Premieres Thursday, March 13 at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) on CBC-TV’s The Nature of Things
From the filmmakers of the acclaimed series Human Planet and Planet Earth comes WILD CANADA, an epic four-part series presented by THE NATURE OF THINGS that takes place through time and across the vast scale of the Canadian landscape, revealing the country as it has never been seen before.
Like the groundbreaking Planet Earth series, WILD CANADA takes an awe-inspiring look at the world around us, shot with ultra-high-definition cameras that capture sweeping panoramas and extraordinary close-ups of Canada’s majestic terrain and diverse species. This is the largest natural history survey of Canada in our generation—filmed across the country, showing animal behaviour never before captured.
From the spectacle of massive humpback whales feeding off the coast of Newfoundland to ice-covered grizzly bears living near the Arctic Circle, to pronghorn antelope—the fastest hoofed animals on earth—racing across the prairies, the scope of this television series is unequalled. The stunning visuals are matched by a dramatic narrative, which tells the story of how humans have made their mark over millennia in often surprising ways. Unlike any nature documentary series before it, WILD CANADA puts people back in the picture.
• Episode 1 of WILD CANADA, The Eternal Frontier, premieres Thursday, March 13 on THE NATURE OF THINGS, at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) on CBC-TV
• Episode 2, The Wild West, airs Thursday, March 20 at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) on CBC-TV
• Episode 3, The Heartland, airs Thursday, March 27 at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) on CBC-TV
• Episode 4, Ice Edge, airs Thursday, April 3 at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) on CBC-TV
“We are excited and proud to debut this series on the CBC,” said Mark Starowicz, executive director of documentary programming, CBC. “It’s an incredible example of what the network has always excelled at—world-class documentary storytelling that turns the lens on Canadian stories and subjects. In this case, I think we are really going to fill Canadians with wonderment at the beauty, diversity and majesty that the Canadian landscape has to offer. Only Canadian filmmakers Jeff and Sue Turner could have created this series. Our partnership has been incredible and enabled us to do something truly unprecedented on national television.”
A truly massive endeavour, the WILD CANADA team shot close to 500 hours of footage with almost 20 different cameras to capture the images that comprise the four-part series. Most images were composed in 4K resolution on the same RED Epic cameras used to shoot The Hobbit. Some sequences were shot at 10,000 frames per second to capture exquisite detail in slow-motion.
Accompanying the series is the WILD CANADA App for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. Written by acclaimed author J.B. Mackinnon (The Once and Future World and 100 Mile Diet), and produced by the CBC and Secret Location, the App is a visually stunning interactive “coffee table book”, that features lush, high-impact HD video and photography from some of Canada’s most remote locations, as well as 360° panoramas, immersive soundscapes, fly-throughs, interactive infographics, and a wealth of exclusive WILD CANADA material available nowhere else. The WILD CANADA App is available only on the App Store as of Thursday, Feb. 27, and will be free until March 14.
In addition, the interactive WILD CANADA website features behind-the-scenes stories of the skills and endurance of the filmmakers devoted to getting close to Canada’s amazing animals. And a DVD and Blu-Ray version of the series will be available, through the CBC Shop, in French and English following the broadcast.
WILD CANADA was written, produced and directed by Canada’s foremost leaders in the nature documentary field, Jeff and Sue Turner of River Road Films, in association with the U.K.‘s Brian Leith Productions and the CBC’s The Nature of Things. Across a three-decade-long career, the Turners have created multiple award-winning nature documentaries, including The Buffalo Wolves and The Bear Man of Kamchatka, as well as some of the most epic sequences in the BBC’s Planet Earth and Frozen Planet series.
THE NATURE OF THINGS, Canada’s longest-running and multi-award-winning documentary series, hosted by the iconic David Suzuki for three decades, brings science in all its diversity to Canadian audiences. The series has illuminated the way for a greater understanding of the increasingly complex world in which we live. It engages minds, celebrates science, and informs and entertains all Canadians.
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About CBC/Radio-Canada
CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada’s national public broadcaster and one of its largest cultural institutions. The Corporation is a leader in reaching Canadians on new platforms and delivers a comprehensive range of radio, television, internet, and satellite-based services. Deeply rooted in the regions, CBC/Radio-Canada is the only domestic broadcaster to offer diverse regional and cultural perspectives in English, French and eight Aboriginal languages.
For more information including series synopses, press releases, hi-res images, video clips and bios, please visit the CBC Media Centre at cbc.ca/mediacentre. Follow CBC’s publicity team on Twitter @CBC_Publicity.
For further information, or to request interviews, contact:
Corey Black, News and Current Affairs publicist, CBC
416.205.8710 (office)/647.221.4133 (mobile)
