Hulu Inks Exclusive Deals with Vuguru Series, British TV Hits

Hulu’s been the premiere and exclusive distribution point for a growing number of online original series.

Jon M. Chu’s The LXD was the first web series to make its Hulu debut. Mattel’s Genuine Ken inked a deal with the premium on demand streaming video service late last year. Lionsgate’s Trailer Trash appeared first on Hulu at the beginning of 2011. And Digital Broadcasting Group and Kiefer Sutherland’s The Confession enticed the eyes of movie makers after it dropped on the site back in February.

Now the online video viewing destination will be the premiere and exclusive distribution point for a growing number of foreign television shows, too.

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Hulu just announced it will exclusivley premiere three popular U.K. TV series to the web watching public on this side of the pond. Those series include the teenage superhero drama Misfits (“If you think life’s tough for your average superhero, it’s even tougher when you’ve got a curfew.”), the psychological thriller The Booth at the End (“How far would you go to get what you want?”), and the workplace comedy Whites (The Office meets one of the restaurants Gordon Ramsey visits in Kitchen Nightmares). Misfits is set to debut on June 20, Booth on July 11, and Whites on July 20.

Tubefilter readers with good memories will recognize at least one of the titles above.

The Booth at the End is produced by Michael Einsner’s new media studio Vuguru. The studio inked a global distribution deal (minus US and Canada) late last year with Fireworks International, which gave Fireworks a first-look opportunity to acquire international multi-platform distribution rights for all of Vuguru’s new productions. Fireworks in turn inked a deal with Fox International to distribute The Booth at the End in at least three different durations: a 62-episode web and mobile series comprised of two to three-minute installments, a 10-episode version of 10-minute episodes, and a five-episode mini-series clocking in at your TV standard of 22 minutes (which is the duration viewers stateside will be able to watch on Hulu in July).

Hulu promises these “exclusive, first-run, multi-year distribution deals” are the first of many, kicking off a summer of brand new exclusive programming. Stay tuned.