Facebook Watch is Getting Magical With ‘Troy The Magician’

By Peter White, Deadline
Published Sep. 17, 2018, 8:29 a.m. ET

Facebook Watch is getting into magic with a new series fronted by British street magician Troy Von Scheibner.

The digital platform has ordered Troy The Magician from UK production house Zig Zag Productions, which is best known in the U.S. for producing royal reality series I Wanna Marry Harry for Fox.

The series, which is a collection of short-form episodes, includes unseen footage and clips of the renowned performer’s close-up magic and spectacular stunts in London and New York.

Von Scheibner, who has been performing magic since he was 12 years old, is best known for Zig Zag Productions and Motion Content Group’s Troy, which ran for two seasons on Channel 4 in the UK and Syfy in the U.S.

The deal comes after Facebook revealed that it was rolling out its Watch service internationally. The social media platform is looking to commission a raft of content from producers around the world as it looks for global shows that can repeat the success of Red Table Talk with Jada Pinkett Smith and beauty mogul Huda Kattan’s behind-the-scenes show Huda Boss.

Danny Fenton, CEO of Zig Zag Productions, said, “We’re very excited that our series Troy The Magician will be available internationally on Facebook Watch. Facebook Watch is where content, community and conversation all come together and that’s why magic is a perfect genre for the platform.”