Animal Planet Saddles Up With Entertainment House Go Go Luckey For Fresh Content With Animal Twist

-- Network Greenlights JOCKEYS, CREATURE With Producer Of LAGUNA BEACH --

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., July 10 -- Following on the heels of the well received network rebrand in February 2008, Animal Planet president and general manager Marjorie Kaplan has announced two new projects with LAGUNA BEACH and PARANORMAL STATE production house Go Go Luckey Entertainment - CREATURE and JOCKEYS. CREATURE, an immersive new series about bizarre animal encounters, premieres this fall, and JOCKEYS gallops to Animal Planet in January 2009.

"A key premise of our rebrand is that Animal Planet has the potential for enormous creative range," says Kaplan. "Series like ESCAPE TO CHIMP EDEN, GROOMER HAS IT and UNTAMED AND UNCUT have begun to push the creative boundaries, and with our partnership with Go Go Luckey, masters of fresh, vibrant storytelling, we up the ante even further. JOCKEYS and CREATURE both have the opportunity to be fan staples for the network."

Intense rivalries, extreme dedication, million dollar stakes ... JOCKEYS brings viewers into a world rarely seen dominated by fierce competitors, strong bonds and extraordinary risk. It is a compelling 12-episode series that will open the gate to the inside world of horseracing and invite viewers to peer into this beautiful, storied, thrilling world as it's never been seen before.

Even in the modern age, reports of human encounters with mysterious and often dangerous beasts continue to surface. CREATURE is a first-person, immersive experience of encounters with bizarre animals that science is reluctant to recognize - in our waters, in our woods and in our skies as they live among us.

"We've been huge fans of Animal Planet for a long time and are very excited by the new trails they're blazing at the network," says Gary Auerbach, founding partner of Go Go Luckey. "We're very excited for the opportunity to be a part of this new movement and be able to bring our unique, edgy cinematic brand of storytelling into their mix."

Animal Planet Media (APM), a multi-media business unit of Discovery Communications, is the world's only entertainment brand that immerses viewers in the full range of life in the animal kingdom with rich, deep content via multiple platforms and offers animal lovers and pet owners access to a centralized online, television and mobile community for immersive, engaging, high-quality entertainment, information and enrichment. APM consists of the Animal Planet television network, available in more than 94 million homes in the US; online assets http://www.animalplanet.com, the ultimate online destination for all things animal; the 24/7 broadband channel, Animal Planet Beyond; Petfinder.com, the #1 pet-related Web property globally that facilitates pet adoption; PetsIncredible, a major producer and distributor of pet-training videos and includes web service PetVideo.com; and other media platforms including a robust Video-on-Demand (VOD) service; mobile content; and merchandising extensions.