World Media Rights (WMR), the UK factual outfit behind Netflix’s The Lost Pirate Kingdom that counted Germany’s ZDF Studios among its investors, is set to close following the death of its founder Alan Griffiths.Griffiths, who founded London-based WMR in 2007 and made hundreds of hours of factual and history programming that sold around the world, died in February aged 69. 3-The production company was behind series such as docu-drama The Lost Women Spies for German broadcaster ZDF, the distribution arm of which, then known as ZDF Enterprises (ZDFE), acquired a 32.5% stake in WMR in 2017.At the time, Alexander Coridass, then president and CEO of ZDFE, described Griffiths as “a brilliant and internationally renowned creator and producer.”WMR made programming for the likes of Discovery and Reelz over the years, including Black Ops, Air Crash Confidential, Myth Hunters, Hitler’s Circle of Evil, Royals: Keeping the Crown and The Mafia’s Greatest Hits, while it made series including Ancient Apocalypse for ZDF.WMR was also a frequent collaborator with Netflix, which commissioned it to make Greatest Events of World War Two in Colour, The Lost Pirate Kingdom and The Road to Victory.C21 understands accountancy firm Turpin Barker Armstrong was appointed to liquidate WMR in December 2024 but the process was stopped following Griffiths’ death.London Gazette, the UK government’s official newspaper, this week issued a notice for compulsory strike off against WMR, which means the company is likely to be dissolved.A compulsory strike off is a legal process that removes a company from UK business registrar Companies House and closes it permanently if a company is no longer trading.As well as running WMR, Griffiths wrote the digital and e-commerce strategy for the Kingdom of Jordan, which has been implemented by the country’s civil service.He also ran the e-commerce strategy for the States of Guernsey while he was head of digital at Chime Communications. He also wrote two books on digital broadcasting and its consequences.
C21Media.