M ontreal-based format creator and distributor Media Ranch has secured a number of renewals and acquisitions in the U.S. and Europe.

Burbank, Calif.-based media company Critical Content has optioned the historical reenactment format The Story Of…, which is part of the DR Collection catalogue of titles Media Ranch represents from the Danish Broadcasting Corporation. The format was first produced in the Netherlands for NPO 1 and NTR and has also been optioned in France, Poland, Spain and Italy.

Critical Content president Jenny Daly called the format “fresh and unexpected” in a statement on the deal to bring the concept to the U.S. market.

Two other formats under the DR Collection have been renewed for additional seasons, including a second season for the musical game show What’s the Score for ETV in Estonia, and a third season of wildlife series Stung, Bitten, Burned for BNNVARA in the Netherlands.

Two automobile-themed formats, Love Van and In the Car, have been optioned by U.S. prodco D3 in a deal brokered by Aroma TV. Dating format Love Van, which was co-developed with French broadcaster TF1 and won Media Ranch’s Horsepower incubator, pairs singles on a cross-country trip in livable vans, while In the Car is a competition that sees five contestants living together in a car for 10 days, all while completing a series of challenges.

Media Ranch has also picked up the sales rights to interview format Up in the Air, created by Catalonian media company Boxcom for TV3. The format sees a host and a celebrity guest fly up in a hot air balloon along with a mystery guest.

Media Ranch president and founder Sophie Ferron said the format acquisition is part of a continued “global format expansion” in a statement. The company also forged a distribution partnership with South Africa’s Trace Studios earlier this year.

Pictured (L-R): Sophie Ferron and Jenny Daly