NGTI TAKES THE HUMAN FOOTPRINT ACROSS THE WORLD

Published: 25 September 2007

NGTI (National Geographic Television International) today announces a number of sales for THE HUMAN FOOTPRINT, the innovative programme that explores the impact of the life of an average person on earth.

THE HUMAN FOOTPRINT, which was produced by Touch Productions for Channel 4 has now been licensed by NGTI to ARD in Germany, Nine Network Australia, YLE Finland, SVT Sweden, Antena 3 Spain, VPRO Netherlands, VRT Belgium, RTP Portugal, TVB Hong Kong, Skai Greece and RUV Iceland.

By using strong imagery and remarkable facts, THE HUMAN FOOTPRINT reveals the extraordinary impact that each of our lives has on the world around us. It is a playful, surprising, shocking and thought-provoking portrait of our time on Earth.

The programme calculates, for example, all the animals, vegetables and fruit a person will eat as well as all the disposable nappies we put on as children to keep in the mess. It lays out every one of the 14,000 pints of milk an average person drinks and every one of the 74,000 cups of tea they’ll consume in a lifetime. It shows all the money we will ever spend, together with all the consumer durables we’ll buy. In wonderful visual reveals it displays a lifetime’s supply of clothes, shoes, washing machines, Christmas presents, beer and wine. Each and every reveal is laid out in a genuine display – this is no creation in CGI. It’s the only time in your life you will see your lifetime’s consumption in one go.

This wonderful film takes viewers on a unique journey through life - through your childhood, your school, your relationships and your jobs. It shows you all the people you will ever know. It shows you how much waste you will produce, the amount of fuel you’ll consume as you drive or fly around the planet. It shows you just how much you’ve got to pack in during your 2,475,526,000 seconds on earth. It is the story of your human footprint.

THE HUMAN FOOTPRINT is currently available as the original 1 x 72 programme, a 1 x 52 international version or as a full or partial format, so that it can be tailored to specific local cultures. The versatility of the show and the inherent flexibility in being able to take a ready-made version and localise it to varying degrees has ensured THE HUMAN FOOTPRINT has a broad appeal. Touch Productions is currently making an American version for the National Geographic Channel and this will be available for license from NGTI in 2008.

Anna Fuge, NGTI’s head of sales comments: “The Human Footprint is a unique concept in programming today – a thought-provoking ‘green’ story that uses amazing stunts – no CGI - humour and statistics to question our impact on the planet. As such, it has resonated with many broadcasters, keen to find entertaining yet credible programming to fill the green space. A number are now working with Touch Productions to create versions with localised content and we look forward next year to comparing for example the impact of the average Briton with the average German and the average American.”