Nat Geo partners for feature docs

Renowned filmmaker Brett Morgen has partnered with National Geographic Channel in the US to make a feature biopic about a beloved primatologist.

Chimpanzee expert
Dr Jane Goodall

The documentary about Dr Jane Goodall will draw on her early research at Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania during the 1960s.

Morgen will direct, write and produce the untitled project, which will have a theatrical release followed by a global television premiere on the National Geographic Channel in 171 countries and 45 languages.

The programme hails from National Geographic Studios in association with Public Road Productions. Jeff Hasler and Jared Lipworth are executive producers.

Nat Geo is also working with Simon and Jonathan Chinn’s prodco Lightbox on a doc that looks at the six-day race riots that began in LA in 1992.

LA 92 (working title, 1×120’) will use unseen footage captured by the city’s residents, as well as archive material, to mark the 25th anniversary of the unrest. The Chinns are exec producers for Lightbox.

In other news, director Marina Zenovich will helm and executive produce feature doc Parched, which looks at the water wars brewing in the US. The film, from Jigsaw Productions, will have a theatrical release before rolling out on Nat Geo Channels.

Meanwhile, Nat Geo will premiere The Great Human Race on Monday February 1. The programme, produced for NGC by National Geographic Studios, follows two experts on a mission to retrace a migratory route of our ancestors, from the where man first walked the Earth, all the way to North America.