Tag: Alastair Fothergill

  • Netflix, Silverback Films’ ‘Planet Earth’ sequel to release in 2019

    Netflix, Silverback Films’ ‘Planet Earth’ sequel to release in 2019

    MUMBAI: Come 2019 and Netflix in collaboration with Silverback Films and WWF will premiere across all its territories – Our Planet, a new eight part natural history series made by the creators of the critically and popularly acclaimed series Planet Earth.

     

    The ambitious four year project — the largest of its kind ever attempted — will take viewers into never-before-filmed wilderness areas from the ice caps and deep ocean to deserts and remote forests, introducing them to the most precious species and places that must withstand the impact of humanity so generations to come can enjoy the bounties of the natural world. Using the latest in 4K camera technology, the series and a range of specially produced storytelling for multi-media platforms will bring millions of people into intimate contact with some of the world’s rarest animals and most precious natural habitats.

     

    The series is being produced by Silverback Films, led by Alastair Fothergill and Keith Scholey, who created Planet EarthFrozen Planet and Blue Planet for the BBC, as well as the Disneynature films EarthBearsAfrican Cats and Chimpanzee.

     

    WWF, the world’s leading conservation organization with operations in more than 100 countries and over five million members, is providing the Silverback team unparalleled access to its projects in protected areas around the world and will collaborate on multi-media storytelling across its web and other platforms.

     

    “Netflix is proud to be the global home for perhaps Silverback’s most ambitious project to date. The Planet projects have enjoyed great success on Netflix and have helped launch new technologies for viewing at home. We think watching Our Planet, fully on demand in 4K will be an unforgettable experience for our members,” said Netflix Original Documentaries vice president Lisa Nishimura.

     

    Our Planet is going to raise the bar for natural history landmarks. We will reveal the most amazing sights on Earth and show them in ways they have never been seen before. Partnering with Netflix and WWF gives us the ability to reach and enthuse global audiences with the wonder and importance of the natural world,” added Silverback Films executive producer Alastair Fothergill.

     

    Our Planet will inspire millions of people around the world by showcasing the planet’s most precious species and most fragile habitats through a visionary series and cutting edge multimedia storytelling. At this critical time for global conservation we are honored to work with Silverback and Netflix on this completely unique collaboration,” said WWF executive producer Colin Butfield.

  • Discovery focusses on ‘Planet Earth’ with an in-depth portrait

    Discovery focusses on ‘Planet Earth’ with an in-depth portrait

    MUMBAI: One of infotainment channel Discovery’s biggest shows of the year focusses on Planet Earth. It kicks off on 1 February 2007 and airs every Thursday at 8 pm.

    The 11 part show took five years to make. It used 40 cameramen filming across 200 locations. The programmes were made over four years by producer Alastair Fothergill and his team, who were responsible for the successful Blue Planet.

    Filming involved visiting 62 countries. Each of the 11 episodes (except the first) focusses on one of the Earth’s natural habitats and examines its indigenous features, together with the breadth of fauna found there. Several animals and locations are shown that have hitherto never been filmed, using innovative camera technology.

    Previously unseen animal behaviour includes: wolves chasing caribou observed from above; snow leopard pursuing markhor in the Himalayas; grizzly bear cubs leaving their den for the first time; crab-eating macaques that swim underwater; and over a hundred sailfish hunting en masse.

    From mountains to rivers, the series will take viewers on a journey through the challenging seasons and the daily struggle for survival in Earth’s most extreme habitats. The show uses HD photography and unique filming techniques.

    Some sequences do have potentially disturbing content. Examples include a lone elephant being brought down by lions and a polar bear unsuccessfully attacking a walrus colony and subsequently being overcome by hunger and exhaustion. Fothergill was quoted in reports saying that he asked BBC in the UK for an appropriate warning before transmission in such cases.

    In describing the show Attenborough in the opening montage says, “A 100 years ago, there were one and a half billion people on Earth. Now, over six billion crowd our fragile planet. But even so, there are still places barely touched by humanity. This series will take you to the last wildernesses and show you the planet and its wildlife as you have never seen them before.”

  • Mike Phillips returns to BBC Worldwide

    Mike Phillips returns to BBC Worldwide

    MUMBAI: Mike Phillips will to return to UK pubcaster BBC’s commercial arm BBC Worldwide in a consultative capacity.

    He will work as an executive producer, theatrical films, on projects such as Earth, the feature film produced in parallel with the series Planet Earth and other factually based theatrical titles that BBC Worldwide plans to develop in the future. Before relinquishing corporate duties, Mike was deputy CEO at BBC Worldwide, responsible for managing the relationships with BBC production departments and with independent producers; for rights acquisition and investment in programmes; for marketing and communications and for exploiting programme formats through the international production business.

    BBC Worldwide director of content and production Wayne Garvie said, “Mike has an incredible passion for films and is also very well connected in the industry. There’s no-one better to work with producer, Alastair Fothergill and our partners in Greenlight Media to ensure that Earth is an outstanding production and to develop other ideas for the international market.”

    Phillips said, “The success of our oceans movie, Deep Blue, alongside other factually based films like Fahrenheit 9/11, Touching The Void and March Of The Penguins has created tremendous international interest in the genre. With Earth we have a uniquely ambitious project, already pre-sold in key territories. In addition, we are developing a number of other strong stories both with BBC producers and with UK independent firms.”