Icon Films Receives Order for New Animal Docu-Soap

BRISTOL, May 1: British
factual independent outfit Icon Films has been commissioned by National
Geographic Channels International (NGCI), Smithsonian Networks (SN) and Granada
International to produce Street Monkeys, a new 5×1-hour docu-soap that follows the story of wild Vervet
monkeys as they adapt to life in the suburbs of Durban, South Africa.

Vervets, one of Africa’s
most widespread primates, once had the run of the bush and jungles of South
Africa. But due to a booming human population, the Vervets’ natural territory
is shifting from grassy scrubland and bush to manicured lawns and uniform
streets. Filmed over the course of a year, the film follows two separate groups
of Vervets, the Pani Bush Troop and The Sugar Cane Gang, who must adapt to an
environment transformed by the Mount Edgecombe estate, a luxury housing project
in Durban. Street Monkeys is
produced and directed by Harry Marshall for Icon Films.

"Vervet behavior is
incredibly complex, varied and very entertaining, theirs is a world that isn’t
quite as comfortably removed from our own as we’d like,” said Marshall, Icon
Films’ CEO. “In many ways the series is holding a mirror up to human society
and it can sometimes be uncomfortable, albeit hilarious, viewing for us super
primates.”

“Street Monkeys is endearing; these mischievous monkeys have
distinctive personalities that leap off the screen,” said Sydney Suissa, the
executive VP of content for NGCI.

"This is wildlife
programming with attitude—a wonderful cross between blue-chip natural
history that Smithsonian Networks require and Sex and the City," added David Royle, the executive VP of
programming and production at Smithsonian Networks. "It’s animals behaving
badly, and it’s thoroughly entertaining.”

—By Irene Lew