Based On International Best Seller Robin Cook’s Latest Work,Foreign Body Will Be Released As Both a TV Movie and Web Series.
Cannes – October 14 th 2008
At MIPCOM 2008, Cyber Group Digital Media and The Tornante Company’s new media studio for Internet production, Vuguru ( www.vuguru.com ) today launched international sales of their co-production Foreign Body , from international bestselling author Robin Cook. Both companies co-produced this brand new series, to be distributed around the world by Cyber Group Digital Media. Robin Cook is the international master of the medical thriller genre, and his books have already sold over 100 million copies worldwide in 40 languages. Co-produced by Michael Eisner’s web company Vuguru, and shot in California and New Delhi , Foreign Body , this American thriller is about medical tourism in India . A series of unexplained deaths in foreign hospitals will lead to unveil a sinister conspiracy of global proportions. Medical tourism is a growing concern. According to The Economist, “historically, medical tourism has been available only to the rich, but today we face the prospect of a boom in mass medical tourism, as American health care costs rise while quality falls. Americans traveling abroad to receive medical treatment are expected to number 10 million by 2012, up from 750,000 last year, and to contribute more than $20 billion annually to developing-country economies”. Besides the terrible reality of its theme, Foreign Body is also a groundbreaking cross-media concept and the best example of convergence between new and traditional media. It is the first time ever that a prequel of a book has been produced as a series for web and mobile applications (50×2′ format). Foreign Body has also been adapted for television as a 90′ High Definition TV Movie. The 50 episodes are broadcast over the Internet and via a mobile phone operator, 1 episode every two days. The last episode airs one day before the book’s release. The book story starts where the web series ends. Cyber Group Digital Media is already in discussion with major channels for a multimedia broadcast across internet, mobile and television platforms.