Toronto-based Boat Rocker Media is partnering as a producer and global distributor for the upcoming Japanese-Nordic crime-thriller series Blood & Sweat.

Boat Rocker’s partners on the 8 x 60-minute series are Japan’s WOWOW and AX-ON along with Finland’s ICS Nordic. It is currently in production in the two partners’ countries and produced by WOWOW’s Keita Tsutsumiguchi, AX-ON’s Risa Tanoue and ICS’ Erna Aalto. The project was commissioned by WOWOW and Finland’s Nelonen.

Boat Rocker’s Ivan Schneeberg (Orphan Black: Echoes), David Fortier (Video Nasty), Nick Nantell (Beacon 23) and Jon Rutherford (Bet) executive produce alongside WOWOW’s Tomomi Takashima, AX-ON’s Daniel Toivonen and ICS’s Ilkka Rahkonen and Ilkka Hynninen.

The Japan/Finland coproduction stars Anne Watanabe (Stay Mum) and Jasper Pääkkönen (Vikings) as two detectives from different backgrounds with a shared sense of justice that investigate a serial murder case spanning from Japan to Finland.

Blood & Sweat is written by Riku Suokas, Toivonen, Marie Iwasaki and Heikki Syrjä with Suokas, Toivonen and Iwasaki directing.

Indie Rights

Worldwide distribution for Thanks for the Room, the latest feature from Canadian directing duo Brett M. and Jason G. Butler, has been picked up by L.A.-based distributor Indie Rights.

The psychological drama, produced by the brothers’ Toronto-based Substance Production in association with Toronto’s Tiny Cabin Pictures, stars Kosa Akaraiwe and made its world premiere at Connecticut’s Ridgefield Independent Film Festival earlier in May. It tells the story of a man who, after losing his job due to a viral global illness, is forced to take a gig as a midnight courier for the unhoused at a pandemic hotel. Thanks for the Room was supported by the Canada Council for the Arts.

The deal was negotiated by Brett and Jason on behalf of Substance with Indie Rights CEO Linda Nelson.

After the film’s festival run, Indie Rights is planning for a late 2025 release.

Cineflix Rights

Cineflix Rights has added a number of factual series along with a Lifetime biopic to its spring and summer slate.

This includes the biopic I Was Honey Boo Boo (Cineflix Productions, Thinkfactory Media). The film, which premiered on Lifetime on May 17, tells the story of Alana Thompson, frequently known as Honey Boo Boo, her experience in the kids’ pageant circuit and her efforts to shake off the labels that have followed her past her pageant days.

The slate also includes a number of factual series, such as Choir Games (Husk Media, Spacific Films), Ancient Justice (Shark Teeth Films), Trace, Track, Get My Car Back! (Rare TV) and Ideacom International’s Can Dogs Talk? and Rome Underground.

Image courtesy of Boat Rocker; pictured (L-R): Anne Watanabe (photo by Junko Tamaki/t.cube) and Jasper Pääkkönen