Optomen International, the all3media-owned distribution arm of Optomen Television, has closed a package of deals for the second season of Channel 4’s eco-friendly building challenge Kevin McCloud’s Man Made Home Series 2 (4 x 60’) in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Norway, Caroline Stephenson, Optomen International’s director of sales announced.
ABC Australia has licensed the TV rights to the latest Man Made challenge, which sees McCloud transport his brilliantly eccentric cabin in the woods — the subject of the first series of the hit Channel 4 show — to an English beach. Over four episodes, McCloud and his trusty Man Friday Will Trickett battle the elements, source extraordinary building materials and experiment with off-grid energy sources in their quest to build the perfect beach hut from renewable resources.
In other sales Down Under, the Australian TV second-window rights to Man Made Home Series 2 have been acquired by Foxtel, while TV3 has taken the TV rights for New Zealand. In Europe, deals have been closed with Dazzler Media for the UK DVD rights and TV Norge for the TV rights.
Kevin McCloud said: “The response to Man Made Shed has been overwhelming. The idea that creativity, resourcefulness & imagination can provide an escape from the day to day world has struck a chord with audiences Down-under.
Caroline Stephenson added: “Kevin’s second Man Made Home series is part how-to show, part design challenge and part commentary on our throw-away society. By constructing an amazing beach hut from the bits and pieces that other people have discarded — from old airplane windows and supermarket trolleys to decommissioned phone boxes — Kevin proves that you don’t have to spend a fortune to create something aspirational, romantic and visually stunning. But as these latest deals demonstrate, the journey from cast-offs to cliff-top cabin is not just fascinating and informative — it’s also brilliantly watchable TV that resonates across cultures.”