‘My Octopus Instructor’ Director James Reed Ties With BBC Studios – Deadline

EXCLUSIVE: James Reed, director of Oscar-winning Netflix documentary My Octopus Instructor, has struck a one-year growth partnership with BBC Studios.

Below the phrases of the deal, Reed and his firm Underdog Movies will work with the BBC’s business producer-distributor over the following 12 months, including to its pipeline of pure historical past characteristic docs. Reed will likely be joined by his Underdog inventive accomplice Matt Houghton.

The information has been unveiled because the UK’s Wildscreen Pageant will get underway, the revered pure historical past TV pageant, and Reed is because of converse on a panel later right now.

He achieved worldwide acclaim with Netflix 2020 doc My Octopus Instructor, a couple of South African filmmaker who forges an sudden friendship with an octopus, which went on to win the Finest Documentary Characteristic award on the Oscars. Reed’s previous credit embrace Jago – A Life Underwater and Rise of the Warrior Apes and he based Underdog in 2015.

BBC Studios Pure Historical past Unit (NHU) Head Jonny Keeling stated: “Character and emotional storytelling are on the coronary heart of filmmaking each on the NHU and Underdog Movies, so we look ahead to growing quite a lot of authentic, formidable and compelling pure historical past options.”

Reed praised the NHU for being “on the forefront of pure historical past film-making for many years and their additional development within the characteristic doc market will likely be a incredible growth for the business as a complete.”

The NHU has had a massively profitable couple of years, successful commissions from Netflix, Apple TV+, NBC and HBO and in addition prepping the likes of Blue Planet III for the BBC.