Sundance Channel has acquired U.S. television rights to the BBC animated series I Am Not an Animal, which will debut on Wednesday, Oct. 5 at 11 p.m. The deal was negotiated by Lisa Hofer, director of co-production and sales for BBC Worldwide Americas, and Christian Vesper, VP of acqusitions, scheduling and program planning for Sundance Channel.
Produced by Baby Cow Prods. for BBC TWO, the black comedy follows the adventures of a group of talking lab animals made up of a horse, a dog, a monkey, a mouse, a bird and a cat. The gang lives the high-life in a stylish waterside apartment, spending their days discussing the latest celebrity gossip, dining on rich food and enjoying fine wine until a group of animal rights activists "liberates" them and leaves them to fend for themselves in the outside world.
The series was written and directed by Peter Baynham, and produced by Richard Bennett. Steve Coogan and Henry Normal serve as exec producers and Tim Searle is animation director. The cast features the voices of Coogan (Around the World in 80 Days), Julia Davis (Love Actually), Amelia Bulmore (TV’s Cracker), Kevin Eldon (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead) and writer Arthur Mathews (Jam).
Laura Michalchyshyn, executive director of programming and marketing for Sundance Channel, comments, "This outrageous and hilarious BBC series dovetails perfectly with Sundance Channel’s recently announced strategy to broaden our offerings, add more series and bring humor into the mix."
I Am Not An Animal will air on Sundance each Wednesday night through Nov. 9. Episodes will repeat on Thursdays at 6 p.m., Fridays at 11 p.m., Saturdays at 8:30 p.m. and Tuesdays at 8:30 p.m.
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