Disney Advertising Sales said that M&M-maker Mars is sponsoring a series of seasonal short films called Bite Size Holiday.

The films were created by Disney’s 20th Digital Studio, working with emerging filmmakers. Two are being posted on ABC’s Facebook and Twitter pages. Two more are on the Facebook and Twitter pages for Freeform’s 25 Days of Christmas.

“We’re thrilled to partner with 20th Digital Studio again, this time to spread some holiday cheer through their first-ever Bite Size Holiday series, sponsored by M&M’s,” said,” said Ray Amati, media director for Mars Wrigley. “Mars Wrigley is committed to creating better moments and more smiles for consumers, and what better way to do that during the season than reaching people with holiday content that they can enjoy with their families.”

Also Read: Disney Consolidates TV Studios Under Burke

The project follows Mars sponsorship of Disney’s Bite Size Halloween, which featured spooky shorts created by young filmmakers..

“Following the success of Bite Size Halloween, Mars is returning to sponsor 20th Digital’s Bite Size Holiday to help families celebrate the season and bring on the holiday spirits,” said Danielle Calnon, VP, Entertainment Brand Solutions, Disney Advertising Sales. “Disney’s social properties have shown to be a great platform for brands to reach their audiences and authentically engage in timely conversations while also providing a stage for emerging creators to showcase their talent and tell their stories.” 

20th Digital said that if their films resonate with audiences, their work on this project could be further developed into long-form content, such as a TV series or feature films.

“I’m thrilled by our continuing partnership with Mars, which allows 20th Digital Studio to bring forward these charming holiday stories from talented rising filmmakers,” said David Worthen Brooks, executive VP of 20th Digital Studio. 

Science Fair Santa was directed by Christopher Leone, Come In was directed by Jan Livingston, Santa Won’t Leave was directed by Chris Modoono and Gil Zabarsky and Swapsies was directed by Kerry Collins.

Season two of Mars kicks off on National Geographic Nov. 12. The season examines the conflict of science versus industry, and whether humankind ends up making the same mistakes on Mars that it has made on Earth.

There are six episodes. Ron Howard and Brian Grazer executive produce and Dee Johnson is showrunner. Mars’s mix of scripted and documentary makes it “very, very unique,” Johnson said.

Season one had a colony of science-minded individuals on the Red Planet. Season two adds a crew of profit-driven industry types. “They have a completely different agenda,” Johnson said.

Season one looked at whether Mars would kill the astronauts who arrived there. Season two examines whether the humans will kill Mars.

“It’s a unique show,” Johnson said. “You’re not going to see anything else like it.”

You’re not going to see anything like SundanceTV’s Jonestown: Terror in the Jungle either.

It has been 40 years since preacher Jim Jones convinced hundreds of followers to take their lives, and SundanceTV marks the dark occasion with Jonestown Nov. 17-18.

It is based on Jeff Guinn’s book The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and Peoples Temple. The book, and the special, depict Jones’ transformation from charismatic preacher to murderous demagogue.

While Jonestown was located in Guyana, Guinn said demagoguery seems to play particularly well in the States. “There are parallels [to Jonestown] throughout American history, and there are parallels today,” said Guinn. “Americans have always been vulnerable to demagogues.”

Such agitators typically traffic in negativity, Guinn said, and promote an us-versus-the enemy mentality. They also try to stifle other voices that followers might otherwise hear.

He unearthed a number of intriguing tidbits in his book research. A large number of the 900-plus who died that day 40 years ago resisted taking the poison, he said, and were lethally injected. “We’re talking mass murder,” Guinn said.

A couple of murderers get their closeup when Escape at Dannemora, about the prison break in upstate New York in 2015, premieres on Showtime Nov. 18. Ben Stiller executive produces and directs. Stiller heard quite a bit from local residents as they shot footage around Clinton Correctional Facility. “At first they were a little bit skeptical,” he said at the Television Critics Association Press Tour. “I understand that. The biggest thing was, tell the whole story.”

The residents didn’t want the convicts, Richard Matt and David Sweat, representing their community. “A few bad apples aren’t representative of what really goes on here,” Stiller said.

Same goes for Tilly Mitchell, the prison employee who abetted Matt and Sweat.

“They’re upset that she’s representative of a place they take pride in,” he said.

As the holiday season approaches, several cable networks will hope to receive an early ratings gift by premiering high-profile scripted content in mid-November.

With the end of a long and ratings-rich presidential election and with the broadcast networks set to take a hiatus from scheduling new episodes of scripted shows heading into the holidays, cable networks like BBC America, Pop, National Geographic, TNT and TBS are all hoping to fill a programming void with original content.

“We wanted to get in just ahead of the holiday programming and take advantage of a moment when a lot of the noise around fall launches is abating,” BBC America president Sarah Barnett said. “No week of the year is uncluttered today, but believe it or not, there can be a small moment of relative space here.”

PAUSE BEFORE HOLIDAYS

BBC America on Wednesday (Nov. 16) will premiere crime drama Undercover, one of at least eight new cable scripted series premiering within 10 days of Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 24). Typically, networks tend to shy away from premiering new shows in the days leading up to the holiday season and the glut of holiday specials and movies. But with more than 400 scripted shows launching year round, Barnett said no time period is off-limits.

Pop president Brad Schwartz said strong ratings for presidential election coverage has shortened what is normally a solid series premiere window running from mid- October through mid-November. As a result, the network will debut its late night-themed comedy series Nightcap later than desired, on Nov. 16.

