HOFF'S 'GREEN CARS' GO VOOM

C21 Media
24 Apr 2007

San Francisco indie Hoff Productions is working on a slew of new factual series and specials, including a look at the cars of the future and more episodes in its franchise about mega-factories.

Future Wheels is a new series for the Voom Equator HD cable network and looks at hydrogen, solar, electric, even vegetable power as ways of driving 21st Century vehicles in a 'green' age. The new high-definition series adds to the 22 HD hours Hoff Productions made last year.

Ultimate Factories, meanwhile, is a guy-skewed series for National Geographic Channel, with Dutch distributor Off The Fence attached. After the four hours made last year, Hoff Productions will make another six episodes of the series, this time looking at factories outside the US for the first time.

Other commissions from National Geographic Channel include hours Shark Battleground: The Red Triangle and Niagara Mega Falls, with the UK's Electric Sky distributing the former and Off The Fence the latter. Shark Battleground looks at the shark-infested surfing haven off San Francisco and Niagara Mega Falls explores the eponymous waterfall.

For Scripps-owned cable network Fine Living TV the indie is making Top 401K Mistakes (1x60') and Quit Your Job (1x60'), looking at pension plan screw-ups and corporate downshifting, respectively.

Finally, a new format for TLC looks at "passionate parents, their radical rules and how they make them work." Extreme Parenting is an hour about weird and wonderful families who have their own rules about bringing up kids.

"In 2006, we produced a record number of hours in HD and added new clients such as Smithsonian Networks and Fine Living TV. Those projects as well as our SD productions really helped lay the groundwork for our full start to this year," said company president and executive producer Michael Hoff.

Ed Waller