Hyde Park & Get Me Out Productions Team For Ultra Running Documentary Projects ‘Ultra’ & ‘Where Are The Kenyans?’
EXCLUSIVE: Ashok Amritraj’s Hyde Park Entertainment and unscripted production company Get Me Out Productions (A Recipe For Murder) have partnered to produce two sport documentary projects which will be brought to buyers and sponsorship partners at NATPE.
Their docuseries Ultra will explore the endurance sport of ultra running, following some of the world’s notable male and female athletes in the sport as they compete –sometimes against each other – in races of 100 miles and more, often for days on end, without sleep, through deserts, up and down mountains, and in blizzard-like conditions around the globe. The runners to be featured are not only decorated professional athletes, but also hold diverse professional careers as software engineers, environmentalists, journalists, and more.
Where are the Kenyans? is developed by Hyde Park Entertainment and Adharanand Finn, the award-winning author of Running with the Kenyans and The Rise of the Ultra Runners and himself an experienced ultra-runner, described by Outside magazine as “one of running’s finest minds.” The project will follow the fortunes of a small, elite team of Kenyan runners – five women and five men – and their Swiss manager in what will be a fish-out-of-water story, both for the runners and for their coach as they navigate the literal, metaphorical, and emotional ups and downs whilst training for trail running’s ultimate competition: the grueling UTMB (Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc).
“We’ve been exploring ultra running for some time, and knew instantly after meeting with the exceptional team at Hyde Park Entertainment that they were the right partners,” said Get Me Out Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer Hali Anastopoulo. “Their cinematic approach paired with our unscripted expertise is the perfect match to uncover this previously unexplored, and extreme, world.”
Amritraj, a former Wimbledon tennis player who recently announced Hyde Park Entertainment Group’s acquisition of the Delhi, India franchise in the World Pickleball League, said, “Sport has been an important part of my life and ultra running and its athletes have always fascinated and impressed me. The expansion of Hyde Park’s slate into premium sports content is a major vertical of our current strategy so I’m delighted to be working with Hali and her wonderful team at Get Me Out on these two unique projects.”
The deal was orchestrated by Hyde Park International President Carl Clifton – also an avid long
distance runner – who previously worked on Oscar-winning documentaries The Cove, Man on Wire and When We Were Kings among others, and Lauren Fisher for Get Me Out who was previously VP of Worldwide Acquisitions at Paramount Global and VP of Acquisitions and Co-Productions at CBS Films during which time she worked on Ron Howard’s Pavarotti.
