Press Release

South Dakota Public Broadcastings ‘Nature Adventures with Terri and Todd’ television series is going national this month, and soon perhaps, international.

According to Terri Lawrenz, Executive Producer, last week the team signed a contract with the newly launched Rural TV Network to air the series nationally. The Rural TV network is available on Dish Network Channel 232, and will expand viewership of the series to over 14 million households starting out, and by late 2012, Rural TV is hoping to reach around 40 million households. Nature Adventures will be aired weekly on Sundays at 12:00 PM Central beginning February 19th.

The news from Rural TV came soon after the Nature Adventures was offered a distribution contract through The Television Syndication Company, a Florida-based company, which has been distributing an elite, carefully-selected supply of television series worldwide for 23 years. “So far, five unique countries have expressed interest in the series just in the past week. This is a new thing for us, we weren’t sure what to expect, but so far this seems promising. We are learning as we go, and paving our own road”, Magnuson said.

When Lawrenz and her partner Todd Magnuson filmed their pilot episode in South Dakota five years ago, never did they imagine that today their series would receive national, and even international, recognition. What started as a pilot the pair created for ‘fun’, has turned in to something much bigger than either of them could have dreamed of. “When we met with the folks from SDPB after presenting them a pilot episode back in 2007, we were honored it caught their attention enough for them to call us in for a meeting.” It was at that meeting that SDPB saw the potential for something much bigger. After sharing ideas, “We just sort of took it and ran with it. We owe our success ultimately to the wonderful folks at SDPB, our family, friends and past supporters for believing in us all along.”, says Lawrenz. “Without them we surely would have given up before we had this opportunity.”

Today, Nature Adventures is a full time, year-around job for the pair. Lawrenz and Magnuson have worked closed with SDPB in developing the series, and also developing an education and outreach program to accompany the series, in which the pair take various creatures around to schools and events throughout the region. In addition they provide educational resources, which can be accessed worldwide online on SDPB’s website at www.sdpb.org.

According to Line Producer Jeff Canfield, the hardest part of developing and building the series’ success hasn’t been building viewership number, nor has it been dealing with unpredictable weather or finding unique content. Believe it or not, funding has not only the hardest part of their journey, but pretty much the only hurdle they have faced along the way. “Being independently produced, we are responsible for our own budget, and that has been the highest hurdle for us. It hasn’t come easy, and when people ask us how we got to this point, all we can really say is ‘we didn’t give up’”, says Canfield. “We knew we had something good here. The hard part was getting the attention of the right people, which has been challenging, to say the least.” It seems somehow, their hard work has finally paid off, and the team has found that attention, not only in the U.S., but worldwide.

There have been a lot of bumps in the road for Nature Adventures team, which consists of a mere handful of people. Magnuson says “If you look at the ending of any television show, and notice the lengthy list of names at the end, it’s hard for anyone to believe that it’s pretty much myself, Terri, and a couple of part time assistants that keep all aspects of the show flowing.” Despite wonderful feedback and ratings, and even an Emmy Nomination, the team struggled to be able to keep going. “There is really no mold for what we were trying to do, no template for success, and really no business plan. It took a lot of struggling, commitment, sacrifices, and determination”, adds Magnuson. Or maybe it was fate?

In addition to the series’ success in expanding their viewership range, Nature Adventures signed a contract to be part of the future Brookings Outdoor Learning Center. The team will have an office and studio space in the center where onlookers will be able to watch the series in production through a viewing window. The Nature Adventures area of the center will also feature a display of several South Dakota native wildlife species. The center will feature classrooms, which the team can use for nature education classes.

Lawrenz and Magnuson’s five year journey and vision of putting society back in touch with nature has been rewarding and enjoyable to say the least. As it seems, these two rural Midwestern natives have found their calling in life. “Was it easy? No. Was it worth it? Absolutely. Being able to showcase our region and educate viewers throughout the world about it, is truly priceless”, says Lawrenz.

Lawrenz grew up near Marshall, MN and Magnuson is a native of Harding County, South Dakota.

Nature Adventures will continue to air in it’s regular time slot at 5:30 pm Sundays on South Dakota Public Broadcasting in addition to the new timeslot on Rural TV at 12:00pm every Sunday. For more information on the series and the Nature Adventures: LIVE Outreach Program, please visit www.natureadventuresonline.org