A Carl Sagan documentary is coming from Nat Geo & Seth MacFarlane

Thrilled to learn that National Geographic is creating a new documentary about the renowned astronomer, and that it's a love story. Described as an "intimate and cinematic portrait" of the visionary scientist, the Untitled Carl Sagan Documentary will explore both his love for science and his life partner, Ann Druyan.

Seth MacFarlane (who was instrumental in bringing the 2014 Cosmos to TV) and Erica Huggins from Fuzzy Door, Ann Druyan (who is also an Emmy/Peabody winner), and Oscar nominee Nanette Burstein are collaborating on the project, with Burstein as the director. It will be available exclusively on National Geographic Channels and Disney+. A release date has not been set.

From the press release:

Carl Sagan (1934-1996) was the director of the Laboratory for Planetary Studies at Cornell University and played a leading role in the American space program since its inception. He was a consultant and adviser to NASA since the 1950s, briefed the Apollo astronauts before their flights to the Moon, and was an experimenter on the Mariner, Viking, Voyager and Galileo planetary expeditions. He helped solve the mysteries of the high temperatures of Venus (answer: a massive greenhouse effect), the seasonal changes on Mars (answer: windblown dust), and the reddish haze
of Titan (answer: complex organic molecules).

For his work, Dr. Sagan received the NASA medals for Exceptional Scientific Achievement and the NASA Apollo Achievement Award. He was also a recipient of the highest award of the National Academy of Sciences. A Pulitzer Prize winner for the book "The Dragons of Eden: Speculations of the Evolution of Human Intelligence," Dr. Sagan was the author of many bestsellers, including "Cosmos," which became the bestselling science book ever published in English. In their
posthumous award to Dr. Sagan of their highest honor, the National Science Foundation declared that his "research transformed planetary science … his gifts to mankind were infinite."

"Carl's life is a multidimensional epic," said executive producer and Sagan's life partner Ann Druyan. "He was a pathfinder in the sciences and a force in the culture, articulating the numinous wonder of a science-based sense of the sacred. He is one of the greatest awakeners in our history, and I feel that with Nanette, Fuzzy Door, Hungry Man and Nat Geo, I now have the right partners to tell his thrilling story," said Ann Druyan.

(Deadline)