Reality TV > Reality mavens show their true 'Nature'
November 14, 2006
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Bertram van Munster, creator-exec producer of CBS' "The Amazing Race," and docuseries titan Thom Beers ("Deadliest Catch") are teaming on the Discovery Channel tentpole event "Raw Nature."
Cable network has greenlit production on six episodes for next summer. "Raw Nature" is a wildlife/natural history show examining how animals and humans co-exist in exotic locations around the world.
Van Munster and Beers will exec produce. Phil Segal, exec VP of Beers' Original Prods. banner, will co-exec produce.
Event will send young reality producers into the wild to study the habits of animals in a variety of places, from lions of Botswana to the Komodo dragons of Komodo Island and the great white sharks of the waters surrounding Ano Nuevo Island in Northern California.
Project comes out of the longtime friendship between van Munster and Beers. Pair met while Beers was a programming exec at Turner Broadcasting and van Munster was a producer/cameraman.
"We were both really into wildlife and adventure. We worked on this show for Paramount, 'Wild Things,' and ever since we've been looking for the next right project to do together," Beers said.
"Raw Nature" blends the globe-hopping of "Amazing Race" with Beers' adventure-themed storytelling. In this outing, producers will co-star with their animal counterparts.
"We're putting them right on the frontlines of a wildlife experience. They're going to do the studying, tracking, sperm collecting ... you name it," he said. "It's unbridled and firsthand for the viewers."
Van Munster has won four consecutive Emmys as the exec producer of "Amazing Race." His credits include "Profiles From the Front Line" and "Cops."
Original is the shop behind several Discovery Channel skeins, including "Monster House" and "Biker Build-Off." On tap for the company next year are "Lobster Men: Jeopardy at Sea" and a third season of "Deadliest Catch" for Discovery. Beers has also sold "Backyard Nation" to TLC, "The Twister Sisters" to WE TV, and "The Building" to National Geographic Channel (Daily Variety, Sept. 15).
