Gédéon cuts Nat Geo deal

French factual producer/distributor Gédéon Programmes has sealed a number of presales with the National Geographic Channel. The Nat Geo channel in the US has pre-bought one-offs The Mummy that came in from the Cold and The Wild West Uncovered.

The deal also includes 8x52mins series Cooking the World, featuring international culinary explorer Fred Chesneau. The series will appear internationally on Nat Geo’s Adventure 1 channel.

Gédéon is also working on a new coproduction with Nat Geo, the docu-drama Khufu Revealed, which examines the mystery around the construction of Pyramid of Khufu and will be on France 2 in May or June of next year.

The French company is also talking to Nat Geo about its upcoming series Solar Impulse. It is looking for coproduction partners for the four-part series, which will track the design, testing and flight of a new solar powered aeroplane.

The first part will look at the construction and design of the plane and will deliver at end-2008. Subsequent episodes will focus on a test flight and a round-the-world trip in the plane by French engineer Bertrand Piccard and will deliver at end-2009 and end 2010 respectively. There will be a 1x90mins show capturing all of these elements.

Gédéon also has Total Pole Airship, a three-part series that is in pre-production and will follow an airship expedition to the North Pole. France Televisions is on board domestically and Gedoen is looking for international partners.