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The Emmy Award winning documentary series, Planet Earth caught the imagination of audiences around the world and now the ´óÏó´«Ã½ is bringing the awe-inspiring beauty of the series to live audiences across the U.S. Planet Earth Live is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience the series' most spectacular moments on the big screen. Planet Earth composer and Emmy-winning George Fenton will conduct a full orchestra at each event.

Planet Earth Live kicks off in early summer with the world premiere at Dallas' Meyerson Symphony Center on Friday, June 25 and Saturday, June 26 with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Other venues and orchestras confirmed include Atlanta's Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park on Friday, July 16 with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Chicago's Grant Park Music Festival in Millennium Park on Wednesday, July 21 with the Grant Park Symphony and two dates at LA's Hollywood Bowl on Friday, July 23 and Saturday, July 24 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Possible further dates and cities to be announced. Each show runs 90 minutes plus an intermission, featuring the best moments from Planet Earth in full High Definition on the big screen with live orchestra and narration.

Composer George Fenton says: "Planet Earth made a very special connection with the American audience and we are all very excited at the opportunity of coming to North America this summer to work with some of the greatest orchestras and together recreate the Planet Earth experience live."

Planet Earth, a ´óÏó´«Ã½/Discovery co-production, aired on the Discovery Channel in 2007. The ´óÏó´«Ã½'s Alastair Fothergill was the series producer and he and his team spent four years in production, with over 2000 days in the field, using 71 film crews, across 204 locations in 62 countries to capture the ultimate portrait of the planet. It has garnered legions of fans and universal critical acclaim with Oprah Magazine saying, "It is the most beautiful, wondrous and truly majestic series - the best thing I've ever seen on TV."

It has sold over 5 million DVDs, with one in every 30 households in the U.S. owning the series and is the U.S.'s top selling documentary DVD of all time.

Alastair Fothergill says: "I'm delighted the incredible HD footage from Planet Earth will be experienced in a whole new way by Americans this summer. With George's amazing score and the wonder of the animals on our planet on a big screen, fans of Planet Earth are in for a fantastic treat."

The ´óÏó´«Ã½ is the world's largest producer of natural history programs and for over 50 years, has produced such notable titles as Life on Earth and The Blue Planet as well as the upcoming Life – airing on Discovery, March 2010. ´óÏó´«Ã½ Earth is the global brand for all of this natural history content available on television, digital, DVD and merchandise.

Planet Earth Live is produced by IMG Artists in cooperation with The Gorfaine/Schwartz Agency.

NOTES TO EDITORS

PLANET EARTH LIVE DATES:
June 25, 2010 Meyerson Symphony Center Dallas, TX
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June 26, 2010 Meyerson Symphony Center Dallas, TX
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July 16, 2010 Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park Atlanta, GA
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July 21, 2010 Grant Park Music Festival in Millennium Park Chicago, IL
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July 23, 2010 Hollywood Bowl Los Angeles, CA
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July 24, 2010 Hollywood Bowl Los Angeles, CA
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ABOUT GEORGE FENTON
George Fenton began writing music for the theatre in 1974 working on productions for The Royal Shakespeare Company, The National Theatre and Riverside Studios. His television scores include the major documentary series The Trials of Life, Life in the Freezer, Beyond the Clouds, Shanghai Vice, The Blue Planet, Planet Earth and most recently, Life.

Following the broadcast of The Blue Planet in 2001 for which he won a BAFTA and Emmy award for Best Television Score, he created the show, The Blue Planet Live! which toured in the UK and worldwide, performed by many of the world’s leading orchestras.

He has composed for a wide variety of feature films, receiving Academy Award nominations for The Fisher King, Dangerous Liaisons, Gandhi and Cry Freedom (for both score and song). Other scores include The Madness of King George, Groundhog Day, Shadowlands, Ever After, Anna and the King, Mrs Henderson Presents, Hitch, and Fool’s Gold.

Recently the Royal Television Society awarded him a Lifetime Achievement Award and he was made a Fellow of the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters.

ABOUT ALASTAIR FOTHERGILL
Alastair Fothergill's ´óÏó´«Ã½ career began at the world-renowned Natural History Unit in 1983 where he worked on a wide range of award-winning programs including Wildlife on One and the innovative Reefwatch - he was one of the team that developed live broadcasting from beneath the ocean. His first project with Sir David Attenborough was The Trials of Life followed in 1993 by Life in the Freezer.

He was Head of the Natural History Unit from 1992 to 1998 at which point he stood down to concentrate on his role as Series Producer of multi award-winning The Blue Planet, a landmark series on the natural history of the world’s oceans. His portfolio of work has included roles as producer and presenter on a diverse range of high quality natural history programs including Going Ape, a film that took him to the Ivory Coast and Deep Blue, a cinematic view of the world’s oceans and the innovative live broadcast Live from the Abyss.

Alastair was Series Producer for the Emmy-winning, global hit Planet Earth. Currently he’s working as the Executive Producer on the ´óÏó´«Ã½/Discovery co-production Frozen Planet, a major six part series, due to premiere in the U.S. in 2011. He is also directing two movies for Disney’s new Disney Nature label. Alastair has Honorary Degrees from Durham and Hull Universities.

Sarah Takenaga

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