“If you’re waiting for the election to end but you want it be in front of the holidays, this is the time to launch,” Schwartz said. “You don’t want to get too far into the holiday season because then you get close to Christmas when people’s viewing habits begin to change and it becomes harder to get the message out for your show.”

National Geographic will premiere its highly-touted Mars series tonight (Nov. 14, see review). The network is launching a new on-air look and rebrand around the Brian Grazer/Ron Howard produced series, which will feature both scripted and documentary elements around the future colonization of the red planet.

“Mars is the centerpiece of our new premium strategy and its creatively ambitious for us,” Courteney Monroe, CEO of National Geographic Global Networks, said. “We’re really interested in what the audience thinks and how they react.”

‘SEARCH PARTY’ ON THE WAY

TBS and BBC America said they too are altering the debut schedule of their respective new shows to help build greater awareness and ratings. TBS will launch its 10-episode comedy series Search Party over five consecutive nights beginning Nov. 21, according to network officials.

BBC America’s six-hour Undercover series will air over two nights. Barnett said the network wanted to create some additional buzz for the series by allowing viewers to binge view the series over consecutive nights.

“As a linear network, we understand that there is some content that audiences especially love to binge, and phenomenally written, dramatically shocking mini seasons fall into this category of ‘must devour’ TV,” Barnett said. “We scheduled it in a way where fans could truly immerse themselves in this riveting thriller.”

SIDEBAR: On Script

A partial list of the scripted cable series premiering between Nov. 14-24:

Show                          Network                    Genre                     Premiere Date

Mars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nat Geo . . . . . . . . . Drama . . . . . . . . . . .Nov. 14

Good Behavior . . . . . . . .TNT . . . . . . . . . . . Drama . . . . . . . . . . . Nov. 15

Shooter . . . . . . . . . . . . . .USA . . . . . . . . . . Drama . . . . . . . . . . .Nov. 15

Sweet/Vicious . . . . . . . .  MTV . . . . . . . . . Dramedy . . . . . . . . . .Nov. 15

Ice . . . . . . . . . . . . Audience Network . . . . . Drama . . . . . . . . . . .Nov. 16

Nightcap . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pop . . . . . . . . . . . Comedy . . . . . . . . . . Nov. 16

Undercover . . . . . . . BBC America . . . . . . . Drama . . . . . . . . . . .Nov. 16

Lovesick . . . . . . . . . . . . Netflix . . . . . . . . . Comedy . . . . . . . . . . Nov. 17

Search Party . . . . . . . . . .TBS . . . . . . . . . . . Comedy . . . . . . . . . . Nov. 21

SOURCE :Multichannel News research

Nat Geo has teamed with producers Brian Grazer and Ron Howard to take a unique look at the colonization of Mars in a new series that’s part scripted show and part documentary.

The scripted drama portion of Mars mostly takes place in the year 2033 and follows the efforts of an internationally-based space organization to put humans on the red planet. The pilot episode does a good job of building up the drama surrounding what must be a nearly perfect approach to the crew’s perilous attempt to land on the planet’s surface.

Related Video:Actress/Singer Jihae Discusses Her Role in National Geographic’s ‘Mars’

The series deftly introduces the crew of Daedalus, led by commander Ben Sawyer (Ben Cotton), through testimonies, interviews and flashbacks about the attempt to successfully land on Mars.

The documentary side of Mars takes place in 2016 and features commentary from real-life scientists and experts such as Neil deGrasse Tyson and NASA astronaut Charles Bolden on the science behind space travel to Mars. The segments provide a thorough, research-based account of the potential benefits and risks inherent in successfully travelling millions of miles in space, and add authenticity to the belief that the mission is within the realm of possibility.

Watch a preview of 'Mars.'

The one problem with Mars is that the intertwining of the scripted and documentary elements has the unfortunate adverse effect of slowing down the pace and continuity of the scripted storyline. While some viewers might be fascinated with the facts on how people will survive on Mars — which is explained in full detail — often those factual elements interrupt the more dramatic points of the crew’s mission. Nat Geo too often asks viewers to wade through science class during times where they may just want to get lost in a good action drama.

Ultimately, Mars is a fun and informative ride into space exploration that will take viewers on a mission to a future world — and, potentially, a new television genre.

One year after its joint venture with 21st Century Fox, National Geographic in November will undergo an organizational rebrand that will include dropping the word “channel” from its linear cable network.

The rebrand, which will include the global tagline “Further,” will feature new graphics, brand IDs and brand animations, but will retain its iconic yellow box image, according to officials.

 The rebrand will coincide with National Geographic’s Nov. 14 premiere of its hybrid scripted/documentary series Mars, from executive producers Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, according to Courteney Monroe, CEO of National Geographic Global Television Networks.

In 2017, the “Further” tagline, which expresses Nat Geo’s quest to take risks and to push boundaries, will be featured in a regular section in National Geographic magazine as well as in a “Further” web series, according to Nat Geo officials.

“What began as an exercise to simply overhaul the look and feel of the National Geographic Channel has now become a comprehensive rebrand of every single National Geographic consumer touchpoint, across both National Geographic Partners as well as National Geographic Society,”  Monroe said during a luncheon presentation Tuesday in New York. “This rebrand marks a significant turning point in the realization of our transformational new vision for National Geographic Channel."