{"id":20857,"date":"2024-02-07T08:50:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-07T13:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/worldscreen.com\/"},"modified":"2024-02-08T09:37:21","modified_gmt":"2024-02-08T14:37:21","slug":"an-optimists-guide-to-production","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/an-optimists-guide-to-production\/","title":{"rendered":"An Optimist\u2019s Guide to Production"},"content":{"rendered":"

Extreme weather patterns, environmental challenges and questions about the future have put climate change at the top of audiences\u2019 minds. While getting content on troubling topics made and sold can be touch-and-go, the brand-new An Optimist\u2019s Guide to the Planet<\/em>\u00a0with Nikolaj Coster-Waldau can help factual producers gain insight on how to toe the line between realism and marketability. Produced by Cream Productions and Wildfire Television in association with Bloomberg and Bell Media, the docuseries is set to bow on February 8.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe series was inspired by the feature documentary\u00a0Anthropocene: The Human Epoch<\/em>, which is an artistic exploration of the physical effects humans have had on our planet,\u201d says David Brady, CEO at Cream Productions and executive producer of the series. \u201cWhere\u00a0Anthropocene\u00a0<\/em>explores the detrimental side effects of centuries of human ingenuity,\u00a0An Optimist\u2019s Guide to the Planet<\/em> with Nikolaj Coster-Waldau looks to the future and toward the positive solutions that our ingenuity will deliver.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brady sees Coster-Waldau, an actor and producer who has also worked with the United Nations Development Programme as a Goodwill Ambassador for sustainability, as \u201ca kindred spirit.\u201d A perfect fit for\u00a0An Optimist\u2019s Guide to the Planet<\/em>, \u201che is passionate about a positive future and was enthusiastic about leading the expedition.\u201d<\/p>\n

The six-parter travels the globe, making stops in Greenland, Australia, the U.S., Japan, Vietnam, Germany, Kenya, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Spain, Mexico, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Choosing where to take the series was no easy feat, but the criteria were simple. \u201cFirst we found stories, solutions and ideas that excited us,\u201d says Coster-Waldau. \u201cAfter that, it was a question of how to make it logistically work. What was clear was that we could do 20 seasons of this show and still only scratch the surface of the incredible amount of inspiring people all over the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Incorporating such an ambitious roster of locations takes thorough planning. While the production was not immune to the current downturn in market conditions, Brady explains that with two major broadcast partners on board, \u201cwe had a healthy budget to create the series that we dreamt of making. Even still, we needed to find cost efficiencies everywhere in order to bring what we could to the screen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brady says these cost efficiencies included incorporating block shooting and scheduling for each location and minimizing the frequency of travel, \u201cin part due to budget and [in part due to] the green nature of this show.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe four-dimensional chess game that our production teams constantly played involved flight and transport changes, visa timing, creative changes, location decisions, catching stories like butterflies in a net, contributors\u2019 schedules, access restrictions and weather,\u201d Brady explains. Indeed, maximizing the global reach of the storytelling the series aimed for required stretching the production budget to be a top priority. \u201cWe considered everything with costs in mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Landing as many partners as possible across territories was important for creating the aforementioned healthy budget. \u201cTogether with Nikolaj and our partners Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas de Pencier, we at Cream took the project to a number of networks and streamers; Bloomberg Originals was the first to jump in with an offer,\u201d says Brady. The series is set to land on a raft of platforms this week, including Apple TV, Hulu and Roku.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo access the maximum Canadian co-production tax credits, we needed a Canadian network, so we took it right to Crave in Canada,\u201d Brady says. \u201cThey jumped in fairly quickly with a generous offer for Canadian rights.\u201d Because Coster-Waldau is not Canadian, the series needed to be structured as a treaty co-production. \u201cI approached Philip Clarke at Wildfire Television in the U.K.,\u201d Brady explains. \u201cThey provided production travel and coordinated location logistics, among other things. Combining their efforts with Nikolaj\u2019s production company Ill Kippers, the fellowship was formed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Star power is also a crucial element in getting any series made and sold, and the factual space is no exception. \u201cNikolaj is an established actor with so many movies and series under his belt, including the global megahit\u00a0Game of Thrones<\/em>,\u201d notes Brady. \u201cDuring production, passersby stopped to gather around him, and it\u2019s that same star power that will draw them into the world that we\u2019re exploring through our new series.\u201d<\/p>\n

But fame is only one-half of the necessary appeal; genuine passion is what reads through the screen. \u201cBoth Bloomberg Originals and Crave sensed what makes Nikolaj unique. He\u2019s not only a star; he also is an enthusiastic environmental advocate who\u2019s optimistic about our common future.\u201d<\/p>\n

While optimism is important, successfully selling positivity to audiences also requires acknowledging the reality of climate change. \u201cThe optimism has to be, and is, grounded in reality,\u201d says Coster-Waldau. \u201cWe are not trying to ignore the enormity of the challenges we face both locally and globally, but what we did find was a desire for positive change. It\u2019s not going to be easy. Rome wasn\u2019t built in one day, but it was built.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and David Brady talk about An Optimist\u2019s Guide to the Planet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3087,"featured_media":20858,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[79,69],"tags":[9039,6731,7148],"class_list":["post-20857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-features","category-top-stories","tag-an-optimists-guide-to-the-planet","tag-david-brady","tag-nikolaj-coster-waldau","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nAn Optimist\u2019s Guide to Production - TVREAL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/an-optimists-guide-to-production\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"An Optimist\u2019s Guide to Production - TVREAL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and David Brady talk about An Optimist\u2019s Guide to the Planet.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/an-optimists-guide-to-production\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVREAL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-02-07T13:50:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-02-08T14:37:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2017\/07\/CreamProductions-OGTTP-0224.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"394\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Alexa Alfano\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Alexa Alfano\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/an-optimists-guide-to-production\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/an-optimists-guide-to-production\/\",\"name\":\"An Optimist\u2019s Guide to Production - TVREAL\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-07T13:50:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-02-08T14:37:21+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#\/schema\/person\/2653b97e27eaf76a4713c75f0e821dad\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/an-optimists-guide-to-production\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/an-optimists-guide-to-production\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/an-optimists-guide-to-production\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"An Optimist\u2019s Guide to Production\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/\",\"name\":\"TVREAL\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#\/schema\/person\/2653b97e27eaf76a4713c75f0e821dad\",\"name\":\"Alexa Alfano\",\"description\":\"Alexa Alfano is associate editor at World Screen. 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