Latest news with #TheAmericas
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘The Americas' producers on NBC's ambitious docuseries, Earth's most varied landscapes, and ‘absolute joy' working with Tom Hanks
Five years. 180 expeditions. One supercontinent. NBC's The Americas takes viewers on an epic journey from pole to pole, unveiling Earth's most dazzling landscapes, jaw-dropping wildlife, and never-before-seen phenomena — with a little help from Tom Hanks and Hans Zimmer. Buckle up, this is not your ordinary nature doc! The unprecedented scale and ambition delivers remarkable world firsts: new species, new intimate courtship, dramatic deep sea hunting and some of nature's strangest stories. Each hourlong episode features a different iconic location across the Americas: 'The Atlantic Coast,' 'Mexico,' 'The Wild West,' 'The Amazon,' 'The Frozen North,' 'The Gulf Coast,' 'The Andes,' 'The Caribbean,' 'The West Coast' and 'Patagonia.' More from GoldDerby Everything to know about 'Toy Story 5': the Pixar franchise returns June 2026 with new themes and familiar faces 'It almost killed me': Horror maestro Mike Flanagan looks back at career-making hits from 'Gerald's Game' to 'Hill House' to 'Life of Chuck' First look at JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette in 'American Love Story,' 'A Minecraft Movie' sets streaming premiere date, and more of today's top stories Executive producer Mike Gunton and editor Holly Spearing recently spoke to Gold Derby about their most ambitious project yet and collaborating with a legendary pair of two-time Oscar winners. Gold Derby: The Americas was five years in the making with over 180 expeditions, land and sea. So how do you even begin to conceptualize this sort of ambitious series? Mike Gunton: The word ambitious, I think, is the key word, because that was the goal, to do something that had the same level of ambition as something like a Planet Earth 2, which is a series I had just been working on. Is there anything on the planet that could match that in scale and ambition and that hadn't been done before? I scratched my head quite a lot, thought about Africa, maybe a few other places, and then thought, "No, there isn't anywhere." But then I thought, "Well, hold on a minute. North America's been looked at, maybe, South America. But what about thinking about them together?" As far as animals are concerned, and as far as nature is concerned, it is all joined together. It's a kind of a supercontinent. So I thought, "Well, maybe somebody must've done that," and then looked around and they hadn't. It doesn't have lions and it doesn't have elephants, but that's about it. In fact, it does have some kind of lion — it has mountain lions. It has all the biggest, the longest, the most impressive natural phenomena you can imagine. So it just had to be done. You've both worked on so many nature documentaries and series in your careers, what separates this from what you've done previously? Holly Spearing: Well, I think the scale is a big part of it. Ten episodes and covering an entire supercontinent that actually has its head up in one pole and its feet down in another pole — that is absolutely massive. It does really set it apart from anything I think either of us have done before. Gunton: Also, doing a project for this audience was a really interesting challenge because. ... We work for the BBC and so we make programs for British audiences. They do, of course, get shown around the world and they do get shown in America. But to make a series that directly speaks to an American audience on a national level is something I've never done. Nobody's ever done it to be absolutely honest with you. The opportunity of doing that was a very big part of why we wanted to do it. Did each location have an independent film crew? Were they taking place simultaneously, or how do you work that out logistically for these 10 episodes? Spearing: It was massively ambitious to cover the area, all the different seasons, all the different animal behaviors. And of course, yes, some of them were happening all at once. So the series is broken down into its 10 different episodes, and those teams work on their shoots, so it was a huge logistical exercise. It was 180 separate shoots, and these are expeditions. They're not just driving up to a location and getting out of a vehicle. Some of them are scaling up a mountain. They're going to one of the most remote islands off the end of South America where you actually have to take a medic with you because it would take so long to get to facilities that you'd need if anything happened. These were really ambitious shoots. And of course, we were covering different habitats from underwater to scaling up trees, deserts, all of those things that we had to face and encounter. But our crews, I have to say, are absolute masters at this. They're experienced and they did an absolutely outstanding job. Gunton: Holly's like a military commander. This is like a military operation. You have got so many resources to deploy because it's not just personnel, it's the most extraordinary variety of equipment, as