Discovery Networks International Goes for Alcatraz Escape Doc

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LONDON: Discovery Networks International has picked up broadcast rights for the documentary Alcatraz: Escaping The Rock from the co-production agency Drive.

The hour-long program will broadcast in Benelux, the Nordics, Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Asia Pacific and is slated to air on Discovery this spring. Made by Hoggard Films and commissioned by WNET for broadcast on PBS in the U.S., Alcatraz: Escaping The Rock reenacts the mysterious 1962 escape from the prison by three bank robbers who built a raft made of raincoats and set out into San Francisco Bay. The program follows a team of Dutch scientists who developed a 3D modeling program that illustrates the tidal movements on the night of the escape. It also uses archive material and recreations to prove that the inmates could have survived the dangerous currents.

Ben Barrett, the managing director at Drive, said: “It’s not every day that you come across new scientific research that opens up a genuinely plausible answer to one of the greatest mysteries of recent years. When you add a telegenic team of international scientists to the mix, we had the perfect project to provide real added value to a local broadcaster partner.”