Haut et Court TV and July-August Productions to develop a new, 10×60’ ecological & psychological thriller/drama series, Rubber Ducks, co-developed with Tandem, it was announced by Caroline Benjo, Managing Director, Haut et Court TV (Les Revenants). Exclusive worldwide distribution will also be handled by Tandem.
A fictionalised story based on an actual experiment undertaken by NASA, Rubber Ducks explores ideas of ecological change not only on the environment but also on human behaviour. In 2008, NASA embarked on a low-tech experiment, dropping 90 rubber duck toys through holes in a Greenland glacier, trying to track how the Arctic icecap is melting. Hoping the rubber ducks would find their way into channels beneath the hard-packed surface, scientists planned to track the flow of melting water into the ocean. Lost without a trace, the ducks pop up ten years later in unlikely isolated communities where the inhabitants are directly affected, in unexpected ways. Everything starts to change: emotions, relationships, love, sex, how we live and how we die. Could the impending catastrophe be more than climactic?
Benjo said, “Following the path of The Returned’s new take on a genre, we are thrilled to be producing this amazing high concept/ character-driven series, playing with the viewers expectations like any great modern TV storytelling — entertaining, complex, frightening and funny at the same time, while scrutinising our modern world’s intimate idiosyncrasies through the most fascinating events.”
July-August Productions’ Eilon Ratzkovsky added, “Yael Hedaya’s ability to merge our innermost thoughts and feelings with global scale environmental disorders will surely bring something fresh to our TV screens. The more we dig into this concept, the more fascinated we get.”
“We have great admiration and respect for the incredible success and critical acclaim Haut et Court and July-August Productions have achieved with their remarkable projects and are very excited to be co-developing and distributing this thrilling and unique show with them,” said Tandem’s Executive VP and Partner Jonas Bauer. “Rubber Ducks – with such a tantalising storyline, it will surely appeal to audiences worldwide.”
Rubber Ducks is written by Yael Hedaya, a novelist and screenwriter known for her work on the successful and highly acclaimed, award-winning Israeli drama series In Treatment, which HBO in the U.S. produced as an English-language version. Producers are Haut et Court’s Caroline Benjo, Jimmy Desmarais, Carole Scotta and Simon Arnal and July-August Productions’ Eilon Ratzkovsky, Lisa and Yossi Uzrad and Guy Jacuel.
