Toronto-based prodco Go Button Media has extended its partnership with international distributor Off the Fence (OTF) and Super Channel with a deal that will see Go Button deliver six further factual series over a two-year period.

The deal follows on from the success that OTF and Super Channel enjoyed with Go Button’s recent factual title, the Second World War docuseries Forgotten Frontlines (pictured), according to a news release. Under the terms of the agreement, Go Button will produce six series (totaling 36 hours of content) across the unscripted genres that it specializes in, including history, paranormal, engineering and science.

OTF head of acquisitions Loren Baxter said the distributor is “keen to replicate and scale” the success of Forgotten Frontlines in a statement, adding: “This new partnership, alongside Super Channel, will not only give us six new series to sell, but, as a commissioner, we also have a fantastic opportunity to work closely with [co-founder and executive producer] Daniel [Oron] and the team to marry Go Button’s creative ideas with our own market insights and ensure each series readily meets current international demand.”

Bell Media Distribution

U.S. network Animal Planet has acquired two seasons of unscripted series Pets & Pickers, produced by Tyson Media in association with Bell Media. The series will have its U.S. debut on Feb. 18. Season two has wrapped production and will air on Animal Planet in Canada in the spring, with the U.S. debut to be announced at a later date. The deal was negotiated by Bell Media Distribution. 

Pets & Pickers was commissioned by Discovery Canada and is created by Tyson Hepburn, who serves as executive producer and showrunner. It is filmed in Richmond, B.C., and documents the work of the Regional Animal Protection Society Animal Hospital to raise money for low-income pet families to afford care. 

National Film Board of Canada

The National Film Board of Canada has signed a distribution agreement with the International Festival of Films on Art (FIFA). The deal will see 32 films released on FIFA’s Arts.Film platform throughout 2023, including 2010’s Reel Injun, directed by Neil Diamond and co-directed by Catherine Bainbridge and Jeremiah Hayes. 

Four shorts are currently available to stream under the agreement. They include Patrick Bouchard’s 2018 stop-motion short The Subject, Jacques Drouin’s 1976 animated short Mindscape, and Theodore Ushev’s Oscar-nominated Blind Vaysha, as well as his Tower Bawher.

Nelvana

Discovery Kids Latin America (LatAm) has picked up CG-animated series Builder Brothers Dream Factory from Corus Entertainment’s Nelvana, which is on deck as distributor and global licensing and merchandising agent.

Sinking Ship Entertainment and Scott Brothers Entertainment are coproducing the comedy for kids ages four to seven. Builder Brothers Dream Factory (40 x 11 minutes) stars the twin home-building celebs as eight-year-olds and sees them constructing everything from machines to tiny houses in their neighbourhood. The show is set to premiere in Canada this year on Corus Entertainment’s Treehouse channel. Discovery Kids LatAm is the first international broadcaster to pick up the series.

The Scott brothers have done well in Latin America with their Property Brothers series, making it a natural market for this animated offshoot, said head of Nelvana Enterprises Mellany Welsh in a statement. Property Brothers (Hermanos a la obra in Spanish) premiered in the region on Discovery Home & Health in 2011, and Discovery has since launched several other shows featuring the Scotts, including Brother vs Brother (Hermanos a la Obra: Desafío), Buying and Selling (Vender para comprar) and Property Brothers at Home (Hermanos a la obra en casa).

With files from Realscreen and Kidscreen