DRG adds to spring slate with new factual series
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Editor
| 16 April 2020

NENT Studios-owned distributor and originator DRG has acquired 27 new hours of content across five titles, covering topics ranging from food to Africa, the new series hail from producer partners in the US, the UK and Scandinavia.

Leading the slate is African Renaissance (3 x 60). Produced by ClearStory for BBC Four, the programme follows journalist Afua Hirsch as she brings together historical insights, cultural heroes and extraordinary art, music and dance to offer a radically new vision of contemporary Africa. Moving through spectacular locations, the focus is on how three very different countries – Ethiopia, Senegal and Kenya – are becoming 21st-century cultural powerhouses.

Legacy List (6 x 60’), produced with VPM, for airing on PBS stations in the US by New York-based production company MY Entertainment, in association with Virginia-based Shipyard Entertainment, is an exploration of family and social histories, revealed through hidden treasures in people’s homes. However, this series also includes investigations into the secrets held within family histories and genealogies. Presenter Matt Paxton (Hoarders) and his clutter-clearing team visit homes of people moving or down-sizing and turn the bittersweet parting from a house that’s been a beloved family home for decades into a treasure-finding trip through a life well-lived.

Completing the slate are three new lifestyle series, all produced by Mastiff for NENT Group’s Viaplay streaming service.

The Art of Living (6 x 60’) follows internationally renowned chef Niklas Ekstedt as he explores the secret of living past the age of 100. He travels to six of the world’s ‘blue zones’ – regions such as Sardinia, Costa Rica, and Okinawa in Japan, where unusually high numbers of people reach an advanced age – to meet the locals and discuss their approaches to life, food, and ageing. Four Hands Menu (6 x 60’) combines cookery and travel and features two very different chefs in every episode, who come together to share their experiences and culinary know-how in order to create a ‘four hands menu’. It is filmed in some of the world’s most spectacular restaurants, from the Faroe Islands to the Philippines.

Food and Fire (6 x 60’) sees chef Niklas Ekstedt travel the globe to experience the varied, and often ancient, cooking techniques that rely on fire. In Texas, he learns the fine art of cooking in barbecue pits while in Peru, he meets with leading contemporary chefs inspired by their Inca ancestors. The series also follows Niklas to Spain’s Basque Country, Istanbul, Naples, and Finland, all the time exploring how ancient fiery techniques are deliciously powering future food trends.

Commenting on the deals, Mette Kanne-Behrendsen, DRG’s SVP acquisitions said: “Like every distributor and rights owner at the present time, we are working even harder to maintain a pipeline of fresh new content, so we are delighted to bring so many new hours to market – and from three very different producer partners.”