For further information:
Louise Zayed
Senior Press Officer
Tel: +353 1 419 3428
louise.zayed@tv3.ie
Kevin Shore
Press Officer
Tel: +353 1 419 3387
kevin.shore@virginmedia.ie
publicity@tv3.ie
TV3 GROUP RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday 10th October, 2014
TV3's ‘Tales of Irish Castles’ hosted by Simon Delaney, set for global sales.
TV3’s Tales of Irish Castles, produced by Dublin based Sideline Productions, is set to go global after the sales rights were snapped up by UK based DCD Rights - one of the most successful international TV content distribution companies in the world.
The distribution deal was sealed following a lengthy bidding war and months of negotiations. Patrick Feldman from talent management company ICM Partners, who represents Sideline Productions for the international market, brokered the deal which is one of the highest ever paid for an Irish produced TV series.
The announcement comes just ahead of MIPCOM, which takes place in Cannes from Monday 13th October – Thursday 16th October. MIPCOM sees the industry’s major players converge in Cannes to turn every moment into an opportunity, transforming four days of meetings, screenings and conferences into deals, from blockbuster programming to ground-breaking partnerships.
Tales of Irish Castles, which is presented by award-winning actor Simon Delaney, is an entertaining and engaging six part documentary series exploring the great stories and characters associated with the most beautiful, notorious and historical castles built across Ireland. The six one-hour shows investigate the key role that Irish castles (mostly financed by the British crown) played across the centuries and with stunning aerial footage, dramatic reconstructions and insightful interviews the series takes the audience on an incredible journey throughout the island of Ireland.
Jeff Ford, TV3 Group Director of Content, said: “It's great to see even more Irish programming taking front and centre in the international market place. Tales of Irish Castles is a first class documentary series that tells its stories through an accessible and entertaining delivery by host Simon Delaney, our guide through 1000 years of history.”
‘Tales of Irish Castles’ was written and created for the BAI Sound and Vision Fund by Sideline's Executive Producer, Billy McGrath, who adds: “We are always developing new Irish scripted and non-scripted projects that have a commercial life internationally. We are delighted for the brilliant production team, TV3 and the BAI that this top class series - and let's not forget Ireland's culture and heritage - will be sold and celebrated around the world”.
In Tales of Irish Castles viewers are brought on a dramatic and military journey packed with educational and entertaining content executed with style, skill and a light tone to attract the widest audience possible including ghost stories, celebrity weddings (Posh & Becks, Paul McCartney etc) and even home movie footage of US movie legend John Wayne who stayed at the beautiful Ashford Castle in the 1950s.
Mostly funded by the BAI, the series is produced by Una Shinners and Ciara Bresnihan; executive produced by TV3's Owen McArdle; directed by Sarah Share and hosted by award-winning actor Simon Delaney (BBC's The Fall and Roy; CBS's The Good Wife' and SKY's Emmy Award winning Moone Boy).
Tales of Irish Castles aired on TV3 in summer 2014 to wide acclaim and will be repeated again in early 2015.
The Promo for DCD Rights and MIPCOM can be seen at https://vimeo.com/106180198 Password: castlesdcd
See ‘Notes to Editor’ for more information on Sideline Productions, DCD Rights and the series.
Images have been sent to your picture desks and are available on request.
Ends
For further information
Ciara Byrne – Press Officer – 01 419 3329/087 319 9732
Jean O’Donovan – Press & Publicity Assistant – 01 419 3428
Sharon McHugh – Head of Press & Publicity – 087 922 4143
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Notes to Editor
About Sideline Productions
Since its inception in 2006, SIDELINE Productions quickly emerged as one of Ireland’s top multimedia companies focused on developing content for the home and international market. Specialising in delivering high quality factual, reality, comedy and entertainment formats, SIDELINE have filmed complete shows and series around the world employing the best Irish talent and local crews when required. In the past they have had international success with RTE series The Model Scouts produced in association with IMG - the most successful talent management in the world IMG. For TV3, Sideline also produced further BAI funded series Living with Murder; Behind Bars and Print & Be Damned plus large-scale location based and studio entertainment shows such as Fremantle’s global successes Take Me Out & Family Fortunes, BBC World’s Mastermind and The Great Irish Bake Off (series 3 now in development). For the UK market, Sideline recently produced The Rubberbandits pilot for Channel 4 and currently in production, with Group M Entertainment in London, of Great British Castles for Channel 5. Airing in early 2015, this major history series is destined to be another major international success for Sideline Productions.
About DCD Rights
DCD Rights is one of the UK’s leading independent Television distribution companies.
The brand, built through the merger of NBDtv and September International in 2007, comes with over 25 years international experience in acquiring & distributing multi-genre, high quality programming to all the major broadcasters worldwide.
Their catalogue encompasses 2,000 hours of programmes and formats across a broad range of genres from cutting edge factual, high profile drama to the best music acts, but also entertainment, lifestyle, documentary, films and children’s.
DCD have a long standing client base of top international producers/directors and represent programmes on behalf of companies as diverse as BBC Productions, MTV, Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, EMI, US public groups such as Rainbow Networks (owners of AMC, IFC and Sundance), as well as over 70 independent producers.
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