Dr. Wendy Darke is Founder & CEO of True To Nature, the UK based production company she established after her tenure as Head of the BBC Natural History Unit. True To Nature recently entered into a co-development partnership on a number of projects with ZDF Enterprises’ factual department. The first project to go into production is Volcano 24, a 1 x 60’ co-production with ZDF, Thirteen Productions LLC for PBS Nature, and ARTE.

Ralf Rueckauer, VP ZDFE.unscripted at ZDF Enterprises: "This is the first cooperation with Wendy Darke’s new company and this makes it something very special. We are very proud and honoured to be working with her and to be able to benefit from her enormous experience gathered from her time as Head of the BBC Natural History Unit.” 

Fred Kaufman, Executive Producer for PBS Nature, said: "Volcano 24 is an innovative approach to natural history filmmaking and will capture the imagination of our audience with stunning and surprising images.”

Wendy Darke said: "The big idea at the heart of this story, is that every day on our planet 30 volcanoes erupt in a violent display of power and we discover that without them life wouldn’t exist at all.” Darke continued: "I couldn’t wish for a more talented, experienced and dedicated international team of creatives to work alongside to realise the ambition of this film as we capture new stories around the world of life flourishing in the shadows of active volcanoes.”

Volcano 24

Volcano 24 will follow a day in the life of the people and animals that live alongside Earth’s active volcanoes. Starting at sunrise, we journey around our planet and immerse ourselves in their world and build towards a new perspective on volcanoes: rather than simply being destructive they create the land that we live on and are the life givers of our planet. From Hawaii, via Central America to Europe and beyond, we come to learn that without them, we wouldn’t exist at all. 

About True to Nature
True To Nature is a Bristol-based Independent Production Company founded by Dr Wendy Darke, former Head of the BBC Natural History Unit. The company specialises in innovative, world-class natural history content and TV production using great story telling to build lifelong relationships between people and the natural world. At TRUE TO NATURE we have a culture where talented people are valued, supported and trusted to collaborate and do their best work. We encourage, grow and develop high-performing teams to take creative risks, resulting in ground-breaking new formats and innovative production techniques. We pride ourselves on building longstanding relationships with our commissioners and stakeholders, to ensure that together we deliver outstanding never-seen content and stories with the highest factual integrity and production values for all audiences in the UK and worldwide. The natural world is at the heart of what we do, and we are passionate about being a voice for nature.

About ZDF Enterprises
Headquartered in Mainz, Germany, ZDF Enterprises was founded in 1993 as a commercial subsidiary of ZDF, one of the largest TV broadcasters in Europe. ZDF Enterprises is responsible for the worldwide sale of programs, the making of international coproductions, the acquisition of licenses as well as the merchandising of strong program brands in its own name, for the ZDF, and for third parties. ZDF Enterprises has successfully established itself as an independent market player on the German and international stage. Consolidated into a strong group, the company manages the largest German-language stock of programs in the world and, next to this, a continuously growing portfolio of international productions consisting of series and miniseries, TV movies, documentaries and children’s programs. Through the development and diversification of the group, ZDF Enterprises can provide a comprehensive, full-service and covers every step in the chain of exploitation of successful TV programs, from development to production, to the marketing of TV licenses, merchandising rights, online rights and more.