Film distributor Dogwoof is moving aggressively into international television sales for the first time, with plans to launch a number of feature-length documentaries at MipTV.

The UK company, which is known for distributing socially conscious docs into theatres, will be selling titles including killer whale film Blackfish, which premiered at Sundance, and 112 Weddings, a co-production from a raft of international broadcasters, including HBO and the BBC.

Vesna Cudic, international television sales and acquisitions executive, will be heading to Cannes for the first time to expand the company’s global TV presence.

“We specialise in the theatrical business, but so many film-makers liked our approach to distribution, so the international sales arm emerged organically from that,” said Cudic.

Dogwoof, which has released independent feature films including The Age Of Stupid, Restrepo and Bobby Fischer Against The World, was established in 2004 by former eBay executive Andy Whittaker. The firm launched an international theatrical distribution arm in 2011 and is now expanding the division to include TV sales.

Following its premiere at Sundance, the distributor acquired worldwide rights outside the US to Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s doc Blackfish, which tells the story of a performing whale that killed several people while in captivity at SeaWorld.

The doc will air on CNN in the US and Cudic said Dogwoof is in the process of negotiating several global TV and digital deals.

It will also be distributing 112 Weddings, in which film-maker Doug Block taped 112 ceremonies as a part-time wedding videographer.

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