New SVOD service plots two-year wildlife project

New 4K on-demand service Love Nature has partnered with UK factual indie Plimsoll Productions on a two-year natural history project that will yield 50 hours of original programming.

Love Nature and its US counterpart, Smithsonian Earth, and Grant Mansfield’s Plimsoll will establish a production base in Africa, which will create wildlife and natural history under a Camp Zambia banner.

The content will “range from blue chip footage of animal behavior to engaging character-led series, showcasing the extraordinary breadth of African wildlife”.

It will go out through Love Nature’s Canadian and international SVOD and TV platforms and Smithsonian’s subscription streaming offer, Smithsonian Earth, in the US, giving both leverage against rival factual SVOD services such as CuriosityStream.

Love Nature launched as a joint venture of Canada’s Blue Ant Media and CBS-backed cable channel Smithsonian this year, following Smithsonian Earth’s creation toward the end of 2015.

Smithsonian Networks executive VP, programming and production David Royle said Camp Zambia’s plan to embed film crews in a single location for two years was an “unprecedented commitment”, adding it would give viewers “an extraordinary opportunity to immerse themselves into the lives of individual animals”.

Jo Parkinson, Love Nature’s international managing director, said: “The expansive landscapes, varied weather conditions and vast array of wildlife make the ideal combination for a spectacular 4K experience.”

An LA-based company, Bleeding Fingers Music, has been commissioned to compose original music for Camp Zambia, whose production bases will be in a remote, unspoiled wilderness at the heart of a 500-mile-long valley that marks the end of the Great Rift Valley.

Camp Zambia’s programming will contribute to the 200 hours of 4K nature and wildlife programming Love Nature has committed to producing each year.