Sundance Channel, Planet Green Announce Eco-Programs

Sundance Acquires 11 Documentaries for The Green Programming Block; Discovery Networks Service Begins Production on Wa$ted

By Anne Becker -- Broadcasting & Cable, 12/11/2007 10:27:00 PM

Sundance Channel acquired 11 documentaries for its eco-themed programming block, The Green, the network announced Tuesday.

"The collective power of this group of films is undeniable," said Laura Michalchyshyn, Sundance's executive vice president and general manager of programming and creative affairs. "Despite the variety of subjects, characters and styles, these films all share an urgency to share a story and a message with audiences. Sundance Channel is proud to feature them as part of The Green."

The documentaries are: All in This Tea, directed by Les Blank and Gina Leibrecht; Burning the Future: Coal in America, directed by David Novak; Contested Streets: Breaking New York Gridlock, directed by Stefan Schaefer; Crude Impact, directed by James Jandak Wood; Escape from Suburbia, directed by Gregory Greene; Garbage Warrior (Original Production), directed by Oliver Hodge; The Great Warming, directed by Michael Taylor; The Greening of South, directed by Ian Cheney; Off the Grid: Life on the Mesa, directed by Jeremy Stulberg and Randy Stulberg; Strait Through the Ice, directed by Yves Billy; Weather Report, directed by Brenda Longfellow; Manufactured Landscapes, directed by Jennifer Baichwal; and The Unforeseen, directed by Laura Dunn.

The block, sponsored by Lexus and Citi Smith Barney, launched in April and runs Tuesdays.

Also Tuesday, Discovery Networks’ soon-to-launch eco-themed channel, Planet Green, said it began production on new original series Wa$ted, a green-focused home-makeover show.