‘Checkpoint Zoo’ and ‘I’m Carl Lewis!’ Docs Head to Market

EXCLUSIVE: Noah Media’s Carl Lewis feature doc and Oscar contender Checkpoint Zoo are headed to the TV market, with MIPCOM pushes incoming for both projects. Both are big-ticket doc titles for the Cannes sales fest, with exec producers including LeBron James and Leonardo DiCaprio respectively. Sphere Abacus has taken distribution on the Carl Lewis film and Osmosis Global on Checkpoint Zoo.

Julie Anderson and Chris Hay-directed I’m Carl Lewis! premiered at SXSW and is the story of the champion sprinter and long-jumper in his own words. Lewis was named Athlete of the Century by the IAAF, the sport’s governing body. Sphere Abacus has international sales and will be bringing the film to market at MIPCOM. Cinetic Media has U.S. sales on the project. LeBron James and Maverick Carter are among the exec producers of the film, which is produced by Noah, Uninterrupted, NIKE and Miroma Group.

Noah’s Joshua Zeman-helmed Checkpoint Zoo will also be getting some MIPCOM sales action next week, with Osmosis Global handling distribution. Tipped as an Oscar contender, the film is produced by Noah and Ghost Robot and has Appian Way and Leonardo DiCaprio attached as executive producers.

The film documents the heroic effort to rescue zoo animals stranded by the war in Ukraine and we had the first trailer earlier this year. The doc is currently enjoying a theatrical run in the U.S. and won the Audience Award at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Another Noah doc that will be getting airtime at MIPCOM is Football’s Financial Shame: The Story of the V11, which premiered on the BBC in the UK. It lifts the lid on a financial scandal that saw high-profile footballers say they lost millions of pounds. The film was mentioned in Prime Minister’s Questions in parliament the day after broadcast in the UK. Fremantle has international sales and the doc is on its MIPCOM slate.

Elsewhere, Catherine Quantschnigg, Noah’s Head of Sales, will be shopping Torquil Jones’ She Looks Like Me at the market. A stranger than fiction story of U.S. gymnast Dominique Moceanu and acrobat Jen Bricker, whose lives intertwine, the film premiered at SXSW.

Quantschnigg said: “I am very excited that at this year’s MIPCOM we have four premium documentaries sold by various sales partners and ourselves  – every project is so unique and special  – we look forward to buyer’s response on the films.”

Noah CEO John McKenna added: “Several of these films have been financed through our Content Fund, and we are very proud that companies of this level and reputation in the international sales market are representing this fantastic work.”