- The Investigation's First Dive, Slated for Wednesday, May 11,
Starts Production of JOURNEY TO THE HEART OF THE TSUNAMI
to Be Telecast Later This Year -
SILVER SPRING, Md., May 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Discovery Channel and the BBC
announced today they are joining as broadcast partners with an expedition of
top scientists to explore the seabed site of the Asian Tsunami. Working with
BAFTA award-winning independent television production company, Darlow Smithson
Productions, scientists will begin diving three miles to the sea floor off the
Indonesian coast.
For the first time ever, and in an attempt to understand what really
caused the devastating 2004 Tsunami, the crew will send cameras deep into the
abyss to witness first-hand the collision between the earth's crustal plates
and provide scientific research with the aim to provide accurate warnings of
when and where the next tsunami may hit.
Julian Ware, Head of Special Projects, Darlow Smithson Productions says,
"JOURNEY TO THE HEART OF THE TSUNAMI will be a genuine scientific enquiry of
significant interest to geologists, physicists and seismologists, and indeed,
to many branches of science in general. We have planned the expedition
meticulously with the aid of the world's leading experts, and we expect to
return with data that will be hugely beneficial to our understanding of such
phenomenon -- while at the same time providing dramatic TV footage of the
epicenter that triggered the Tsunami."
Phil Fairclough, Acting GM & SVP of Production for Discovery Channel US,
stated, "This ambitious exploration three miles below the Indian Ocean will
provide hard scientific findings that will help scientists predict future
tsunamis and therefore minimize the devastation and loss of life that resulted
from the 2004 tsunami. It is our hope that Discovery Channel's participation
in these types of significant scientific endeavors helps to push science
further into the future. Partners like Darlow Smithson and the BBC enable
Discovery to go places that no other cable network has been able to go."
The team is comprised of the world's foremost scientific authorities,
including seismologists, geophysicists, biologists, seabed visualization
experts and tsunami modelers, who will spend 17 days aboard the MV Performer,
a purpose built deep-water research ship in the Indian Ocean.
The expedition will be documented in a global two-hour special, JOURNEY TO
THE HEART OF THE TSUNAMI, produced by award winning company Darlow Smithson,
broadcast on Discovery Channel in the U.S., on BBC One in the U.K. and
ProSieben in Germany in the autumn of 2005. The special will air on Discovery
Channel in Europe, Asia, India and Latin America in the winter.
Darlow Smithson Productions (DSP) is one of the most prestigious and
celebrated independent production companies in the U.K. With an unsurpassed
reputation for producing high quality factual programs for both U.K. and
international broadcasters, DSP has achieved worldwide industry recognition
for its groundbreaking docu-drama, series and documentaries.
Discovery Channel is the United States' largest cable television network,
serving 89.9 million households across the nation with the finest in
informative entertainment. Discovery Networks, U.S., a unit of Discovery
Communications, Inc., operates and manages Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal
Planet, Travel Channel, Discovery Health Channel, Discovery HD Theater,
Discovery Kids Channel, Discovery Times Channel, The Science Channel,
Discovery Home Channel, Military Channel, Discovery en Espanol and FitTV. The
unit also distributes BBC AMERICA.
For more information, please log onto http://www.discovery.com.
SOURCE Discovery Channel
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Related links:
http://www.discovery.com
CONTACT:
Elizabeth Hillman of Discovery Channel,
+1-240-662-2664, or Elizabeth_Hillman@discovery.com
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