Off The Fence Announce Deals In Spain And Portugal

Ellen Windemuth, Managing Director at Off the Fence has announced a range of significant deals in Spain and Portugal for a wide selection of factual programming.
Natura in Spain has acquired a package totalling 15 hours of programming, including Island Life, a 6 x 1 hour series from ABC Natural History Unit in association with Granada Media exploring Australia’s varied islands from the tropical north to the dramatic sub-Antarctic, as well as Cherub of the Mist, a 1 x 1 hour study of the irresistibly charming Red Panda, filmed in the wild for the first time by Bedi Films/Bedi Films Visuals India.
Heading to Pay TV channel Cuatro in Spain is the 4 x 1 hour Mega Disaster series from NHNZ for Kabel Eins and National Geographic Channel. Using archive footage, survivor stories, computer animation and expert interviews, the series exposes the killer characteristics of natural disasters, including earthquakes, tornadoes, tsunamis and volcanoes.
A diverse package of programming has been acquired by Catalonia’s public broadcasting service Televisió de Catalunya, including two programmes uncovering the stories behind mysterious kingdoms which, although once spiritual, cultural and commercial hubs, disappeared leaving little trace – The Real Atlantis (1 x 1 hour, Quickfire Media and Off the Fence for BBC Timewatch & Arte) and Guge - The Lost Kingdom of Tibet (1 x 1 hour, Bang Productions with France 5, Off the Fence, Media Development Authority of Singapore and Discovery Networks Asia).
Also included in the deal is Red Trousers: The Life of the Hong Kong Stuntmen (1 x 1 hour, Tai Seng Entertainment/Bang Productions) going behind the scenes to explore the little-known lives of the Hong Kong stuntmen, where getting beaten up, flying through glass and falling through windows are all in a day’s work; 21st Century Garden Art, a 13 x 30’ series from Ilona Grundmann Filmproduction for ZDF and Arte presenting the latest innovations and the most famous artists who set the pace for landscape and garden architecture around the world and 152 x 5’ episodes of Nature’s Greatest Moments - an awe-inspiring series of shorts featuring some of nature’s most remarkable feats (Talking Pictures / Aquavision / Off the Fence / BR / WDR / NHNZ / Marco Polo Films).
Rounding off the selection of deals in the region is the acquisition of the award-winning 1 x 1 hour documentary Sperm Whales: Dealing with the Unexpected by Portugal’s state broadcaster RTP, following the incredible odyssey of a family of sperm whales who have taken refuge in the hostile waters of the Crozet Islands, penetrating the remotest depths to witness the intimate lives of these magnificent beasts (Saint Thomas Productions for Discovery Communications Inc., NDR Naturfilm, Canal Plus & ORF).
(DS)