ARTE’s The Blob Clinches U.S. Deal

June 22, 2020 Kristin Brzoznowski

WGBH Boston has prebought The Blob: A Genius Without a Brain from ARTE Distribution for its NOVA strand.

Produced in 4K by Hauteville Productions for ARTE’s science slot, The Blob: A Genius Without a Brain blends science fiction, animation, the beauty of nature, humor and cutting-edge science to explore a surprising organism: the blob, more commonly known as a slime mold. NOVA’s version of the film, Secret Mind of Slime, is slated to premiere this fall on PBS.

“We love delivering mind-blowing science to our viewers,” said NOVA Co-Executive Producer Julia Cort. “Slime molds certainly fall into that category: single-celled organisms who can navigate mazes, choose between foods, and create efficient networks—no brain required.”

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“Although they’ve been around for one billion years, slime molds are now leading us into a whole new area of science,” added NOVA Co-Executive Producer Chris Schmidt. “This film follows pioneering experts on an international investigation that could challenge our worldview on living matter and uncover the secrets of brainless intelligence.”

ARTE Distribution has sold and presold The Blob to other broadcasters such as NHK in Japan, BBC in the UK, SVT in Sweden, Planète + in France, Radio Canada, RTHK in Hong Kong, CCTV in China, EBS in Korea, Planet + in Poland and RTS in Serbia.

“There is a high international demand for science,” said Céline Payot Lehmann from ARTE Distribution, “as it’s a universal theme that travels well and answers the market’s need for high production value (4K, CGI, 3D…). ARTE has a very successful weekly science slot for which we constantly seek partners and presales. We are launching for example The Magical World of Moss produced by Zadig and ARTE France. Moss is at the origin of life on Earth and is helping scientists in the nuclear field and biotechnologies. Another example is Searching for Planet 9, produced by Look for Science and Arte France, that follows the space race for our ninth planet, located at the edge of our solar system.”