BBC Studioshas won its first fully funded production commission in China, a six-partseries for China Mobile telling the remarkable story of tea and its impact onChina and other civilizations around the world.
In afirst for BBC Studios, China Mobile recently commissioned a six-part TVdocumentary on tea.
Thefact-based documentary One Cup, A Thousand Stories is funded by Migu,the digital content subsidiary of China Mobile. It is the BBC’s firstfully-funded production in China. It will be produced in Scotland anddistributed internationally by BBC Studios.
In aBBC release, One Cup is said to “tell the story of tea and its impact onChina and other civilizations around the world. It will look at tea on a scalenever attempted before, journeying across the beautiful and varied landscapesof China to explore its many teas, the people who have built a life around itand the culture it has created. It will reveal how tea has influencedChinese lifestyles and rituals, including food and concepts of medicine andhealth and how tea sits at the heart of Chinese traditions, attitudes,friendships and family ties, bringing different generations together and eventhe nation. The series will also seek to tell the story of tea’s influence onother countries and China’s role in the global tea culture.”
TheBBC writes that it has long partnered with Chinese broadcasters on naturalhistory series such as Blue Planet, Planet Earth and Dynasties, “but this is the first toemerge from the BBC Studios Factual production team, which has increased itpresence in China, working closely with Kelvin Yau, SVP and GM, GreaterChina, BBC Studios, to explore opportunities.”
LisaOpie, managing director for BBC Studios Productions said, “I am delighted thatwe... will be making this fascinating and ambitious factual series for Migu.It’s incredibly exciting to be sharing our story-telling and production craftwith new audiences and with content that has been specifically developed forthis market.”
BinWang, CEO of Migu Video added, “BBCStudios Productions makes some of the best factual programs in the world and weare thrilled that they are producing this landmark series for us. It is a greatopportunity to draw on their production skills and knowledge, covering asubject that is so important to us.”
Theprogram will air in 2020.
“Givengrowing content restrictions in China, and the prospect of a year of patrioticfeature films in Chinese movie theaters, it is notable that factual programmingremains an avenue open to international co-operation,” writes Variety.
Thecommissions come as the company has merged its production division, BBCStudios, and its international distribution unit BBC Worldwide, offeringservices for non-BBC channels. BBC, which is licensed by the Britishgovernment, earned 15 commissions from third-party broadcasters since the ruleswere relaxed. The network produces 2,500 hours of content annually and reportedearnings of $1.7 billion last year.
Source:BBCStudios, Variety,Deadline