Zinc Media Regulatory News (ZIN)

9 Jul 2008 07:00



Ten Alps Plc

("Ten Alps" or "the Company")

Ten Alps subsidiary Brook Lapping wins US docudrama commissions

Ten Alps Plc, the factual media company, announces that its documentary production company Brook Lapping Productions has won commissions for three ambitious feature documentaries from American TV channel Discovery US. 

 9-11 Inside the Pentagon, a 90 minute documentary for this year's 9-11 anniversary, will re-live events inside the home of the US military during the attack on the building on September 11th 2001. It will be produced and directed by David Alter.

Jaws 1916  is a 90 minute drama-based documentary for Discovery's 'Shark Week' in 2009. It tells the story of a series of shark attacks off a small New Jersey coastal town in the summer of 1916. This was America's first experience of serial shark attacks and inspired Steven Spielberg's 'Jaws'. The programme will be produced and directed by Richard Bedser.

Shark Frenzy describes a series of bloody shark attacks that gripped the American news media and drove thousands off the beaches during the summer of 2001. The hour long film, also for Shark Week 2009, will be produced and directed by David Alter.

The commissions were alluded to but not detailed in Ten Alps' June results statement.

Phil Craig is Executive Producer for all three films. He was also Executive Producer of Brook Lapping's previous successful commissions from Discovery US. These include The Flight That Fought Back, about flight UA93, the 9/11 flight that crashed before reaching its target (also shown in the UK on Five). This was Discovery's highest rated programme for five years and their third highest rated programme ever. Another Craig/Brook Lapping success was Ocean of Fear for Shark Week 2007 (broadcast in the UK by Channel 4). This gave Discovery its highest-rated premiere Shark Week episode for over 20 years.

Brook Lapping Productions is a Ten Alps company.

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About Ten Alps

Ten Alps Plc is a factual media company - on TV, online and in print.

As a multi-platform producer, it engages with audiences and customers across all media outlets.

Ten Alps has market-leading positions in all its three key areas of output.

On TV it produces for Dispatches, Panorama and other key factual programmes for Channel 4, the BBC and international broadcasters. One of its companies is preferred supplier for a major five-year government contract to operate the Teachers TV channel.

Online it produces Kent TV, the first fully local authority-funded broadband TV service in the UK, alongside B2B websites and online TV projects, such as the forthcoming Vets TV. It also produces online TV advertising. 

In Print it is one of the UK's largest contract and specialist publishers, with a growing portfolio of 740 titles across specialist media sectors including finance, environment, public sector and international trade. 

Ten Alps was founded in 1999 by Alex Connock and Bob Geldof.

It has over 650 staff with main offices in London and Manchester, and smaller offices in Dublin, Edinburgh and Gateshead.

Ten Alps has had seven consecutive years of growth since listing on AiM in 2001, with turnover rising from £2m to £81.4m in the financial year to March 31 2008.

During that period, seventeen acquisitions have been made: in factual TV (including leading producers Brook Lapping and Blakeway), online (video advertising producer MMA, CSR specialists DBDA ) and in print (McMillan Scott, Mongoose, Atalink, Camerons, Sovereign - all of which now have substantial online portfolios.) Only one equity funding has been made since 2001.