DUNEDIN, NEW ZEALAND – NHNZ, Blue Ant Media’s New Zealand-based factual television production house, is currently in production on a new HDR natural history docu-soap starring the orangutans of Borneo.
Commissioned for Love Nature, Orangutan Jungle School follows the hilarious antics, triumphs and tragedies of a group of orphaned orangutans as they progress through a unique forest school system. The series is filmed at Nyaru Menteng, in Borneo, Indonesia, where the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF) manages the largest primate rescue and rehabilitation project in the world.
Orangutan Jungle School introduces audiences to BOSF’s highly skilled team who rescues orangutans that
have been displaced from their habitat because of forest destruction, separated from their mothers or kept illegally as pets, and teaches them the skills necessary to return to the wild. Once in the care of BOSF, they have the chance for a future of freedom – but the road back to the wild is long as they embark on the various stages of their education.
The charismatic and intelligent orangutans have distinct characters and viewers are guaranteed to become emotionally invested in their journey to freedom. The docu-series is an entertaining and fascinating insight into the world of orangutans, which will foster awareness for the plight of this endangered species and the fragile ecosystem in which these charismatic apes lead their lives.
“The individual storylines and overarching narrative of this series is comparable to anyone’s favourite long-running drama soap. The scope of material for our production team is a banquet of delights including edge-of-seat drama, tear-jerking moments and plenty of comic relief. The orangutans themselves take over the script development and come up with stories we would never even think of,” said writer and executive producer Judith Curran, in the news release.
Blue Ant International oversees the docu-soap’s licensing, which will be featured at MIPTV 2018.
In photo: nursery school students Jacqui and Bumi (L-R) star in Orangutan Jungle School
