Angelina Jolie to produce kids’ news show for BBC

Image: AFP/Robyn Beck via AFP Relaxnews

Star of “Maleficent” and director of “Unbroken”, Angelina Jolie is adding another producer’s credit to a dozen-strong list by way of the ten-episode children’s series “Our World”.

The show is aimed at children between the ages of 7 and 12 years old, 7 being the age that children become aware of the news (per BBC-commissioned United Kingdom research) and just over 12 and a half being when the average U.S. child opens their first social media account (per a 2016 Common Sense Media report).

“Children today are exposed to a lot of opinion, but not necessarily to information that is fact-based and reliable,” Angelina Jolie said in the BBC’s announcement.

“As a mother, I am very pleased that the BBC World Service is taking this step. It is also important to me that the project is global, and will help young people in different countries to be connected to each other and to have greater awareness and understanding of the news on an international basis,” she explained.

Jamie Angus, the BBC’s World Service director, noted that, over a six-month period, “59 percent of 10-18 year-olds had shared a story that they either subsequently found to be inaccurate or were now uncertain as to its veracity,” according to another 2017 United States survey.

The show’s aim is to “give kids the tools to distinguish the genuine from the false and encourage them to develop critical thinking,” Angus said, “to ask themselves: who produced the video and why? Are they a reputable organization? Are they just telling one side of the story? Is there another view?”

“Our World” is to debut in 2019 in the form of a 10-week project pilot, with the BBC looking to distribute internationally through existing World Service partners and other broadcasters.

Jolie’s existing producer or executive producer credits include “In the Land of Blood and Honey”, “Unbroken”, “By the Sea” and “First They Killed My Father”, all of which she directed, as well as upcoming animated gorilla comedy “The One and Only Ivan”, Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland crossover prequel “Come Away” and “Maleficent” and its 2020 sequel. JB

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