ADVENTURE JUNKIES TAKE OFF-THE-BEATEN PATH AND BRAVE NATURE'S EXTREME ELEMENTS IN ANIMAL PLANET'S "MATT ON THE RUN"

Best Pals Trek Across Planet's Most Remote Parts to Film 100-Mile Journeys on Their Own

"Most people live their whole lives on a path. My goal is to get off all paths and see things no one has ever seen before... " - Matt Galland, of MATT ON THE RUN

(Pasadena, Calif.) - This spring, weekend adventurer Matt Galland and his adrenaline-junkie best buddies Danny Bryson and Blake Josephson venture to some of the most untouched pockets of the planet where cameras - let alone people - rarely have gone. In each episode of MATT ON THE RUN, the goal is to trek roughly 100 miles in the wild in just four days to conquer Mother Nature's challenges and capture her infinite beauty. While the mission is straightforward, each journey comes with its twists and turns, including dangerous encounters with wild animals, brutal terrain, invariable weather, extreme lows and almost impossible heights.

"No cameraman can keep up with us, which is why we must shoot everything ourselves," says Matt, who with his pals, capture their adventures with GoPros and handycams. Every single second on the ground is self-shot, providing a surprising sense of intimacy and immediacy of each unchartered step ahead.

While the guys describe each journey as a joyride, it's never easy and not always fun. They burn up to 10,000 calories a day on foot, bike, raft, skis and even skateboard while they face hunger, dehydration, fatigue, hypothermia, potential bone breaks and infighting.

"There comes a time when you wonder what the hell you're doing, and why you're doing it," says Blake, but Matt reminds the trio: "If it doesn't hurt, it's not worth it." Matt, Danny and Blake must band together, heavily relying on pre-arranged bear boxes, which are dropped at set points approximately every 25 miles. The bear boxes contain their favorite foods and much needed supplies that replenish their strength and stamina. They serve as incentives to reach the next destination and refocus their unified intention.

"Matt, Danny and Blake offer their fresh, unfiltered perspectives of the most remote places on Earth, allowing viewers to experience the planet through adventure, first-person footage and real emotions," says Rick Holzman, executive vice president and general manager of Animal Planet. "MATT ON THE RUN is a compelling story of our complex, challenging and rewarding relationship with the natural world around us."

The eight-episode series MATT ON THE RUN is produced for Animal Planet by Renegade 83. Jay Renfroe and David Garfinkle are executive producers for Renegade 83. For Animal Planet, Keith Hoffman is executive producer, and Sarah Russell is associate producer. Vice President of Development Andy Berg developed the series for Animal Planet.

About Animal Planet

Animal Planet, a multi-media business unit of Discovery Communications, is the world's only entertainment brand that immerses viewers in the full range of life in the animal kingdom with rich, deep content via multiple platforms and offers animal lovers and pet owners access to a centralized online, television and mobile community for immersive, engaging, high-quality entertainment, information and enrichment. Animal Planet consists of the Animal Planet television network, available in more than 94 million homes in the US; online assets www.animalplanet.com, the ultimate online destination for all things animal; Animal Planet L!VE, the go-to digital destination for round-the-clock, unfiltered access to the animal kingdom; and other media platforms including a robust Video-on-Demand (VOD) service, and merchandising extensions.