“The Balloonists”: John Dower directs a documentary about the first airlines to travel the world in a hot air balloon; Anonymous Content, Red Bull Studios and Rise Films Produced

EXCLUSIVE: Anonymous Content, Red Bull Studios and Rise Films are teaming up to produce a new documentary The balloonists in response to Swiss explorer Bertrand Piccard and English balloonist Brian Jones. BAFTA and Emmy nominated documentary filmmaker John Dower has been appointed to direct the project and Anonymous Content’s AC Independent will oversee sales.

The balloonists follows the unlikely duo of Swiss explorer Piccard and British flight instructor Jones as they compete against the world’s leading airlines and ultra-rich adventurers in 1999 to become the first people to fly non-stop around the world in a hot air balloon. Many in the aviation industry believed it was an impossible feat after years of failed attempts by balloonists from around the world. Ballooning is more subject to the vagaries of nature than most racing sports. An airline must learn to accept the unexpected and respect its position in the hierarchy of the natural world or risk facing its full force.

“When Teddy first approached me with the story of Bertrand and Brian’s trip, I had never heard of it and knew nothing about ballooning,” said Dower. “I think that’s always a good starting point for nonfiction, especially with a story as special as hers. There’s a real hunger for adventure stories, but this one is full of awe and wonder – things we can really do more of with our lives right now. I look forward to working with Rise Films, Anonymous Content and Red Bull Studios to bring audiences this compelling story.”

The film is co-financed by Anonymous Content and Red Bull Studios. Oscar-nominated producers Teddy Leifer and Guy Horlock of Rise Films will produce the project, while David Levine, Nick Shumaker and Jessica Grimshaw of Anonymous Content and Philipp Manderla and Charlotte Cheung of Red Bull Studios will executive produce. Associate producers for Rise Films are Florrie Priest and Sam Stanley. Dave Matlin represented Rise Films in the deal.

Dower is one of Britain’s leading documentary filmmakers. His brand Sensation in Manila participated in Sundance and was nominated for BAFTA and Emmy. His 2013 film Bradley Wiggins: A year in yellow was nominated for his feature film BAFTA in the category “Best Director”. My Scientology movie, which he co-wrote, grossed more than £1m at the UK box office and was the highest-grossing documentary of 2016 in the country. He directed the award-winning true crime film The secret of DB Cooper and has recently directed Netflix series Sophie: A murder in West Cork.

The latest Oscar and BAFTA nominated film from Rise Films Everything that breathesDirected by Shaunak Sen, it is the only film to win both the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and Best Documentary at the Cannes Film Festival. UK production team credits include: The art of political assassination, dream catcher, Once upon a time there was Londongrad and much more.

AC Independent recently handled the sales of Alex Gibney’s Elon Musk documentary musk, which was sold to HBO Documentary Films for North American streaming and TV rights and to Universal Pictures Content Group for international rights. Upcoming projects include the Norwegian genre film from Einar Film Dealing with the dead (Neon), Raoul Pecks Orwell (Neon), Jesse Moss’s war game and Penny Lanes Mrs. America.