C21MARKETPLACE - CAMPAIGN PROFILE (MIPCOM 2026)

Over the past year, Bomanbridge has carefully broadened its reach and range through partnerships and greater involvement in projects from development through to production and distribution. Twelve months ago, it announced the acquisition of West One, establishing a strong presence in the UK.

Since then, Bomanbridge Media CEO Sonia Fleck explains: “I’ve spent time in London and Bristol, and I am incredibly appreciative of the talent there. We have been able to access production as well as post-production work first-hand, and we are so pleased with the exceptional pool of creative resources. It’s made a real difference to some of the projects.”

Bomanbridge is currently finishing a pilot series titled When Engineering Fails (3×60’), coproduced with The Great Courses, with Blue Ant Media serving as lead broadcaster, delivering in Q1 2027. Planned as a returnable series, it uncovers the devastating truths behind engineering failures, revealing the lessons learned from disasters that reshaped our world.

A key strategic direction the company continues to pursue is the expansion of its IP assets through both acquisition and creative development. Announced 10 months ago, the 2025 acquisition of a 250-hour wildlife catalogue from Doclights, one of Europe’s leading natural history production companies, is now beginning to bear fruit. Bomanbridge is continuing to deepen the relationship, and the two companies are now producing more than 25 new hours per year.

Bomanbridge’s approach is increasingly data-forward, Fleck adds, using insights from linear sales, ratings and digital performance to identify the animals, geographies and highly focused subjects that perform strongly. She says production is underway on one of the company’s first Originals developed under this remit, Wild & Young (13×60’/26×30’), which is due for release in Q2 2027. Produced in the UK, it reveals how wild baby animals learn, adapt and acquire the skills they need to survive.

The company is also expanding its presence in true crime, a genre that performs strongly across both linear and digital platforms. At Mipcom, it is launching Between the Cheats (8×60’), a Tubi Original from Law&Crime Productions and the first title in a new relationship with the US true-crime and legal producer. Built around real cases where love, jealousy and betrayal turn fatal, the series draws on 911 calls, police bodycam, surveillance, social media and courtroom footage to take audiences inside each investigation. “We are already exploring further opportunities with Law&Crime as we continue to build this area of the Bomanbridge slate,” says Fleck.

Bomanbridge is equally focused on supporting individual filmmakers and producers on projects where coproduction funding needs to be completed. Through either its own gap financing or funding it helps to raise, it is launching a number of new projects, including Beavertown (1×90’/60’), which is now in production with Paul Kemp Productions and will broadcast on TVO and APTN Canada, delivering in Q1 2027. “It is an engaging exploration of beaver biology, activity and ecosystems, told as an epic adventure from the point of view of the animal characters,” explains Fleck.

Strategic directions: expanding horizons

The company is also doing a “world first”, according to Fleck: “We generated a lot of interest when we announced the world’s first wildlife vertical in collaboration with COL’s Flare Flow platform in June this year. FlareFlow has more than 52 million registered users and reaches more than 200 countries. Our vertical series, Mapogo: The Lion Throne, is a remarkable true story of the brutal rise and tragic fall of the Mapogo lion coalition, widely regarded by the scientific community and on social media as the most famous, feared and legendary lion dynasty ever documented,” she says.

“To tap into a vein of followers, we had narration done by Sam Myerson, a breakout star in the microdrama space. Sam’s prominence in Oops, I Married My Bestie’s Brother achieved an extraordinary 220 million views in just 10 days. Strategically, we hope viewers will migrate to Sam’s storytelling about the Mapogo lions. It will launch Q4 2026 and we look forward to demonstrating that factual can also perform in the vertical space.”

As it looks to further strengthen the quality and ambition of its slate, Bomanbridge aims to bring two or three feature documentaries into the slate each year, with the potential for significant festival recognition. Through this premium content initiative, Fleck says the company will “invest in and champion projects with the creative ambition and international appeal to travel the global festival circuit, building cultural and industry profile while opening additional revenue opportunities, particularly across theatrical and premium streaming platforms.” Festival selections and awards provide valuable recognition, help extend the commercial life of each film and can further enhance its international sales potential, she adds.

In that vein, Bomanbridge is launching two films at Mipcom this October that clearly have the strength and potential to travel the festival circuit. #WhileBlack (1×90’/60’), produced by Fathom Film Group, is set to broadcast on PBS in the US and Crave in Canada, with Bomanbridge holding all remaining global distribution rights, excluding educational institutions.

“This poignant film moves in new ways among the painful stories of George Floyd and other victims to explore what happens when civic journalism goes viral,” says Fleck. According to statistics revealed in the programme, Facebook earned at least US$50m from the George Floyd video. Like the producers and directors of this film, Fleck says the Bomanbridge team also raises the question for the public to consider: “Are we OK with this?” The film examines the extraordinary power of social media to expose injustice while asking a more uncomfortable question: who benefits when Black pain becomes some of the world’s most watched content?

Festival submissions are already underway, with the SXSW Film Festival taking the world premiere, alongside the Minneapolis St Paul International Film Festival (MSPIFF), where it received a Special Jury Award for Documentary Feature. Also on the list are the Milwaukee Film Festival, Hot Docs 2026 (for the Canadian premiere), the San Francisco Documentary Festival, Windsor International Film Festival and other events. “The film’s festival journey is still underway,” says Fleck.

The company’s second premium slate launch is Seahorse School (1×90’/60’), a UHD documentary from Media Stockade and Grumpy Turtle Films. Bomanbridge is providing additional gap financing and holds global distribution. A cinematic natural history and science-led documentary with a deeply personal core, it follows underwater cinematographer Woody Spark as he joins two marine biologists racing to save the critically endangered White’s Seahorse.

This pioneering programme – raising young seahorses in ‘schools’ to develop survival skills before releasing them into the wild – becomes an intimate exploration of fatherhood, nurturing, loss and legacy. Shot beneath Sydney Harbour and along the coastline of Port Stephens, the film combines spectacular underwater cinematography, science and conservation with a powerful human story, giving it strong international and festival appeal. Delivery will be in April 2027 for both the 1×90’ cinematic and 1×60’ science-led versions.

Looking ahead to 2027 and beyond

For Bomanbridge, this next phase is about continuing to expand its horizons, Fleck says, while remaining true to what has always driven the company: finding great stories, working with talented producers and connecting content with audiences internationally. “We are deliberately exploring new territories, new formats, new platforms and new ways of bringing projects to life, from premium feature documentaries and original series to vertical storytelling and data-led IP development,” she says.

“Our ambition is not simply to grow the volume of content we represent, but to become more deeply involved in the process of creating and building IP with long-term value. That means taking selective creative and certain financial risks, supporting producers when projects need that additional push, investing in ideas we believe can travel, and using the insight we gain from our global sales and digital business efforts to make smarter decisions about what we develop and acquire.”

With its growing UK presence, expanding European relationships, North American partnerships and continued strength in Asia, the company is building a more connected international business, with the aim of making Bomanbridge a company that producers come to not only for global distribution, but for creative collaboration, financing, production expertise and access to international markets.

As Fleck concludes: “There is still a great deal we want to explore. Some ideas will work, some will evolve, and some will take us somewhere we did not expect. That is part of the process. What matters is that Bomanbridge continues to be curious, entrepreneurial and willing to try new things, while building a stronger, more diverse and increasingly valuable slate of IP for the years ahead.”