English Entertainment
Explorer Ed Stafford takes wife and toddler son on his biggest survival challenge yet in the new Discovery show ‘Man Woman Child Wild’
Renowned adventurer Ed Stafford has survived alone in some of Earth’s most hostile environments, often desperate for food, shelter and water, but now he’s putting himself to the ultimate test. In the brand-new documentary ED STAFFORD: MAN WOMAN CHILD WILD premiering on Discovery, Discovery HD and Discovery Plus App on May 11, Ed will live off-grid on a remote uninhabited island in Indonesia for one month. He will be totally self-sufficient fending for himself in this unchartered location, but there’s a twist – this time, he won’t be alone as Ed will be joined by wife Laura Bingham and 20-month-old son Ran, where they will have to survive as a family, on the beautiful yet demanding island.
Completely self-filmed Ed, Laura and Ran’s survival challenge will see them based on one of Indonesia’s 18,000 islands, deep in the Indian Ocean. One hour away from civilisation and with no provisions, they will have to totally fend for themselves, with no idea of the water and food sources in advance, and with the looming threat of tropical storms ever present.
In the experiment, Ed and Laura want to take themselves away from the modern trappings of life to explore how life is when lived ‘back to basics’. With screen heavy lives, how will it affect them and their relationships when stripped of the modern trappings and obligations. Will they discover a more natural, wholesome way of living away from the distractions of modern-day life? Will their relationships get closer and will Ran’s development accelerate?
Talking about the show, Ed Stafford said, “I thought it would be fascinating as an experiment, for a family to go out and see whether they can survive and leave behind all the trappings of everyday life. Discovery Channel bought into the idea and they thought it would make a very interesting TV programme. I think we learned a lot of lessons along the way.” Talking about what helps him the most at stressful moments, Ed said, “The thing that I use on expeditions that helps me above everything else, especially, in survival situations is meditating. It’s so important for me to be centred, to be aware, to be able to notice the things that are going on around you, but also to step back from your thoughts and your emotions and get to a place of calm.”
“Man Woman Child Wild – with the explorer’s family in the mix – is an iconic example of survival based television format, a Discovery content forte. Audiences love and engage with us for such kind of content,” said, Sai Abishek, Director–Content, Factual & Lifestyle Entertainment – South Asia, Discovery. “We continue our endeavour to premiere shows even during lock down. Ed Stafford has huge following in India, and we will premiere the second series of ‘Ed Stafford: First Man Out’ immediately after which will air from May 18th.”
This unique show, which started as an experiment, seeks to answer some very pertinent questions about the kind of lives we lead today, questions which have become even more important in light of the current pandemic that we are dealing with. Ed and Laura wanted to take themselves away from the modern comforts of life to explore how life is when lived ‘back to basics’. With screen heavy lives, how will it affect them and their relationship when stripped of the modern ways of living and social obligations? Will they discover a more natural, wholesome way of living away from the distractions of modern-day life? Will their relationship become stronger and will their son, Ran’s development accelerate?
Along with this exciting family show like no other, Ed Stafford will also be seen competing against the world’s top survivalists in a gritty, real-life race to get out of some of the most hostile environments on the planet on yet another Discovery Channel show: ‘ED STAFFORD: FIRST MAN OUT Season 2’, starting from 16th May.
To view all the action, unfold, tune in to ED STAFFORD: MAN WOMAN CHILD WILD, which premieres in India on Monday, 11th May at 8 PM, only on the Discovery Channel.
English Entertainment
Ellison takes his Paramount-Warner Bros case straight to theater owners
The Skydance chief goes to CinemaCon with promises and a skeptical crowd waiting
CALIFORNIA: David Ellison strode into a room packed with thousands of cinema owners and executives at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Thursday and did something rather bold: he looked them in the eye and asked them to trust him.
The chief executive of Paramount Skydance vowed that his company would release a minimum of 30 films a year if regulators greenlight its proposed $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, a deal that has made theater owners deeply, and loudly, nervous.
“I wanted to look every single one of you in the eye and give you my word,” Ellison told the crowd. “Once we combine with Warner Bros, we are going to make a minimum of 30 films annually across both studios.”
It was a confident pitch. Whether it landed is another matter. Cinema operators have already called on regulators to block the deal, and scepticism in the room was hardly concealed.
Ellison pushed back by pointing to recent form. Paramount, born from the merger of Paramount Global and Skydance Media last August, plans to release 15 films this year, nearly double the eight it put out in 2025. Progress, he argued, was already underway.
He also threw theater owners a bone they have long been chasing: all films, he pledged, would run exclusively in cinemas for a minimum of 45 days, drawing applause from a crowd that has spent years fighting for exactly that commitment across the industry.
“People can speculate all they want,” Ellison said, “but I am standing here today telling you personally that you can count on our complete commitment. And we’ll show you we mean it.”
Fine words. The regulators, however, will have the last one.
