Beijing, China, 1st December 2009 – Lonely Planet Television (LPTV), Beach House Pictures (BHP) and the China Intercontinental Communication Center (CICC) have launched a new high definition 13 x 30 flagship television series Lonely Planet’s BEST IN CHINA, in conjunction with broadcaster Discovery Networks Asia and distributor BBC Worldwide.

A mix of amazing adventures and practical insider insights, Lonely Planet’s BEST IN CHINA showcases the greatest travel experiences China has to offer international travellers, and features real life Lonely Planet authors sent to roadtest them.

“China is such an enormously diverse country that it can seem overwhelming. This series plants some clear markers in the ground to inspire travellers and help bring their Chinese travel ambitions into focus” said Head of Lonely Planet Television Tony Jackson.

“We’re excited by our new partnership with CICC and believe strongly in this unique series,” said Jocelyn Little, Managing Director of Beach House Pictures. “This is another major milestone for Beach House Pictures and Lonely Planet TV, whom we’ve been collaborating with since 2005.”

“We believe this series will show the world a dynamic yet relatively unknown side of China by highlighting some of the amazing experiences available,” said Jing Shuiqing, Executive Producer of China International Communication Centre. “The series has enormous potential to attract international audiences through the collaboration of LPTV, BHP, Discovery and BBC Worldwide.”

Lonely Planet’s BEST IN CHINA will premiere on Discovery Networks Asia’s Travel & Living channel in 2010, and will be distributed globally by BBC Worldwide.

Lonely Planet Television is the TV production arm of Lonely Planet – the world’s leading travel media outfit. Lonely Planet reaches a vast audience through book sales in excess of 6.5 million per year, an online audience of 5 million visitors a month, television programmes broadcast to more than 80 countries and innovative digital guides and wireless applications. Lonely Planet is majority owned by BBC Worldwide.

Lonely Planet will co-produce the series out of Singapore with Beach House Pictures, who signed an exclusive agreement with LPTV in 2005 to produce all Lonely Planet-branded television made in Singapore.

Beach House Pictures is an award-winning Singaporean production company specializing in factual entertainment for major international broadcasters such as Discovery Channel, the National Geographic Channel and AETN. The prolific company produces up to 20 hours of television content each year and in 2008 joined forces with critically acclaimed documentary maker NHNZ.

Based in Beijing, CICC is one of China’s largest producers of documentaries. CICC has been working with a range of international media companies on co-productions in China including global media such as, Discovery Networks International, National Geographic Channel, NBC, PBS, ARTE, ZDF as well as prestigious production houses including NHNZ, Granada, National Film Board of Canada, Darlow Smithson Productions and Lion TV.

Singapore, July 29th, 2009 – AETN All Asia Networks (AAA Networks), Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) and Beach House Pictures today launched an open call throughout Asia to search for an Asian host for a 4 x 1 hour programme, to be aired on HISTORY™. The host of the series will uncover some of the lesser-known parts of Asia to unravel the secrets and fascinating stories from this part of the world. Applicants should apply via www.historyasia.com, before September 15.

This and another original series by a separate Singaporean company will kick off a two-year Co-investment partnership between AAA Networks and MDA to support Singapore-based media companies in the production of series or one-off specials, complete with digital media components to offer a 360° viewing experience, for HISTORY™, The Biography Channel™ and Crime & Investigation Network™ – branded channels distributed by AAA Networks.

Said Louis Boswell, General Manager, AAA Networks: “We are extremely pleased to announce this partnership with the MDA for co-investment in original programme productions. We have high hopes for the two series which are already commissioned and particularly look forward to seeing the first Asian host on one of our productions.”

Added Dr Christopher Chia, Chief Executive Officer, MDA: “This partnership with AAA Networks will help Singapore companies to leverage digital media and adopt a 360° approach to exploit original intellectual properties across multiple platforms and formats. In doing so, we also showcase the skills and capabilities of Singapore media talents in creating compelling content and stories of varied genres for today’s international audience.”

Singapore, December 11th, 2008 – Beach House saw 6 of its programs nominated for key categories at this year’s Asian Television (ATV) Awards:

Best Half Hour Documentary
Discovery Channel – CHINA 21: ADILI SKYWALKER
Discovery Channel – CHINA 21: GO BUDDHA BOYS
Discovery Channel – CHINA 21: THE PEOPLE’S DUMPLING

Best Entertainment
Sony Pictures – MAGIC ASIA INDIA (EPISODE 1)

Best Social Awareness
Discovery Channel – CHINA 21: GREEN WALL OF CHINA

Best Direction
Discovery Channel – CHINA 21: GO BUDDHA BOYS

In front of a star-studded audience and her industry peers, Beach House picked up the Best Half Hour Documentary award for “China 21 – The People’s Dumpling”. China 21 is Discovery’s latest offering from its popular series First Time Filmmakers. The win marks the second time Beach House has picked up an award for the series; “Good Morning Beijing” won Best Director in 2006.