you hinted at: ships, and we're not talking about little boats, we're talking about massive, really huge boats, helicopters, airplanes, submersibles, and cave divers. There's a sequence there — which I think is probably the bravest thing I've ever seen — where two guys go through those underground caves in Florida. There's no escape. If anything goes wrong, you've got nowhere to go. That's an insanely dangerous thing to do. And all of this has to not just be coordinated in terms of logistics but also has to be made safe. How has technology changed how you approach these topics throughout the years? Gunton: Over the years, we've started to use drone technology a bit more. But what was very fortunate with this series is that the stars aligned and and drone technology has improved – they're smaller. The camera quality was better. The pilots were not necessarily better, but more exposed to shooting in nature. The cameras have to move slowly, they have to get close to the animals, but very, very carefully. And also, the recruitment of real natural history experts at the controls of those drones was just a perfect marriage. We were able to get cameras to places that four or five years ago, we wouldn't have even attempted. Spearing: I think ultimately, what we're trying to do with this new technology is immerse ourselves in the world of the animals so we can see these locations through their eyes, and as Mike says, get really close to them. We think we had about 35 different camera rigs throughout the whole series just to cover all the different environments from underwater to filming things the size of a grain of rice. We talked about drones, but there are crew members within feet of wolves, bears, pumas. Is there anything that feels like it's too dangerous? Spearing: Well, really interesting you mentioned the puma story because our camera operator, John Shire, had actually built a relationship with this particular individual puma over many years. In fact, he filmed her as a cub and many people believe that she still recognizes him by scent. Many of our camera operators are absolute experts on animal behavior as well, and they have to be. They're constantly reading cues from the animals and working with that because they're looking for the behavior that we want to capture. You mentioned Tom Hanks, who narrates the series. How did he become involved? Gunton: When I first pitched this to NBC I didn't mention a narrator. But I did actually write in my notebook at the time, "Ooh, Tom Hanks would be the right person to do this." I didn't think about that for another two or three years. When we finally mentioned him they responded "Oh, yeah, of course. There's only a list of one. It has to be Tom Hanks." Luckily, he had been aware of the series. So I went out to LA, sat down in this little viewing theater with a rough cut of one of the episodes and showed it to him. It was quite nerve-wracking. You're sitting next to a two-time Oscar winner. About a minute into it, he went, "Oh, God," and then turned around to the guy who was running things and said, "Guys, have you seen this? This is insane!" And from then I just thought, "We're sold. He's got this. He absolutely knows what we're doing." He was an absolute joy. He is what you hope your heroes will be — the loveliest man you could imagine; smart, funny, and added so much value to it. Spearing: He was so collaborative to work with as well and just wanted to do the very best he could. He is a filmmaker after all, and he was also incredibly interested in how we got the shots. He loved all the stories from behind the scenes and the cameras. And then finally, one of the more maybe unsung heroes of a docuseries like this is the music. You have the great Hans Zimmer composing music, how did that come about? Spearing: He wrote an extraordinary theme for The Americas, which I think then set the style for all the other music that followed behind it for the individual sequences. Mike is a long-time collaborator with Hans. Gunton: When we've done panels or or live screenings, people put up their hands and say, "We love the music." I think he and his team just got it dead right; not too much. It was incredibly evocative and deeply enriched the drama while also capturing the essence of the locations. One of the key aspects of this series was not just telling stories about life and animals but placing them within their environments — highlighting the personality and unique signature of where they lived. That was the foundation. It was like a "super safari." If we could take you on the most extraordinary journey across the Americas, where would we stop, what would we show you, and what makes those places special? A crucial role of the music was to evoke that sense of wonder, and I think he accomplished that superbly. This interview has been edited for clarity and length. The Americas is streaming on Peacock. SIGN UP for Gold Derby's free newsletter with latest predictions Best of GoldDerby Asif Ali and Saagar Shaikh admit they 'never had the audacity to realize' a show like 'Deli Boys' was possible From 'Housewives' overload to the 'shadiest queens' alliance: The dish on 'The Traitors' Season 4 lineup Leslie Bibb breaks down her aha moments filming 'The White Lotus': 'Kate suddenly got jealous' Click here to read the full article.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘The Americas' Creative Team Didn't Just Capture Some of the Best Sperm Whale Footage Ever, They Made a Landmark Discovery
