News & Press
‘Under Fire: Journalists In Combat’ makes shortlist in Oscar race for Best Documentary Feature
November 16th, 2011
Under Fire: Journalists in Combat has made the short list in the Oscar race for Best Documentary Feature of 2011 in a fiercely competitive field . More >
Mercury Takes “Unprecedented” Slate To IDFA 2011
November 16th, 2011
Mercury is gearing up to take an “unprecedented” slate to the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam, including a film on Queens Park Rangers’ turbulent rise to the Premier League. More >
Mercury sells Kissinger worldwide; UK broadcast premiere on More 4
October 11th, 2011
Mercury Media has sold a feature-length documentary about Henry Kissinger around the world. The profile of the former US secretary of state and advocate of realpolitik cost US$1.2m to make and was produced by Chimerica Media for National Geographic. More >
Mercury Chalks Up Worldwide Sales for ‘Lesson Plan’
October 5th, 2011
Mercury has chalked up worldwide sales for its film Lesson Plan: The Story of The Third Wave. ABC in Australia; Rialto in New Zealand; Knowledge Network in Canada; History Channel in Spain and Portugal; Swedish Educational Broadcasting; YLE Teema in Finland; Planete in Poland; DBS and IBA in Israel; and Al-Jazeera in Turkey have all signed up. More >
Mercury’s First Magazine Show ‘N2K’ Wins 2012 Licence With Alhurra TV
October 4th, 2011
Distributor MercuryMedia has inked a deal with Washington DC-based Middle Eastern broadcaster Alhurra TV for N2K, an ITN-produced magazine show, which will air in the Middle East from January 2012. More >
Mercury Secures Deals With Two Al Jazeera Channels for 30 Titles
September 29th, 2011
MercuryMedia has secured deals with two Al Jazeera channels for 30 of its factual titles. The deal, with Al Jazeera Doc Channel and Al Jazeera Turkey, includes Lichen Films’ documentary One Thousand Pictures: RFK’s Last Journey that originally aired on HBO in the US and Channel 4 in the UK. More >
“Mrs Carey’s Concert”, “When I Rise” and “Toni & Rosi” headline Mercury’s new Music & Arts slate
September 20th, 2011
UK-based MercuryMedia International has picked up distribution rights to three new arts and music documentaries to launch at Mipcom. More >
Mercury sells The Parking Lot Movie; picks up Becoming Santa to boost comedy slate
September 16th, 2011
London-based documentary distributor Mercury Media has sold comedy doc The Parking Lot Movie into Belgium, and picked up rights for South By Southwest-winning doc Becoming Santa. More >
Bhopali acquired by HBO Latin America; racks up sales to Europe and Asia
September 9th, 2011
Mercury Media has inked six deals for Bhopali, a film that examines the lingering aftermath of the world’s worst industrial disaster - the 1984 Union Carbide gas leak in Bhopal, India.. More >
Emmy nods for War Don Don and Houston We Have a Problem alongside sales to Latin America and Japan
July 19th, 2011
Mercury has inked sales in Latin America and Japan for War Don Don and Houston We Have a Problem, both of which picked up Emmy nominations yesterday. War Don Don, directed by Rebecca Richman-Cohen, has been acquired by HBO Latin America, and was nominated at the News and Documentary Emmy Awards for Outstanding Coverage of a News Story (Long Form) and Outstanding Editing. Nicole Torre’s Houston We Have a Problem has been acquired by NHK Japan and was nominated for Outstanding Business and Economic Reporting. More >
AMC Theatres Announce U.S. Theatrical Release of Fordson
June 15th, 2011
AMC Theatres® (AMC), a leading theatrical exhibition and entertainment company, and North Shore Films today announced Fordson will play exclusively at select AMC Theatres starting Friday, Sept. 9, 2011. Fordsondocuments an Arab-American high school football team during Ramadan and unearths a community desperately holding onto its Islamic faith while struggling to gain acceptance in post 9-11 America. More >
Mercury’s “Inheritance” wins slots on BBC, ABC, SVT and MTV
June 13th, 2011
Mercury Media has sold Inheritance, a doc telling the story of a woman who must face the legacy her Nazi leader father left behind, to BBC UK, Australia’s ABC, Sweden’s SVT and Finland’s MTV. The Emmy-winning film by Oscar-winner James Moll has previously screened on ARTE in France, Noga in Israel and on PBS in the U.S. More >
Mercury Appoints Caitlin Meek O’Connor as Head of Sales and Acquisitions
May 11th, 2011
MercuryMedia International have appointed Caitlin Meek O’Connor as Head of Sales and Acquisitions. A former BBC commercial executive with a background in international sales honed at DRG (Digital Rights Group), she joins the company to spearhead its drive into factual sales alongside its established documentary distribution business. More >
