WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--From the moment our ancestors smashed two rocks together to forge the first tool, technology and imagination have propelled humanity forward. But now, technology has the power to shape a future beyond our imagination. What was once conceived by science fiction as entertainment is now the blueprint great scientists use to project the future of our world.
Premiering Monday, May 15, at 9/8c, National Geographic paints a visual story of the distant future in the six-part documentary-drama series YEAR MILLION. Narrated by Laurence Fishburne (“The Matrix,” “Blackish”) and produced by RadicalMedia (MARS, FROM THE ASHES), YEAR MILLION unites the brightest minds in science, technology and science fiction, including Ray Kurzweil, Michio Kaku, Peter Diamandis and Brian Greene. Together, these experts, who spend their lives studying and imagining our future, take us inside a very real future that feels like the stuff of science fiction – a future where humankind has merged with machine and forged an existence where we’re living beyond our bodies, beyond our planet and beyond our solar system.
YEAR MILLION weaves a thrilling – sometimes frightening – depiction of how we’ve used innovative science to create technology that will soon surpass our intelligence - and perhaps exist beyond our control. For instance, the cell phone, a device most of us cannot live without, much less leave at home, has become exponentially more intelligent just in the last decade.
YEAR MILLION’s documentary sequences are comingled with illustrative, dramatic storytelling to depict a version of humanity’s fate through the lens of a typical, futuristic American family – which includes an android daughter whose existence depends upon interactions with future scientific and technological advancements. These dramatic sequences shift between a robust roster of on-camera commentary and serve as touchstones of the world to come.
YEAR MILLION is a stark, fact-based response to the future anticipated within today’s popular sci-fi films and TV series including “Star Wars,” “The Matrix,” “Black Mirror,” “Westworld,” “Humans,” “Ex Machina” and “Her.” In addition to consulting contemporary scientific/tech experts on camera, the series features a mix of lay interviews with filmmakers, artists, writers and comedians who provide their perspectives on the future of humanity; noted graphic novelist Brian Michael Bendis, Nerdist co-host Matt Mira and musician/science enthusiast David Byrne join the mix.
“YEAR MILLION propels us into an odyssey of the unfathomable choices humans will face while questioning the kind of lives we’ll live and the people we’ll become,” says Tim Pastore, President, Original Programming and Production. “The series imagines an era when mortality becomes a thing of the past; man merges with machine; intelligence is limitless; and the human species becomes interplanetary.”
The series predicts how every aspect of technology may affect our lives for better or worse and ponders the following questions as outlined in the episode descriptions.
Episode 1 – Homo Sapien 2.0: Premieres Monday, May 15, 9/8c
Advances
in neuroscience and engineering are bringing us closer toward a reality
first described in great science fiction, one in which artificial
intelligence will become indistinguishable from – or perhaps even
surpass - human intelligence. This could lead to a future in which AI
beings become our essential collaborators or a threat to human value and
life. What are the major milestones that are leading us towards this
singularity, and how will that affect the evolution of the human species?
Episode 2 – Never Say Die: Premieres Monday, May 22, 9/8c
Recent
breakthroughs in genetics have given us a better understanding of the
biology of humans, opening up new ways that could help us all live
healthier for longer. In the future, will we move beyond treating
individual diseases and, instead, treat the aging process itself? How
would a dramatically protracted life change not only the fabric of
society, but what it means to be a human being?
Episode 3 – Dude, Where’s My Body?: Premieres Monday, May 29, 9/8c
Advances
in graphics and computing power have given rise to a renaissance in
virtual technologies from world-building platforms like Second Life to
manufacturers of VR headsets like Oculus Rift. We’re seeing more and
more of human activity transfer to virtual spaces, offering people
profound experiences via online personas and even transforming the way
the real-world functions. Will we reach a tipping point where reality
becomes a pale shadow of the rich, imaginative, virtual worlds we’ve
created for ourselves? What will that mean for our perception of
humanity? What do we risk losing?
