Noah media group drives world sales on ‘stewart’

London: March 31 2022: Multi-award-winning UK production and distribution company Noah Media Group today announced that they have secured World Sales rights to STEWART, a major new documentary on the former Formula 1 World Champion, team owner and businessman, Sir Jackie Stewart.

The feature-length documentary was written and directed by Patrick Mark (Fabergé: A Life of Its Own), produced by Sarah Bayntun and Gareth Dodds (Spitfire, Armstrong) and executive produced by Jackie’s son, Mark Stewart (The Last Man on the Moon, Gazza) for MSP. Also executive producing are Bill Pohlad (American Utopia, 12 Years a Slave) and Jean-Marc Huët.

Using immaculately restored and previously unseen archive footage, STEWART charts the rush of excitement that heralded Jackie’s first F1 World Championship title in 1969.  From his humble beginnings outside Glasgow, through the darker years of the early 1970s when, despite opposition from those who believed that F1 should be ‘gladiatorial’, Stewart set out to improve racing safety.

STEWART is immersive, colourful and powerfully emotive, transcending motor sport to explore universal themes of love, loss and human vulnerability.

Noah Media Group will commence World Sales on STEWART in the coming weeks, with an anticipated international release in the summer of 2022. The film joins Noah’s growing sales & distribution roster of premium documentaries including The Australian Dream, produced by Oscar winner John Battsek, and Steven Gerrard feature Make Us Dream.

Noah’s Head of Sales Catherine Quantschnigg, commented: “I am looking forward to presenting this exciting project to buyers around the world. This is a truly special film about one of the greatest sporting legends of all times.”

STEWART executive producer Mark Stewart added: “Being the son of a three-times Formula One world champion has given me a ringside seat for much of my father’s life; but I wanted to keep an arms-length away and see how director Patrick Mark and editor Shawn Tracey chose to tell the story. I’ve always respected my parents’ achievements but producing this film has made me realise how proud I am. We are delighted to be working with Noah to bring this film to audiences around the world.”

Noah is currently co-producing upcoming feature documentary Villeneuve & Pironi, centred around the captivating and tragic story of F1 legends, Gilles Villeneuve & Didier Pironi, in partnership with Sky Studios. Villeneuve & Pironi is executive produced by Noah shareholder and former Formula One race winner Mark Webber. Recent global productions for the prestige documentary specialists have included Netflix Original, 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible and Arsène Wenger: Invincible, a co-production with Federation Entertainment, the definitive documentary on the footballing pioneer who changed the landscape of the English Premier League. The film was released on Canal+ in France and Amazon Prime Video in the UK in 2022.

About Noah Media Group

Noah Media Group is the award-winning production and distribution company behind many critically acclaimed sports feature documentaries.

Noah’s first Netflix Original feature documentary launched globally on the world-leading streaming platform in November 2021. 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible follows fearless Nepali mountaineer Nimsdai (Nims) Purja as he embarks on a seemingly impossible quest to summit all 14 of the world’s 8,000-meter peaks in seven months. Released in more than 190 territories, 14 Peaks was a Top 10 watch across 50 territories in its first month of release. The film currently boasts 89% on Rotten Tomatoes’ all-important critics Tomatometer, with a 93% Audience Score. The film was longlisted for the Best Documentary BAFTA 2022.

In 2021, Noah Media Group and BT Sport Films partnered on the football docuseries South of the River, charting the rise to fame of some of Britain’s most talented young players - all of whom have emerged from a few square miles in South London. Broadcast to UK audiences via BT Sport in November 2021, the series is created by Gabriel Clarke, directed by Jay Gill and features Rio Ferdinand, who also serves as an executive producer. 

Previous Noah credits include the critically-acclaimed Finding Jack Charlton (2020) - a portrait of one of football’s most cherished heroes and his previously undocumented dementia diagnosis, which was launched in partnership with the BBC & Virgin Media Ireland. The touching film won the Broadcast Awards Best Documentary 2022, was Grierson nominated and received a Broadcast Sport Editor’s Choice award in 2021 with the glowing praise that it “…sets a new benchmark in high-quality, factual sports content and will be held in the highest esteem for years to come.”

Also produced by Noah is The Edge (2019) - the story of the record-breaking England Test Cricket team of 2010 and the sport’s issues with mental health (BBC, Amazon Prime) and Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans - charting the Hollywood star’s quest to make the ultimate racing movie (Showtime, BBC and Official Selection, Cannes Film Festival 2015).

Noah also produced and distributed Adam Hills: Take His Legs (Channel 4, Network 10 Australia), which was named the 2019 Sports Journalists’ Association Best TV/Film Documentary of the year and Bobby Robson: More Than a Manager (Netflix), winner of the same prestigious award in 2018.

In addition to their celebrated feature film work, Noah boasts an industry-leading in-house production and graphics team and the company has been recognised by BAFTA, BIFA, IFTA and the Royal Television Society (RTS), amongst others.