The Smithsonian channel signed a production deal with Earth Touch for three new wildlife documentaries, according to Variety. Earth Touch is a South African-based factual wildlife entertainment producer, but the documentaries will be set in the U.S., Mexico and China.
Smithsonian Network owns the Smithsonian, which is a joint venture between Showtime Networks and the Smithsonian Institution. Earth Touch specializes in producing and distributing factual entertainment series and natural history documentaries. Production companies in Durban, South Africa, and Washington, D.C are considered their three affiliates, and they also have a sales and distribution office in London.
Rattlesnake Road Trip will follow Jules Sylvester, the handler for the film Snakes on a Plane, on a road trip from Los Angeles to Galveston, Texas. Throughout different regions like Gila National Park, Sylvester will be in search of different rattler species. Sylvester is also a famed snake wrangler who had his own show on the Travel Channel series called Wild Adventure.
The show set in Mexico will be called Migrating to Mexico, and will be Earth Touch’s largest production budget to date. The show will follow wildlife that migrates to or through Mexico and Oscura Productions will handle the Mexican theatrical release and assist with production. China’s Monkey Kingdom will follow a white-headed langur monkey and his family. The species is endangered and the series will show them as they move through mountaintops and landscapes underlain by limestone.