Bernie Ecclestone Rubbishes Rival Formula 1 Docs As DAZN, Discovery+ And Star+ Board His Manish Pandey Series ‘Lucky!’
06.10.2022 - 12:37
/ deadline.com
EXCLUSIVE: Bernie Ecclestone has slammed Formula 1 documentaries currently on the market and said audiences will prefer the “reality” of his upcoming series Lucky!, which Deadline can reveal has added a trio of broadcast and streaming partners.
DAZN, Discovery+ and Star+/ESPN Latin America have boarded the eight-part program, which comes from Senna producer Manish Pandey and tells the story of the development of Formula 1 through the eyes of the nonagenarian media mogul. It’s set to launch this December following a production process that began during the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020, and its producers have spent the past few months successfully shopping it directly to buyers.
Global sports streamer DAZN acquired rights in Japan, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain and Italy, while Discovery+ grabbed rights in the UK and Ireland. Disney-owned ESPN LatAm acquired rights for its Star+ streaming service and ESPN channels in the region. Other deals are known to be close to completion.
In an exclusive interview with Deadline ahead of launch, Ecclestone referred several times to “an American [Formula 1] documentary on Netflix at the moment” being “just an American take on the story” of the motor sport, which he is widely credited with transforming into a multi-billion dollar business.
He did not name the doc, but was almost certainly referring to Box to Box Productions’ behind-the-scenes doc series Formula 1: Drive to Survive. Pushed on how much he had watched, he simply responded: “I do not need to see it because it is not true.”
Ecclestone said Lucky!, which the BAFTA-winning Pandey produced through his Jiva Maya banner, was instead “reality — and in most cases people prefer reality.” The show is billed as the “intensely personal