Element - new series is an independent production developed by non –profit initiative The Element Partnership, in co-operation with leading media partners TVE (Television Trust for the Environment), Internews Europe and the One World Broadcasting Trust.

Element blends high-end trailers and graphics from some of London’s most talented editors and commercials directors. The stories are told against the backdrop of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the internationally agreed goals to halve poverty by 2015 that inspired the Live 8 concerts and the ‘Make Poverty History’ campaign in 2005.

The series opens with the story of Emmanuel Jal who was using AK47s by the time he was eight. Once a child soldier in Sudan, he’s now an internationally acclaimed performer who uses his music to inspire fellow refugees and promote global disarmament.

Element also introduces Nigerian sisters Ifie and Tina - who drive each other crazy, but are united in the campaign against the oil industry’s devastation in the Niger Delta. And it tells the story of Craig, who at the age of 12 started the world’s largest network of young people, as he helps rebuild Sri Lankan schools destroyed by the 2005 tsunami.

‘The Element series highlights a positive standpoint on serious global issues and we are confident that it will inspire and engage viewers across all our channels and digital platforms.’ commented Matt Graff, Senior Producer, MTVNI Emerging Markets. ‘We are proud to be featuring Element on MTV European’.

‘We are thrilled to be involved in such cutting-edge programming for young people,’ says Jenny Richards, TVE Deputy Director. ‘And we are looking forward to a lively debate with them on the website when the programmes are aired.’

For Internews Europe and its growing Earth Journalism Network, Element presents an opportunity to work with a new TV format geared towards its new generation of Web 2.0 sites in some of the major MTV territories like India.

‘We have good feedback from MTV and TVE on Element. The acid test will be how viewers take to Element on air and on-line,’ says Mark Harvey, Internews Europe Development Director, co-founder of the Element strand with Emily McDowell, a former MTV news producer.

The Element website started running from 12 March 2007

The first Element series was made with the support of OxfamNOVIB, NCDO, the UN Foundation, the Royal Norwegian Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the European Union.