Tag: factual content

  • Electric Sky to bring factual content to Mipcom

    MUMBAI: UK distributor Electric Sky returns to next month‘s television trade event Mipcom in Cannes, France with new factual titles.

    ‘Turtle Boy‘ by Sundog Pictures for Channel 4 and National Geographic traces the story of Didier, a six year old boy from Columbia with a rare condition – a huge 11-pound mole which covered his back. Resembling the shell of a turtle the mole was taking up 40 per cent of his body and its regular maintenance prevented him from going to school. This is a story of cutting-edge medicine, a mother‘s love, and a brave six-year-old‘s fight to be released from his burden.

    From Australian prodco Unboxed Media, Electric Sky has acquired ‘Tipping Points‘, an international coproduction exploring the tipping points of changing climate. The series will follow pre-eminent scientists as they go off the grid to explore the dangerous new tipping points making our weather systems more extreme and unpredictable and how these changes impact weather systems around the world. Networks on board include US network The Weather Channel, NHK in Japan, the ARD Group in Germany, Canvas in Belgium, VPRO in Holland and The Australia Network.

    Electric Sky has acquired ‘Hilary Lister – A Race Against Time‘ by Peter Williams Television Productions, which follows the remarkable journey of a record-breaking sailor with a difference. Despite suffering from a progressive condition which means she is paralyzed from the neck down, Hilary Lister embarks on an ambitious journey to sail around Britain. Relying on her own gumption and determination it‘s a story of courageous seamanship, a struggle for independence and purpose, and an astonishing achievement against all odds.

    From Irish production company, Rival Media, Electric Sky has taken on ‘Big Wave Bootcamp‘, which takes 8 surf-mad teens and unleashes them on the world‘s most extreme surf school in Hawaii. In ‘Mission Beach USA‘ a Rival Media Production for RTE eight teens tackle sun, sea and survival in Florida. In at the deep end, on the toughest lifeguard course in the world, our teens live, sleep, eat, breathe, relax and take all that the beach and their lifeguard instructors can throw at them. Will our eight hopefuls make it, or sink without a trace?

    Trouble in Paradise by 9 Films Production for Channel 9 Australia is a series that tells the stories of travellers and holidaymakers who have been subjected to terrifying experiences while on holidays in different parts of the world before escaping with their lives. These are ordinary people, simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, and what makes this series so enthralling is that their nightmares could happen to anyone.

    Finally, Electric Sky has picked up cooking series ‘Cookucina‘by Stephen Phelps Productions. Presented by two vivacious 40-something (and a bit!) women, Cookucina is a simple bi-lingual celebration of regional Italian food and the all-natural ingredients grown in the lush countryside in the foothills of the Sibillini Mountains.

  • BBC Knowledge loads up factual content

    MUMBAI: Over 200 new hours of factual titles have been acquired for global audiences of BBC Knowledge, following the conclusion of significant new deals by BBC Worldwide Channels.

    The programming slate is drawn from leading distributors – All3Media International, Endemol, and Zodiak Rights – and includes titles such as Genius, Secret Millionaire US, Joanna Lumley: Jewel In the Nile, Ross Kemp In The Middle East, Kevin McCloud’s Grand Tour and Derren Brown Investigates.

    These will air next year.

    BBC Worldwide Channels VP acquisitions Bun Scrase-Dickins said, “We are committed to working with UK and international suppliers to source the best quality programmes for our international audiences. These represent only a fraction of the great content available in the market and we’re delighted to bring them to audiences through our localised channels.”

    From Zodiak Rights comes content like Genius, featuring some of the world’s leading scientists including Stephen Hawking and David Attenborough. Historical series Lost Kingdoms of Africa and documentary-dramas The Queen and 1929: The Great Crash have also been acquired.

    Endemol‘s content includes epic journey series Joanna Lumley: Jewel In the Nile, The Stephen Tompkinson Australian Balloon Adventure and The Stephen Tompkinson Great African Balloon Adventure.

    Also acquired from Endemol are historical investigations Convoy, Turin Shroud: The New Evidence and WWI: Finding The Lost Battalions. From All3Media International, Derren Brown Investigates has been acquired, as well as historical investigations – Britain’s African Emperor, Alexandria: The Greatest City and Pompeii: Cellar of Skeletons.

    Lost Kingdoms of Africa reveals the story of Africa’s ancient civilizations. Presented by historian and art expert, Dr Gus Casely-Hayford, this series uncovers the forgotten history of pre-colonial Africa. Comparing modern Africa with the historic kingdoms, each film is a rich visual journey as Gus crosses the dramatic landscapes to discover the legacy of Africa’s past glory.

    Joanna Lumley: Jewel In The Nile follows the actress and campaigner as she embarks on the trip of a lifetime; to follow the River Nile, the longest river in the world, from sea to source.

    On a 4000 mile journey, passing through Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda and Rwanda, Joanna revisits the romantic history of the Nile and talks with the people working and living on the river.

    In Derren Brown Investigates the renowned psychological illusionist hits the road to investigate extraordinary paranormal claims from around the world. In the UK, he meets psychic medium Joe Power, who claims he can communicate with the dead, before travelling to America to find out if things really do go bump in the night, on a surprising investigation into the world of leading ghost hunter Lou Gentile.

    Finally, Brown explores one of the most ambitious claims, travelling to Holland to meet Russian Vyacheslav Bronnikov.