BARACK OBAMA : GREAT EXPECTATIONS “BEST SHOW” DU MIPCOM 2012

Link TV, NHK, RAI elect for Zed’s Obama doc

French producer-distributor Zed has penned deals with networks in Japan, Canada, Italy and the U.S. for Barack Obama: Great Expectations, a two-part doc on the American president (pictured), who last night won re-election for a second term.

The 2 x 52-minute special, directed by William Karel (Looking for Nicolas Sarkozy), brings together members of Obama’s team and top political analysts to review the highs and lows of the U.S. Commander in Chief’s first term.

Zed has sold the doc to Link TV in the States, NHK in Japan, High Fidelity HDTV in Canada, IBA in Israel, RAI in Italy, VRT in Belgium, Servus TV in Austria, RTP in Portugal and ZDF/Phoenix in Germany.

Great Expectations was picked by realscreen as the ‘Best In Show‘ of our 2012 MIPCOM Picks, and staff at the Paris-based distributor have worked to finalize international sales since presenting the doc in Cannes last month and at Le Rendez-vous de Biarritz in September.

The two-parter was originally made by Flach Film for France 2, with coproduction and pre-sale partners RTL TVI, TV5 Monde, RTS, Al Arabiya News Channel, SBS, VPRO, NRK, RSI, RTP and LTV.

“This two-part special reveals not only the inner workings of the presidency, but also of the American political machine,” ZED marketing manager Julie Rouyer tells realscreen.

“We knew that other documentaries on Obama would be released for the U.S. presidential elections, but our two-part special was especially popular thanks to the renown of director William Karel. We saw real interest from buyers, despite the hard competition.”

“We knew that other documentaries on Obama would be released for the U.S. presidential elections, but our two-part special was especially popular thanks to the renown of director William Karel. We saw real interest from buyers, despite the hard competition.”