National Geographic Preps Space Doc

WASHINGTON, D.C., August
15: National Geographic Channel has commissioned Pioneer Productions to develop
a two-hour CGI space documentary, Journey to the Edge of the Universe, to be launched in 166 countries, including the
U.S.

Journey to the Edge of
the Universe marks the first time Pioneer has relied entirely on CGI
technology. The doc will feature a voyage across the cosmos using a single,
unbroken shot. The program builds on photographs taken from the Hubble space
telescope and explores the science and history behind the celestial bodies in
the solar system.

Journey to the Edge of
the Universe is executive produced
by Stuart Carter for Pioneer Productions and directed by Yavar Abbas. It was
commissioned by Sydney Suissa, the executive VP of content for National
Geographic Channels International, and Steve Burns, the executive VP of content
for National Geographic Channel, and is a co-production with Discovery Canada.

Jeremy Dear, the head of
development for Pioneer Productions, said: “This film’s scope couldn’t be bigger. This really is the
grand tour of the cosmos, taking in an amazing amount of fascinating phenomena
from pulsars to black holes to star nurseries and much more—all done
through one single, unbroken shot from start to end, as our point of view zooms
through the universe. It features the very latest scientific thinking and is
visually incredibly rich and ambitious—as our first total CGI program,
it’s a natural progression for both the telling of space stories and for us as
a production company.”

Suissa said: “Journey
to the Edge of the Universe is
what makes TV such a powerful medium—it can show us something we have
never seen before. It illuminates what we are destined to find when our space
travel catches up to our imaginations.”

—By Jackie Stewart