Upfront 2013: Ovation
“We are literally taking our number of original programming hours and boosting them by over 400%,” announced Robert Weiss, Ovation’s Chief Creative Officer, at the network’s New York upfront presentation yesterday. “With this seismic shift in our programming focus, we’re making the leap to become a full-service arts network — America’s only arts network.” Here’s a look at what’s coming up.
New series
The Kuhnert Chronicles transports viewers on journeys across the globe and through the annals of art history via Harvard professor, international art expert and classical theater director Flynn Kuhnert’s art-filled Beverly Hills mansion. The show premieres summer 2013.
Each week, The Art of… profiles three people whose boundary-pushing work is elevated the level of art — from tattoo and street artists to mechanics and mixologists. The series premieres in July.
Culture Pop showcases the newest events and personalities in every creative field. It debuts in June.
Award-winning actors, directors, and screenwriters sit down with celebrated film critic Elvis Mitchell and offer insight into how creative teams were assembled, how projects found their footing, and the circumstances that kept each film from falling apart on Cinema Confidential. Hollywood heavyweights like Brad Pitt, Judd Apatow, George Clooney and Seth Rogen are among the personalities featured on the series, which premieres this summer.
Produced by the BBC, the scripted series A Young Doctor’s Notebook is a darkly humorous account of the experiences of a newly graduated young doctor who lands a post at a small hospital in a remote village during the Russian Revolution. The series, which stars Jon Hamm and Daniel Radcliffe, premieres this summer.
Four more high-profile 2013 original programs will be announced in June.
Ovation also has 16 projects in fast-track development, including The Mentor, featuring successful artists in every medium paying tribute to the teachers, coaches, and directors who were instrumental in their formative years; Popstalgia, exploring passionate collectors showing off their prized items; and I Can’t Do That, where the artistically challenged are matched with experts to teach them to excel in activities they never thought they could — from ballroom dancing to sculpting.
Read the press releases:
OVATION ANNOUNCES LARGEST-EVER INCREASE IN ORIGINAL PROGRAMMING WITH NINE NEW ORIGINAL SERIES
OVATION LAUNCHES NEW “ART EVERYWHERE” TAGLINE AND BRAND STRATEGY
