Productions
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I Could Do That 13 x 30 mins.
Currently in production.
I Could Do That! gives ordinary viewers the chance to get their hands dirty and operate some seriously big machines that would ordinarily be very much inaccessible. Monster trucks, cranes, freighters, locomotives, combine harvesters, hovercrafts and even military tanks. These machines can destroy a building or take a life in the blink of an eye, putting the participants in unique and precarious situations. After a brief profile of the machine and an introduction of the expert/veteran, participants are thrown into a 'boot camp' before they are pushed to the limit in a final dramatic test. Produced by Cream Productions for Discovery Channel Canada and Discovery's HD Theatre in the US. International Distribution: Beyond International.
How Machines Work 13 x 30 mins.
Produced by Cream Productions for Discovery Channel Canada, Discovery Science US, Discovery International. International Distribution: Cineflix International
How Machines Work is a wicked trip inside, under, over and through the guts of ordinary - and extraordinary machines from our daily lives. Photo-real computer animation takes us where no camera crew can fit, or even survive. Entertaining commentary untangles complex design and engineering for all ages, while having fun along the way. Fly, flood, speed, spin, crush, cut, push, pull, tick, and tock. From a handheld tattoo machine to a coal-crushing power plant, an escalator, a machine gun, and a bomb robot. Fifty-two machines in 13 action-packed episodes make all of us experts on How Machines Work.
Breakout 8 x 1 hours
Produced by Cream Productions and RAW TV for Discovery Channel Canada, National Geographic US and National Geographic International. International Distribution
This high-octane series tells the gripping stories behind some of the most audacious jailbreaks in recent history. These are stories of dangerous and intelligent men who refused to be caged, and the determined law enforcement officers whose job it was to hunt these fugitives down. All are true stories, but you'd think they were Hollywood blockbusters.
Ancient Weather ( Canada) - Man on Earth (UK/Int'l) 4 x 1 hours
Produced by Cream Productions and Wildfire Television for Canwest - History Television Canada, Channel 4 UK and Discovery International. (UK)
In this epic series, renowned presenter Tony Robinson travels back through 200,000 years of human history to find out what happened to our ancestors when violent climate change turned their world upside down. Some civilisations flourished while others were destroyed. Vicious and sudden changes to the climate killed millions; but benign climate conditions have enabled humans to multiply and develop at an extraordinary pace. Using CGI effects and stunning imagery, this series visualises the world's changing landscape over tens of thousands of years.
Convoy 4 x 60 mins.
Co-produced by Cream Productions and Darlow Smithson (UK) for History Television (Canada), Smithsonian Channel (US), Channel 4 (UK), National Geographic Channels International, and the Canadian Navy.
In four distinct episodes, we'll unpack the critical moments in the biggest naval campaign of the 20th Century. Powerful first-hand testimony of those who fought in the battle will be combined with dramatic archival material, bringing the horrors and heroism of the Battle of the Atlantic to a new generation. This series, through its use of dramatic reconstruction and archival footage, will breathe new life into this crucial piece of history, revealing never before seen drama on the high seas of the Atlantic.
Aftermath: The Series 4 x 1 hours
Produced by Cream Productions for Canwest - History Television Canada, National Geographic Channel US, International Distribution: ITV Worldwide(UK)
Each episode of Aftermath realizes a surreal future scenario, dramatically unravelling the catastrophic changes that could take place if just one integral aspect of our world is altered. In four provocative hours we ask: How would we cope if the world's population doubled? What changes would have to be made if we suddenly ran out of oil? What would happen if the world stopped spinning? And if the sun aged quickly overnight, what would happen here on earth? Every scenario reveals incredible insight about how our world works, and the way we live every day.
The Great Sperm Race 1 x 90 mins.
Co-produced by Cream Productions and Blink Films (UK) for Discovery Canada and Channnel 4 (UK)
With clever use of drama and amazing cgi animation, The Great Sperm Race charts the extraordinary journey of human sperm - a giant obstacle course - that takes place over several hours or days. At each stage of the challenge, most will perish. In the final act, only five of the original 250 million remain. And of these remarkable survivors, only one will be the final victor.
The Underground War 2 x 60 mins.
Produced in association with History Television and Channel 4
The Underground War is the story of the archaeological dig, searching for the least known front of the Great War: The War Underground. We follow each step of this fascinating dig, from the initial search for the entrance to the dugout, the euphoria over its discovery in an unexpected place, and the meticulous high-tech exploration of the site forty feet below the surface.
For 90 years, the dugout has been filled with cold, anaerobic water, which has left its interior exactly as it was when it was abandoned by troops at the end of the war. No one has ever seen a dugout so perfectly preserved.
