Sky releases first look trailer for brand new and timely docu-series Once Upon a Time in Londongrad

Sky today releases the official first look trailer for brand new series ONCE UPON A TIME IN LONDONGRAD directed by Oscar® nominated filmmaker Jed Rothstein (Killing In The Name, WeWork) coming to Sky Documentaries and NOW from 31st May. The six-part series is produced by Oscar® and Emmy® winning production company, Rise Films in association with Universal International Studios, a division of Universal Studio Group, BuzzFeed Studios and Concordia Studio - for Sky Documentaries.

Investigative reporter Heidi Blake receives a tip on the death of a multi-millionaire property tycoon, leading her to uncover a web of death that entangles Russian oligarchs, 10 Downing Street and Washington, D.C. Set across Vladimir Putin’s two decades in power, ONCE UPON A TIME IN LONDONGRAD charts how the UK became reliant on Russian money and missed opportunities to contain the Kremlin. 

The timely series explores fourteen mysterious deaths in the UK with alleged connections to Russia, delving into the hidden underworld of Russian exiles in London to link some of the most internationally significant cases in living memory — including the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, the suspicious death of oligarch Boris Berezovsky and the attempted assassination of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal. ONCE UPON A TIME IN LONDONGRAD is both a cautionary tale and an origins story of Russia’s path to eventually invading Ukraine.

The series was commissioned by Jack Oliver, Head of Co-Productions for Zai Bennett, Managing Director of Content at Sky. The Executive Producer is Teddy Leifer and Series Producer is Guy Horlock for Rise Films. Co-Executive Producers for BuzzFeed Studios are Richard Alan Reid and Karolina Waclawiak. The series will air on Sky Documentaries in the UK and Ireland and will be distributed internationally by NBCUniversal Global Distribution.

About Sky  

Sky is Europe’s leading media and entertainment company and is proud to be part of Comcast Corporation, a global media and technology company that connects people to moments that matter. Across six countries, Sky connects 23 million customers to the best entertainment, sports, news, arts and to our own award-winning original content.      

Following the launch of Sky Glass, we now offer customers our strongest ever line-up of products and services. As well as the new streaming TV with Sky inside and everything integrated, customers can enjoy the award-winning Sky Q with all your favourite channels and apps in one place, and with Sky Go you can now access an even better experience on your devices. Sky TV has new channels, new shows and new deals with Peacock, Paramount+ and more. Sky Mobile was voted Best Pay Monthly and Best Value Pay Monthly network by Uswitch, and with Sky Broadband we’re offering our fastest speeds yet.   

Building on the success of Sky Originals like Chernobyl, Gangs of London and Brassic, we are doubling our investment in original content by 2024 through Sky Studios. Our new TV and movie studio, Sky Studios Elstree, is expected to create over 2,000 new jobs and generate an additional £3 billion of production investment in the UK over the first five years alone. Sky News provides impartial and trustworthy journalism for free, Sky Arts is the UK’s only dedicated free-to-air arts channel making the arts accessible for everyone and Sky Sports, our leading sports broadcasting service, brings customers some of the biggest and best global sporting events from the Premier League to Formula 1 and everything in-between. Sky Cinema is the home of Sky Original films with brand new films launching every month alongside an unrivalled range of the latest cinema releases and on demand library.     

We believe that we can be a force for good in the communities in which we operate. We’re committed to being Europe’s first net zero carbon entertainment company by 2030 and we’re proud to be a Principal Partner and Media Partner of COP26 – the UN Climate Change Conference. We take pride in our approach to diversity and inclusion: we’ve been recognised by The Times and Stonewall for our commitment to diversity, and we’ve set ambitious 2025 targets to continue to increase diversity and representation.  We’re also committed to investing £30million across our markets over the next three years to improve our approach to diversity and inclusion, and to tackle racial injustice.    

