NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL, DARREN ARONOFSKY'S PROTOZOA PICTURES AND JANE ROOT'S NUTOPIA EMBARK ON CINEMATIC FILM EVENT SERIES, "ONE STRANGE ROCK"

New Global Series Will Explore the Fragility and Wonder of Planet Earth, One of the Strangest Places in the Entire Universe

(Pasadena, CA - Jan. 6, 2015) National Geographic Channel and filmmaker Darren Aronofsky, Ari Handel and their production company Protozoa Pictures ("Requiem for a Dream," "Black Swan," "Noah," "The Fountain") join forces with powerhouse producer Jane Root ("America: The Story of Us") and storytellers Arif Nurmohamed ("How to Build a Planet") and Peter Lovering ("The 90s: The Last Great Decade"), of Nutopia Pictures, on the cinematic event series, ONE STRANGE ROCK. This ambitious project, now in preproduction, will film for 100 weeks around the world and in outer space. The series will use innovative micro- and macro-photography technology and bring cameras where they've never been before, to explore how the particularities of Earth's unique history made it ideally suited as a cradle for life and to demonstrate how the planet's biological, chemical and physical systems form an interdependent equilibrium, sustaining all the wonders of the living world we know.

This project was unveiled today by Courteney Monroe, CEO, National Geographic Global Networks, during the network's TCA session.

"With the superbly creative minds and talents of Darren, Jane, Arif and Peter, we're going to transport viewers on a mind-bending and thrilling visual adventure that will amaze and surprise," said Monroe.

"ONE STRANGE ROCK explores how intricate, interwoven and fragile life as we know it is on Earth and how rare it may be in the universe," said Aronofsky. "The more we appreciate how awe-inspiring the development of life on this planet has been, the more likely we are to become inspired stewards of the home that sustains it."

"We're thrilled to once again partner with National Geographic to tell an incredible story about our strange planet," said Root. "We're going to combine dramatic visual storytelling and real science to tell the story of our planet Earth and focus on the unbelievable 'coincidences,' and the complex, unlikely connections that all had to happen to create complex life."

ONE STRANGE ROCK will redefine our planet for a new generation.

Nutopia and Protozoa Pictures will produce ONE STRANGE ROCK for National Geographic Channel. For Nutopia, executive producers are Peter Lovering and Jane Root. Show runner is Arif Nurmohamed. For Protozoa Pictures, executive producers are Darren Aronofsky, Ari Handel and Scott Franklin. For National Geographic Channel, executive producer is Matt Renner and president of original programming and production is Tim Pastore.

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About Protozoa Pictures

Protozoa Pictures is Academy Award-nominated director Darren Aronofsky's production company. Headed by Aronofsky, Ari Handel and Scott Franklin, the company has first-look deals with New Regency to develop films and HBO to develop for television. Credits include the critically acclaimed films "Noah," "Black Swan," "The Wrestler," "The Fountain," "Requiem for a Dream" and "p."

About Nutopia

Nutopia is a leading independent television production company, with offices in London and Washington, D.C. Nutopia creates groundbreaking, factually inspired shows on an international scale with titles such as "America: The Story of Us" (History), "Targeting Bin Laden" (History)/"Bin Laden: Shoot to Kill" (Channel 4) and "9/11 State of Emergency" (History US and Channel 4 UK). Founded in 2008 by Jane Root, former BBC2 controller and president of Discovery US, Nutopia has created Emmy award-winning and record-breaking programs.