Darlow Smithson Asks How Hard Can It Be?

Darlow Smithson Productions (DSP) has begun production on a series commissioned by National Geographic Channel (NGC).
How Hard Can It Be? aims to discover if extraordinary achievements can be accomplished with readily available materials and techniques. The series will debut on National Geographic Channel in the US in Autumn 2011 before rolling out to the network's international territories.
Presented by a team of three ambitious engineers and inventors, How Hard Can It Be? uses scientific theory, mathematics and expert analysis to attempt seemingly impossible feats. Homebrewed engineering at its best, the series uses unconventional experiments and major creativity to find out how many balloons it may take to life a house or whether a homemade rocket could fly all the way to space.
Vin Marshall (engineer and author), Paul Carson (mechanical engineer) and Erick Gocke (inventor) combine their sense of adventure with a unique brand of humour to enable these experiments to take flight.
Footage from one of the episodes has already made headlines - the successful attempt to fly a house using helium balloons, inspired by the Pixar movie Up. With a little help from two world-class balloon pilots, the team flew a purpose-built 16-feet-square by 18-feet-high house, suspended from three hundred eight-foot balloons, to a height of more than 10,000 feet.
Ben Bowie, Executive Producer at Darlow Smithson Productions, said: "How Hard Can It Be? is packed with real science, real experiments and real reactions. Vin, Paul and Erick bring an enormous amount of humour and energy to a series that aims high. Whatever happens, the audience will get to follow their struggles and triumphs as each project climaxes with a one-shot deal."
Steve Burns, Executive Vice President of Content for NGC, added: "How Hard Can It Be? takes an impossibly big idea and combines it with quick-thinking ingenuity and a lot of imagination to turn these visions into reality. The series' amazing footage has already captured viewer attention across the globe and will deliver the compelling visuals and rich storyline for which National Geographic Channel is known."
How Hard Can It Be? is a Darlow Smithson Production for NGC. The series is produced by Ian White, directed by Jerry McNutt and executive produced by Ben Bowie for Darlow Smithson. For National Geographic Channel, Executive Vice President of Content is Steve Burns.
(KMcA)