While many coin collectors are familiar with Odyssey Marine Exploration’s shipwreck offerings and their legal battle with Spain over the 17-ton bounty of Colonial-era silver and gold coins discovered last year, the world will soon see them in a new light — a 11-part HD TV series on the Discovery Channel.
Emmy® Award-winning JWM Productions will produce the prime time series set for a worldwide audience release in 2009. Production of the TV series is said to begin immediately.
Given the combined excitement of shipwrecks and potential treasure finds, and the past success of Discovery Channel content and JWM Productions, the series is sure to be engaging and revealing. With promises of "brave high seas, heavy weather, political red tape, courtroom clashes, and underwater HD video of shipwreck discoveries," the series could potentially be a smash-hit.
And as another positive boom for Odyssey, help clarify and overcome negative PR it has recently suffered through by the hands of Spain.
In a company statement, Odyssey Marine Exploration Chief Executive Officer Greg Stemm was quoted as saying:
“We have the most experienced team of shipwreck explorers in the world manning our ships, and on a regular basis they make amazing discoveries in the deep ocean – things that have never before been seen by human eyes.
We’re proud of the exploration and archaeological work our team accomplishes in the challenging offshore environment, and for a long time we’ve been looking for the right format to share the excitement of our expeditions with viewers around the world. JWM has a proven track record of producing smart, compelling television and Discovery Channel is the #1 media and television brand in overall quality for the eighth straight year.
We’re sure that Discovery’s viewers will enjoy ‘being there’ during our shipwreck search and exploration expeditions.
John Ford, president and general manager of Discovery Channel commented,
“This series will give our viewers a front row seat as Odyssey’s archaeological and forensics teams search for sunken treasures and unravel the mysteries of long-lost shipwrecks. This compelling 11-part series will show viewers the intense drama of underwater detective work and we are excited to have JWM creating this series for our audiences around the globe.”
While President and Co-founder of JWM Productions Jason Williams said,
“Odyssey is recovering not only treasures, but fascinating shipwreck stories from the bottom of the world’s oceans. And our job is to deliver these stories, discoveries and adventures to Discovery’s viewers in a way that brings them right into the action. We’re looking forward to an exciting season with unparalleled coverage of Odyssey’s operations.”
Some exciting action indeed!
About Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc.
Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. (NasdaqCM: OMEX) is engaged in the exploration of deep-water shipwrecks and uses innovative methods and state-of-the-art technology to conduct extensive deep-ocean search and archaeological recovery operations around the world. Odyssey discovered the Civil War era shipwreck of the SS Republic in 2003 and recovered over 50,000 coins and 14,000 artifacts from the site nearly 1,700 feet deep. In May 2007, the Company announced the largest historic deep-ocean treasure recovery of over 500,000 silver and gold coins, weighing 17 tons, from a Colonial era site code-named “Black Swan.” Odyssey has several shipwreck projects in various stages of development around the world.
About Discovery Communications
Discovery Communications is the world’s No. 1 nonfiction media company, reaching more than 1.5 billion cumulative subscribers in over 170 countries. Discovery empowers people to explore their world and satisfy their curiosity through 100-plus worldwide networks, led by Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Science Channel, Investigation Discovery and HD Theater, as well as leading consumer and educational products and services, and a diversified portfolio of digital media services including HowStuffWorks.com. Discovery Communications is owned by Discovery Holding Company (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB), Advance/Newhouse Communications and John S. Hendricks, Discovery’s founder and chairman. For more information, please visit www.discoverycommunications.com.
About JWM Productions
Jason Williams and Bill Morgan are the Primetime Emmy® Award-winning founders of JWM Productions. Specializing in cultural, natural history, science and children’s programming, their work has been featured on the Discovery, TLC, Travel and Animal Planet networks as well as on NBC, CBS, PBS, TBS, TNT, CNN and by more than 85 international broadcasters. Founded in 1996, their company has produced well over 200 hours of high-quality programming and is now in production on some thirty hours more.