About Rise Films

Rise Films is an Oscar® and Emmy® winning production company. Its productions include The Invisible War (Oscar® nominee and Emmy® winner), The Interrupters (Emmy® winner), Icarus (Oscar® winner), Knuckle, Dreamcatcher, We Are Together, Rough Aunties and Who is Dayani Cristal? starring Gael García Bernal. Rise has produced films and television programs for broadcasters and partners including BBC, Channel 4, PBS, Showtime and HBO, which have gone on to win multiple awards at the Sundance Film Festival. Other clients and partners include Netflix, Hulu, ITV, Universal, the BFI and Film4.

Roman comedy, Plebs, became ITV2’s highest rating comedy ever. The show is now in its fifth season and has won multiple awards including a Broadcast Award and a Royal Television Society Award, as well as receiving two BAFTA nominations.

The company recently produced The Human Factor (released by Sony Pictures Classics in 2021), Dror Moreh’s follow-up to his Oscar® nominated, The Gatekeepers; as well as The Art of Political Murder, a feature documentary for HBO, executive produced by George Clooney. Rise also produced David Osit’s multi-award winning, Mayor, following the life and work of Musa Hadid, the mayor of Ramallah.

Its latest feature documentary, All That Breathes, directed by Shaunak Sen won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival and will have its International Premiere at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival in Official Selection.

Amongst other ongoing productions, Rise is currently making a two-part documentary for HBO George Carlin’s American Dream, directed by Judd Apatow.

About Universal International Studios

Universal International Studios, a division of Universal Studio Group, delivers award-winning content to millions across the globe. Based in London, the business’ in-house production companies include Carnival Films, creator of worldwide phenomenon “Downton Abbey,” hit series “Belgravia” and Netflix drama “The Last Kingdom”; Monkey Kingdom, producer of BAFTA-winning “Made in Chelsea,” ITV hits “The Real Housewives of Cheshire” and “Jersey, UK,” “Celebrity Karaoke Club” and “Don’t Hate the Playaz;”; Australian-based Matchbox Pictures, producer of critically acclaimed series “The Real Housewives of Melbourne”, “Safe Harbour,” “Stateless” and “Clickbait,” which debuted at #1 worldwide on Netflix and upcoming drama “Things I Know To Be True”; Working Title Television, producer of “Tales of the City,” “The Luminaries,” “We Are Lady Parts” and “Everything I Know About Love”; and Heyday Television, producer of award-winning series “The Long Song,” “The Capture” and “Clickbait,” plus the upcoming adaptation of Liane Moriarty’s “Apples Never Fall.” Universal International Studios also backs Tony Ayres Productions (TAP), the company also behind “Clickbait” and anthology series “Fires”; and owns an equity stake in Lark Productions (“The Glass Hotel,” “Fortunate Son”) in Canada. The studio also houses a London and LA-based scripted unit that develops and produces original series such as the Emmy-nominated television adaptation “Hanna” and BBC family adventure drama “Dodger.” The division comprises a global formats group and also partners with third-party production companies, broadcasters, networks and platforms to produce hit shows such as “Transplant” (Sphere Media/CTV/NBC), “Pretty Hard Cases” (Cameron Pictures/CBC/IMDb TV) and the upcoming cyber-thriller “The Undeclared War” (Playground Entertainment/Channel 4/Peacock) from seven-time BAFTA winner Peter Kosminsky.

About NOW     

NOW is the home of brilliant entertainment. We’re one of the UK’s leading streaming services with critically acclaimed shows, new and exclusive movies, unmissable sport and epic kids TV – all with no contract. Join in with an Entertainment, Cinema, Sports, or hayu Membership to stream instantly across TV, mobile, desktop and over 60 other devices. Watch on the go and even offline with our app by downloading shows and movies.     

Entertainment Members can enjoy critically acclaimed dramas, documentaries and comedies, Emmy award-winning shows, the best of HBO and exclusive Sky Originals. Cinema Members can discover over 1000 brilliant movies, from the latest blockbusters and classic favourites and a new premiere every day. Sports Members cheer on unmissable Premier League, international cricket, F1, golf and more – all live, across 11 Sky Sports channels.     

Plus, members can enhance their experience with NOW Boost – that’s full 1080p HD, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and streaming on up to 3 devices at once, ad-free in VOD.     

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