Channel 4, Back2Back, Mercury, marry for “Unofficial Royal Wedding”
April 4th, 2011
UK terrestrial Channel 4 (C4) has commissioned indie prodco Back2Back Productions to produce The Unofficial… Royal Wedding, an alternative documentary take on the William/Kate union, which will air 48 hours after the royal marriage. More >
Mercury Announce Fresh Slate and New Sales Ahead of MipTV
April 2nd, 2011
MercuryMedia International is pleased to announce its fresh slate of films and new sales ahead of MIPTV. More >
ITN Productions and MercuryMedia Align for Magazine Formats
April 1st, 2011
As part of a new development alliance, ITN Productions and MercuryMedia are to develop four topical magazine formats for the international market, with the titles to be launched at MIPTV. More >
BBC to meet the DDA to hear doc concerns
April 1st, 2011
The BBC is to listen to the concerns of documentary distributors, who have complained that the corporation is not acquiring enough independent factual films. More >
Mercury Wins EU Media Funding and Raises Private Investment
March 14th, 2011
Following a successful application to the EU Media Fund, MercuryMedia has been awarded a 2011 development grant of up to €250,000 for its JoiningTheDocs.tv Documentary VOD platform. More >
Mercury Re-organises and Creates New Positions in response to Revenue Growth
March 8th, 2011
MercuryMedia have announced a new team ahead of Mip 2011. More >
Mercury Locks In Sales For Oil Tycoon Doc Vlast
January 6th, 2011
MercuryMedia has penned a number of sales for Vlast, a documentary about Mikhail Khodorkovsky, following the Russian oil tycoon’s trial and sentencing in Moscow last week. More >
War Don Don Makes End-of-Year Lists of 2010
December 31st, 2010
After playing to critical acclaim in 2010, Rebecca Richman Cohen’s War Don Don has made several end-of-the-year round up lists. More >
DDA Broadcast Article about IDFA 2010 Meeting
November 22th, 2010
Broadcast Magazine have published an article on the Documentary Distributors’ Association prior to the group’s second meeting on the 21st November at IDFA 2010. More >
This is My Land… Hebron named Best Italian Documentary at Festival dei Popoli
November 29th, 2010
Mercury title This is My Land… Hebron has been awarded the CINEMA.DOC prize for Best Italian Documentary at the 51st Festival dei Popoli. More >
Mercury teams up with Re:Fine to launch ‘Prism’ - A New Documentary Digital Distribution Service
November 4th, 2010
UK distributor MercuryMedia International and digital content processing facility Re:Fine are teaming up to launch a digital documentary distribution service in 2011. More >
War Don Don Wins Award in Taiwan; Director Rebecca Richman Cohen Q&A in London
November 1st, 2010
MercuryMedia title War Don Don has been awarded the Merit Prize in the International Feature Length Competition at the 7th Taiwan International Documentary Festival (TIDF). The win follows past prizes at SXSW 2010, where it won the Grand Jury award, and the New York Human Rights Film Festival, where it won the Cinereach award. Director Rebecca Richman Cohen will be in London for a special screening and Q&A at the Frontline Club. More >
Mercury Media Acquires Tea Party Film ‘(Astro) Turf Wars’
October 30th, 2010
London based film distributor MercuryMedia International has acquired ‘(Astro) Turf Wars’, a 90 minute documentary feature from Larrikin Films, which traces the rise of the Tea Party movement. More >
Mercury Ties Up International Sales in Israel and the Middle-East
October 29th, 2010
Noga Communications’ documentary-themed Channel 8 have acquired The Parking Lot Movie, which first aired in the US on PBS Independent Lens earlier this month, as well as James Moll’s Inheritance. The deal is one of a number of recent sales which include single docs The Real Revolutionaries and Vlast to Israel’s Yes DBS. More >
The Parking Lot Movie To Run At BFI London Film Festival and Air On PBS Independent Lens
October 17th, 2010
MercuryMedia title The Parking Lot Movie is set to receive both its European premiere and U.S Broadcast premiere on the 19th October. More >
The Invention of Dr. NakaMats Set For UK Television Premiere On More4
September 29th, 2010
The Invention of Dr. NakaMats is set to make its UK broadcast premiere on Tuesday 5th October as part of More4’s True Stories strand. More >
Mercury Announces Sales Spurt And New Slate of Films Ahead Of Mipcom 2010
September 17th, 2010
MercuryMedia International are pleased to announce new sales to international broadcasters. The London based distributor have also acquired a slate of festival winning titles to launch at next month’s Mipcom.
