SILVER SPRING, Md.,
March 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
Lights, camera...bark! Discovery Family Channel (DFC) today
announced FROM WAGS TO RICHES WITH BILL BERLONI
(wt), an all-new original series produced by Earth Touch,
bringing viewers into the world of award-winning eminent theatrical
animal trainer Bill Berloni. Known
as a tireless advocate for animals and for casting and cultivating
the original Sandy—the dog featured in Broadway's beloved
Annie—Berloni possesses the unique ability to transform
shelter dogs into stars. FROM WAGS TO RICHES WITH BILL
BERLONI (wt) will debut in August
2015 on DFC, as part of the network's month-long dog-themed
programming event entitled "Pawgust".
"Bill Berloni is truly a unique
breed: a brilliant trainer with a big heart, many of the dogs he
puts on stage are dogs that he has personally rescued," said
Tom Cosgrove, general manager of
Discovery Family Channel. "This new series will charm the entire
family with adorably gifted animals, larger-than-life characters
and the amusing chaos that comes with owning a veritable backyard
zoo."
"FROM WAGS TO RICHES WITH BILL BERLONI is the first
result of our move into factual entertainment and a wonderful
natural fit with the Earth Touch brand," added Phil Fairclough, Managing Director at Earth
Touch. "We're confident Bill's amazing world will be a hit with
viewers of all ages, and we're delighted to be making this
with Discovery Family Channel."
Through a combination of patience, persistence, trial-and-error
and a pinch of Dr. Doolittle, Berloni has honed his revolutionary
humane training techniques for actor and animal alike to ensure a
successful performance for Broadway, movies and television. FROM
WAGS TO RICHES WITH BILL BERLONI (wt) will follow Berloni in
his work as an animal trainer, while also spotlighting his
dedication to rescue work. As Director of Animal Training and
Behavior to the Humane Society of New
York, Berloni specializes in matching the right humans to
the right animals. Berloni's personal passion for animal activism
has also opened up the door to a pool of untapped talent— allowing
him to rescue countless homeless dogs, and to give them a second
life as stars on stage.
When their careers are over, the animals 'retire' to the Berloni
Family Farm, home to dozens of animals, from dogs and cats, to pigs
and llamas. Each hour-long episode of FROM WAGS TO RICHES
WITH BILL BERLONI (wt) will also feature an inside look into
Berloni's happy and hectic home life in Connecticut with his wife Dorothy, daughter
Jenna, their menagerie of 26—and counting!—dogs, birds, and a
handful of other farm animals. Audiences will join the Berlonis
through their days filled with training, touring and saving
animals.
In television's first-ever Pawgust, Discovery Family Channel
will celebrate the Dog Days of Summer with a month of totally
pawesome animal-themed specials and movies for the entire
family—four-legged friends included—to enjoy! Additional details on
Pawgust to be announced at a later date.
FROM WAGS TO RICHES WITH BILL BERLONI (wt) is produced
for Discovery Family Channel by Earthtouch USA. For Earthtouch USA, Phil
Fairclough and Sue Norton are
executive producers. For Discovery Family Channel, Sarah Davies is vice president of production and
development, Ron Simon is executive
producer, Tom Cosgrove is general
manager, and Henry Schleiff is Group
President.
About Bill
Berloni:
Bill Berloni
was a 20-year-old apprentice at the Goodspeed Opera House when a
producer offered him his big break: a chance to act professionally
and gain his Equity Card. In return, all Bill had to do was find
and train a dog to play Sandy in the original production of
Annie.
What Bill didn't know was that this was a bigger challenge than
it seemed. Animal performances in movies or television can be
stitched together using different takes, different camera angles,
and even different animals. To perform in a featured role, an
animal actor would have to be trained to ignore the distraction of
the audience and respond to the same cues the same way
night-after-night, just like his human counterparts. It had never
been done before.
Bill found his dog at a local animal shelter – beginning his
career-long commitment to using rescued animals. Through a
combination of patience, persistence and trial-and-error, he
developed his revolutionary humane training techniques – learning
how to teach actor and animal alike to create a successful
performance. Annie became a huge hit and Sandy became "the
longest running dog on Broadway," never missing a performance in
more than seven years.
Since then, Bill and his handlers have provided domesticated
animals of all species and sizes, found in shelters, humane
societies or rescue leagues, for Broadway, off-Broadway, national
tours, regional theatres, special events, the New York City Ballet,
motion pictures, television and commercials. When their careers are
over, the animals return to Bill's Connecticut farm.
Bill is widely recognized as an expert in animal behavior and
for his dedication to rescue work. In addition to his work as a
trainer, Bill is currently Director of Animal Training and Behavior
to the Humane Society of New York.
He has a BFA in theatre, and is a published author and actor.
About Discovery Family
Since its debut in October 2014, Discovery Family has marked four
consecutive months of month-to-month grown in Prime among household
delivery[i], and has grown its viewership by double digits in
daytime, attracting children and their parents to Hasbro Studio's
popular animation programming, including MY LITTLE PONY, LITTLEST
PET SHOP and TRANSFORMERS RESCUE BOTS.
Available in nearly 70 million U.S. homes, Discovery Family is a
joint venture of Discovery Communications and Hasbro. The smart
entertainment choice for families, Discovery Family offers
award-winning children's animation programming in Daytime with the
highest-quality, real-world content that appeals to the entire
family in the Natural History, Adventure, Animals and Science
genres at night.
About Earth Touch
Earth Touch is composed of three
affiliated companies: production companies in Durban and Washington DC, and a sales and distribution
office in London. Earth Touch is a
specialist in factual production and distribution, in particular
natural history documentary and factual entertainment series and
films. It has an extensive archive of over 4000 hours of
high-quality HD material, as well as a total of 140 hours
of blue chip original programming. Learn more at
www.earthtouchnews.com
[i] Source: Nielsen Live+3, NHI Calendar (9/27/10-3/15/15), Time Period Based
Dayparts.
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SOURCE Discovery Family Channel