Duo get ready for 'Desert Vet'

Singapore co. teams with LIC Australia on show

By PATRICK FRATER

HONG KONG -- "The Desert Vet," a series about an Australian veterinarian set to shoot in the Himalayas next year, will be the first content in a deal between Singaporean TV producer Upside Down Concepts and LIC Australia.

Two companies agreed to co-produce 20 hours of documentaries for the international TV market over the next 12 months.

Deal includes other one hour docus to be lensed in China and the re-versioning of several Chinese docus to make them suitable for international auds. LIC's German co-production partner, Kick Films of Munich, will also be involved in the slate.

Deal was announced on Sunday, the first day of the two-day Asia Factual Forum in Singapore.

LIC Australia, which has studios in Beijing, has been active in China and Australia for 13 years chiefly as an importer of documentaries into China, and more recently in the production and distribution of documentaries internationally.