Fox International Channels Content Sales will be offering the first batch of programming out of NHNZ’s new dedicated Archive Unit at MIPTV 2015 in April.
The first three titles to enter the market are Fur Seals: Battle for Survival, Japan’s Wild Year and Madagascar’s Legendary Lemurs.
Fox International Channels’ Senior Vice President of Global Factual Content & Operations, Germaine Deagan Sweet, said, “It’s very appropriate that the first titles we’re taking to market via our partnership with NHNZ’s Archive Unit are blue-chip natural history specials. With impeccable production quality, fascinating subjects and intimate access to these animals in their natural habitats, these films are exemplars of FIC’s reputation for programming that crosses cultural and linguistic boundaries to appeal to global audiences.”
Spying a market opportunity, NHNZ launched The Archive Unit in 2014 and with immediate success – garnering 16 hours of co-production with National Geographic Wild US and International.
NHNZ Managing Director Kyle Murdoch says the Archive Unit aims to make the most of NHNZ’s 35 year collection of content.
“These three are the first of over 16 hours of “blue-clip” content that taps into NHNZ Moving Images’ immense and highly prized collection of blue-chip archive.”
The Archive Unit aims to produce a range of stock footage based productions, including original series and one-offs; additionally the unit is contributing to several highly successful and established archive anthologies.
NHNZ has put together a specialist team, including Lorne Townend who has an impressive track-record as a producer and director of factual television and archive programming, including the award-winning series In the Womb; key team member Archive Producer Lemuel Lyes who won NHNZ a Focal Award, the stock footage industry’s highest accolade, for his work on Shark Nicole (for National Geographic US); and is led by Head of Production Andrew Waterworth, who has executive produced more than 200 hundred hours of highly successful documentaries for the global market.
“NHNZ has developed, created and produced some of the world’s most successful and long-lasting archive shows; our expertise in crafting smart, brilliantly told stories from our deep archive resources is peerless. The Archive Unit is set to capitalise on that talent and experience and to create a successful enterprise that drives our goal of expansion and broad market penetration,” says Waterworth.