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MUMBAI:
Television format creator and distributor FremantleMedia Enterprises
(FME) will arrive at next month's television trade event MipTV
with a range of programmes.
From
quality drama to popular music, teen heartaches to a top chef's
personal crusade, there is something for everyone. MipTV takes
place in Cannes, France from 8-12 April 2008.
In
the drama category, leading the way is Australian scripted
series Satisfaction. Created by Australian producer
Roger Simpson, Satisfaction is the inaugural production
by his new company Lonehand Productions. Set in and around
an up-market city brothel, this steamy original series sheds
the spotlight on the world of five "high-class escorts"
and their manager as they juggle the pressures of their private
lives alongside their hidden profession.
Teenage
woes prove a fertile backdrop for two new shows. Nearly
Famous follows a group of performing arts students who
have got a whole load of talent and a taste for tequila. Familiar
faces include Talulah Riley, Jimi Mistri and Ralph Brown.
Ade Edmondson stars in the role reversal sitcom Teenage
Kicks as a middle-aged divorced dad who moves in with
his kids in a crazy attempt to recapture his long lost youth,
much to his offspring's dismay.
Following
on from the recent success of FME's stablemate Murder,
the new reality series DEA offers viewers a behind-the-scenes
look at the inner workings of the Drug Enforcement Agency.
From US channel Spike TV, each episode will follow a group
of Special Agents and Task Force Officers in the DEA Detroit
division, as they fight the daily battle in the city's ongoing
war against illegal drugs.
FME
also continues to bolster its music content with the second
series of Live From Abbey Road. The most famous recording
studio in the world invites viewers through its famous doors
once more to meet a host of new and established global A-list
artists. Shot in HD, the 12 x 1 hour second series, available
for international sale on both TV and DVD, will not disappoint
with an exclusive lineup of performers including James Blunt,
Sheryl Crow and recent Grammy winner Herbie Hancock.
Staying
with a melodic theme, FME will present The Night James
Brown Saved Boston. This is a documentary by filmmaker
David Leaf, telling the uplifting story of how a concert by
R&B singer James Brown, on 5 April, 1968, the day after
Dr Martin Luther King. Jr was assassinated, prevented a riot
in Boston. While the rest of the US burnt, Brown's music literally
kept the peace. Eye witness accounts, grainy footage and nearly
two dozen of James Brown's classic songs come together to
mark the 40th anniversary.
Another
milestone in musical history is celebrated in Never Mind
the Bollocks: 30th Anniversary Concert featuring the Sex
Pistols' critically acclaimed concerts at London's Brixton
Academy commemorating the release of the legendary punk band's
first album. Fittingly directed by Julian Temple (The Great
Rock and Roll Swindle) Never Mind the Bollocks
features all the band's classics including "God Save
the Queen" and "Pretty Vacant."
Cookery
superstar Jamie Oliver serves up two new specials, Jamie's
Fowl Dinners and Eat to Save Your Life. In the
revealing Jamie's Fowl Dinners, he hosts a gala dinner
to dramatically demonstrate the reality of how chickens live
and die to put food on our plates. And in the other off-special,
Eat to Save Your Life, from Firefly productions, he
investigates the hidden threats of popular convenience foods
using 18 volunteers with self-confessed bad diets as "human
guinea pigs."
The
Baywatch Beach Body Work-Out is a new fitness DVD featuring
Lauren Jones, star of Fox TV's Anchorwoman series.
Inspired by global phenomenon Baywatch, participants
are put through their paces by Lauren, on the beach, ensuring
a body well fit for the summer.
Kiddies
get a look in too with CGI animated series The Backyardigans.
Aimed at children aged from 2-10, The Backyardigans
centres around 5 adventurous kids who use their vivid imagination
to turn their backyards into completely different worlds.
FME
CEO David Ellender says, "FME is excited to be able to
offer such a diverse roster of programming at this year's
MipTV. Our expanding catalogue means that we have more titles
than ever. And there's a healthy mix of high-class drama,
landmark music shows, ground-breaking documentaries along
with strong reality shows, appealing to audiences the world
over."
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