About
Our History
Mundovision was founded by George Matta, then a young advertising executive who dreamed up a formula for allowing special primetime TV programs to be funded directly by corporate sponsors, instead of broadcasters. The gamble paid off as Mundovision first presented an adventure documentary series entitled The Intrepid Ones as well as several one-off sports docs using this new funding scheme.
In 1983, Mundovision was given the opportunity to market the Rolling Stones concert directed by Hal Ashby Let’s Spend The Night Together on television with FM radio simultcast across Canada. It was a landmark event at a time when television was still broadcasting in mono. The rest of the decade ushered in an era filled with colossal rock concerts in stereo simultcasts, including David Bowie’s Serious Moonlight tour, Tina Turner’s Private Dancer, Elton John with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Bruce Springsteen and many more top acts.
Following significant events such as the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the demise of the Soviet Union, Mundovision embraced the new world order by specializing in high-profile primetime documentary specials centered around geopolitical topics and social issues of international interest. During the 90s, it successfully distributed Hide & Seek in Iraq and its sequel Secrets in the Sand worldwide, which were co-produced with the UN, the blockbuster documentary The Plague Monkeys about the Ebola Virus, The Dead Are Alive, which chronicled the Rwandan genocide, Human Shield telling the stories of the hostages during the first Iraq War and several more memorable titles.
Mundovision was quickly ranked as a serious player in the documentary world and, through its then newly created arm Mundovision World Network Distribution Ltd., it expanded with the co-production of the pivotal series Beyond the Veil, of which the stand-alone episode The Holy Warriors was extensively broadcast in the immediate aftermath of 911. Mundovision has also released Aung San Suu Kyi: The Prisoner of Rangoon soon after the re-arrest of the Burmese pro-democracy leader and Noble Peace Price laureate, Korea: The Unfinished War miniseries, Men Don’t Cry: Prostate Cancer Stories and many other hard-hitting one-off documentaries.
Finally, starting in 2007, Mundovision began one of its most meaningful collaborations by teaming experience and effort with the Massachusetts-based Media Education Foundation – the producers of such films as War Made Easy, Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People, Blood and Oil, Consuming Kids, Shop ‘Til You Drop, The Purity Myth, The Great White Hoax, The Occupation of the American Mind and many others. This successful relationship resulted in War Made Easy (narrated by Sean Penn) becoming the preferred film to be broadcast in many countries around the world in March 2008, to mark the 5th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.