The Asian Television Awards is an annual regional awards ceremony honouring over 30 categories and is judged by an international panel. Close to 2000 entries are received every year.

MIPCOM, Cannes, France, October 14th – Lonely Planet Television (LPTV), Beach House Pictures (BHP) and the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) today announce the launch of a new 13-part flagship television series LONELY PLANET: Roads Less Travelled, in conjunction with broadcaster National Geographic International and distributor BBC Worldwide.

LONELY PLANET: Roads Less Travelled is an exciting cross-platform travel adventure franchise featuring for the first time real-life Lonely Planet authors on the job as they scour the world’s roads less travelled in search of the latest and greatest travel experiences on earth. Lonely Planet founder and legendary independent traveller Tony Wheeler is slated to be one of the four authors featured in the new series.

“Everybody thinks being paid to travel is one the best gigs in the world but at Lonely Planet we know it’s a really tough job,” said Head of Lonely Planet Television Laurence Billiet. “In this series for the first time on television we’ll reveal behind-the-scenes what it’s really like to be a Lonely Planet author.”

LONELY PLANET: Roads Less Travelled will premiere on the Nat Geo Adventure channel in 2009 in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Australia, Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. A cross-platform initiative, the new series will be supported by a website showcasing the itineraries featured in the TV series as well as complementary Lonely Planet destination content and travel services. Over time, the multi-platform franchise is expected to span DVD, mobile and web-TV.

The series will be co-produced with Beach House Pictures, who have worked with Lonely Planet on a number of television productions since signing an exclusive agreement with LPTV in 2005 to co-produce all Lonely Planet-branded television series in Singapore.

“We’re excited by the opportunity to join forces with the Media Development Authority of Singapore, National Geographic and BBC Worldwide for the first time on such a major flagship series,” said Jocelyn Little, Managing Director, Beach House Pictures. “All the partners believe strongly in the potential of this unique series, and expect it to turn into an on-going multi-media franchise”, added Laurence Billiet.

“Lonely Planet is a cultural icon well-loved by many all over the world. This is a wonderful opportunity for Beach House to co-produce with well-known international partners who share the same vision of delivering quality content on multiple platforms to the global audiences and showcase the world’s best travel experiences to the world,” said Dr Christopher Chia, Chief Executive Officer, MDA.

Singapore, March 5th, 2008 – NHNZ has teamed up with Singapore-based Beach House Pictures to grow its presence and filmmaking opportunities in Asia. The Dunedin-based documentary maker announced today that it has bought into the award-winning Singaporean prod-co.

NHNZ managing director Michael Stedman made the announcement at a function in Singapore attended by invited guests from Asia’s filmmaking fraternity. NHNZ and Beach House have worked together regularly over the past two years with today’s announcement building upon a solid foundation. The two companies have a proven track record in working successfully together on a range of projects, Mr Stedman said.

“This move reflects our ongoing interest in Asia which is one of the world’s most dynamic areas for broadcast media. Singapore is the ideal place for NHNZ to continue its successful drive into the region and Beach House is the perfect partner to achieve that goal,” he said. “Singapore is strategically important for anyone who is serious about doing business in Asia. It’s an easy place to work in and an increasingly significant filmmaking hub that we believe is pivotal for NHNZ’s continued growth in the region.”

This development is welcomed by the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) which has collaborated with NHNZ and Beach House on projects such as Man Made Marvels.

MDA chief executive Dr Christopher Chia said, “We are delighted that Beach House Pictures is able to form a long-term partnership with a renowned company like NHNZ. This is a strong testament to the potential of Singapore’s production industry and affirms MDA’s efforts in grooming promising Singapore media companies to become strong international partners and players. We believe this partnership will boost Singapore’s standing as Asia’s creative loci and spur the development of more quality projects for the global marketplace.”

Beach House Pictures managing director Jocelyn Little and creative director Donovan Chan said they were excited about their future with NHNZ.

“We have enjoyed working closely with NHNZ in recent years so today’s announcement marks a significant forward in the growth of our partnership.”

“Joining forces with NHNZ will not only enable us to accelerate our plans in Asia and take Beach House to the next level in production but also benefit the wider Asian filmmaking industry due to NHNZ’s decades of filmmaking expertise,” Ms Little said. Beach House Pictures will continue to operate from its base in Singapore using the well-established network of local filmmaking specialists.

“It’s business as usual for us but our closer ties with NHNZ will increase our opportunities and broaden the scope of Beach House Picture’s filmmaking prowess,” Mr Chan said.

NHNZ opened a production office in Beijing in 2002 and since then has created around 15 documentaries and several series totalling around 55 hours of sought after programming in the region. The company currently has around 15 hours of programming on the slate in Asia.

Founded in 2005 by Jocelyn Little and Donovan Chan, Beach House Pictures produces original television content for the international market. In addition to working with NHNZ on various projects, the prod-co also works with Lonely Planet Television on travel-related programming. Co-productions include the third season of the popular international travel series Lonely Planet Six Degrees, In 2006 Beach House Pictures won a best Director Award at the Asian Television Awards.