Parthenon Entertainment in Co-Pro Deal With Animal Planet, France 5

LONDON, November 29:
Parthenon Entertainment is working on a new high-definition animal series
tentatively titled Baby Planet,
with Animal Planet US, Animal Planet International and French broadcaster
France 5.

Production has already begun
on the 5×1-hour series, which is the first major series to be produced by
Parthenon’s wildlife production office in Bristol.

Among the baby animal
stories featured in the series are the rare birth in captivity of a giant panda
cub; the Wattled Crane chick who thinks a glove puppet is its parent; the
Barbary lion cubs who are hand-reared by keepers and mothered by a domestic
dog; and the surprise arrival of a white rhino calf.

The deal for Baby
Planet was negotiated by Natalie
Humphreys, Parthenon’s creative director. Humphreys is also the show’s
executive producer along with Andrew Buchanan, formerly of Granada Wild, who is
based in Parthenon’s Bristol office. The series producer is Molly Fry,
previously with the BBC Natural History Unit.

Parthenon produces more
than 70 hours a year of programming in high definition and is increasingly
moving into the production of long-running series for the international
marketplace. Animal Planet International recently acquired the 13×30-minute
Parthenon series Planet Wild,
while Animal Planet US has co-produced two
of Parthenon’s HD wildlife specials: the 50-minute Bandits of Selous and the one-hour Hippo Hell for its prime-time Mutual of Omaha’s Wild
Kingdom strand. Animal Planet US
has also acquired the 50-minute Cheetah Blood Brothers for the same strand.

Humphreys commented: “As
well as continuing to supply broadcasters with our landmark blue-chip specials,
producing more long-running series is a priority for us. I’m especially pleased
we are making Baby Planet. It’s
a real work of passion and taps into the unique access we’ve built up over the
last few years.”

—By Irene Lew