Cineflix's big budget Zero Hour attracts first major deals

July, 2004 : Cineflix International Ltd, the London-based international television distribution arm of Canadian production company Cineflix has announced several deals for Zero Hour, the new 4 X 60-minute factual entertainment series co-produced by Cineflix Canada and UK production company 3BM Television.

The Seven Network in Australia, Holland Media Groep in Netherlands and TVNZ in New Zealand have all bought the complete series, Vox of Germany has licensed the series and is destined for German screens in September.

Paul Heaney MD of Cineflix International said of the recent deals: “Irrespective of the genre, broadcasters know when they see a series that offers that bit extra – it’s capable of delivering some great ratings and achieving real critical acclaim.”

Garnering the biggest percentage of funding by Discovery Networks Europe ever the $3 million production of Zero Hour transports viewers, minute by minute, into the hour leading up to great historical moments.

Launched to the international marketplace at MIPTV this year, ZERO HOUR will explore, among other incidents, the hour before the Chernobyl nuclear reactor melt down and explosion, the hour leading up to the Columbine School shootings, the fatal hour before American Airlines Flight 11 slams into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, and the SARIN outbreak on the Tokyo metro system. Authenticity will be ensured through the use of journals, letters, government documents, personal accounts, archival footage, photographs and interviews with key players.