Bomanbridge Media and award-winning production house Seventh Art Productions have agreed a global distribution deal for the Brighton-based producer’s catalogue. The co-operation will give Bomanbridge exclusive representation rights to the producer’s renowned arts programming catalogue which features the most compelling master artists of all time. The partnership will be marked with the MIPTV launch of Seventh Art’s latest film, the critically acclaimed documentary event, “Vermeer – The Greatest Exhibition” (1×90/2×45’), directed by David Bickerstaff, part of the highly successful Exhibition On Screen franchise.

As part of the 2023 strategic digital roll-out, Bomanbridge will be launching discussions with key players to launch a clear arts branded programming initiative on Fast Channels and AVOD platforms. For the first time in history, in spring 2023, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam will open its doors to the largest and most complete Vermeer exhibition ever.  It is being heralded as a major point of interest for tourists flocking to Amsterdam for a once in a lifetime experience.  With loans from across the world, this major retrospective will bring together Vermeer’s most famous masterpieces including Girl with a Pearl Earring, The Geographer, The Milkmaid, The Little Street, Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid, and Woman Holding a Balance. Vermeer – The Greatest Exhibition invites audiences to a private view of the exhibition, accompanied by the director of the Rijksmuseum and the curator of the show.

Other flagship titles include Mary Cassat – Painting the Modern Women (1×60’/1×90’), which explores the life and career of Mary Cassatt, the often-overlooked Impressionist who transformed the way women appeared in art, along with the highly anticipated Tokyo Stories (1×90’/1×60’), a celebration of Tokyo: one of the world’s most creative, dynamic and fascinating cities. The film is currently in production and will be completed in June 2023.

Bomanbridge and Seventh Art have a long-standing relationship that saw them work together on the BAFTA winning documentary My Childhood, My Country – 20 Years in Afghanistan, an epic coming-of-age documentary that follows the mischievous 8-year-old boy Mir as he grows into a father of three over the course of 20 troubled years in Afghanistan.

Bomanbridge Media CEO, Sonia Fleck, commented: ”Being part of the Vermeer launch is really a privilege.  We have arts buyers over the world excited about the event. Further, facilitating a digital roll-out strategy for the Seventh Art’s catalogue as a whole is going to be a great experience as there is tremendous untapped potential; whilst arts is niche, there is still a large global audience for it.  This catalogue hasn’t been exercised yet fully in a structured release for FAST Channels and AVOD platforms. The branding around the Seventh Art catalogue is very clear and we expect to have a targeted successful response in the digital space. “

Phil Grabsky, Seventh Art MD: “Without a doubt Seventh Art Productions has one of the greatest collections of history, arts, social and music documentaries. So, in deciding who should represent it, we are very happy to choose Bomanbridge Media. They have represented our films in Asia but their successful worldwide distribution of our BAFTA-winning My Childhood, My Country – 20 Years in Afghanistan left us in no doubt that they are the right choice for our catalogue of over 250 hours. 

The tremendous strength of our catalogue continues to resonate, with the launch with our forthcoming documentary ‘Vermeer – the Greatest Exhibition’ based on our privileged access to the extraordinary Rijksmuseum exhibition now on (and 100% sold out) Vermeer show. This is our 34th Exhibition on Screen cinema film from our franchise and it is, to date, our highest pre-sale title. So, exciting times!”