As the dig proceeds, we use the discovery of each part of the dugout to retell the evolution of the underground war. Through reconstruction and computer modeling, we see glimpses of how the underground war evolved. Each stage of the underground war will be illustrated with stories of real events, captured in the diaries and letters of soldiers.
We get to know the diggers along the way as well. Among them are Peter Barton, the articulate and keen military historian; Tony Pollard, the claustrophobic Director of the Centre for Battlefield Archaeology at Glasgow University; and Johann Vandewalle, a local Flemish ex-miner who has been exploring dugouts in Flanders since he was thirteen years old.
Aftermath: Population Zero 1 x 120 mins.
To purchase AFTERMATH: POPULATION ZERO click HERE
Produced in association with National Geographic U.S., History Television and ProSieben
What would happen if, tomorrow, every single person on Earth simply disappeared? Poof! Gone. Not dead, just gone. A world without people, where city streets are still populated by cars, but without drivers. No one is left to water the grass in the suburbs, fix the bridges, repair broken windows. After being on the receiving end of humanity for millennia, nature is finally given a chance to take the world back. But how would that work? How long would our skyscrapers and homes last if we abandoned them? How would our animals and pets fare without us? How would the environment and the seas, the trees and the wildlife react if we stopped hunting, fishing, farming, and producing?
Using animation and CGI, Aftermath will show audiences a world no human being will ever see. By exploring how the world would get along without us, we discover surprising insights into how the world works with us - and what keeps it from falling apart.
1917: The Missing 1 x 60 mins.
Produced in association with History Television
On October 31, 2003, construction workers in the small French village of Avion uncover the bodies of two men - victims of one of the most horrific periods of violence in human history - World War One. The discovery launches an international investigation to determine their identities, which demands the careful and painstaking work of scores of genealogists, historians, and forensic biologists. What these experts uncover is an amazing story of heroism in the face of fire and the tragedy of men lost without record.
Mean Green Machines 10 x 30 mins.
Produced in association with Discovery Canada, Planet Green U.S.
For the new series of Mean Machines, we once again create uber-Top Trump style competitions between the meanest machines around. But this time, we'll be setting up contests between original versions of super vehicles and their new, green equivalents.
We'll be making them go head to head in a series of live challenges that will determine which of them deserves to be crowned champion. In individual categories, tackling a different kind of machine in each episode, we will be testing the power, style and efficiency of the toughest pick-up trucks snowmobiles, helicopters, drag-racing motorbikes and more.
Can green be mean? In a world obsessed with its carbon footprint, the results of these green machines will determine the future.
The Real Treasure Island 1 x 60 mins.
A Monaco Films co-production. Produced in association with ProSieben, History Television
Before there was Pirates of the Caribbean, there was Treasure Island. Critics hail it as the most famous pirate story in history. Since its publication over a century ago, Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island popularized the most potent symbols of pirate lore: swashbuckling seamen, uncharted tropical islands and dog-eared treasure maps marked with an 'X'. And now, it appears that the novel may have been inspired by a real treasure - on an island no one has ever searched - until now.
The Real Treasure Island follows Alex Capus as he travels to exotic locales to unlock the true story behind a literary masterpiece. From the foggy Scottish Highlands to the sun-kissed islands of the South Pacific, Capus follows a treasure trail of clues -each one triggering dramatic recreations that tell the true story behind Stevenson's tale.
The Science of Interrogation 1 x 60 mins.
An ITN Factual co-production. Produced in association with National Geographic Channel U.S., Discovery Channel Canada
Interrogation is an elaborate game of cat and mouse, an intellectual duel akin to cracking a code. The Science of Interrogation reveals the meticulous tricks of psychology, and the cutting edge technology in the interrogator's arsenal, all designed to extract the truth a prime suspect does not want uncovered.
Stan B Walters, an interrogation expert who has been teaching the artful techniques for 25 years, is our primary interview. Taking us on a journey through his extensive collection of real interrogation footage, including some of America's most high-profile cases like Coral Eugene Watts and the Green River Killer. He deconstructs each move and counter-move as investigators advance one step closer to the confession they're after.
Mean Machines II - "Trans-Atlantic Challenge" 10 x 30 mins.
An IWC Media co-production. Produced in association with Discovery Channel Canada, Discovery UK / Europe
Following the success of the first series of Mean Machines, IWC Media and Cream return with a second series about the world's toughest and meanest machines - but this time we'll take the countdown and the challenges to a whole other level.
Mean Machines: Trans-Atlantic Battles, sets up uber-Top Trump style competitions between the very best North American and the very best European machines; making them go head to head in a series of live challenges that determine which of them deserves to be crowned the champion.
U-864: Hitler's Last Deadly Secret 1 x 60 mins.
A Spiegel TV co-production. Produced in association with BBC, History Television, History Channel UK, The Science Channel, ZDF
Deep in the icy waters off Norway lies one of the last great secrets of the Second World War. In February 1945, the German submarine U-864 disappeared without a trace during a clandestine journey to Japan.
