Lisa Ling Strikes Overall Deal With HBO Max & Hosts Travel Docuseries ‘Birth, Wedding, Funeral’ For Streamer

Lisa Ling is to front a travel docuseries for HBO Max after striking an overall deal with the upcoming streamer.

The host of CNN’s This is Life with Lisa Ling, currently in its sixth season, is extending her relationship with WarnerMedia with the overall arrangement. She will present Birth, Wedding, Funeral, based on an idea by journalist Dan Rather, Maro Chermayeff and Jeff Dupre, for the service, which will launch in spring 2020.

Each episode of the series will be set in a different country to reveal its culture through rituals surrounding births, weddings, and funerals. Birth, Wedding, Funeral is produced by Part2 Pictures, which produces This is Life with Lisa Ling as well as Hulu’s upcoming Padma Lakshmi cooking series. Ling executive produces alongside Rather and Philip Kim for News and Guts.

As part of Ling’s overall deal, HBO Max will have a first look at new projects from Ling, who is developing a slew of other projects.

“We are living in a deeply polarized world and I am elated for the opportunity to bring us closer to one another through stories about the most defining moments in people’s lives: their Births, Weddings and Funerals,” said Ling.

“As part of the CNN family, Lisa has carved out a unique space for herself using her style of gritty, investigative journalism to drive at the heart of every human story she tells,” said Jennifer O’Connell, executive vice president, original content, HBO Max. “Birth, Wedding, Funeral takes audiences on a global journey through a range of societies, exploring the rituals around three critical life events and we are eager to bring this illuminating storytelling to our HBO Max audience.”

“Over the course of my many travels, I have always welcomed the chance to learn about the world’s varied cultures through how they experience life’s most intimate and transformative benchmarks,” added Dan Rather. “I am thrilled that Lisa, a skilled and compassionate storyteller, will bring these moments into our homes and allow us to renew our faith in the common bonds of humanity.”