NHK, NHNZ Announce New Co-Pro

CANNES, October 14: Japanese public broadcaster NHK, which
unveiled its documentary development slate to its key partners last night, has
entered into a co-production deal with NHNZ for the 6×1-hour series Weird
Edens.

In a presentation at MIPCOM, NHK stressed the importance of
co-productions for the company over the next few years, and highlighted
numerous projects that are in development and need international partners.

NHNZ has been a longtime collaborator with NHK, first with Wild
Asia and then more recently on Equator.
Weird Edens sees the team of NHK’s Shin Murata
and NHNZ’s Peter Hayden again working together as executive producer and
supervising producer/writer, with the addition of Andrew Waterworth as NHNZ’s
executive producer. Airing at the end of 2010, Weird Edens will focus on six environments that are home to some
of the world’s most bizarre creatures. It is budgeted at more than $1 million
per hour.

Murata, an NHK executive producer, stated: “Weird Edens is sure to offer our viewers a new, attractive and
authentic experience through this series which will be crystallized from the
culture and wisdom of both the East and the West. This series represents a true
collaboration of stories and styles which we are confident will result in
another remarkable series.

NHNZ’s managing director, Michael Stedman, added: “Weird
Edens will be natural history for the new
millennium. We’re excited about the opportunity to collaborate with NHK’s
expert filmmakers and pioneers in HD equipment such as low-light cameras and
high-speed cameras. It’s a winning
combination that will set new standards in natural history filmmaking.”

—By Mansha Daswani