Pernel Media Inks Deals for The Rise of Birds: Dinosaurs Among Us

Pernel Media has closed a series of co-production and presale deals for its feature-length science documentary The Rise of Birds: Dinosaurs Among Us.

Commissioned by France Télévisions, the title is being co-produced by PBS’s NOVA and China’s CCTV-9. It has also been presold to Ushuaïa TV in France, Radio-Canada and Japan’s NHK Enterprises. ZDF Studios has the remaining world rights and is set to be in charge of global distribution.

Several formats of the doc are being produced in six different languages.

“Today’s birds are dinosaurs,” said Steve Brusatte, American dinosaur expert. “They’re every bit as much of a dinosaur as a T-Rex is!”

The documentary is written by Eric Pincas and Thomas Cirotteau, directed by Cirotteau and produced by Céline Payot Lehmann and Samuel Kissous.

“At NOVA, we love to tell the stories of scientific discovery that reveal the deep continuity of all life on Earth, as this film does so beautifully,” said Chris Schmidt, co-executive producer at NOVA. “How lucky we are, every time we look at a bird, to be reminded that dinosaurs are still among us!”

Ralf Rückauer, VP Unscripted at ZDF Studios, added, ”We are delighted to be working again with our long-standing partner Pernel Media. After three seasons of Ancient Superstructures and ten episodes of Mega Building Collection, with this new title, we are excited to soon have another exciting documentary from this highly talented team in our catalog.”

Céline Payot Lehmann, executive producer at Pernel Media, said, “Who knew that pigeons and chickens descended from the same branch as the infamous T-Rex? Dinosaurs are not extinct, they are all around us. That’s how relevant and universal this story is.”