The Green and Gold Revolution in Broadcast Magazine
September 17th, 2010
Broadcast have featured ‘The Green and Gold Revolution in their September 17th 2010 issue. More >
Mercury and Ladybird Films Announce ‘The Green and Gold Revolution’ Crowd-Funding Initiative
September 16th, 2010
MercuryMedia International and Ladybird Films have teamed up to produce the feature ‘The Green and Gold Revolution’. The documentary follows the story of the Manchester United ‘Green and Gold’ supporters’ campaign in its bid to buy back the famed football club from its current owners the Glazer family. In the spirit of the campaign, the film seeks to fund a proportion of its production budget through internet crowd-funding. More >
Bilal Wins Golden Lotus Award at Indian National Film Awards
September 15th, 2010
MercuryMedia title Bilal has been awarded the prestigious “Swarna Kamal” (Golden Lotus Award) at the National Film Awards in New Delhi. The award was presented to director Sourav Sarang by the President of India, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil. More >
More4 Acquires The Invention of Dr. NakaMats
September 7th, 2010
UK diginet More4 has acquired The Invention of Dr. NakaMats to air on its True Stories strand. The deal which was concluded with new More4 editor Anna Miralis marks the film’s success following its European debut at IDFA, with its 14th major sale. More >
Carol Sennett Discusses DDA
August 6th, 2010
Carol Sennett, Executive Producer of the BBC, has mentioned DDA in the comments page of July 26th edition of Broadcast Magazine. More >
Dr. NakaMats in The Word Magazine
July 29th, 2010
Mercury title The Invention of Dr.NakaMats has featured in the ‘editors picks’ of the July edition of the Word Magazine. More >
DDA Features in Broadcast Magazine
July 26th, 2010
The Documentary Distributors’ Association has featured in a recent edition of Broadcast magazine.
The association was founded by Tim Sparke along with Mercury Chairman Simon Shaps. The group aims to urge public service broadcasters to air a greater breath of documentaries. More >
A Glowing Review for The Philosopher Kings
June 25th, 2010
LA Weekly’s Ernest Hardy has given MercuryMedia title The Philosopher Kings a rave review in a recent edition of the publication. Congratulations to director Patrick Shen and the team at Transcendental Media. The review closes a successful festival season for the title which has screened at Silver Docs, Raindance, Henley Film Festival and San Francisco International Doc Film Festival, amongst others. More>.
Soka Afrika Screening at Sunny side of the Doc
June 18th, 2010
MercuryMedia and Masnomis , in association with The SRK, will host a private screening of Soka Afrika at this year’s Sunny Side of the Doc. The screening will take place on Thursday June 24th at 5:30pm in the Screening Room. More>
MercuryMedia sees sales for ‘Oil Spill’ surge
June 17th, 2010
MercuryMedia International has announced that the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has brought interest to its Oil Spill: The Exxon Valdez Disaster. More>
Mercury Launches Documentary Distributors’ Association
May 18th, 2010
CEO Tim Sparke took the opportunity to announce the launch of MercuryMedia’s initiative the Documentary Distributors’ Association at this year’s Hot Docs Festival.
