Francesca Johnson, head of acquisitions at UK factual distributor BossaNova Media, and Tatiana Grinkevich, head of sales, discuss plans for two major October events: the company’s Development Day and its annual trip to Cannes for Mipcom.

How important is Development Day to BossaNova and what are some of the success stories from the event?

Francesca Johnson: Development Day is critical to our business and something we’re very proud to do and own as an event in the factual landscape. Success stories for shows we’re launching this year that were presented at previous Development Days include Ruins: Rise & Fall and The Land That Made Us with Alice Roberts.

Both returnable franchises, these are two differing projects that demonstrate the range presented on the day. Ruins: Rise & Fall is unhosted with cutting-edge visual reconstruction of global archaeological sites, whereas The Land That Made Us, hosted by Alice Roberts, is a more local exploration of identity and culture covering one nation per series and starting in the UK. We’re excited about the brand’s potential to go global with Alice travelling to countries outside the UK in future series. We also have a couple of really strong access-led projects that are soon to be announced.

Development Day is well established at this point and has been running for more than 10 years now. As presales become increasingly important to making projects commercially viable, that’s what this day is all about – securing that presale interest on fresh titles. Our buyers look forward to it as it’s become a regular feature in their calendar in the run up to Mipcom. They can see what new trends are emerging and what are consistently popular, which sends them on to the Croissette clued up and ready.

How will this year’s Development Day differ to previous iterations of the event?

Johnson: We are developing a greater focus on brands and franchises and have also incorporated new briefs from US channels such as Radial, iD, History Channel and Oxygen, among others. We also have another new sponsor joining Getty Images, which is exciting and we’ll be announcing who soon.

By having a new acquisitions team on board for this year’s event, there will be a natural evolution in terms of project selection and testing out new genres and formats. I am excited to bring in new US channel involvement either remotely or on the day – as the resident American on the BossaNova team.

What factual sub-genres are currently in demand and will be hot at Development Day 2026?

Johnson: Hot sub-genres include tough jobs, blue light/first response, access docs and history/travel. Based on the franchises that have successfully sold in the past and do well for us, as well as current opportunities in the market, we’d be keen to grow our slate in these areas. The first three resonate with the core factual viewer and bring stakes and dynamic storylines and process. And we find history/travel ticks two genre boxes for buyers, and with the success of our By Train… series, we’d love more in this space.

When acquiring content these days, what do distributors need to offer beyond a minimum guarantee (MG)?

Johnson: We need to bring informed presale interest from buyers that guarantees repeatable seasons, and buyer relationships around the globe and ‘of the moment’ intel for what works. We also provide a marketing plan and viable comps to inform the presale package strategy, as we have to be able to show what we can offer beyond investment.

Also, honesty – rather than just telling producers what they want to hear, we’ll tell them where a show will likely sell and where it won’t. The market has changed – we need to confirm presale interest to increase the chance of a show returning and working commercially for all the investors. It is vital that we piece together the strategy from the start, rather than putting up an MG and hoping for the best.

How has new corporate backing from Serafin Group changed BossaNova’s acquisitions strategy?

Johnson: As with any corporate backing, it’s crucial that we back up our decisions with market data, intel and a clear strategy on how to guarantee returnable hits. The numbers and projected sales need to speak for themselves when securing investment now more than ever. Our acquisitions can’t be a flash-in-the-pan success; they need to return.

How will BossaNova’s sales team reshuffle over the summer change how you approach Mipcom?

Tatiana Grinkevich: With the new team members coming onboard we have doubled the size of our sales team, and therefore we will be able to cover much more ground than before, leaving no stone unturned. Hannah Collins, Alex Lindsay and Ashleigh Henry are so enthusiastic and have already hit the ground running, connecting with their buyers over the summer ahead of meeting them in person at Mipcom as part of the BossaNova 2.0 team.

We anticipate our stand being even buzzier than usual with our expanded sales and acquisitions teams keeping us busy. Enhanced collaboration and cooperation within the team will lead us to cultivate increased coproductions within the producer community, as well as developing new buyer relationships and nurturing existing ones.

What are some of the new titles you’ll be focusing on in Cannes?

Grinkevich: Some of the new titles on our Mipcom slate include Ruins: Rise & Fall, The Land That Made Us with Alice Roberts, The Accused, Aileen Wuornos: Damsel of Death and Lizzie Borden: Forty Whacks. Returning series include Borderforce USA, Classic Car Kings, Border Patrol, Motorway Patrol, Dog Patrol and Stream Train Diaries.

How is your recent push for genre diversification reflected in your Mipcom line-up?

Grinkevich: We’ve been working on developing new genres – but not just for the sake of it – and this is reflected in this year’s line-up. Ruins: Rise & Fall is a new series that has the potential to become a globally repeatable format. Produced by Like A Shot Entertainment, it features iconic locations and cutting-edge reconstruction, with a strong producer behind it.

The Land That Made Us is an obvious hit for us and will hopefully become a returner. Each episode paints the big picture of a UK region through telling personal stories of local inhabitants, combined with archaeological discoveries and historical events. The series features Professor Alice Roberts, who is beloved by audiences.

Aileen Wuornos: Damsel of Death and Lizzie Borden: Forty Whacks are a continuation of last year’s Mipcom launch show Ed Gein: Original Psycho. Both are gruesome and gripping stories of notorious female killers. These two new crime series are perfectly timed to coincide with Netflix’s Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story this autumn, as well as Halloween. Netflix’s upcoming drama premiere explores Borden’s impact and her connection to other female killers, as it actually features Aileen Wuornos (played by Sarah Paulson) in the show’s trailer, so we expect there to be strong audience interest in both titles.

This Mipcom, we have a combination of brand-new launch shows as well returning series, plus a sprinkle of noisy true crime titles like The Accused and Surviving Fred West.

How is demand for factual changing in the various regions BossaNova sells into?

Grinkevich: Demand is closely tied to what audiences tell the broadcasters and VoD platforms they’re looking for, and the broadcasters and platforms tell us in return. We are always listening closely to their insights, and we try to be as up to date as possible with what audiences and buyers want.

Audience demand is expanding and evolving, rather than drastically changing. People will always be interested in ancient history, but they want to hear new ways of stories being told. Our upcoming annual event, Development Day, is a key instrument for us to satisfy audience and buyer demand and build our slate.

How is BossaNova evolving its AVoD and digital strategy to extend the shelf-life of its library?

Grinkevich: Watch this space! We’ve got some exciting developments in the works regarding our digital presence, which we’ll be announcing before the end of the year. With the new extended team, we are taking a granular approach and giving the library titles second and third lives so they can earn money for our producers for years to come.