Smashing, Crushing, Shredding…Just Another Day on the Job. SHRED! premieres July 8 on Discovery

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TORONTO (June 12, 2013) – What – and who – destroys the seemingly indestructible? Stoves and tractors; mountains of cell phones, hard drives, photo copiers, and other electronic scrap; cars and boats – and even an amusment park – the old is crushed and shredded to make way for the new.  Premiering Monday, July 8 with back-to-back episodes at 7 and 7:30 p.m. ET/4 and 4:30 p.m. PT on Discovery, SHRED! goes inside a world where maverick engineers and master tradesmen build monster machines designed to destroy the indestructible. An original Canadian series by Toronto-based yap films, this 13-part half-hour series reveals the monster machines and men of Shredding Systems Inc., a company that custom builds and fixes shredders to keep multi-million-dollar companies humming around the world. 

Masters of machines. SHRED! premieres July 8 on Discovery

SSI makes industrial shredders in the most extreme environments imaginable – each one tailored to the job at hand, designed to cut through anything other companies can’t get rid of.  Each episode follows the grinding gears, metal-crushing, against-the-clock pressure as the SHRED! team navigates each tough new assignment. Each shredder is a custom work of engineering art – a hulking million-dollar piece of machinery taller than a house, weighing close to 50 tons, with dozens of huge blades designed to shred anything it can get its claws on, and ripping through its own weight in material on a daily basis. Industries around the world rely on these metallic beasts to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year – if they break down for just one day, some companies will lose millions.

On the SHRED! floor, viewers will find “Shred Whisperer” Lee Sage who can fix any shredder on the fritz; engineering wizard Bob McLeod; master installer Brillo Blakely; field tech Auguie Henry; big boss Tom Garnier; crusher king Dave Miller; and best friends and competitive rivals on the build shop floor, Chris Schuett and Jon Allen.  The men who build these monster machines never back down from a challenge – which is why they’re the go-to team for all jobs too dangerous, hardcore, or just too crazy for the competition. They’ll  meet in the field, anywhere in the world, and huddling to devise plans of attack for shredding hazardous chemicals, highly-combustible materials, dangerous acids, and the toughest metals and other materials known to mankind.

Every episode follows the team as they head out somewhere in the world to build a new shredder or repair one they’ve already installed – mixed in with a competitive challenge between Schuett and Allen back at the shop.  Highlights from the first episodes of SHRED! include:

SHRED!: “Heavy Metal Shredder”

Mon., July 8 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT

The largest urban mining company in the world is looking for brand new shredder. The machine needs to do twice as much work as the one they have now. Sage steps up to the plate and the team gets to work on a one-of-a-kind shredder to deal with the mountains of electronic scrap that the plant receives daily: cell phones, hard drives, photocopiers and circuit boards. This is geek heaven, but it can quickly turn into hell if the team drops the ball and loses one of their biggest clients. Meanwhile, Schuett and Allen are back in Portland, playing a little game of “Shredsketball.”

SHRED!: “Tsunami Shred”

Mon., July 8 at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT

Sage, McLeod, and the team are working on the shredding problem of the century. In 2011, a tsunami devastated Japan. Now, the Shred boys need to build a machine that can shred a whole city – anything from fishing boats to houses, from motorbikes to cars, and from concrete to metal. But more than just that, the shredder also needs to keep running for twenty years straight without wearing out if the guys are ever going to shred Japan out of its nightmare. Back in Portland, Schuett and Allen are shredding a whole Volkswagen Bug, and the little car is tougher than it looks.

SHRED! is produced by yap films and was developed and produced in association with Discovery Canada, with the participation of the Rogers Cable Network Fund and the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit. The series is distributed internationally by Cineflix International Media. The executive producers of SHRED! are Elliott Halpern and Elizabeth Trojian; the series was created by Elizabeth Trojian; and the series producer is Robin Bicknell.

About Discovery:

The world is just awesome! With compelling real-life programming that inspires and entertains, Discovery reveals the world in all its wonder, diversity and amazement. Discovery offers a signature mix of adrenaline-charged stories, larger-than-life personalities and vivid imagery for viewers with curious minds. With the best non-fiction programming from Canada and around the world, Discovery captures the excitement of a passion for life – one lived fully and at its most extreme. With exceptional and immersive storytelling, the channel offers in-depth, behind-the-scenes glimpses at the extraordinary people and places that shape our world. Launched in Canada in 1995, Discovery is now available in more than eight million Canadian homes. Discovery is offered in standard definition (SD) and high definition (HD) simulcast – for viewers who want an even bigger and bolder experience. Discovery Canada is a joint venture between Bell Media, which is owned by BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE), Canada’s largest communications company, and Discovery Communications Inc. Find more information and interactive online features at Discovery.ca.

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For more information:                                                                                                                     

Jodi Cook, Discovery, 416.384.4603 or jodi.cook@bellmedia.ca

Noah Zatzman, Discovery, 416.384.5903 or noah.zatzman@bellmedia.ca

Jeremy Katz, for yap films, 416.656.6970 or jeremyk@sympatico.ca