The association was founded by Tim Sparke along with Mercury Chairman Simon Shaps. The group aims to urge public service broadcasters to air a greater breath of documentaries and to fight for an enhanced position within television schedules and on other platforms. More>
Praise for Icons Among Us Theatrical Version
May 18th, 2010
MercuryMedia title Icons Among Us: Jazz in the Present Tense theatrical version has been praised as
a “A groundbreaking, four-part, four-hour television documentary” by John Kelman from the acclaimed online jazz publication. More>
Mercury at Hot Docs, 2010
April 2nd, 2010
MercuryMedia will be at the prestigious Hot Docs festival 2010, showing the following titles from the spring catalogue. More>
Simon Shaps Hosts Mip Conference
March 30th, 2010
MercuryMedia chairman Simon Shaps is to moderate an outstanding panel for Mipdoc conference ‘What Buyers Want’. The acquisitions trend panel will include More 4’s Tabitha Jackson and France 5′s Caroline Behar amongst others. The workshop will examine what acquisitions executives are expecting from producers and also get valuable insight into trends that new content buyers are acquiring.
Soviet Story Director to Feature on Fox News
March 24th, 2010
Adam Benzine
24 Mar 2010
©C21 Media 2010
London-based distributor MercuryMedia has picked up 16 new documentaries to launch at MipTV next month, and has licensed docs into Italy, Sweden, the UK and Taiwan. More>
Mercury Reputation Rising with Global Sales Success
February 23rd, 2010
London based film distributor MercuryMedia International is pleased to announce its latest international sales to broadcasters across all five continents. More>
Soviet Story Director to Feature on Fox News
January 12th, 2010
Writer and director of The Soviet Story Edvins Snore, will be featured on a special edition of the Fox News Channel’s Glenn Beck Show on Friday, January 22, 2010 at 5:00 PM EST. More>
Mercury CEO Tim Sparke Discusses Top Docs of Decade
December 22th, 2009
“The English Surgeon demonstrated how a skilled storyteller could craft an emotionally compelling narrative. It demonstrated the power of an individual who made it his business to give life to the dying. I wept when I watched it.” More>
Mercury Titles on IDFA’s Docs for Sale Platform
December 10th, 2009
MercuryMedia has finished the 2009 festival circuit with a successful IDFA. We hope you had an enjoyable and successful market as well. More>
MercuryMedia and joiningthedocs.tv Annouce Partnership with Artefact DVD label
December 1st, 2009
MercuryMedia and sister VOD channel joiningthedocs.tv are pleased to announce an official partnership with the Artefact DVD label effective of January 1st 2010. More>
Mercury on the Rise in Europe
December 1st, 2009
UK-based factual distributor MercuryMedia has completed a raft of international sales, licensing single documentaries into Ireland, Poland, Israel, Denmark and Italy. More>
Simon Shaps to join MercuryMedia as Chairman
November 26, 2009
MercuryMedia announces today that Simon Shaps, is joining Mercury as Chairman.
The former ITV Director of Television takes the helm at Mercury effective January 2010 as the fourth member of the board which includes, Nick Ware; Editorial Director, Tim Sparke; CEO and a former partner at McKinsey & Co.
UK Press for Antoine
November 18, 2009
November 12 - 18 2009 Time Out Magazine London has cited MercuryMedia title Antoine as one of the ’strongest films at Sheffield’. Congratulations go out to Antoine producer Laura Bari and her team for this well deserved recognition. More>
Docs for Sale:IDFA 2009
November 14, 2009
MercuryMedia will also showcasing several titles across Docs for Sale segment at IDFA 2009.
The Grierson Awards 2009
November 5, 2009
November 2nd hosted the annual Grierson Awards,a celebration of innovative and exciting new documentary films, set up by renowned documentary filmmaker John Grierson. The awards were first set-up in 1972 and have run annually.More>
The People’s President
November 4, 2009
It’s been almost a year since Barack Obama was elected president. Last night HBO Films aired the documentary By the People: the Election of Barak Obama across the U.S. The documentary, from Edward Norton’s production company has been following Obama since his 2004 DNC speech, and has received an unprecedented response in celebration of Obama’s first year in office. More>
More Success For Antoine
October 19, 2009
It is with great pleasure that we announce further success of Mercury Media title Antoine.
