BBC Studios Natural History Unit is to make a four part series Mindful Escapes: Breathe, Release, Restore in collaboration with Headspace Studios, a multi-platform content studio that focusses on meditation and mindfulness.
The series will premiere on BBC Four from September 7, 2020, and will also be re-versioned into 10 x 10-minute episodes, Mindful Escapes: Breathe, Release, Restore , for the Headspace app later this year. BBC Studios will handle international distribution.
Mindful Escapes: Breathe, Release, Restore will offer the viewer “immersive mindful experiences within the natural world” and will be narrated by Headspace co-founder and former Buddhist monk, Andy Puddicombe.
The four standalone 30 minute films – Breathe, Change, Joy and Rest will feature archive footage from the Natural History Unit’s films, including never before seen sequences. Narration from Andy Puddicombe will guide the viewers on a series of gentle journeys, inviting them to engage in captivating animal behaviour and eco systems from around the world.
Alice Keens-Soper, BBC Studios Executive Producer, says “This sort of collaboration is a world first for BBC Studios. In what is effectively a new genre of television the audience is invited to fully immerse in stunning imagery of the natural world and experience it through a mindful lens. It’s perfect programming for these strange times”
Jill Kellie, BBC Studios Commercial Director, says. We know that our nature content brings joy to viewers and reduces stress levels. The partnership with Headspace Studios enables us to take that to the next level, and bring a much needed oasis of mental calm during these challenging times”
Andy Puddicombe, co-founder of Headspace, says: “The BBC’s Natural History Unit has an exceptional ability to transport viewers from their homes to some of the most extraordinary places in nature. Collaborating on this series is very exciting, because we can now take people on a whole new journey, an immersive experience that merges the external world with our internal landscape.”
Mindful Escapes: Breathe, Release, Restore, a 4 x 30 BBC Studios Natural History Unit and Headspace Studios Production for BBC Four, was commissioned by Cassian Harrison, Channel Editor, BBC Four, and Jack Bootle, Head of Commissioning Science and Natural History. The Executive Producer for BBC Studios is Alice Keens-Soper and the Commissioning Editor for the BBC is Sreya Biswas. The producers for Headspace Studios are, Morgan Selzer and Sam Rogoway.
Jon Creamer
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