ARTE Distribution Signs New Deals for The Private Life of Sharks

ARTE Distribution and France-based indie producer Le Cinquième Rêve have signed a co-production deal with Doclights for The Private Life of Sharks and presold the rights for the rest of the world, excluding France and Canada, to National Geographic.

Directed by Alexis Barbier Bouvet and Didier Noirot for ARTE GEIE’s nature and discovery slot, The Private Life of Sharks will feature mind-blowing shark behavior and footage from around the world in 4K and 8K. The film will explore facets of sharks that are rarely chronicled—that they’re fragile, delicate, ingenious, collaborative and even clumsy. It will show them hunting, resting, cleaning and reproducing.

The Private Life of Sharks will be on ARTE before the end of 2020, on Germany’s NDR prime-time wildlife slot in 2021, and National Geographic and Wild’s SharkFest this summer under the name 50 Shades of Sharks, premiering on July 24 in the U.S. during the annual SharkFest television event. The film was also presold to France’s satellite channel Ushuaia TV.

Jörn Rover, head of the Natural History Unit of NDR Naturfilm, said: “There is so little known about sharks. This film takes us one step further.”

Christian Cools, commissioning editor at ARTE GEIE, said: “The film discloses amazing behaviors of a huge variety of sharks gorgeously filmed all over the oceans, and discloses a little-known aspect of these animals. The Private Life of Sharks promises to be a one-time experience!

Céline Payot Lehmann, head of distribution at ARTE, said: “Didier Noirot is a critically acclaimed underwater cinematographer; he has been filming around the globe for years in 4K and 8K and has a deep knowledge of the oceans. That, together with the know-how of the team that produced 700 Sharks, make an ambitious and promising production that is convincing for international partners. We are thrilled to have concluded our first co-production partnership with Doclights, maker of some of the best blue-chip films on the international market, and to continue working with National Geographic and Nat Geo WILD that will bring our film to audiences globally.”