Starring Antonio Banderas and Alex Rich in the joint role of Pablo Picasso, this 10-Episode Series hails from Fox 21 Television Studios and Imagine Television and is executive produced by Academy Award Winners Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, with a feature length Premiere on 22 April 2018.

Clémence Poésy, Robert Sheehan, Poppy Delevingne and Aisling Franciosi feature alongside returning cast from season one, Samantha Colley, with appearances by T.R. Knight, Seth Gabel and Johnny Flynn.

Few painters have been as awe-inspiringly prolific as Pablo Picasso. One of the most influential and celebrated artists of the 20th century, his career spanned more than 80 of his 91 years, during which time he produced an estimated 50,000 works. His passionate nature and relentless creative drive were inextricably linked to his personal life, which included tumultuous marriages, numerous affairs and ever-shifting political and personal alliances. Constantly reinventing himself, Picasso always strove to innovate and push the boundaries of artistic expression, leading to his worldwide renown as a genius.

Premiering on 22 April 2018 at 20h05, the second season of National Geographic’s Emmy-, Golden Globe-, and Screen Actor’s Guild Award-nominated 10-part global event series, Genius: Picasso, explores the Spanish expatriate’s devotion to his craft, his contribution to modern art and his turbulent personal life. The new season, from Fox 21 Television Studios, is executive produced by Brian Grazerand Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment, MWM Studios and EUE/Sokolow Entertainment. Showrunner, executive producer, writer and director Ken Biller also returns.

Antonio Banderas brings to life the artistic career of the titular artist: Pablo Picasso. Joining him as the younger Pablo is Alex Rich, who rejects academic study and joins the circle of young bohemian artists and writers struggling to make it in early 20th century Spain and France.

Clémence Poésy portrays Françoise Gilot, a French painter and best-selling author whose decade-long affair with Picasso yielded two children.  Sebastian Roché is Emile Gilot, Francoise’s tyrannical father. Robert Sheehan plays Carles Casagemas, Poppy Delevingne portrays Marie-Thérèse Walter, and Aisling Franciosi of Game of Thrones, acts as Fernande Olivier, a French artist and model, of whom Picasso painted more than 60 portraits.

Returnig to the Genius Series, is Samantha Colley, who will play Dora Maar, a French photographer and painter who was also Picasso’s lover and muse.  Grey’s Anatomy’s T.R. Knight will play Max Jacob, with Seth Gabel and Joghnny Flynn in the roles of Guillaume Apollinaire and Alain Cuny respectively.

The second season of the acclaimed series began production in 2017, filming in many locations where Picasso himself once lived and worked. This included a three-day shoot in Málaga, Spain — birthplace of both Picasso and Banderas — where production filmed in the same house in which Picasso was born, the church where he was baptised and the bullring where he found much inspiration in his youth.

Genius: Picasso is executive produced by Imagine’s Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Francie Calfo, and co-produced by Anna Culp; showrunner, executive producer, writer and director is Ken Biller. From MWM Studios, Gigi Pritzker and Rachel Shane are executive producers and Melissa Rucker is co-producer. Sam Sokolow and Jeff Cooney from EUE/Sokolow Entertainment are also executive producers. For National Geographic, Carolyn G. Bernstein is executive vice president and head of global scripted development and production. The series is produced by Fox 21 Television Studios, Imagine Television and MWM Studios.

Genius, Season 2, (10 episodes) starts 22 April 2018 on National Geographic, at 20h05, and will premiere with a double bill.

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Washington, DC – Nov 16, 2016 – At a very poignant moment when the future of environmental policy hangs in the balance, National Geographic is pleased to announce that its climate change documentary BEFORE THE FLOOD has reached more than 60 million people worldwide and surpassed a record-setting one billion minutes viewed across linear, digital, streaming and social platforms — making it arguably one of the most watched documentaries in history and the most watched National Geographic film ever.

Produced by and starring Academy Award winner Leonardo DiCaprio, with Academy Award-winning director Fisher Stevens; producers Trevor Davidoski, Jennifer Davisson, Brett Ratner and James Packer; and executive producer Martin Scorsese, the film presents a riveting account of the dramatic changes now occurring around the world due to climate change, as well as the actions we as individuals and as a society need to take to prevent catastrophic disruption of life on our planet.

The news comes a year after the Paris Climate Accord was reached at COP 21, and one day after BEFORE THE FLOOD was screened at COP 22 in Marrakech, Morocco. In written remarks to introduce the film at the screening in Marrakech, director Fisher Stevens said: “Those of you in this room already know the urgency of this issue. You are here because you understand the problems and challenges we face as the human race moves into the future. By 2050 there may be almost 10 billion of us living on this planet. How can we sustain it at the rate we are going? How can we feed, clothe and have fresh water for that many people. We know something has got to give and we need a shift in the way we power the world.”

But last week’s election in the United States underscores the urgency of the issue, and this film. Said Stevens: “Our new administration could dismantle all the good and forward momentum that has occurred over the past few years if campaign promises are actually kept. However, let’s do everything in our power to make President-elect Trump understand that man-made climate change is not only real, but is happening at an alarming rate. We are currently trying to get him to watch the film and to get Leo and other leaders in the climate movement an audience with the president-elect.”

Critics called the film “a rousing call to action” and “the climate change documentary Americans need to see.’” National Geographic took this call to heart, and BEFORE THE FLOOD received a rollout never before seen for a documentary film, first with a limited theatrical release in New York, Los Angeles and London, then making its global television debut on this year on National Geographic Channel in 171 countries and 45 languages.

The record-setting numbers included more than 60 million unique viewers globally across linear, digital and social platforms, including 30 million viewers on National Geographic Channel in the US, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and Latin America (US: 8.5MM; Asia & Australia: 6.9MM; Europe & Africa: 10.6MM; Latin America: 3.0MM) as well as 13.4 million views on YouTube. On average, across linear TV viewing and YouTube, viewers watched at least 22 minutes of the film. In total, across all platforms, more than ONE BILLION minutes of the documentary have been viewed.

And beyond those impressive numbers, BEFORE THE FLOOD was also made available for free to more than 50,000 college students with campus screenings across the US, and more than 1,500 requests have been fulfilled from universities, religious institutions and other organizations for private screening events around the world. The film trended on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook during its entire release.

In BEFORE THE FLOOD DiCaprio interviews individuals from every facet of society in both developing and developed nations who primpassioned and pragmatic views on what must be done today and in the future to transition our economic and political systems into environmentally friendly institutions.

The feature documenary was an official selection at the Toronto Film Festival, London Film Festival and Hamptons International Film Festival. Recently, BEFORE THE FLOOD was screened at the White House as part of the South By South Lawn event and at the United Nations, hosted by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon with US Secretary of State John Kerry participating in a Q&A session.

© 2016 RatPac Documentary Films, LLC and Greenhour Corporation, Inc. All rights reserved.

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