DRG adds five shows to spring slate

The Art of Living is fronted by chef Niklas Ekstedt (centre)

NENT Studios-owned distributor DRG has added 27 hours across five titles to its spring slate of factual content.

Covering topics from food to Africa, the series hail from producers in the US, the UK and Scandinavia.

First up is African Renaissance, a 3×60′ series produced by UK indie ClearStory for local broadcaster BBC4, which follows journalist Afua Hirsch as she brings together historical insights, cultural heroes and extraordinary art, music and dance to offer a new vision of contemporary Africa.

Next is Legacy List (6×60′), produced by New York-based MY Entertainment with VPM, in association with Shipyard Entertainment for PBS stations in the US. The series explores family and social histories revealed through tucked-away treasures in people’s homes, as presenter Matt Paxton (Hoarders) visits the homes of people moving house.

The final three shows are 6×60′ lifestyle titles produced by Sweden-based Mastiff for NENT Group’s streaming service Viaplay.

The Art of Living follows chef Niklas Ekstedt as he explores the secret of living past the age of 100. Ekstedt travels to six of the world’s ‘blue zones’ – regions such as Sardinia, Costa Rica and Okinawa in Japan, where unusually high numbers of people reach an advanced age – to meet the locals and discuss their approaches to life, food and ageing.

Four Hands Menu, meanwhile, is a cookery and travel show. In each episode, two very different chefs from places including the Faroe Islands and the Philippines come together to share their culinary know-how in order to create a ‘four hands menu.’

Finally, Food & Fire sees chef Ekstedt travel the globe to experience the varied, and often ancient, cooking techniques that rely on fire.

Mette Kanne-Behrendsen, DRG’s senior VP of acquisitions, said: “Like every distributor and rights owner at the present time, we are working even harder to maintain a pipeline of fresh new content, so we are delighted to bring so many new hours to market – and from three very different producer partners.”