Gristmill’s 2019 ABC/Netflix children’s series The Inbestigators has been acquired by Japanese public broadcaster NHK.
With Netflix holding worldwide SVOD rights, the 10 x 24 series became available to linear broadcasters outside Australia for the first time in August last year.
In addition to NHK, the comedy mockumentary has sold to TVE/Clan TV (Spain), Wildbrain TV (Canada), KAN (Israel), SABC (South Africa), TVB (Hong Kong), RTV (Slovenia) and Radio Television Slovakia.
Created by Wayne Hope and Robyn Butler, The Inbestigators follows four primary school children who form their own detective agency and become best friends in the process.
The main cast are Abby Bergman, Anna Cooke, Aston Droomer and Jamil Smyth-Secka. Butler and Hope wrote the series with Molly Daniels, Lisa Marie Corso, Maddy Butler, Jayden Mascuilli and Bob Franklin, and both directed with Ian Reiser and Nina Buxton.
The Inbestigators will premiere in Japan on August 7 every Sunday night on NHK E-tele, and on catch-up via NHK Plus.
Takako Hayashi, senior producer at NHK said it is always searching for quality drama series for a youth audience.
“Like children everywhere in the world, Japanese children love a great sense of humour and a bit of ‘inbestigative mystery’. Having a message of diversity in the series, we hope that Japanese viewers will see The Inbestigators as a window to the world that will be a lot closer after Covid, and feel that they have a great bunch of friends in Australia!”
The Inbestigators was made with the support of Screen Australia and Film Victoria (now VicScreen), and is distributed internationally by the Australian Children’s Television Foundation (ACTF).
ACTF CEO Jenny Buckland said: “The Inbestigators is a clever, funny and unique program that has resonated with audiences worldwide. We’re very proud that children in Japan will get to meet Maudie, Ezra, Ava and Kyle and join in on their adventures as they solve thorny playground and neighbourhood mysteries together.”