Pubcaster WPBS in the U.S. has greenlit the factual series Hot Buttons from MBI Productions, the production arm of Toronto-based Media Business Institute.

MBI Productions just completed development on the series, which is expected to start pre-production in early May, series creator-producer-executive producer Patricia Scarlett tells Playback Daily.

Hot Buttons will see fashion stylist and host Peter Papapetrou (pictured; The Marilyn Denis Show) travelling to different cities around the world to speak with experts about the history, art and value of vintage buttons. Scarlett, who is also founder and CEO of the Media Business Institute, says they expect to deliver the first eight episodes for season one in late fall.

The series also has Papapetrou as executive producer, alongside Carleen Robinson as executive producer and production manager, Diane De La Haye as writer and story editor, and Ryan Singh as director of photography. All of the funding is coming from U.S. sources, says Scarlett.

Scarlett says she reached out to WPBS about the series on the recommendation of people from the “button world” whom the team has been been interviewing over the last 18 months. The team also shot some of those interviews in New York, Florida, Wisconsin, and Massachusetts.

After months of email exchanges, the Watertown, N.Y.-based PBS member television station — which serves approximately 650,000 households throughout Northern New York and Eastern Ontario — came on board as the “presenting station,” says Scarlett.

In a statement, WPBS president Mark Prasuhn called Hot Buttons “a breath of fresh air” and “an exciting and original series concept.”

“As the broadcaster for series such as Antiques Roadshow, Craft in America, I know that our viewers – and those of our sister PBS stations across the country who we plan to make the series available to – will enthusiastically embrace Hot Buttons.”

The Media Business Institute offers business-focused TV and film training, and also develops and produces features and scripted series. Its latest documentary feature is Of Cod and Rum: The Newfoundland Connection.

Image courtesy of WPBS