'Heavy Metal' Doc Sets Sail to Polish Market in New Deal

Janson Media announced today that it has licensed the documentary series Heavy Metal: The Evolution of the Naval Warship (2 x 50') to Canal + Cyfrowy. Scheduled to air on the company's Planete Poland channel, the two part series covers the evolution of the design and armament of ocean-going warships.

The first hour of Heavy Metal tells the story of wind-driven vessels, from the Viking longship to the effective end of the sail era, in 1860. The Vikings used a larger version of their longship for trade. It evolved into the medieval cog, a merchant vessel, which, led to the development of the carrack. This ship, with the advent of gunpowder, evolved into the galleon. The most famous example this new style was Drake"s Golden Hinde, and having a fleet of these much nimbler ships enabled the English to defeat the awkward Spanish Armada, in 1588.

The galleon quickly evolved into the tougher, faster Dutch East Indiaman trading ship, which provided the basic design of warships from the mid-1600s to 1860. Nelson"s Victory and the other great ships of the Napoleonic era were really just larger, somewhat more refined versions of the Dutch East Indiaman.

The second hour of Heavy Metal covers the steam age from 1860 with the launching of the Warrior to about 2010. It is the story of the evolution and extinction of the battleship, which is a specific type of vessel, designed to fight other battleships in large, decisive fleet actions. The advent of the submarine and the aircraft carrier made the battleship obsolete.

The ships filmed include the Golden Hinde, the Amsterdam, R.M.S. Buffel, H.M.S. Victory, H.M.S. Warrior, U.S.S. Olympia, H.M.C.S Sackville the last corvette, the U.S.S. Dwight D. Eisenhower, H.M.C.S. Athabaska, and the U.S.S. Scranton, a fast-attack nuclear submarine.

CANAL + Cyfrowy is one of the leading companies in the Polish media market, the operator of the CYFRA + digital platform, as well as the broadcaster of television channels distributed in over 350 cable television networks. Belonging to the company CANAL +(&'C+&' meaning &'Channel Plus/More&' in French), digital platform Digital + CYFRA launched operations in 1998. CYFRA + is the leading digital platform in the Polish market, giving subscribers access to the most attractive television channels in high digital quality.

Established in 1989, Janson Media is an independent content distribution company based in the United States, with a rights portfolio of over 1,500 hours of exclusive programming available for licensing to worldwide television, VOD, DVD/video, and emerging new media platforms. The company has licensed programming to virtually every country in the world, and its clients include nearly every major broadcaster or media company, as well as a wide range of DVD labels and distributors. Janson Media is also a publisher/ manufacturer of award-winning DVDs.