EXCLUSIVE: Atlas Literary, part of Oppenheimer producer Atlas Entertainment is headed to Mipcom Cannes next month to launch a docuseries about ordinary people living through extraordinary circumstances.
Atlas is debuting Seen & Heard alongside global sustainable development consulting firm Chemonics International. Each planned season will spotlight overlooked narratives from people around the world, with season one featuring a group of Ukrainian women.
Atlas and Chemonics say the show will highlight what drives people to “persevere and protect their way of life, work to bring peace, and protect their country’s communities.” They have already collaborated to produce a series pilot shot in Kyiv, Lviv and other locations in Ukraine this past summer.
Seen & Heard‘s launch marks a Mipcom market debut for Atlas Literary, which is the literary management and specialty production division within Atlas Entertainment, and comes on the back of a monster year for Charles Roven’s company. Oppenheimer, which it produced with Christopher Nolan’s Syncopy Inc., is nearing $1BN at the global box office following the Barbenheimer phenomenon of the summer.
“Our partnership with Chemonics International has created an authentic, factual, and unbiased outlet for the voices of real people – and their true-life experiences in facing untold challenges,” said Alex Hertzberg, Atlas Literary CEO.
“Often ignored as the media may seek out the sensational narratives of war, Seen & Heard tells our protagonists’ amazing stories of human bravery and resilience. No partner other than Chemonics could make the telling of these stories possible. Together we are able to give them the space and the attention they deserve. We are very excited to bring this to the world.”
Chemonics employs more than 6,000 sustainable development experts in more than 100 countries, with 90% working in communities they consider home. It works with local communities to find innovative, sustainable solutions to problems, with its work including supporting children’s literacy in Tajikistan, delivering health supplies to remote parts of Mozambique. It has also supported local governments and civil society in war-torn Ukraine, which we revealed today is getting a version of John de Mol quiz format The Floor as means of providing its people respite and distraction from the invasion.