Off the Fence to produce AI-powered factual content with Return to Earth Studio

What If Evolution… from Off the Fence and Return to Earth Studio

LONDON TV SCREENINGS: ZDF Studios-owned factual producer and distributor Off the Fence (OTF) has signed a one-year co-development deal with Amsterdam-based AI specialist Return to Earth Studio.

Under the deal, OTF and the newly-launched studio will produce AI-powered factual projects, starting with What If Evolution…(3×60’), which will fuse the latest applications in generative AI video with OTF’s experience in natural history storytelling.

A team of scientists and AI artists will work together to imagine the animals that might have evolved had the Earth’s history played out differently. The series will blend state-of-the-art technology, robust science and the latest thinking in palaeontology, genetics and evolutionary biology to explore the dynamic processes that have and will continue to shape life on Earth.

Bo Stehmeier, CEO of OTF, said: “We’re at an inflection point, both in terms of AI and what audiences around the world expect from factual storytellers. We know there’s still huge demand for traditional blue-chip documentaries, particularly from older-skewing audiences. But in parallel, the data is showing us that younger demographics want their natural history programming served up in a fresher, more visual, more surprising format.

“To deliver that, it’s vital that OTF partners with companies who are native to this brave new world, partners who have the creative and economic skills to operate in this environment but who also share our core corporate, environmental and social values. We believe that Return to Earth Studio is that partner and that, together, we will re-imagine the future of factual storytelling.”

Return to Earth Studio was co-founded by creative director Laen Sanches and executive producer Tony Stearns. Sanches, a generative AI filmmaker, is behind animated short film PLSTC, which won 20 international awards and aired on Franco-German broadcaster Arte. Stearns has more than 25 years of production experience at creative agencies in the US and Europe.

Stearns said: “Return to Earth Studio has embraced AI as a means to a more efficient and sustainable production model, and enabler of thrilling new possibilities for visualising the what-ifs of our human imagination.”

OTF will present What If Evolution… at the London TV Screenings this week.