Bear Grylls’ BecomeX, Da Vinci Team in inspirational story series – The Hollywood Reporter

BecomeX, a company co-founded by Bear Grylls that promotes personal growth, has partnered with family entertainment powerhouse Da Vinci to produce Be Extraordinarya biographical series featuring inspirational life stories and insights into success, including Hollywood stars like Julia Roberts, Channing Tatum and Courteney Cox.

Interviewees also included sports legends such as Roger Federer; Politicians; astronaut Tim Peake; explorer Ranulph Fiennes; celebrities from other fields and lesser known people with inspirational success stories.

Grylls will lead the show, presenting “a realistic, aspirational series that showcases the skills, character, and resilience needed to succeed,” the partners said Thursday.

“Be Extraordinary will encourage young people to dream big and learn what it really takes to realize their potential,” said the partners. “The biographical, studio-style entertaining series will feature stories based on interviews with some of the world’s most famous people, as well as lesser-known, but powerful stories. equally powerful to tell. From Olympic gold medalists and Oscar winners, to presidents, Nobel Peace Prize winners, scientists and explorers — Be Extraordinary promises to be a healthy source of inspiration in real life.”

The partnership deal includes three seasons of 10 24-minute episodes, with pre-production starting this month. Each episode of the show will feature two interviews, with commentary and discussion from the studio’s presenters, such as Green Peter host Mwaka “Mwaksy” Mudenda.

“There are no shortcuts to success, but there are some secrets,” Grylls said in a statement. “We wanted to create a series where children and families around the world can hear firsthand what some of the world’s most successful people tell and realize that they too can achieve extraordinary things.”

The show is scheduled to premiere on Da Vinci channels in the spring or summer. Da Vinci’s mission is to provide content, including reality entertainment, animation, and scripted TV series that “create a smarter, kinder world.” The company has more than 550 distribution partners for SVOD and ad-supported free streaming TV channels (FAST), children’s mobile apps and other services in more than 100 countries. and says it has reached more than 70 million Gen Y and Gen Z families. Da Vinci recently struck a US deal with Sling TV and TCL.

“Our big goal for BecomeX is to help people understand what it is. really? needed to succeed and equip them with the confidence and skills to follow their dreams, whoever they may be. We’re sharing the true stories of the world’s most inspirational and iconic people — the hard truth about how they got to where they are and how they overcame the challenges along the way. ‘ said Grylls. hollywood reporter by email. “Be Extraordinary is helping young people learn life lessons from those already on their way and shedding light on what it really takes to realize your potential.”

“Our message is really simple. That everyone has the potential to achieve extraordinary things. We really think the world needs to move beyond the message that ‘anyone can do anything’ and instead focus on equipping people with real skills and attitudes. to succeed. We want everyone to see Be Extraordinary and realize that what really matters are ambition, hard work, determination, resilience, relationships, cooperation, creativity, kindness… personal attributes that we don’t really see the system. Education helps people learn. Not everyone is going to be an Olympic champion, Hollywood star or CEO, and we shouldn’t try to see these as life goals, but everyone can dream big, do things. better at what they do and help others along the way. We want to help young people see ‘success’ as living a fulfilling, happy life and doing what they love, no matter what that means to them.”

When asked about the Hollywood stars featured in the series, Grylls said, “I’ve been very fortunate to have worked with so many amazing people over the years and some of them we’ve filmed. movies with BecomeX. We have a long list of inspirational people we’re filming — Hollywood stars, presidents, Olympic gold medalists, top scientists… but there are also people from a different background. some of the most difficult circumstances imaginable, all of whom have worked so hard to achieve their success. is with passion, dedication and humility. Julia, Courteney and Chan are great examples of this. They are incredible, genuine and caring people, and we are proud to be able to share their stories with so many other inspirational people from around the world.”

Da Vinci COO Estelle Lloyd emphasizes the craving for this kind of programming. “There is a huge gap in the market for inspirational, real-life content that families can enjoy together and learn what it takes to be successful,” the CEO said. “We are excited to partner with BecomeX to bring this series of premium-style entertainment exclusively to the Da Vinci channels and our streaming app.”

Luca Fiore, content director at Da Vinci, tells CHEAP that the company will also conduct full interviews with prominent figures on Be Extraordinary available to its viewers. “We really wanted to focus on these amazing stories and these amazing people and the qualities that make them who they are.”

But it doesn’t just showcase the biggest and most famous names. “An important factor we wanted to demonstrate was diversity in realizing one’s potential,” he explains. “It’s not just about certain personality types or opinions, or about coming from certain industries. Yes, there are A-listers that everyone recognizes, but there will also be a lot of people that young people have never heard of.”

BecomeX co-founder and CEO Paul Gurney also emphasizes the importance of different stories and personalities. “A lot of young people still look at the big TV and movie stars and say ‘oh, these people are amazing,’ but we almost want to go against the stereotype of what success really looks like. how and there are many people. from completely different backgrounds, he said CHEAP. “Of course, having some of these massive stars is extremely helpful for us. It’s fun to work with brilliant people and, of course, that adds more excitement to the show. But this is about trying to show, intentionally, people from all walks of life and say, ‘Look, whatever you want to do, here are some things that can get you there. where you want’. So it’s not just the big names, but also the ex-soldier who lost his three limbs and has dedicated his life to raising funds and helping others. It’s the fire officer currently in the UK who was formerly homeless as a teenager.

So far, BecomeX has filmed more than 60 interviews, it also states on its website, “and we plan to shoot many, many more interviews,” he added. But cooperation with Da Vinci will enable presentations with enhanced manufacturing capabilities. For example, Gurney tells CHEAP that the series will see “young presenters interacting with the audience” by summarizing and discussing some of the points they took away from the interviews on the show, while ” Bear’s role introduces this almost like an inspirational father figure.”

Inspiration has been at the core of BecomeX’s vision from day one. “There are so many negative, difficult things in the world,” Gurney explains. “Post-pandemic doesn’t really change. You just have to look at the paper to see some of the challenges young people face. So our job is to provide that positivity, that inspiration or that energy for young people to say: ‘I trust these people, I know what they’ve done, I admire them and I want to do the same.’ And it’s about staying away from all the negativity on social media and all the negative influences.”

Fiore repeated that. “What I like about interviews is that you see that everyone faces moments when they are frustrated and when they face adversity. But it’s the determination and the kind of tenacity that comes from a half-full glass of water that comes from stories, which really matters and needs to be highlighted,” he said. CHEAP. “Adversity comes to all of us, but turning it around and really harnessing those qualities, the things we love, to make sure we get out of it is what we need to do. That’s what I want families to see.”