London – Banijay International has secured international distribution rights to the much-anticipated Sing It On, a brand new, original docu-reality series inspired by the blockbuster movie Pitch Perfect. The UK-based independent content distributor will launch the series to the international market following its initial run in the U.S. on Pop, which premiered the series last week to coincide with the film release of Pitch Perfect 2.
Set in the fiercely competitive world of collegiate acappella, the 8 x 60’ series Sing It On is executive produced by Academy Award® winner and nine-time Grammy Award®-winning singer-songwriter John Legend – who performed in an acappella group at his alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania – together with his partners at Get Lifted Film Co., and is produced by CORE Media Group, the co-producers of American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance.
Sing It On captures the real-life stories, high stakes and personal triumphs of top collegiate acappella teams as they compete to win the International Championship of Collegiate Acappella (ICCA) Finals in New York. Cameras capture the behind-the-scenes journey of five top-ranked acappella teams as they battle it out to earn a spot at and win the ICCA Finals.
Emmanuelle Namiech, Managing Director at Banijay International commented, “We’re delighted to bring this fantastic new series to our global clients – with the second Pitch Perfect premiering in movie theatres around the world throughout May and the summer, the time couldn’t be better to pick up this fascinating insight into the real-life Pitch Perfect for broadcast. Sing It On showcases the outstanding talent of the collegiate acappella groups featured, alongside capturing the friendships, rivalries and personal stories from within this unique world that emerge throughout the series.”
“Acappella is exploding in entertainment and fan culture as evidenced by the global success of Pitch Perfect and music sensations like Pentatonix,” said Brad Schwartz, President of Pop. “Sing It On is the first television docu-series that takes viewers behind the scenes of this exciting and highly competitive world with engaging stories and show-stopping performances.”
Sing It On is produced by CORE Media Group, with Jennifer O’Connell, Teri Wagner Flynn, and Kallissa Miller serving as executive producers. Jenny Ramirez, Amanda Newman, and J McMahon serve as co-executive producers. John Legend, Ty Stiklorius and Mike Jackson of Get Lifted Film Co. also serve as executive producers.
The acquisition of Sing It On is the latest move in Banijay International’s expansion into finished programme distribution, as the company extends its relationships with producers worldwide to build a library of English-language, finished tape programming in the non-scripted genres. Titles recently launched include new U.S. factual entertainment series The Pioneers, from award-winning producers Hot Snakes Media, U.S. reality series Love Thy Sister from Emmy Award-winners Bunim Murray for WEtv, as well as reality series The Flying Miners, produced by Screentime for ABC Australia, and Village Vets for Australia’s LifeStyle.
