CIRCUS is a blue-chip, exclusive access, documentary series that will sit at the heart of the PBS schedule mid 2010.

This series charts a year in the life of the Big Apple Circus, one of the most respected and admired circuses in the world. The appeal of the circus for viewers is manifold - the romance of life on the road matched with the spectacle of unrivalled skill of performers at the top of their game.

The series, currently in post-production, employs state-of-the-art HD photography to capture the glittering drama of performance and immerses the viewer in a rich collection of intimate personal stories; of the performers, the organizers and the support staff who work, rest and play in this ‘city without a zip code’ for 11 months of the year. This is a world unto itself – with its own rules and its own lingo.

Among the 150 adults and 15 children in the Big Apple Circus, there are clowns, tightrope walkers, trapeze artists and animal trainers, as well as carpenters, electricians, concessionaires (known in circus lingo as “butchers”), musicians, ushers, cooks and teachers. Big Apple performers come from all over the world – the Nanjing trio from China, the Neves Troupe from Brazil, the Flying Cortes from Colombia, the Rodion troupe from Russia, Olivier Taquin from Belgium, Sarah Schwartz from Germany and Sultan Kumisbayev from Kazakhstan – making for a diverse traveling caravan.

In addition to following the circus throughout their tour up the eastern seaboard of the US, the series goes international as Big Apple Founder and Artistic Director, Paul Binder, and General Manager Guillaume DuFresnoy, search for new talent at the world-renowned Festival International du Cirque de Monte-Carlo.

SHOW OF FORCE for PBS (2009)