Prehistoric Park headlines FremantleMedia’s MIPTV 2006 slate

Fremantle International Distribution (FID), the distribution arm of global production outfit FremantleMedia, has announced its line-up of programmes to be offered to MIPTV buyers in Cannes this April.
David Ellender, Managing Director, Fremantle International Distribution, confirmed that FID will represent an impressive slate of programming, spanning factual to fiction and all points in between.
Making its debut at MIPTV is the highly-anticipated ‘Prehistoric Park’ (6 x 1 hour). Created by Impossible Pictures, the series is fronted by natural history expert Nigel Marven and is a co-production between ITV (UK), Animal Planet (US), M6 (France) and ProSieben (Germany). As co-financiers, FID has acquired the international distribution rights (excluding France and Germany). FremantleMedia Licensing Worldwide will handle the licensing rights to the series including merchandising and publishing rights and Fremantle Home Entertainment will handle DVD.
Employing the very latest CGI technology, similar to that used in Impossible Pictures’ previous worldwide hit ‘Walking With Dinosaurs’, Prehistoric Park will feature stunning scenery from some of the most beautiful and awe-inspiring places on earth, from history and today. Marven will step back in time to try and save creatures like the mammoth, the sabre tooth cat and the dinosaurs from extinction. Each episode will centre around a different prehistoric adventure and will delight family audiences with an appetite for adventure.
One of FID’s key reality properties on offer is ‘Project Runway’, hosted by supermodel Heidi Klum. FID has sold Season 1 in 21 territories worldwide and looks forward to debuting Season 2 at MIPTV ‘06. The exciting reality series gives talented and hungry fashion designers the opportunity of a lifetime - a chance to show their designs in front of the global fashion community in New York and displayed in the pages of Elle magazine. To earn this honour they have to compete against each other in a series of challenges that will determine who has what it takes to be the next ‘It’ designer. Through each challenge, a designer is eliminated, ultimately leaving one to claim their rightful place in fashion's spotlight. Project Runway has enjoyed incredible ratings success, averaging over two million viewers for the Season 1 finale in the US (a dramatic 468% increase in viewers).
David Ellender, Managing Director, Fremantle International Distribution, said: “We are incredibly proud of the strength of our programmes for MIPTV. We have family entertainment wrapped up, along with shows that will appeal to a broad range within both the younger and older demographics. The much-anticipated Prehistoric Park is a highlight which I’m sure will command the attention it deserves during the market, as no doubt the entire catalogue will.”
(GB)