There are nature documentaries that show you things you've never seen before. Then there's 'The Americas,' which shows its viewers something literally no human had ever seen before. Marine scientists had long speculated that sperm whales dive all the way to the ocean floor to hunt for food. But they had never actually observed the whales doing so. How could anyone? As the executive producer of 'The Americas' and creative director of the BBC Studios Natural History Unit Mike Gunton said to IndieWire as part of our USG University virtual panel series, 'Sperm whales kind of break all the rules of biology because it's so challenging for any living creature to go from the surface of the sea all the way down there — the pressure change is huge. And then the camera had to do the same thing.' More from IndieWire Nathan Fielder's 'The Rehearsal' Season 2 Will Submit in the Comedy Series Emmy Categories 'The Last of Us' Writers Share the Video Game Adaptations Hollywood Should Tackle Next The distance from the surface to the seafloor off the coast of Dominica in the Caribbean Sea is a half mile, which means that the camera, newly invented by the production team over two years leading up to the shoot, would have to sustain pressure 100 times that of the atmosphere. Gunton was joined for the discussion by fellow 'Americas' team members Giles Badger, who directed the sperm whale shoot, cinematographer Dan Beecham, and composers Anze Rozman and Kara Talve, all of whose efforts were directed toward not just telling a compelling documentary story but illuminating a scientific first that the entire production enabled. 'There are things that lots of people have seen but we've never been able to bring to an audience before,' Gunton said. 'This is something that nobody has ever seen, and that's kind of a holy grail of wildlife filmmaking.' The segment director, Badger, spearheaded the efforts to design the camera rig. No human could survive in the water at the depths sperm whales can plunge, so the camera would have to be attached directly to a whale via suction cups, and affixed to its back from a long pole held over the bow of the production team's boat. Then the whale itself would take the camera down to the ocean floor. 'Ultimately, the animals will write their own script,' Badger said. 'You never know exactly what you're going to get.' If the production team 'missed' and didn't affix the camera to the whale, it could be a full 40 minutes before the whale surfaced again and they'd have another opportunity. That was only the start of the challenge, though. The production team has a rule of not interfering in the lives of the animals it documents as much as possible. That meant they had it hard-wired in the camera's suction rigging that it would detach entirely from the whale after just five hours. A GPS tracker was attached to the camera, but the team would have to wait for it to wash ashore to retrieve it — hopefully before the battery on the geolocator had gone dead. 'You can go to all these lengths, you can spend two years building this camera, you can get it on a whale, you can record the footage, and then you lose the camera,' Badger said. 'So as that particular camera was out, we knew the battery was getting weaker and weaker, we knew that we only had a finite number of hours before we'd lost it forever. We managed to find it in the seaweed after five or six hours, and even at that point when the camera's been down and it's come up and you found it, you still don't know whether those tiny little cameras have got the images on them.' Just in case, Badger showed that a telephone number was imprinted on the camera with the promise of a reward for whoever should find it. By any standard, though, this is television production as playing the long game. For the cinematographer, Beecham, who was in a wetsuit and wearing a rebreather to capture footage of the whales closer to the surface of the water before their dive, it's almost as challenging. 'We went at a time of year where the ocean is supposed to be very, very calm, but I think the first 10 days or so of the shoot was very, very rough,' Beecham said. 'In this job, you get used to people always saying to you, 'Oh, you should have been here last week. The animals were amazing. The weather was amazing.' I've talked about getting T-shirts printed up with that one actually because that happens so much. And then you need the animals to actually be there when the weather gets good as well. And then you need the dive gear to work, you need the camera to work, you need the boat skipper to get the boat just in the right place so the whales don't get disturbed. And then I also need to not screw up when I go in and do my job as well. They're sort of these narrow windows of opportunity that we grab.' There's a particular psychology involved in swimming near whales that a cinematographer needs to keep in mind as well. 