Vuguru Sells ‘Booth’ to FOX International In All Territories

Vuguru hinted at this last week when news of their 2-year exclusive international sales deal with ContentFilm’s Fireworks International broke, but today comes the specifics on what led to the partnership in the first place. Fireworks has sold Vuguru’s The Booth at the End to FOX International Channels (FIC) in all territories, excluding the US and Canada.

The two-year distribution deal, which is exclusive for 18 months, plugs Booth into FIC’s 183 channels worldwide, which together boast over 875 million global subscribers. It’s a sweeping deal, arguably the most comprehensive international pickup of a web series to date, as Fox is getting internet, broadcast TV, mobile, and download-to-own rights for all durations of the series.

Durations? Yes, that’s the latest buzzword to keep handy for digital distro conversations. On the international TV marketplace anything and everything can be chopped and served up to order depending on the platform. As with most all of Fireworks’ multiplatform projects, there’s always a short form and a longer form TV-friendly version ready to go.

For Booth, it’s actually three versions that have been ordered—a 62-episode web

and mobile series clocking in at around 2 to 3 minutes, a 10-episode ten-minute version and a 5-episode mini-series coming in at 22 minutes a pop. Early 2011 is the word on when it will bow internationally.

Booth comes from creator Christopher Kubasik who crafted the mystery starring 24’s Xander Berkeley as “The Man,” a solitary figure with some bizarre powers, able to grant wishes to visitors who sit down with him at his corner booth in a rundown diner. Just who he is and what his intentions are remain to be figured out. Jessica Landaw directed the project.

This isn’t the first web series out of Vuguru to get its international run before the US—think Prom Queen 3 (The Homecoming) which is only in Canada so far—it probably won’t be the last at the rate Fireworks is selling right now. It’s also shopping teen drama Pretty Tough at MIPCOM 2010 in Cannes this week, and it does have a commitment to pick up a minimum of ten multi-platform projects from Vuguru over the next two years.