KI announces its second straight-to-series commission for distribution at its first Unscripted event as part of the 2024 London TV Screenings  

Keshet International (KI) is announcing its second straight-to-series factual order for international distribution as part of its new Greenlight: Factual & Formats commissioning initiative.  

To coincide with the 80th anniversary of the death of Hitler and the end of World War II next year, KI has commissioned Australian production company Perpetual Entertainment to produce a six-part documentary series entitled Hitler’s Treasure Hunters.  This 6x60’ docuseries will tell the story of Himmler’s Das Ahnenerbe, a special branch of the Nazi SS tasked by Hitler’s regime to plunder treasures and religious relics, including the Holy Grail and Thor’s hammer, to help win the war and prove Aryan supremacy. 

Hitler’s Treasure Hunters is the first show to be commissioned off the back of the global content distributor’s second producer pitch event. Hosted in London last November, KI invited 15 producers to pitch their premium factual projects and formats. Of the close to 200 ideas originally submitted for consideration, 30 shortlisted projects were pitched to an audience of nearly 50 international buyers, who were either in the room or taking part remotely via a live-stream video link.   

Created with the objective of greenlighting up to three English-language projects with international appeal for distribution annually - either fully funded by KI or co-funded in partnership with at least one broadcast or streaming partner - KI formally launched its Greenlight: Factual & Formats initiative in September 2023. 

Anke Stoll, KI’s SVP of Acquisitions and Co-productions, says, “All of us were really impressed with the quality of the projects pitched by the producers at our second pitch last November, and we are talking to many broadcasters about several more shows that we hope to co-commission from the likes of Curve Media, Flicker Productions and Woodcut Media in the coming months.”   

Kelly Wright, KI’s MD of Distribution says, “Keshet International’s Greenlight: Factual & Formats initiative is allowing us to find a different way of getting new content on to TV screens around the world by responding collaboratively to market needs.   Perpetual Entertainment’s pitch for Hitler’s Treasure Hunters stood out because it offers a fascinating and bizarre side note to history’s most infamous villains at a time that makes sense for broadcasters, which is why we're fully funding it for distribution ourselves.” 

Brendan Dahill, General Manager of Perpetual Entertainment, adds, “We are delighted to be creating this series for Keshet International and audiences around the world.  At Perpetual we have a love of creating specialist factual documentaries and finding ways of connecting audiences with history. As the world becomes more populist and polarized, it is important that we reflect on the lessons that our history can teach us.”    

Hitler’s Treasure Hunters (6x60’) tells the stories of the many treasures and religious relics sought out by the Nazi SS.  Heinrich Himmler’s special branch of the SS – known as Das Ahnenerbe – was tasked with finding treasures, artifacts, and religious relics of power, that might win Germany the war and prove Aryan supremacy. With the aim of erasing Europe’s cultural identity and replacing Christianity with their own beliefs - of the occult, mysterious legends and religious folklore – Himmler used his Ahnenerbe troops’ research and plundering of Europe’s masterpieces to justify Nazi notions of superiority, including the racial purity laws that led to The Holocaust. 

Hitler’s Treasure Hunters will be executive produced by Brendan Dahill and David Alrich at Perpetual Entertainment alongside KI’s Kelly Wright, with director Roger Power also series producing.   The deal was brokered by Perpetual Entertainment’s London-based distribution partner Jimmy Humphrey of Marmalade Sky TV alongside KI’s Anke Stoll. 

The first factual series to be commissioned for distribution by KI as part of its Greenlight: Factual & Formats initiative was Catch Me If You Can, a 10x60’ true crime docuseries produced by Woodcut Media that delves into the chilling world of murderers who evaded capture while taunting those tasked with bringing them to justice.  

The global content distributor will launch both Perpetual Entertainment’s Hitler’s Treasure Hunters and Woodcut Media’s Catch Me If You Can to market at MIPCOM 2024.  

Keshet International will formally announce its commission of Hitler’s Treasure Hunters as part of their first Unscripted event hosted as part of the London TV Screenings on Wednesday 28 February. The by-invitation-only event will also include an exclusive preview screening of the pilot episode of Earthbound, Ritual Arts’ and Amazing Owl’s 6x60’ premium documentary series narrated and EPed by Orlando Bloom.