On board: eighteen of the Reich's leading aeronautical scientists, two of Japan's leading experts on aerodynamics, stacks of blueprints for the Nazi's Me 262 fighter jet as well as the latest Messerschmitt jet engine parts and missile guidance systems. Had the German submarine arrived at its destination, the Nazi's revolutionary jet technology might have changed the course of the Second World War, tipping the balance in favour of the Japanese Air Force in its desperate struggle against the U.S. Navy.
U-864: Hitler's Last Deadly Secret recounts the harrowing cat and mouse struggle between the German submarine and its British pursuer HMS Venturer. Using interviews and contemporary quotes as well as film archive, location photography and state of the art dramatic reconstructions and visual effects, we join the two submarine crews during the dramatic three and a half-hour pursuit.
60 years later a race of a different kind is underway. A Norwegian salvage team must hurry to lift the toxic cargo off the seabed and ensure that Hitler's deadly last secret is made safe once and for all.
Digging up the Trenches 2 x 60 mins.
Produced in association with History Television, History Channel UK, The Military Channel, Historia
In November of 2005, a unique archaeological dig near Ypres, Belgium exposed the lives of the men who fought and died in the mud on both sides of No Man's Land. Under the guidance of military historian Peter Barton a team of archaeologists reveal in extraordinary detail the evolution and extinction of trench warfare, and draw a vivid picture of the lives and deaths of the men who fought on each side of the Ypres Salient. Digging up the Trenches uses their important historical finds to trigger extraordinary and detailed dramatic re-creations, bringing to life for the viewer the experiences of the men who fought in Flanders Fields. These fields have a secret to tell if you only know how to listen.
Real Vampires 1 x 90 mins.
An IWC Media co-production. Produced in association with Discovery Channel Canada, Discovery UK / Europe
Archeologist Timothy Taylor and anthropologist Kathryn Denning set out on a global quest to discover the origins of the vampire myth and to find out why these creatures continue to have such a hold on our imaginations. In a journey that takes them from the mountains of Transylvania and the jungles of Brazil to the vampire "covens" of present-day New York, Tim and Kathryn attempt to find out if there is a dark reality lurking behind the myth of this terrible creature. Do vampires, as so many people claim, exist? Find out as we go in search of, Real Vampires.
Protestant Revolution 4 x 60 mins.
An IWC Media co-production. Produced in association with BBC, Vision TV, History Channel
The Protestant Revolution is the story of a revolution. A revolution that has affected every person in the West, and nearly every country in the world. It is a revolution that exists in every aspect of our everyday lives. It influences the very fabric of our existence: from what we do for a living, to who we vote for, from who we go to war with, to how we see ourselves as individuals and as a nation.
Without the Reformation there would have been no Scientific Revolution, no Enlightenment, and no United States of America committed to an idea of all men being equal under God. This is the story of how Protestantism made the modern world.
San Francisco's Great Quake 1 x 60 mins, 1 x 90 mins.
Produced for National Geographic Film and Television
It is the greatest natural disaster in American history. The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 struck early on the morning of April 18th. In just seconds, buildings crumbled and splintered, the waterfront lands liquefied and crevasses swallowed up homes and people. The destruction touched off a city-wide fire that raged out of control for days. In the panic of the aftermath, innocent people were shot to death in the streets. Forty-two thousand buildings collapsed or burned. More than 200,000 were left homeless. Thousands died.
A hundred years later, the Great Quake is still etched in our modern culture. Many called it an Act of God, but the 1906 earthquake is a distinctly human story. The Great San Francisco Quake of 1906 tells that story - one of corruption, valor, tragedy and progress. It is the emblematic story of what happens to a modern city when the earth moves under it. While the quake leveled a city in its infancy, it simultaneously gave birth to whole new avenues of science. Never has calamity taught us so much. Never has a natural disaster so changed the face of science.
Mean Machines I 10 x 30 mins.
An IWC Media co-production. Produced in association with Discovery Canada, Discovery UK, Discovery Europe
Each half-hour episode celebrates the definitive five in each category - from towering cranes to bulldozing borers. We compare strength, size and style before declaring one the meanest machine in the business. And though size matters, it isn't the only criteria. We judge too on performance, history and looks before declaring a champion.
With humour and wit, we get down and dirty with these fantastic pieces of engineering, seeing everything from how they were built to their most incredible achievement to date.
Artillery Games 1 x 60 mins.
Produced in association with History Channel
Every year at a remote US Army Artillery Firing range in Northern Michigan, a select group of citizens gather for the Black Powder Artillery Games. They bring with them restored and re-production Civil War era cannons and mortars. Teams from the South compete with teams from the North... the Civil War may be over but these competitors still take sides and history seriously.