NGTI ACQUIRES A RANGE OF NEW PROGRAMMING IN TIME FOR MIPTV

Published: 6 March 2008

National Geographic Television International today confirms that it will be bringing its largest ever slate of indie product to MipTV, in addition to the increasing volume and diversity of output from National Geographic Television.

The sole distributor for National Geographic Television productions, the UK-based company has been proactively growing its independent catalogue in the past two years and now works with a wide range of factual producers from around the world.

New this market are four programmes from long-standing partner, Dutch producer Nature Conservation Films. The four hour-long wildlife shows are Cheetahs: Against the Odds, Elephant: Return to the Wild, The Fawn Identity and Out of the Blue – which looks at man’s relationships with whales and dolphins.

Humpbacks: From Fire to Ice (1 x 52) is a spectacular HD, blue-chip programme from Australia’s YNR Marketing/Ocean Planet Images. Narrated by David Attenborough, it follows a humpback calf and its mother during the first year of her life as they travel from Hawaii to Alaska and back again. NGTI has distributed previous titles from this producer.

US-based Towers Productions was a new partner before Mipcom last year and this time NGTI is launching the second season of its contemporary history series – The Final Report (8 x 47) at MipTV. Titles in this season include: The Oklahoma City Bombing, The Battle for Fallujah, Exxon Valdez and The Green River Killer.

New producers this year cross a range of factual genres, including environment/green, which is currently much in demand. From Australia’s 360 Degree Films NGTI has acquired Seed Hunter (1 x 52), which follows Dr Ken Street - the Indiana Jones of agriculture - as investigates the genetic base of our food and travels the globe looking for robust crops that can survive accelerating climate change and ensure future populations don’t starve. Seed Hunter has been produced for WGBH/Nova

From Australia’s Hatching Productions, with Film of Record and Freshwater Pictures, NGTI is launching The Burning Season (1 X 52). This programme, made for ABC, CBC and BBC, tells the fascinating story of an environmental entrepreneur who sets out to save orangutans that are losing their habitat due to the logging and burning of Indonesia’s rainforests. Indonesia is the third largest emitter of carbon, after the USA and China. He travels the world, meets political and financial superstars and becomes involved with an innovative plan to stop the burning, presented to a United National Climate Change Conference.

Other new titles include the wildlife show In Search of a Legend: Black Leopard (1 x 52), from South Africa’s Nationwide Distributors, a company formed by Kevin Richardson, star of the popular Dangerous Companions; Dead Tired! (2 x 52), an impressive science show from Australia’s Paul Scott Films that asks if the loss of sleep due to contemporary living is doing us harm and Rebels of History: Hannibal, from Germany’s Zeitfilm. The latter is a remarkable new look at the iconic Hannibal story involving scientists, soldiers, practical experts – and elephants!

Edwina Thring, head of acquisitions and co-productions at NGTI comments: “We are delighted to be bringing so many titles from independent producers to the market this year – and are very pleased that much of this large slate is from returning partners, where we already have a successful sales track record.
“We have a strategy of working with like-minded factual producers who create shows that sit naturally under the National Geographic brand – either with a direct fit with our current catalogue or with titles that are complementary. This strategy has succeeded in introducing us to some incredible talent from around the world and some novel ideas. The Burning Season and Seed Hunter for example present two very new angles on the climate change story and both do so in an intelligent, entertaining and compelling fashion – and we are really looking forward to seeing buyers’ reactions in Cannes.”