Episode 4 – Mind Meld: Premieres Monday, June 5, 9/8c
Within
a single generation, the Internet has transformed virtually every aspect
of modern culture from the way we learn and work to the ways in which we
communicate and express ourselves. How has this constant connectivity
affected our views on privacy? How will they continue to change as new
technologies like neural prosthetics help us create seamless,
instantaneous connections to the cloud? Eventually, will we evolve to
the point of telepathy? How will this affect our relationships to each
other? Will this give us new tools or insight into communication with
other civilizations that might exist beyond Earth?
Episode 5 – Energy Beyond Earth: Premieres Monday, June 12, 9/8c
Overconsumption
of energy and resources has led us to a breaking point where we will
either have to engineer our way around our problems, or look to other
planets to inhabit. If we go off planet, we will have to make it
habitable for humans through processes like terraforming, which may lead
to unintended consequences for that ecosystem. Is this human-centric
view of the universe the right approach? And is it possible there are
alien civilizations that have reached this similar inflection point?
Episode 6 – Beyond the Cosmos: Premieres Monday, June 19, 9/8c
Humans
have always had a drive to explore the unknown. This indomitable spirit
has led us to new shores, new depths and, in the last century, to new
planets. As the number of mysteries remaining on home planet decreases,
how will we have to adapt ourselves biologically in order to explore
farther distances in space? Will we discover forms of life reminiscent
of Earth or new forms of life entirely? What astrophysical phenomena may
we experience, and how closely will it align to how we’ve imagined it in
science fiction?
YEAR MILLION is produced by RadicalMedia for National Geographic. For RadicalMedia, Justin Wilkes, Jon Kamen and Dave O’Connor are executive producers. Tommy Turtle, Wendy Greene and Laurence Fishburne also serve as executive producers, and Mark Elijah Rosenberg is the co-executive producer and director. For National Geographic, Matt Renner is vice president, production; Tim Pastore is president, original programming and production; and Carolyn Bernstein is executive vice president and head of global scripted development & production.
For more information, visit our press room at natgeotvpressroom.com.
About National Geographic Partners LLC
National Geographic Partners LLC (NGP), a joint venture between National Geographic and 21st Century Fox, is committed to bringing the world premium science, adventure and exploration content across an unrivaled portfolio of media assets. NGP combines the global National Geographic television channels (National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo WILD, Nat Geo MUNDO, Nat Geo PEOPLE) with National Geographic’s media and consumer-oriented assets, including National Geographic magazines; National Geographic studios; related digital and social media platforms; books; maps; children’s media; and ancillary activities that include travel, global experiences and events, archival sales, licensing and e-commerce businesses. Furthering knowledge and understanding of our world has been the core purpose of National Geographic for 128 years, and now we are committed to going deeper, pushing boundaries, going further for our consumers … and reaching over 730 million people around the world in 171 countries and 45 languages every month as we do it. NGP returns 27 percent of our proceeds to the nonprofit National Geographic Society to fund work in the areas of science, exploration, conservation and education. For more information visit natgeotv.com or nationalgeographic.com, or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, YouTube, LinkedIn and Pinterest.
About RadicalMedia:
RadicalMedia is an Oscar-, Emmy-, Peabody- and Grammy Award-winning studio, with recent credits that include MARS for National Geographic; “Stan Against Evil” for IFC; “Hamilton’s America” for PBS’ Great Performances; Netflix’s “Abstract: The Art of Design,” which had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival; and “May It Last: A Portrait of the Avett Brothers,” which won the Audience Award: 24 Beats Per Second at SXSW 2017 and was acquired by HBO. RadicalMedia's vast body of work also includes the Oscar-winning documentary “The Fog of War”; Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning “What Happened, Miss Simone?” for Netflix; “Keith Richards: Under the Influence” for Netflix; and Epix’s docuseries “America Divided;” as well as numerous Joe Berlinger directed and produced projects, including the Oscar- and Emmy-nominated “Paradise Lost: Purgatory” for HBO; “Metallica: Some Kind of Monster”; “Under African Skies” for A&E “Whitey: The US vs. James J. Bulger” for CNN, and two world premiering documentary features at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival: “Intent to Destroy” and From the Ashes, which will have its global TV debut on National Geographic on June 25, 2017. See more at RadicalMedia.com and find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
