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Nat Geo filming Drain the Oceans

Electric Pictures embarks on a UK co-production to to reveal shipwrecks, treasure & sunken cities.

Australia’s Electric Pictures and UK’s Mallinson Sadler Productions are currently filming a new 10 part factual series Drain the Oceans for National Geographic.

Combining scientific data with state of the art digital recreations, the series uses underwater scanning systems to reveal shipwrecks, treasure, sunken cities on the floor of lakes, seas and oceans around the world.

It follows previous productions Drain the Great Lakes, Drain the Titanic and Drain the Bermuda Triangle.

Hamish Mykura, Executive Vice President and Head of International Content for National Geographic said, “We had several successful stand-alone Drain The Oceans specials that, one after the other, resonated with audiences all over the world, so we’re very proud to be diving into a full series commitment. Spanning the globe, this ambitious new ten-part series offers novel story-telling as it explores the world’s oceans with innovative technology to investigate astonishing mysteries like what happened to the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370; how the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami affected global data in the cloud; and why one of the biggest treasure hauls off Florida was spread across the seabed for miles.”

Crispin Sadler of Mallinson Sadler Productions said, “After working with National Geographic on numerous fantastic shows, I’m delighted to be joining forces with the network and with my friends at Electric Pictures to take this winning formula to a whole new level. Who hasn’t stood on a beach and wondered what you’d see if the tide just kept on going out? The beauty of this series is that…now it does! We love it for its simplicity and the refreshing way it brings new light to maritime mysteries old and new.”

Andrew Ogilvie of Electric Pictures said, “I am thrilled to be joining Crispin, the team at MSP and National Geographic, to produce this landmark series. By combining resources, we are able to harness the skills and experience of some of the most talented television professionals in both the UK and Australia to produce a very high-quality series that will delight audiences wherever it is shown. It is a truly global project that takes the ‘draining’ technique of using CGI to peel back the ocean, and other large bodies of water, to reveal what lies below and applies it on a much larger scale than has been seen before.”

It will premiere globally in 2018 on National Geographic in 172 countries.

Ghostly shapes beneath the waves are revealed in all their stunning glory in Drain The Oceans, as the water is removed from the picture to tell the story of how vessels sank, how modern technology operates in inhospitable climates, what ancient geological formations can tell us about life on Earth, where Nazi secrets now reside and why so many continue to search for the legendary city of Atlantis. Cris-crossing the globe, the series visits the China Seas, the Gulf of Mexico, the Mediterranean, the Nile, the Pacific Rim, the Indian Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean and the Baltic Sea in its quest to explain natural wonders and man-made catastrophes.

Drain The Oceans is co-produced by Mallinson Sadler Productions and Electric Pictures for National Geographic. For Mallinson Sadler Productions, the executive producers are Crispin Sadler and Mark Fielder. For Electric Pictures, the executive producers are Phil Craig, Andrew Ogilvie and Andrea Quesnelle. For National Geographic, Carolyn Payne is executive producer, Hamish Mykura is Executive Vice President and Head of International Content and Tim Pastore is President, Original Programming and Production.

2 Responses

  1. These type of shows have their curiosity value but the CGI used can allow artistic interpretation to fill in the missing pieces and make a 10 minute segment last up to an hour. The American made documentaries are the worst at stretching out the subject matter, I hope that this National Geographic show has used it’s budget well.

    1. Yes the American one did draw it right out. I spent a lot of time simply fast forwarding. Still it’s a very interesting idea. I would like to see the water drained out of Truk Lagoon and parts of the Atlantic where the ships crossed during WW2.

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