'The approach with whales is not how to get close to them, but it's how to position ourselves so they get close to us,' Beecham said. 'So we never approach a whale, we allow them to come to us. And very often they don't. Very often they'll dive, so then I'm swimming back to the boat, dejectedly saying, 'No shot. The whale dove. The whale turned off to the left or to the right.' But every now and again, it'll choose to come straight for you.' All of this may help to give a better sense of why 'The Americas,' as a 10-episode series, took five years to shoot and edit, even with multiple production teams spread out across the hemisphere. The sperm whale segment is just one out of dozens and dozens across that 10-hour runtime. The scientific discovery involved is impressive in its own terms, but this is also a TV show, and one of the key ways to convey the import of a segment such as this is through the music. Hans Zimmer composed the series' main theme, but Anže Rozman and Kara Talve composed the episodic music for moments such as the sperm whale's dive to the ocean floor. It's about finding an artistic expression for the wonder of what's being shown. 'With a project like 'The Americas,' where you have so many people that care and love what they do, and who want to share that with the world, you hope that the end product of so much care and love will be sharing that care and love with the audience and them caring about the environment and caring about these amazing creatures that inhabit our land,' Rozman said. As such, 'We work [on the music] in various stages of episode cuts, and we usually like to get cuts early so we can start getting immersed into the stories and the footage.' 'A lot of our job is making sure the instrumentation is portraying how big this animal feels,' Talve said. 'To convey how close up we are to them. 'Is this music narrating their relationship to their mother, perhaps?' But because of the cinematography, because of just how beautiful everything was, it's immediate inspiration.' The whale is diving to the ocean floor to hunt for food, which means she can then make milk for her calf. Rozman and Talve give some woodwinds at the beginning of the segment, to suggest the childlike quality of the calf, then there's some strings, and all of a sudden a little more urgency to the score, with a choir added, to convey the grandeur and mystery of when the mom makes her great dive. This is a wondrous discovery, and it's translated into the music. Another way the import comes across? Through the inquisitive narration provided by Tom Hanks. His own sense of curiosity and wonder that comes across through his voiceover is not just acting. 'When showing him the footage, he'd turn to the projectionist and say, 'Have you seen this, guys?'' Gunton said of Hanks's reaction to what he was watching. 'This sense of, 'I don't believe what I'm seeing. I want you to show more!' And I thought, 'That is perfect. That is exactly what we want. This enthusiastic explorer who knows quite a lot, but doesn't know everything and wants you to join him on that journey.'' That's an invitation that's easily accepted. IndieWire partnered with Universal Studio Group for USG University, a series of virtual panels celebrating the best in television art from the 2024-2025 TV season across NBC Universal's portfolio of shows. USG University (a Universal Studio Group program) is presented in partnership with Roybal Film & TV Magnet and IndieWire's Future of Filmmaking. Catch up on the latest USG University videos here. Best of IndieWire 2023 Emmy Predictions: Who Will Win at the Primetime Emmy Awards? 2023 Emmy Predictions: Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special 2023 Emmy Predictions: Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘The Americas' EP On Capturing Astounding Nature Scenes & Working With Tom Hanks, 'An Absolutely Delightful Bloke' – Contenders TV: Documentary, Unscripted & Variety
Frogs that freeze solid overnight in the Andes and then reanimate by day. Rockhopper penguins in Patagonia that scale a wall of stone 'free solo.' In Appalachia, fireflies that illuminate a forest in unison. These are just a few of the wonders captured in The Americas, the Emmy-contending 11-part nature series from Universal Television Alternative Studio and NBC. Tom Hanks narrates this examination of the astonishing variety of life on a supercontinent stretching from northern Canada to the bottom of South America. More from Deadline Deadline's Contenders Television Streaming Site Launches Sly Lives!' Filmmakers Questlove And Joseph Patel On Sly Stone's Genius And That Revealing Encounter With Maria Shriver – Contenders TV: Documentary, Unscripted & Variety 'RuPaul's Drag Race's Season 17 Queens Discuss The Series' "Beautiful" Storytelling & Welcoming Their Parents To The Stage - Contenders TV: Documentary, Unscripted & Variety 'We wanted to tell a story that was an adventure,' executive producer Mike Gunton explained as he appeared at Deadline's Contenders TV: Documentary, Unscripted & Variety event. 