Montreal-based H264 has acquired world sales and Canadian distribution rights for Marianne Métivier’s debut feature The Splendour of Life, a Canada/Philippines/France coproduction.

The film is produced by Geneviève Gosselin-G. for Montreal’s Le Foyer Films, executive producer Wilfredo Manalang from Philippines’ FUSEE and associate producer Alexa Rivero, from France’s Altamar Films.

The Splendour of Life (pictured) follows four female characters who are transformed by an encounter and choose to close or open a new chapter in their lives. It stars Camille Rutherford, Garance Marillier, Sue Prado and Kyrie Samodio, as well as Quebec actors Amaryllis Tremblay, Émile Schneider and Victor Trelles Turgeon.

Filming took place in Quebec in August and September 2024 and in the Philippines in November 2024, an H264 spokesperson told Playback Daily.

The film was made with the financial participation of Société de développement des entreprises culturelles du Québec, Radio-Canada, Telefilm Canada, Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, Film Development Council of the Philippines, FilmPhilippines as well as federal and provincial tax credits.

Sphere Media

U.K.-based Fremantle has acquired international distribution rights for House of Secrets, a new psychological reality competition from Montreal’s Sphere Media.

Based on Sphere’s scripted French-language thriller series Aller simple (No Return), which premiered on Bell Media’s Quebec network Noovo in 2022, the format sees 10 contestants, each of whom is concealing a personal secret, sequestered in an isolated cottage in the wilderness. As the game begins, 15 secrets are revealed to the players — 10 true, and five fabricated — forcing them to separate fact from fiction.

In each episode, the contestants take part in one group and one individual challenge to determine who will get immunity, and who will get dropped from the competition. Every elimination brings on more difficult challenges and further revelations, as the remaining contestants attempt to scheme their way to the end and win the cash prize.

The series was created by Sphere Media in collaboration with Aller simple’s original creators, Bernard Dansereau, Annie Piérard and Étienne Piérard-Dansereau. The original Canadian edition will premiere on Bell Media’s Crave streaming platform this spring, with Fremantle handling distribution of the series outside of Canada.

Crave

Crave has secured the exclusive Canadian rights for It Gets Worse, the A24-produced comedy series created by and starring British actor/comedian Leo Reich, and commissioned by the U.K.’s Channel 4.

The 6 x 30-minute series follows three best friends from university who, a year after moving to London, are kicked out by their landlord. Reich previously worked with Manhattan-based A24 through his 2023 HBO stand-up special Literally Who Cares?!.

The series was commissioned for Channel 4 by head of comedy Charlie Perkins, with A24 as the series’ sales agent. The Crave deal was brokered by Bell Media’s director of content Sarah Weaver, a Bell Media spokesperson told Playback Daily.

Fox Entertainment Global

Fox Entertainment Global (FEG), the worldwide content sales arm of Fox Entertainment, has secured a number of international pre-sales for the Australian docusoap Billion Dollar Playground.

Slated to premiere this year, the 8 x 60-minute series — which follows the staff at a luxury homestay provider that caters to only the most exclusive clientele — has been sold to the BBC for the U.K., Corus Entertainment for Canada, Bravo in New Zealand, and Talpa TV in the Netherlands.

The show is produced by Ronde Media (Bondi Rescue, Aussie Truck Rehab), and was commissioned by Foxtel Group for the Binge streaming platform. FEG acquired both the series distribution rights and format rights last spring.

Billion Dollar Playground is executive produced by Ben Davies for Ronde Media, as well as Jacqueline Saddington, Howard Myers-Rifai and Alison Hurbert-Burns for Foxtel Group.

ITV Studios

London’s ITV Studios has announced a raft of international deals for the first two seasons of its detective drama Ludwig, including in Canada.

The series is produced by ITV’s Big Talk Studios in association with That Mitchell And Webb Company. Created and written by Mark Brotherhood, the six-part first season follows a man who takes on the identity of his missing brother in order to determine his whereabouts.

Both the first and the recently commissioned second season have been picked up by Telequebec for French-speaking Canada. Season one has been acquired by Zoomer Media for English-speaking Canada.

The first season will also premiere on the BBC’s streaming service BritBox in the U.S. and Canada on March 20.

With files from Realscreen and Jamie Casemore

Image courtesy of H264