Image Credit - Free Willy Keiko Foundation
By Jon Donnis
Sky has stepped in to co-produce a fresh documentary series about Keiko, the captive male orca who became a household name after Free Willy landed in cinemas in 1993. The project now unites Sky with HBO and All3Media's RAW, the team responsible for widely praised titles such as The Tinder Swindler, Don't F**k With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer and Three Identical Strangers. Their partnership also follows the strong reception of the BAFTA-nominated David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived.
The new series charts Keiko's remarkable path through Mexico, the United States, Iceland and Norway. Viewers will be treated to exclusive access to archive footage that has never been shown before, covering everything from his transport out of Iceland as a young calf to the efforts that went into his rehabilitation and training. It promises a clear, intimate look at the life of one of the world's most recognisable whales.
Personal accounts from those closest to Keiko will sit alongside the footage. Some participants have not spoken publicly about him until now, which adds another layer to what aims to be the most detailed portrait of his story to date.
Hayley Reynolds, Sky's Head of Documentary Commissioning, says the partnership with HBO provides the chance to explore the hidden story behind one of cinema's most iconic franchises. She highlights the involvement of director Becky Read and RAW as a sign that the series will be handled with real care and ambition.
Dimitri Doganis, Executive Producer and founder at RAW, notes that Becky Read's team has secured rare access to the people who worked to release a captive orca for the first and only time. He points to a wealth of unseen archival material and describes the tale as one that raises important questions about how humans relate to the natural world, something that continues to resonate today.
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