NAT GEO PEOPLE ANNOUNCES FIRST COMMISSION WITH EXCLUSIVE TEN PART SERIES UNDERCOVER ANGEL
Premiering Tuesday 17 May at 7.30pm AEST
Nat Geo People today announced the channel’s first ever commission, Undercover Angel from RDF Television, will premiere exclusively on Nat Geo People in 47 countries including Australia.
The ten part series follows some of the world’s wealthiest and most successful business people as they go undercover to make a tangible difference in the lives of underprivileged communities across the globe. Their mission? Rather than simply hand out money, they must use their business skills to create lasting change.
The benefactors leave behind their own comfortable and sometimes luxurious environments, to experience life within very different communities and cultures. With a limited amount of time and stripped of their usual support systems, they are tasked with identifying a need within the community, and finding a viable way to create a lasting legacy. At the end of their undercover immersion, each angel will make known their true identity to the unsuspecting community and put their plans into action, funding them out of their own pocket and using their business skills and experience to create long term solutions.
Filmed in Bulgaria, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Uganda and the UK, the series explores the emotional and experiential journeys of these fascinating individuals – who hail from Australia, South Africa, the UK and the USA – as they effect change not only in the world around them, but also deep within.
Jules Oldroyd, SVP International Programming for National Geographic Global Networks, said, “Since its inception, Nat Geo People has offered unfiltered, intimate and true stories about compelling people all over the world, so we’re incredibly excited to be stepping up our programming commitment with the channel’s first dedicated series. Undercover Angel is true to the innovative storytelling and engaging narratives found on the channel, and it is sure to become a powerful emotional touchstone that will resonate with viewers all over the world.”
Dan Barraclough, Executive Producer for RDF Television, said, “The world’s rich are looking for new ways to help those less fortunate than themselves, by getting involved and building their own organisations to create effective change on the ground. Undercover Angel really taps into this new spirit of philanthropy. What is exciting is seeing how it plays out in every episode of the series. Each benefactor found the initial challenge quite daunting, thrown into the deep end without support systems or PAs to help. But then they were able to build connections with local people and do something quite profound, create legacies that will last well beyond the length of these programmes. It was a privilege for us to record the process.”
Undercover Angel is the first series to be created exclusively for Nat Geo People since the channel first launched in Australia in 2014. Nat Geo People has subsequently grown to become a destination for viewers in nearly 50 countries who are looking for true stories about compelling people among humanity’s rich array of subcultures. The channel most recently launched in Poland and Romania in late 2015.
Undercover Angel is produced for Nat Geo People by RDF Television. For RDF Television, Dan Barraclough is executive producer. For National Geographic Channel, the executive vice president of programming and development is Hamish Mykura and Tim Pastore is president of original programming and production.
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About National Geographic Channel The National Geographic Channels (The Channels) form the television and production arm of National Geographic Partners, a joint venture between 21st Century Fox and the National Geographic Society. As a global leader in premium science, adventure and exploration programming, the Channels include: National Geographic Channel (NGC), Nat Geo WILD, Nat Geo People and Nat Geo MUNDO. Additionally, the Channels also run the in-house television production unit, National Geographic Studios. The Channels contribute to the National Geographic Society’s commitment to exploration, conservation and education with entertaining, innovative programming from A-level talent around the world, and with profits that help support the society’s mission. Globally, NGC is available in more than 440 million homes in 171 countries and 45 languages, and Nat Geo WILD is available in 131 countries and 38 languages. National Geographic Partners is also a leader in social media, with a fan base of 250 million people across all of its social pages. NGC contributes over 55 million social media fans globally on Facebook alone. For more information, visit www.natgeotv.com.au
IMAGE: Serial entrepreneur and multi-millionaire, Finn Kelly leaves the comforts of his beach life in Sydney to travel to Bulgaria, one of the poorest countries in Europe. Working undercover, Finn immerses himself in a post-communist world while secretly working out how he can use his own money and business skills to transform the lives of those he meets.
MEDIA CONTACT: Lori Killesteyn, │ Nat Geo People (02) 8668 2987 │ 0404 881 687 │ [email protected]