Productive start of the year for NHNZ

Productive start of the year for NHNZ

New Zealand based factual specialist NHNZ has greenlit around 25 hours of programming since the beginning of the year.

Top of the list is a further 10 hours of BIO’s ratings hit I Survived... which is currently in its fourth season with a strong following.

And following the success of I Survived: Death and Back last year, BIO has ordered six one hour shows from NHNZ destined to be broadcast as I Survived: Beyond and Back and which will feature stories of near death experiences.

NHNZ’s executive vice president of development and marketing Neil Harraway says the company is thrilled with the ongoing success of I Survived..., and is confident that I Survived: Beyond and Back will also rate strongly.

“When we piloted I Survived three years ago, there was an element of risk in the story telling approach, which is deceptively simple yet incredibly powerful. BIO’s audiences responded extremely well and we’re delighted to be producing a further 10 hours.”

I Survived: Beyond and Back uses a similar approach, allowing people who have survived near death experience to share their stories. “The results are extremely moving and we’re confident that BIO’s viewers will also embrace this series when it goes to air later this year,” he says.

While both shows reflect NHNZ’s cross-genre success, the 2010 slate also shows the company remains a strong force in the production of natural history programs.

Co-produced with National Geographic Channels International, production will soon start on a four-part series about indigenous people living off the land. NGCI also commissioned an hour long programme on Dubai’s spectacular Meydan Race Course, hailed as the future horse racing capital of the world.

And non-lethal whale research is the topic of a program NHNZ is currently filming in the Antarctic. “This programme is presently financed in its entirety by NHNZ and not committed to any specific broadcaster,” says Mr Harraway. But, he says, NHNZ is pitching broadcasters who may be interested in co-producing this programme.

“NHNZ will always make natural history and wildlife shows because it’s a genre we’re highly experienced in but the current slate reflects just how far the company has grown in recent years featuring a diverse range of shows in both content and format,” Mr Harraway says.

ENDS

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