'I wanted it to feel like a safari, a fun safari. So if you were to go to the very best places you could ever go on this massive supercontinent, where would they be and who would be your guide? Tom Hanks. But if you go on a safari, you want to have the serious things. You want to have the scary things, you want to have the dramatic things, but you also want to have that playful side of things.' Gunton's extensive credits include Prehistoric Planet Seasons 1 and 2, Planet Earth II and Planet Earth III. He knows how to engage an audience with the inherent drama of the animal world. 'My own approach has always been to try and focus on individual character stories,' Gunton said. 'So you don't tell a [general] story about lions or about blue-footed boobies. You tell the story about a pair or an individual who's struggling with a task, almost like a hero's journey for each of these creatures. And one of the things that that does is I think it makes it connectable. Part of the entertainment of watching this is you see in these animals' lives your life reflected and vice versa.' RELATED: The Americas has been a major hit for NBC, becoming 'the most-watched nature documentary on linear television in more than 15 years.' It doesn't hurt the odds of success when you can draw on the talents of a two-time Oscar winner as your narrator. '[Hanks is] an absolutely delightful bloke and did such a good job, brought all sorts of his own skills and personality to it,' Gunton observed. 'Some of the little asides, we wanted some of those slight fourth-wall-breaking moments — not too much but just occasionally pointing up the kind of humanity of some of the things you saw. And I think he did that really, really well.' Before agreeing to join the project, Hanks watched a rough assembly of an episode. 'What was really wonderful,' Gunton recalled, 'is at the very end of showing him this cut, he turned and said, 'I was born to narrate this.' ' Check back Monday for the panel video. Best of Deadline Everything We Know About The 'Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping' Movie So Far Everything We Know About Netflix's 'The Thursday Murder Club' So Far TV Show Book Adaptations Arriving In 2025 So Far
Associated Press
25-04-2025
- General
- Associated Press
Making Waves for Wildlife: Manatee Celebrated in NY Times Square
NEW YORK, April 25, 2025 /3BL/ - The latest animal in LG Electronics USA's 'Endangered Species Awareness' Series – the West Indian Manatee – was revealed during Earth Week 2025. A warm-water marine mammal native to the Gulf Coast, the West Indian Manatee is now showcased in stunning 3D video on LG's Times Square billboard in New York City. The display brings these gentle creatures, selected by community vote, to life through a vibrant anamorphic presentation, highlighting their beauty and the urgent need to protect their habitats. Launched in 2024 with the National Wildlife Federation, the series celebrates vulnerable wildlife from around the world while emphasizing the importance of environmental stewardship. The initiative complements LG's partnership with NBC's The Americas, a 10-part nature documentary exploring the majestic wildlife and ecosystems of North and South America, now airing Sundays at 8/7c on NBC and streaming next day on Peacock. The West Indian Manatee is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act and is protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act. These animals rely on warm coastal waters and healthy seagrass beds for survival, yet they remain vulnerable due to factors such as pollution, habitat degradation, and other disruptions to their ecosystem. Previous species featured in LG's awareness series have included the snow leopard, bald eagle, sea lion, red wolf and monarch butterfly. 'At LG, we believe technology can be a powerful tool to inspire action and drive positive change. Through our Endangered Species Awareness Series, we aim to celebrate the beauty of vulnerable wildlife while raising awareness about the urgent need for conservation,' said Jeannie Lee, director of corporate marketing at LG Electronics USA. 'The West Indian Manatee represents the delicate balance of ecosystems that must be protected, and we're proud to use our platform to bring attention to their plight.' As part of its ongoing partnership with the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), LG has launched an educational initiative aimed at engaging K-12 students in conservation efforts. The program provides interactive content that underscores the critical role at-risk and endangered species play in ecosystems, along with actionable steps to protect biodiversity and habitat. Free, standards-aligned resources are available online for educators and students. Additionally, NWF has published a blog featuring insights into the West Indian Manatee, including unique facts about the species' behavior and ecological significance. Students and nature enthusiasts can also access an interactive quiz designed to deepen understanding of the manatee's role in marine ecosystems. LG's support for sustainability extends beyond the classroom through NWF's EcoSchools U.S. and EcoLeaders programs, which equip educators, students, and communities with tools to drive meaningful environmental action. To further these efforts, LG has pledged $165,000 to-date to NWF to inspire future conservationists and amplify initiatives protecting wildlife and wild places. In conjunction with the campaign, LG invites audiences to explore the watch kit for The Americas: The Gulf Coast, featuring the West Indian Manatee. The kit includes activities, animal facts and practical ways to contribute to conservation efforts. 