Official Trailer, featuring Andoh’s narration, unveiled today
Produced by Maramedia in association with ARTE France
Four part series to roll out on Love Nature’s global linear and streaming platforms; Sky Nature in the U.K. and Italy; and ARTE in France and Germany
Blue Ant International handles pre-sales and licensing
(Washington, D.C. – September 21, 2022) – Love Nature, a wildlife and nature brand with linear and streaming channels available in over 130 countries, and Sky Nature, announced today that award-winning actor Adjoa Andoh is lending her voice to narrate Chasing The Rains (4 x 60; 4K & HDR). As part of this announcement, the docuseries’ official trailer, which features Andoh’s narration was unveiled today. This epic four-part series takes audiences on a journey into one of the most majestic, unspoiled and rarely filmed areas in Africa. It features an indepth look at wildlife that struggle to survive through cycles of drought and dramatic rainfall. Chasing the Rains is created by Maramedia, the Scotland-based production company behind the award-winning, three-part documentary Stormborn. The series is produced in association with ARTE France.
Adjoa Andoh most recently won global acclaim as Lady Danbury in the smash hit series Bridgerton, in which she was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress at the 2021 NAACP Image Awards. In the past two years, she has also held major TV roles in Fractured, Silent Witness and The Witcher. Her many other television appearances include regulars in Doctor Who, Casualty and Law & Order UK. Andoh is also a renowned stage actor, celebrated for lead roles at the National Theatre (Stuff Happens, His Dark Materials) and The Royal Shakespeare Company (Julius Caesar, Troilus & Cressida, The Odyssey). In 2019 she created, co-directed, and played Richard II at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, in the UK’s first all women-of-color production. She made her Hollywood debut in 2009, starring alongside Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon in Clint Eastwood’s Invictus. Other film appearances include Adulthood, Brotherhood and I Is A Long Memoried Woman. She’s also been a BBC radio actor for over 30 years and is an award-winning narrator of over 150 audiobooks.
Chasing the Rains will launch on Love Nature’s linear and streaming platforms internationally in December. The series will also premiere in March 2023 on Sky Nature in the UK and Italy as part of Love Nature and Sky’s expanded content partnership. In France and Germany, the series will premiere on ARTE. Blue Ant International will oversee licensing and pre-sale opportunities in other available territories.
“Adjoa’s captivating narration elevates the storytelling in Chasing the Rains and infuses episodes with drama, bringing audiences even closer to the lives of the wild animals who inhabit one of the most mysterious areas of East Africa,” says Carlyn Staudt, Global General Manager, Love Nature. “It’s exciting to be working with the team at Maramedia once again to give our global Love Nature audiences another world-class wildlife series with stunning, never-before-seen footage of our natural world.”
Filmed beyond the jagged peaks of Mount Kenya, in the great rangelands of the north, the series begins at the end of the long rains, when river valleys, plains and mountains are flushed with new growth. Water is the life-blood of this sprawling landscape and all life here dances to the tune of the rains. Many months or sometimes years pass before a drop of rain falls so all species must learn to survive these droughts which are increasing in intensity due to climate change. Episodes feature heroic cheetah mother Kuleta defending her precious cubs against attacks from rival predators; a rare wild dog pack battling a vicious hyena clan in a quest for food and water; and Samburu elephant herds using intelligence and resilience to locate water for their families. The series will also feature the stories of the nomadic people who live on these lands and share resources with the wildlife.
Poppy Dixon, Sky’s Director of Documentaries and Factual, says, “We are delighted to have Adjoa Andoh narrate this stunning nature documentary which will bring our audiences even closer to the natural world. Filmed in the gorgeous expanses of Kenya, viewers can’t fail to empathise deeply with the families of elephants, cheetahs and wild dogs featured, experiencing their everyday struggles to survive in the ever-changing climate.”
Chasing the Rains is produced by Maramedia for Love Nature and Sky Nature in association with ARTE France. The series is executive produced by Nigel Pope and Jackie Savery and filmed and directed by Justin Purefoy and Faith Musembi. Alison Barrat, SVP, Development & Production executive produces the series on behalf of Love Nature. For Sky Nature, Poppy Dixon was the executive producer. Blue Ant International handles pre-sales and licensing opportunities in other available territories.
Love Nature, headquartered in Washington D.C. with offices in Los Angeles, London, Toronto and Singapore, is a wildlife and nature brand that brings audiences powerful stories about the natural world that foster a deeper understanding of and connection to the planet we call home. Our award winning library of 4K natural history series and documentaries are available on Love Nature’s branded linear and streaming platforms through partnerships with top-tier pay-TV platforms and streamers, reaching over 415 million households globally in 130 countries. Engage with us at lovenature.com / Twitter / Facebook / YouTube / Instagram
Sky Nature launched in 2019 in the UK and Ireland, and can now be seen in Germany and Italy. Sky Nature is the destination for breath-taking natural history programming, dedicated to exploring the beauty and wonder of the natural world and inspiring us all to do more to look after it.
Blue Ant International is a leading worldwide distributor of high-quality, creative content that engages audiences worldwide and across multiple platforms. The company offers a full-service approach to production partners with sales operations in the U.S., UK and Canada. Blue Ant International has a growing slate of over 5,000 hours of premium content, including distinctive series and formats in five key genres including factual entertainment, specialist factual, high-impact documentaries, kids and family, and scripted. Blue Ant International also has one of the world’s largest offerings of 4K natural history content. Blue Ant International is a division of Blue Ant Media.
Based in Scotland UK, Maramedia create award-winning world-class Natural History content for broadcast across a variety of platforms for international clients, including the BBC, Blue Ant Media, ITVG, PBS, National Geographic, France Televisions, Arte and ORF, working with key talent like David Attenborough, Ewan McGregor and Adjoa Andoh. Multi award-winning, Maramedia’s productions have a hallmark of quality – showcasing the natural world in a spectacular way, as well highlighting the issues it faces. www.maramedia.co.uk / twitter / Facebook / Instagram
ARTE, the European culture channel, is deeply committed to issues as combating inequality, social, cultural, economic and environmental topics. As the basis of its editorial offer (on air, on its platform arte.tv and on its social channels), the documentary genre remains a priority for ARTE. With a rich European cultural offering as a reference, the channel is cultivating its singularity more than ever: taking on the views of authors, proposing new narrative forms adapted to all channels, and delivering great stories that contribute to public and European debate. ARTE is available in six languages, so 360 million Europeans can watch in their mother tongue. All the programs go out in French and German, and hundreds of hours of factual programming are subtitled in English, Spanish, Polish and Italian.