EXCLUSIVE: Eva Longoria and Stanley Tucci’s CNN Original Series food docs are set to travel the world.
Banijay Rights has acquired global distribution rights to Eva Longoria: Searching For Mexico and Stanley Tucci: Searching For Italy, both of which follow the Hollywood stars on culinary journeys. Gold Rush producer Raw TV is behind both series and were for CNN.
Eva Longoria: Searching For Mexico follows the Desperate Housewives star, director, producer and activist as she explores the lands of her Mexican ancestors to see who the country’s rich culture, landscape and history have shaped its cuisine over six episodes.
Stanley Tucci: Searching For Italy sees the actor indulging his passion for Italian cooking and explore the stories and people behind the European country’s fabled cuisine. Tucci, who has Italian ancestry on both sides, visits food markets and hidden trattorias over two seasons comprising a total of 14 episodes. BBC2 previously acquired season one in 2021.
Tucci serves as an exec producer on both series.
The acquisitions were brokered by Erica Novich, VP, Business Affairs for CNN Worldwide and Nicola Davey, VP Acquisitions, Banijay Rights, who recently joined the company from Beyond Rights.
“Told through the prism of two of the entertainment industry’s biggest stars, these charming, extraordinary series shine the spotlight on the world’s most renowned culinary cultures and the incredible stories surrounding them,” said Davey.
Other doc series on Banijay Rights’ slate include 72 Films’ Boris Johnson series Boris and Lara (working title), a reconciliation feature from Banijay Benelux joint venture Scenery based around Pablo Escobar’s most famous assassination. Deadline told you about both, here and here.
CNN scaled back its Original Series and CNN Films divisions in October last year while under the leadership of Chris Licht, who exited the Warner Bros Discovery news service last month after a tumultuous run.