'The National Wildlife Federation is focused on protecting species like the West Indian Manatee, whose survival depends on healthy coastal habitats and clean waterways,' said Collin O'Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation. 'Collaborations like this support efforts to safeguard critical ecosystems, educate communities about biodiversity, and advance conservation solutions that address threats to wildlife and their habitat.' For more information on LG's sustainability initiatives and its commitment to protecting the planet, visit ### About LG Electronics USA LG Electronics USA Inc., based in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., is the North American subsidiary of LG Electronics Inc., a smart life solutions company with annual global revenues of more than $60 billion. In the United States, LG sells a wide range of innovative home appliances, home entertainment products, commercial displays, air conditioning systems and vehicle components. LG is an 11-time ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year.
USA Today
12-03-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
When do new episodes of 'The Americas' release? Where to watch Tom Hanks-narrated wildlife series
When do new episodes of 'The Americas' release? Where to watch Tom Hanks-narrated wildlife series Show Caption Hide Caption The most anticipated TV shows of 2025 USA TODAY TV critic Kelly Lawler shares her top 5 TV shows she is most excited for this year Take a virtual tour of the "world's greatest supercontinent" in a new docuseries narrated by Tom Hanks. Produced by renowned wildlife producer Mike Gunton, "The Americas" is a new tentpole series that "showcases the wonders, secrets and fragilities of the world's greatest supercontinent," a news release by NBC says. The series has been produced by Gunton for BBC Studios Natural History Unit in association with Universal Studio Group division Universal Television Alternative Studio. "For the first time, the Americas stars in its own incomparable series, using cutting-edge technology to uncover never-before-seen behavior, and highlight the extraordinary, untold wildlife stories that will deeply connect with millions around the world," NBC says. The docuseries aimed at highlighting "the wonders, secrets and fragilities of the world's greatest supercontinent" has been filmed over a span of five years across 180 expeditions. Each hour-long episode features a different location, such as Patagonia, the Gulf Coast, wild west and the Andes among others across the entire continent of America, including north and south America. Here's what to know about "The Americas" including how to watch new episodes. Join our Watch Party! Sign up to receive USA TODAY's movie and TV recommendations right in your inbox When do new 'The Americas' episodes come out? How to watch New episodes of "The Americas" air every Sunday on NBC at 8 p.m. ET / PT on NBC. The episodes are available to stream the next day on Peacock. The series premiered on Feb. 23 with two back-to-back episodes. 'The Americas': Stream on Peacock 'The Americas' episode schedule Here's a look at the upcoming episode schedule for "The Americas." "The Gulf Coast": March 16 at 8 p.m. ET/PT "The Andes": March 23 at 8 p.m. ET/PT "The Caribbean": March 30 at 8 p.m. ET/PT 'The West Coast': April 6 at 8 p.m. ET/PT 'Patagonia": April 13 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT Previous episodes and their air dates are: "The Atlantic Coast": February 23 "Mexico": February 23 "The Wild West": March 2 "The Amazon": March 2 "The Frozen North": March 9 'The Americas' narrator The series is narrated by Tom Hanks while the music has been composed by Hans Zimmer. The making of 'The Americas' A week after the series concludes on Monday, April 21, a special episode "showcasing a behind-the-scenes look at 'The Americas'" will stream exclusively on Peacock and will feature Hanks and the crew "revealing perils and breakthroughs behind the lens of this milestone nature series." NBC says the special will explore "the dedication, fieldcraft, humor, heart, and innovation that came together to create one of the most ambitious wildlife series ever produced." Watch the 'The Americas' trailer We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn't influence our coverage. Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@ and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.
