partner Super Channel return as commissioning broadcaster. BossaNova Media handles international distribution outside of Canada. The new season is set for delivery later in 2024.

    “BossaNova’s first commission was Mysteries of the Ancient Dead back in 2022, as we could see that Go Button understood how to make it look top class, execute on time and on budget,” said Paul Heaney, CEO of BossaNova. “Second time around, we’re looking forward to more of the same! The team at Go Button is a polished operation that we trust.”

    Daniel Oron, co-founder and executive producer at Go Button Media, commented,

    “With its compelling combination of science, mystery and ancient history, Mysteries of the Ancient Dead proved an extremely popular series and sold to many broadcasters, including ZDF in Germany and A+E Networks in the U.K. We thoroughly enjoy collaborating with Paul and the BossaNova team, and with science and history such established sweet spots for Go Button, we are thrilled to get this green light for a second season. BossaNova has fast gained a reputation for creating premium originals with wide-ranging appeal, so we are excited to produce additional content for its growing slate and proud to call them a partner.”

    “Mysteries of the Ancient Dead has been a strong addition to our factual slate, and we had no hesitation in bringing another season of this compelling series to our viewers as part of our ongoing partnership with Go Button Media,” added Kim Ball, chief content officer at Super Channel. “Go Button consistently delivers high-quality, intriguing content, and this new season is sure to be no exception.”

    Read more on Worldscreen.com.

  • ZDF Studios, Super Channel co-order space series from Go Button

    ZDF Studios, Super Channel co-order space series from Go Button

    Factual title Into the Universe: The Secrets of the Cosmos Uncovered marks Go Button’s first commission from Germany’s ZDF Studios.
    ZDF - Into the Universe

    German prodco and distributor ZDF Studios and Super Channel have
    co-commissioned the factual series Into the Universe: The Secrets of the Cosmos Uncovered from Toronto’s Go Button Media.

    The 8 x 52-minute series aims to unravel the mysteries of the universe, exploring perplexing questions with the help of astronomers, engineers, astrophysicists and philosophers, and marks Go Button’s first commission from ZDF Studios.

    Utilizing expert commentary, cutting-edge science and CGI, the show will delve into cosmic conundrums that have puzzled brilliant minds for decades, covering topics such as the size and shape of the universe, supernovas, the origins of life on Earth and the possibility of extraterrestrial life. The series will be produced in 4K.

    Read more on playbackonline.ca

  • Autentic, Super Channel commission Colossal Weapons, S2 of Deadly Science

    Autentic, Super Channel commission Colossal Weapons, S2 of Deadly Science

    German producer, distributor and FAST channel operator Autentic and Canada’s Super Channel have commissioned a factual series called Colossal Weapons from Toronto-based Go Button Media, in addition to a second season of Deadly Science.

    Colossal Weapons is a six-part series exploring the technological developments that have propelled wartime success. Using exclusive archival footage, 4K CGI and expert interviews, the series travels the world to explore its most striking weaponry, war machines and combat technology, observing the engineering found under the hood and how it measures up against competition in the field.

    Deadly Science, meanwhile, explores the work of the innovators and incredible minds that have pursued progress, at any price. Each episode brings together three stories of people in a similar field, who lost their lives in the name of scientific advancement.

    The second 6×60’ season features Rosalind Franklin, who discovered DNA’s double helix and used X-ray diffraction to capture it on camera, but then later succumbed to ovarian cancer from the radiation; Carl Wilhelm Scheele, who discovered seven new chemical elements, unaware that some, like cyanide and arsenic, came with deadly side effects; and American industrialist William Bullock, who died of gangrene after having his legs crushed by the machine that made the mass printing of newspapers possible for the very first time.

    Both series will deliver in 2024, with international distribution, excluding Canada, handled by Autentic Distribution.

    Read more on C21Media.net.

  • Off the Fence Closes History Slate Sales

    Off the Fence Closes History Slate Sales

    The international distribution arm of the factual content specialist Off the Fence (OTF) has closed a string of sales with broadcasters and platforms around the world for its history-based catalog.

    ZDFinfo and Sky Germany have acquired Cursed Histories, which is the second project to be launched internationally from OTF’s six-series factual partnership with Canada’s Super Channel and Go Button Media. The series explores puzzling and unnerving locations, icons and events that are seemingly cursed.

    Read more at Worldscreen.com.

  • TBI: Sky, C4, A+E, CBS & UKTV close BossaNova UK factual deals

    TBI: Sky, C4, A+E, CBS & UKTV close BossaNova UK factual deals

    UK broadcasters Sky, Channel 4, A+E, CBS and UKTV have picked up a range of factual content following deals with distributor BossaNova Media.

    Channel 4 has picked up two titles from BossaNova’s history slate including Go Button Media’s Castle Secrets.

    A+E Networks’ UK service has picked up Mysteries of the Ancient Dead from Go Button Media.

    Read more at TBIVision.com.