Guardhouse Productions 806 Buchanan Blvd #115-176

Boulder City, NV 89005 702-466-0544

Feather Films New Delhi, India

Ajay Sharma +919810041752

LAND OF GODS AND HEROES

ANCIENT CITIES OF SOUTH ASIA (Working Title)

An Eight-Part Documentary Series

Run Time: Eight One Hour Episodes

Series Information

Production Locations: India, Pakistan and Nepal

Production Duration: start to finish: 12 months

Master Format: HD Footage

Post Production: New Delhi, India

Production Companies: Feather Films, New Delhi, India,

Guardhouse Productions, Las Vegas, Nevada This series is an Indian-American coproduction.

Senior Series Producers:

Burt Kempner, Surya Iacono, Ajay Sharma, Mangesh Bapat Producer and Associate Producer:

One Indian and One American Writers and Research:

Burt Kempner and Feather Films Director of Photography and Second Cameras:

One Indian and One American DP One Indian and One American Additional Second Cameras

Lighting and Audio: Indian and American Crew

Editing and Post Production: Editing will occur in India, with a team of Indian and American Editors

and Post-Production Specialists. Production Assistants:

Six production assistants will be facilitated in India. Co-Directors:

Ajay Sharma, Surya Iacono

Narration: Morgan Freeman(Tentative)

Total Budget:

$2.1-$2.5 Million US Budget Figure includes Pre-production, Production,

and Post Production with an additional 25% added for cost fluctuation.

Series Synopsis

Journey with us back in time…before the sound stages of Bollywood…before Mahatma Gandhi…before the Bengal Lancers…before the Taj Mahal…perhaps even before the Sphinx rose from the desert sands. Civilization in the Indian sub-continent is old beyond telling. Indeed, Egyptian mummies were wrapped in strips of the finest Indian cotton. Hindu sacred texts and grand epics like the Mahabharata and Bhagavad Gita tell of us of gods and goddesses, heroes and battles, and the struggle between good and evil. Long considered the stuff of myth, these ancient tales are now starting to be seen in a different light, thanks to modern technology and the work of Indian archaeologists. Did these literary masterpieces contain more fact than fable? LAND OF GODS AND HEROES, an eight-part series of one-hour programs, will take viewers along as the most fascinating of these legendary sites reveal their secrets to scientists. Timeline The ancient history of India comes to us in three forms - 1) Mythological accounts (of which we have epics, shastras, puranas, that takes us more than 10,000 years back), 2) Archeological remains (dates back to at least 3000 years before Christ) and 3) Written accounts (a few works of literature that only give us glimpses of the ancient past). India's history is incredibly rich and its earliest societies are shrouded in the mists of time. Scientists have found artifacts dating back to 500,000 years in the past. We know much of the great achievements in astronomy, physics, mathematics, literature and all kind of arts. What we lack in many cases is a documented chronological history. Could that situation be about to change?

Ancient/Lost Cities According to the Indian calculation of time there are four Yugas (a period of years); Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dwapar Yuga and Kali Yuga. According to this calculation in Indian mythology the Ramayana (Treta Yuga) predates the Mahabharata (Dwapar Yuga). Historians suggest that after Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro (Indus Valley civilization) the Vedic culture flowered. And, finally, the Buddha lived around 350 years before the birth of Christ. Given that chronology, the sites we will visit include:

1. Ayodhya – The purported birthplace of Rama, another of Vishnu’s avatars and the hero of the epic poem the Ramayana. Once described as “a city built by Gods and as prosperous as paradise,” Ayodhya was founded by the great lawgiver Manu. Did the city have a king named Rama and was this the same figure celebrated in legends? Archaeologists are hoping to find the definitive answer.

2. Mathura(Vrindavan) -- a holy place for all Hindus and the object of countless pilgrimages. It was in this area that Lord Krishna was said to have been born. The city has undergone extensive urbanization, but it still has many a fabulous tale to tell of its glorious antiquity.

3. Kurukshetra – The site of a great battle between two rival families, the Pandavas and the Kauravas, described in the Mahabharata. It was here that Lord Krishna recited the Bhagavad Gita, the “Bible” of India to the warrior Arjuna.

4. Dwarka – Could Krishna, the celebrated incarnation of the god Vishnu, have been an actual historical figure? Exploration of the underwater city of Dwarka suggests that that may indeed be the case. Before sinking beneath the waves, the city was continuously built and rebuilt. The original Dwarka might date back as far as 12,000 years.

5. Mohenjo-Daro and the Harappan Sites -- the cradle of modern-day India. The Indus Valley civilization dates from around 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE. These Bronze Age people left no grand monuments to mark their place in history, but the cities they built, particularly Mohenjo-Daro (Mound of the Dead), were as sophisticated as their counterparts in Egypt, Mesopotamia and Crete.

6. The Saraswati, Ganges and Yamuna Rivers – The three waterways figure prominently in ancient texts, and the place where they all meet was considered especially holy. The problem was, there appeared to be no trace of the Saraswati and scientists had concluded that the river was just a myth. But now, thanks to satellite imaging, the dry riverbed has been found and intriguing evidence suggests that there may be lost cities along its former shores.

7. Cities of The Buddha – We will visit a number of sites associated with the great religious teacher: Lumbini, where he was born as Siddhartha Gautama; BodhGaya, the place where he gained enlightenment; and Kushinagar, where he died and was cremated.

