BBC brings Planet Earth live TO U.S. with Emmy-winning composer George Fenton

Monday, March 1, 2010 - New York, NY - The Emmy Award winning documentary series, Planet Earth caught the imagination of audiences around the world and now the BBC is bringing the awe-inspiring beauty of the series to live audiences across the U.S.  Planet Earth Live is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience the series’Äô most spectacular moments on the big screen. Planet Earth composer and Emmy-winning George Fenton will conduct a full orchestra at each event. 

Planet Earth Live kicks off in early summer with the world premiere at Dallas’Äô Meyerson Symphony Center on Friday, June 25 and Saturday, June 26 with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Other venues and orchestras confirmed include Atlanta’Äôs Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park on Friday, July 16 with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Chicago’Äôs Grant Park Music Festival in Millennium Park on Wednesday, July 21 with the Grant Park Symphony and two dates at LA’Äôs Hollywood Bowl, Friday, July 23 and Saturday, July 24 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Possible further dates and cities to be announced.  Each show, which runs 90 minutes plus an intermission, features the best moments from Planet Earth in full High Definition on the big screen with live orchestra and narration.  

Composer George Fenton says: ’ÄúPlanet Earth made a very special connection with the American audience and we are all very excited at the opportunity of coming to North America this summer to work with some of the greatest orchestras and together recreate the Planet Earth experience live."

Planet Earth, a BBC/Discovery co-production, aired on the Discovery Channel in 2007.  The BBC’Äôs Alastair Fothergill was the series producer and he and his team spent four years in production, with over 2000 days in the field, using 71 film crews, across 204 locations in 62 countries to capture the ultimate portrait of the planet. It has garnered legions of fans and universal critical acclaim with Oprah Magazine saying ’ÄúIt is the most beautiful, wondrous and truly majestic series - the best thing I’Äôve ever seen on TV.’Äù

It has sold over 5 million DVDs, with one in every 30 households in the U.S. owning the series and is the U.S.’Äôs top selling documentary DVD of all time.

Alastair Fothergill says: ’ÄúI’Äôm delighted the incredible HD footage from Planet Earth will be experienced in a whole new way by Americans this summer.  With George’Äôs amazing score and the wonder of the animals on our planet on a big screen, fans of Planet Earth are in for a fantastic treat.’Äù

The BBC is the world’Äôs largest producer of natural history programs and for over 50 years, has produced such notable titles as Life on Earth and The Blue Planet as well as the upcoming Life ’Äì airing on Discovery, March 2010.  BBC Earth is the global brand for all of this natural history content available on television, digital, DVD and merchandise.

Planet Earth Live is produced by IMG Artists in cooperation with The Gorfaine/Schwartz Agency.

Notes to editors:

PLANET EARTH LIVE DATES:
June 25, 2010             Meyerson Symphony Center                                              Dallas, TX

ticket info: www.dallassymphony.com

June 26, 2010             Meyerson Symphony Center                                              Dallas, TX

ticket info: www.dallassymphony.com

July 16, 2010               Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park            Atlanta, GA                                                  

ticket info: www.vzwamp.com  

July 21, 2010               Grant Park Music Festival in Millennium Park                 Chicago, IL   

ticket info: www.grantparkmusicfestival.com

July 23, 2010               Hollywood Bowl                                                                   Los Angeles, CA      

ticket info: www.hollywoodbowl.com

July 24, 2010               Hollywood Bowl                                                                   Los Angeles, CA      

ticket info: www.hollywoodbowl.com

ABOUT GEORGE FENTON

George Fenton began writing music for the theatre in 1974 working on productions for The Royal Shakespeare Company, The National Theatre and Riverside Studios. His television scores include the major documentary series The Trials of Life, Life in the Freezer, Beyond the Clouds, Shanghai Vice, The Blue Planet, Planet Earth and most recently, Life.

Following the broadcast of The Blue Planet in 2001 for which he won a BAFTA and Emmy award for Best Television Score, he created the show, The Blue Planet Live! which toured in the UK and worldwide, performed by many of the world’Äôs leading orchestras.

He has composed for a wide variety of feature films, receiving Academy Award nominations for The Fisher King, Dangerous Liaisons, Gandhi and Cry Freedom (for both score and song).  Other scores include The Madness of King George, Groundhog Day, Shadowlands, Ever After, Anna and the King, Mrs Henderson Presents, Hitch, and Fool’Äôs Gold.

Recently the Royal Television Society awarded him a Lifetime Achievement Award and he was made a Fellow of the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters.  

ABOUT ALASTAIR FOTHERGILL

Alastair Fothergill’Äôs BBC career began at the world-renowned Natural History Unit in 1983 where he worked on a wide range of award-winning programs including Wildlife on One and the innovative Reefwatch - he was one of the team that developed live broadcasting from beneath the ocean.  His first project with Sir David Attenborough was The Trials of Life followed in 1993 by Life in the Freezer.  

He was Head of the Natural History Unit from 1992 to 1998 at which point he stood down to concentrate on his role as Series Producer of multi award-winning The Blue Planet, a landmark series on the natural history of the world’Äôs oceans. His portfolio of work has included roles as producer and presenter on a diverse range of high quality natural history programs including Going Ape, a film that took him to the Ivory Coast and Deep Blue, a cinematic view of the world’Äôs oceans and the innovative live broadcast Live from the Abyss. 

Alastair was Series Producer for the Emmy-winning, global hit Planet Earth. Currently he’Äôs working as the Executive Producer on the BBC/Discovery co-production Frozen Planet, a major six part series, due to premiere in the U.S. in 2011.  He is also directing two movies for Disney’Äôs new Disney Nature label.   Alastair has Honorary Degrees from Durham and Hull Universities. 

ABOUT BBC EARTH

BBC Earth is the global brand for all the BBC’Äôs natural history content spanning the last 50 years. The BBC is the largest producer of natural history programming in the world and the brand highlights the vast scale of incredible content which is produced in this genre. Visible across all platforms - TV, digital and merchandising as well as expanding across TV stings, DVDs and digital products, BBC Earth encourages engagement with current as well as classic programs such as Planet Earth and The Blue Planet in addition to future commissions. 

ABOUT BBC WORLDWIDE, AMERICA

BBC Worldwide is the main commercial arm and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).  BBC Worldwide, America, with headquarters in New York and Los Angeles, brings together all of BBC Worldwide’Äôs businesses in the U.S.  The company exists to maximize the value of the BBC’Äôs assets for the benefit of the UK license payer, and invests in public service programming in return for rights. BBC Worldwide has seven core businesses:  Channels, Sales and Distribution, Content and Production, Home Entertainment, Digital Media, Global Brands and Magazines.  Under these businesses fall two key brands in the U.S. ’Äì digital cable channel BBC America and a bi-coastal production arm responsible for the smash hit Dancing with the Stars for ABC.