Keshet International has commissioned the six-part docuseries “Hitler’s Treasure Hunters” from production outfit Perpetual Entertainment(“Troppo”).
KI’s second straight-to-series factual order for international distribution, which figures into a new Greenlight: Factual & Formats commissioning initiative, the show centers Heinrich Himmler’s Das Ahnenerbe, a branch of the Nazi SS that sought religious relics and high-value international artefacts –such as the Holy Grail and Thor’s Hammer – in order to gain solid footing in the war and advance Aryan supremacy.
The show’s release next year is set to coincide with the 80thanniversary of the death of Hitler and the end of World War II.
“Keshet International’s Greenlight: Factual & Formats initiative is allowing us to find a different way of getting new content onto TV screens around the world by responding collaboratively to market needs. Perpetual Entertainment’s pitch for ‘Hitler’s Treasure Hunters’ stood out because it offers a fascinating and bizarre side note to history’s most infamous villains at a time that makes sense for broadcasters, which is why we’re fully-funding it for distribution ourselves,” Kelly Wright, MD of Distribution for Keshet, said in a statement.
“We’re delighted to be creating this series for Keshet International and audiences around the world. At Perpetual we have a love of creating specialist factual documentaries and finding ways of connecting audiences with history. As the world becomes more populist and polarized, it’s important that we reflect on the lessons that our history can teach us,” added Brendan Dahill, general manager at Perpetual Entertainment.
“Hitler’s Treasure Hunters” will be executive produced by Brendan Dahill and David Alrich at Perpetual Entertainment alongside Keshet’s Kelly Wright, with director Roger Power also producing the series. The deal was brokered by Perpetual Entertainment’s London-based distribution partner Jimmy Humphrey of Marmalade Sky TV alongside Keshet’s Anke Stoll.
The series stands as the first to be commissioned in response to Keshet’s second producer pitch event in London last November, where nearly 200 ideas were submitted and 30 shortlisted projects were presented to an audience of roughly 50 international buyers.
“All of us were really impressed with the quality of the projects pitched by the producers at our second pitch last November, and we are talking to many broadcasters about several more shows that we hope to co-commission from the likes of Curve Media, Flicker Productions and Woodcut Media in the coming months,” Anke Stoll, Keshet’s SVP of acquisitions and co-productions, relayed in a statement.
Keshet International will be announcing the commission today as part of their first Unscripted event that runs in tandem with the London TV Screenings. The invitation-only event also includes an exclusive preview screening of the pilot episode of “Earthbound,” Ritual Arts’ and Amazing Owl’s docuseries narrated and executive produced by Orlando Bloom.