8. Magadha– Mentioned in the Ramayana and Mahabharata, Magadha can claim to be the cradle of two great world religions: Buddhism and Jainism. It was renowned as the hub of the Golden Age, where India saw great advancements in science, astronomy, mathematics, religion and philosophy. Magadha reached its full flowering under King Asoka, a fierce warrior who renounced violence and became a practicing Buddhist.

Production Summary

In order to facilitate a project of this vast scope, Guardhouse Productions has partnered with Feather Films, an established documentary production company based in New Delhi, to make the series an American-Indian coproduction. Our production partners will be responsible for facilitating the permitting process, planning logistics, making interview contacts, etc. Worldwide interest in India and South Asia is growing rapidly, particularly in the West, where the movie such as “Slumdog Millionaire” captured eight Oscars. But many of these audiences as yet know little about India’s and South Asia's fabulous history and culture. LAND OF GODS AND HEROES will come as a surprise and a revelation to them This is a project of immense scope and depth. We will showcase a rich array of archaeological treasures, some of them never seen before on television. Through the use of 3-D animation, audiences will be able to wander down the streets and byways of long-gone urban centers. We will walk in the footsteps of ancient heroes, visit places sacred to Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, and make the pages of the great Indian epics and texts come alive before Western eyes. LAND OF GODS AND HEROES will educate, entertain and stimulate tourism to this magnificent part of the world. It will be a viewing event of the first order with huge appeal to audiences around the globe.

Biographies of Series Producers Burt Kempner Writer-Producer Burt Kempner has worked professionally in New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Florida. His work has won numerous major awards, and has been seen by groups ranging in size from a national television audience in the United States to a half-dozen Maori chieftains in New Zealand. Among his broadcast credits are: for PBS: KidHealth, a 13-part series on children's medicine with Peggy Fleming, The Fall and Rise of Germany, a two-hour exploration of the German nation since the end of the Second World War, and Chincoteague, a celebration of the wild ponies and human inhabitants of this island off the coast of Virginia; for The Discovery Channel: The New Detectives, a series about crime-fighting advances in forensic science, and The Spirit of Punxsutawney: Groundhog Day, a documentary about the western Pennsylvania town made world famous by a weather-predicting rodent; for CNBC: numerous episodes of Today's Environment, a survey of ecological success stories hosted by actor Ed Begley, Jr.; for European television: Weimar: A Modern-Day Renaissance City, an historic look at the one-time home of Goethe and Schiller and its latter-day efforts to become a cultural center once more. He co-founded DreamKeepers Media in 2002

Ajay Sharma Broadcast media professional turned filmmaker and writer. After obtaining a Masters Degree in History, he started a career in print. In his 14 year professional journey he has been associated with various national newspapers, websites and television networks. Ajay was part of India's most watched news channel of TV Today group. His expertise is in writing and research. He has produced many long format shows and documentaries on a wide spectrum of subjects ranging from history, religion, paranormal to scientific and investigative stories. Ajay is co-founder of Feather Films with his longtime business associate Mangesh Bapat.

Surya Iacono Breakout independent filmmaker Surya Iacono has owned and operated her own film production company, Guardhouse Productions, for the past six years. She was born in Washington DC and attended the Universita di Firenza in Italy, earning the equivalent of a Bachelors degree in Journalism. Three years later, and deep into production on her award-winning documentary Green Cards For Al Qaeda, Surya went back to school in 2008 to Zaki Gordon Film Institute in Arizona and earned her degree in digital filmmaking. The film received a Best Short Documentary Award for a 20-minute piece encapsulating the feature length film about national border security. Having a global vision in her work, Surya produced and edited a feature length documentary on World Peace that aired internationally. She has also produced and edited over a dozen documentaries, covering such diverse subjects and topics ranging from nature and environment – to medical related and martial arts stories. Serving as senior producer on all her film and television work, Surya has the ability to take a project from pre-production to final assembly in a timely and efficient manner, without sacrificing quality and creativity. Currently, Guardhouse Productions is in preproduction on Land of Gods and Heroes, an eight-part documentary series that will explore the magic and history of this magnificent part of the world. A licensed pilot, Surya travels between Southern California and Colorado Springs, now calling both places home.

Mangesh Bapat A science graduate Mangesh started his career as a marketing executive with Hindustan Computers Ltd. in 1988 and later changed tracks to pursue a career in broadcast media; initially with India's national broadcaster. In 1991 he joined Newstrack, India's first video news magazine produced by Living Media Group. He has also worked with various well known Bollywood directors. Mangesh has also worked as a freelance Editor and Director for about 5 years. Between 1996 to 2011, he worked for some of the biggest Indian media companies in different capacities. Many of his works have won national and international awards. After more than 22 years of experience in TV production, he founded Feather Films with Ajay Sharma.

American Contact Information: Guardhouse Productions: Surya Iacono (702) 466-0544 s.iacono@guardhouseproductions.com Burt Kempner: (941) 321-7822 b.kempner@guardhouseproductions.com Indian Contact Information: Feather Films: Ajay Sharma: +919810041752 ajay971@gmail.com Mangesh Bapat: +919810417412 mangesh.m.bapat@gmail.com

Public Relations Wilkinson Brown

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