A raft of new premium titles land across key genres of Factual Entertainment, Nature & Wildlife, High Impact Documentaries and the newly expanded Scripted & Digital Studios category, which now includes Adult Animation
(Toronto, Canada – March 22, 2018) – Blue Ant International, a transatlantic distributor of premium content and division of Blue Ant Media, continues to expand the scope of its catalogue with a slew of new original content and third-party programming ahead of MIPTV 2018.
More than 450 hours of new programming enriches the distributor’s catalogue, while reflecting its increased investment in top-tier productions, across the following tent-pole categories: Factual Entertainment; Nature & Wildlife; High Impact Documentaries; Kids & Family, and the newly expanded Scripted & Digital Studios offering, now debuting a new original scripted series, Gary and His Demons (8×30’;HD|16×11;HD), a premium adult animation series.
“We’ve ramped up our investments in premium content while also diversifying into new genres. Our goal is to broaden our offering for top-tier international buyers seeking a wide range of fresh and distinct programming,” said Solange Attwood, EVP, Blue Ant International. “Blue Ant International is also heading to MIPTV in active pursuit of new co-productions with world-class producers and international partnerships.”
Notable factual entertainment additions include: The Weather Files (8×60’;HD), produced by Blue Ant Media Productions; Season 4 of fan-favourite supernatural series, Paranormal Survivor (10×60’; HD); and the latest spin-off from The Brojects franchise, Brojects: Built for the Weekend (6×30’; HD), which was co-produced for Discovery Inc. and Cottage Life. Best Cake Wins (10×30’; HD) and Lakefront Luxury (10×30’; HD) round out the category’s newest offerings.
Blue Ant International has also launched two premium titles to its ever-growing High Impact Documentaries category: The First World War: The People’s Story (3×60’;HD), a three part docu-series commissioned by BBC and produced by Testimony Films; and I Am War (1×60’;HD), Northern Sky Entertainment’s one-hour documentary created for History Channel.
The highly anticipated third season of Africa’s Hunters (6×48’; 4K) is joining the distributor’s acclaimed Nature & Wildlife library at MIPTV this year. The series was first introduced by Love Nature and its celebrated 4K natural history production project with Plimsoll Productions: Camp Zambia. The Season 3 follow up has been delivered via Part II of the project, giving viewers an update on the award-winning production’s wildlife stars, including The Misfit and Kamuti. 4K nature and wildlife series, Monkey Island (3×60;HD) and Hope for Wildlife (26x 30′; 4K and HD|13×60′;4K and HD|78×60′; HD) have also joined the category’s lineup.
Rounding out the highlights are additions to Blue Ant International’s newly expanded Scripted & Digital Studios offering: Gary and His Demons (8×30’;HD|16×11;HD), an animated comedy about a cantankerous, aging demon slayer who has nothing left to lose from Look Mom! Productions; and Blue Ant Digital Studios’ short form series, Family of Champions (5×10; HD), initially launched on Facebook Watch.
Factual Entertainment:
The Weather Files (8×60’;HD) pulls the viewer into the awe inspiring accounts of professionals who are constantly in the cross hairs of Mother Nature’s path. From land to sea, these are the first-person adventures of those who deal with the unpredictability and danger of extreme and mysterious weather on a daily basis.
Paranormal Survivor, Season 4 (10×60’; HD) shares terrifying real-life encounters with the supernatural. Paranormal fans will hear from those who’ve faced these feared spirits – and watch dramatic recreations that lure people back to the scenes of these harrowing confrontations.
Brojects: Built for the Weekend (6×30’; HD), co-produced for Discovery Inc. and Cottage Life, is the latest spin-off from The Brojects franchise where brothers Kevin and Andrew take their fun and creative ideas on the road. In every episode they build a one-of-a-kind outdoor project that transforms a young family’s lake home into the ideal cool weekend retreat—everything from outdoor living rooms and floating movie theatres to post-and-beam hammock lounges and custom fire pits. From conception to the big reveal, each build arrives at its final destination in entertaining style.
Lakefront Luxury (10×30’; HD), an original series for the Cottage Life channel in Canada, is a three-house format series that sees a new couple each week hunt for, and eventually choose, their dream lakefront home. With unlimited budgets and endless wish-lists, each episode takes viewers on a tour of three opulent properties, along with potential buyers, as they weigh their options and ultimately decide which home is the one for them.