The Multi-award winning film’s avant-premiere took place on September 28th in Antoine’s very own school. Following this success the film opened in cinema’s across Montreal on October 2nd. With the help from The Montreal School Commission there are plans to promote the film widely to teachers with the hope of including Antoine in their syllabuses. More>
Mercury Appoints New Team
October 14, 2009
Mercury Media and Joiningthedocs welcomes two new members of staff.
Alice Broughton has joined as a Marketing Executive and will be assisting in development and execution of marketing and communication activity. Alice joins us from both an agency and in-house marketing background having worked across a client base which included; Tate Modern, Paramount Pictures and MTV. Graduating from University of Leeds in 2007 with a degree in History of Art, Alice has also completed Post Graduate courses in marketing.More>
MercuryMedia licences ‘Dominick Dunne: After The Party’ to More 4
September 10, 2009
Following the recent passing of Dominick Dunne, MercuryMedia today announces the sale of the film of his life ‘Dominick Dunne: After The Party’ to UK Digital Network More 4. The film, which was made in 2008, had its UK debut at Sheffield International Documentary Festival last year and was also an audience favourite at the Melbourne International Film Festival and the Hamptons International Film Festival. It is currently in competition for the 2009 Grierson awards. More>
Bilal profiled on IDFA website
May 29, 2009
Bilal, the story of a two-and-a-half-year-old boy growing up with completely blind parents, was screened at IDFA 2008. This year the documentary travels around the world, receiving awards at film festivals from Qatar to Mexico. Bilal will even be screened at the prestigious Museum of Modern Arts (MoMA) in New York. Director Sourav Sarangi reflects on the production of Bilal, from a project supported by IDFA’s Jan Vrijman Fund to an award-winning documentary. More>
Rave reviews for Icons Among Us
May 15, 2009
Icons Among Us: Jazz in the present tense has been getting rave reviews from a wide spectrum of the press. Here is just a sample of what’s being said. More>
Mercury sells docs to France, Israel
May 12, 2009
UK-based documentary distributor MercuryMedia has finalised its first batch of post MipTV deals, selling titles into France, Spain and Israel. More>
Plugging the gap in documentary funding
29 April 2009
Charlie Phillips in Broadcastnow
There is an issue over decreasing funding for new UK documentaries from traditional avenues, especially broadcasters. But that just means documentary-makers have to look beyond the limited UK opportunities and seek support from beyond the UK and beyond TV, writes Charlie Phillips. More>
Mercury to take doc site into France, Germany
April 1, 2009
MIPDOC NEWS: MercuryMedia-backed video portal Joining The Docs is here in Cannes looking for funding and content to launch French and German versions of its docs-on-demand site within three years. More>
Joining The Docs lands BAFTA winner
April 29, 2009
EU Media-backed factual portal Joining The Docs (JTD) has agreed a deal with True Vision Productions to offer BAFTA-winning Channel 4 documentary Chosen (1×98′) through its website.
Mercury sells West Bank doc to Japan
March 29, 2009
MIPDOC NEWS: UK-based factual distributor MercuryMedia has sold Welcome To Hebron, a film about a young Palestinian woman living in the Middle East, into Japan. More>
Nick Ware, MD of joiningthedocs.tv interviewed in Broadcastnow
What kind of documentaries will you be looking to acquire in 2009?
Director-led films with strong points of view. You might have seen them on Storyville or the True Stories strand, or they might have only played in festivals or in cinemas. Read more
joiningthedocs.tv recieves funding from EU MEDIA fund
February 16, 2009
Joiningthedocs.tv, a new pay-per-view broadband channel for independent documentary films, will announce at the Berlin Film Festival on Monday it’s won €200,000 in funding from the European Union’s MEDIA digital distribution fund. Read more
Dominick Dunne in the Times
February 12, 2009
Dominick Dunne, scourge of the rich and infamous, talks to The Times. Read more