Best Cake Wins (10×30’; HD) makes every child’s most awesome birthday cake a reality by letting two cake-masters design a confectionary delight based on a child guest star’s own colourful drawings. In this series, expert bakers are tested to their limit as they create complex and intricate birthday cakes for the most demanding judges of them all: young kids with wild imaginations!
High Impact Documentaries:
The First World War: The People’s Story (3×60’;HD), produced by Testimony Films for BBC, draws on an extraordinary and little known archive of 200 interviews with the last survivors from the battlefields and the home front, filmed over the past 25 years. Vivid and heart breaking accounts are told from the main theatres of war, such as Passchendaele and the Somme, as well as on the homefront where families were devastated by the loss of loved ones. One of the most catastrophic wars in human history is seen and heard as never before, as emotional testimonies are combined with digitally restored World War II footage to tell the people’s story.
I Am War (1×60’;HD), produced by Northern Sky Entertainment for History Channel, tells the personal accounts of five men and women who fought with the Canadian Forces during the Afghanistan War and how these traumatic experiences have changed their lives. These compelling testimonials are personal journeys into war and are based on actual events and stories from first hand witnesses.
Nature & Wildlife:
Africa’s Hunters, Season 3 (18×60’; 4K and HD) sees the Camp Zambia team returning to Zambia’s Luangwa Valley where new leaders have emerged. An audacious, three-year old leopard has won her first territory but is mercilessly challenged by older rivals. Meanwhile, the series’ beloved misfit lion cub has found his place in the pride and befriends a starry-eyed new cub who needs to do the same. Across the valley, a hyena cub born into power struggles to maintain her position.
Monkey Island (3×60; 4K and HD) shares the story of an ancient citadel, once home to Sri Lanka’s kings, which has now been reclaimed by the jungle with a new dynasty in power: monkeys. The lives of King Troop of toque macaques play out among the ruins. The macaques share this primate paradise with laid back langurs and secretive leaf monkeys, but as the island suffers the toughest drought in years, all are tested to their limits.
Hope For Wildlife (26x 30′; 4K and HD|13×60′;4K and HD|78×60′; HD) introduces viewers to Hope Swinimer, and her staff and volunteers, who rescue, rehabilitate and release thousands of animals each year – while struggling to make ends meet. Hope for Wildlife is an emotionally charged look at what goes wrong when humans encroach on the natural environment. There isn’t always a happy ending, but there is always Hope.
Scripted & Digital Studios:
Gary and His Demons (8×30’;HD|16×11;HD) is an animated comedy about a cantankerous, aging demon slayer who has nothing left to lose. Burdened by his “chosen one” status and backed by a team of specialists he can’t relate to, Gary struggles to keep interest in the Earth-saving duty he never asked for and doesn’t want.
Family of Champions (5×10’; HD), a co-production between Blue Ant Digital Studios and Omnia Media’s digital channel for gamers Arcade Cloud, asks parents to answer the question: “Do you understand your kid’s favorite video game?” For many, the answer is no. Initially launched on Facebook Watch, this short form digital series showcases famous online gamers, such as MYSTIC7 and Jericho, as they conduct elaborate and fun tutorials for parents on how to play their kid’s favorite video game while forging new family bonds.
In addition to these highlights, Blue Ant International continues to acquire top quality libraries from top-tier producers such as PTV Productions, Heart Hat Entertainment, Ocean Entertainment and Primevista Television recently joining the distributor’s roster of clients with a broad selection of premium programming.
Blue Ant International will showcase all of this content and more at MIPTV 2018 at booth R8.D7.
Blue Ant International is a leading content distribution company with the largest slate of native 4K nature and wildlife content globally. Its diverse catalog of over 3,500+ hours includes award-winning factual, factual entertainment, kids and family, lifestyle, reality, documentary series, high impact docs, blockbuster formats. With offices in the UK and Toronto, the company’s library includes Best Cake Wins (Architect Films; 10×30’ HD), Teddies (Beach House Pictures Kids and Northern Pictures Kids; 90×30’HD) and Orangutan Jungle School (NHNZ; 10 x 60′ HDR + 4K + HD). Blue Ant International is a division of Blue Ant Media. blueantinternational.com
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