Release

SHOWTIME RELEASES NEW DOCUMENTARY SLATE FOR LATE 2015

Films To Profile Eccentric Entertainers, The FBI’s Most Wanted Cult Leader; An NFL Hall-of-Famer; An Outspoken Politician; And A First-Ever Look At The CIA

LOS ANGELES, CA – August 11th, 2015 - SHOWTIME is laying out an ambitious new documentary slate for late 2015. Scheduled for this fall are uncensored looks at such fascinating figures as Marlon Brando, Jimi Hendrix, Suge Knight, Barney Frank and Warren Jeffs, as well as in-depth interviews with all 12 living CIA directors, who give unprecedented access to the inner-workings of America’s most powerful spy network.

 

For the first time in network history, SHOWTIME debuts three of its highly-anticipated films in theatres nationwide. LISTEN TO ME MARLON and PROPHET’S PREY is rolling out in theatres under the SHOWTIME DOCUMENTARY FILMS® banner, and DREAMCATCHER will debut later this year.

 

SHOWTIME is a premier destination for original documentary programming, developing films under the SHO: CLOSE UP® banner and the SHOWTIME DOCUMENTARY FILMS banner. The above documentaries join previous award-winning SHO: CLOSE UP films: THE WORLD ACCORDING TO DICK CHENEY, RICHARD PRYOR: OMIT THE LOGIC, KOBE BRYANT’S MUSE and LOST SONGS: THE BASEMENT TAPES CONTINUED, which features new music from long-lost lyrics penned by legendary songwriter Bob Dylan. 

** All documentaries will premiere on-air, On Demand, and over the internet **

Visit: http://www.sho.com/sho/reality-docs/documentaries 

Photos: http://www.cbspressexpress.com/showtime/shows 

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JIMI HENDRIX:  ELECTRIC CHURCH

Premieres: Friday, September 4th at 9:00 p.m. (ET/PT)

Rock legend Jimi Hendrix captivated the world with his unique, highly stylized, jaw-dropping approach to blues guitar. The new SHOWTIME® documentary Jimi Hendrix: Electric Church chronicles his largest ever U.S. performance at the massive Atlanta Pop Music Festival in July 1970 with never-before-seen concert footage of the icon in action. Standout performances and recently unearthed footage shot by Steve Rash (The Buddy Holly Story), detail the historic night and the efforts of promoter Alex Cooley to create the definitive music festival with Hendrix as the centerpiece. Directed by John McDermott, Jimi Hendrix: Electric Church showcases breathtaking, 16mm color footage of Hendrix’s never-before-aired performance, a mere ten weeks before his untimely death. The film features such contemporaries as Paul McCartney, who stood in awe of his incredible musical prowess. Hendrix’s Experience bandmates Billy Cox and the late Mitch Mitchell are also featured, as well as Steve Winwood, Rich Robinson, Kirk Hammett, Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi.

Contacts: Marissa Burton: Marissa.burton@showtime.net, 310-234-5222 and Chloe Comins: chloe.comins@showtime.net, 671-505-5304

 

AMERICAN DREAM/AMERICAN KNIGHTMARE

 

Under the SHO: Close Up banner, AMERICAN DREAM/AMERICAN KNIGHTMARE, from famed director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, Brooklyn’s Finest), delves deep into the life and storied exploits of the iconic Death Row Records co-founder, Suge Knight, as well as the volatile and highly influential era in music that he presided over. Through a series of interviews with Knight, who is currently in jail pending trial on murder, attempted-murder and hit-and-run charges, viewers are guided through his world as he personally reveals exactly how it all happened and why it all fell apart. AMERICAN DREAM/AMERICAN KNIGHTMARE is directed by Fuqua, and is executive produced by Bradley J. Fischer (Black Swan, Shutter Island, Zodiac), Fuqua and Eva Gunz.

Contact: Amanda Cary: Amanda.Cary@showtime.net, 212-708-1593

 

PROPHET’S PREY

Premiere: Saturday, October 10th at 9 P.M. ET/PT

Under the SHOWTIME DOCUMENTARY FILMS banner, PROPHET’S PREY is a look inside the world and mind of Warren Jeffs and the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), one of the largest cults currently operating in the United States. Though he was placed on the FBI’s Most Wanted list and, eventually, captured and sentenced to life in prison, Jeffs continues to prey on the FLDS community in absentia, his power largely unchecked and unchallenged to this very day. An official selection of the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, PROPHET’S PREY is written and directed by Academy Award® nominee Amy Berg (Deliver Us from Evil, West of Memphis) who also serves as a producer.  The film is based on the book by Sam Brower, Prophet's Prey: My Seven-Year Investigation into Warren Jeffs and the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints. Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Dustin Lance Black, Shannon Costello, Anna Culp, Geralyn Dreyfous, Erica Huggins, Jon Krakauer and Regina Scully also serve as executive producers.  Brower and Katherine LeBlond also serve as the documentary’s producers.

Contact: Nicole Elice: Nicole.Elice@showtime.net, 310-234-5218

 

PLAY IT FORWARD

Premiere: Friday October 16th at 9 P.M. ET/PT

Under the SHO: CLOSE UP banner, Play It Forward, from executive producer Michael Strahan, is a rousing portrait of All-American NFL tight end Tony Gonzalez and his older brother, Chris. Over the course of a year near the end of his Hall-of-Fame career, Tony puts his heart on the line to achieve the one dream that has always eluded him: Super Bowl glory. At the same time, Chris, whose own football aspirations were thwarted by an injury, works to realize his very different ambition of becoming a professional firefighter. Equally full of heart and tension, Play It Forward is an uplifting and entertaining look at these two brothers, driven both on and off the field. The film, which was screened at the Tribeca Film Festival earlier this year, is directed and written by Andrea Blaugrand Nevins, produced by Cristan Crocker-Reilly and in addition to Strahan, is also executive produced by Constance Schwartz.

Contact: Frank Marchesini: Frank.Marchesini@showtime.net, 310-234-5342

 

 

THE SPYMASTERS

Premiere: Saturday, November 28th at 9 P.M. ET/PT

Under the SHO: CLOSE UP banner, SHOWTIME presents THE SPYMASTERS, this gripping documentary narrated by Mandy Patinkin (HOMELAND) looks inside the workings of the world’s most powerful and clandestine spy agency and talks candidly to the men who ran it. For the first time ever, all 12 living directors of the CIA, and the agency’s top operatives, have given remarkable, introspective interviews and unprecedented access to America’s spy network. The film will reveal never-before-seen footage of directors talking about their failures and previously classified successes. THE SPYMASTERS is written by Chris Whipple and directed by Gédéon Naudet and Jules Naudet, the team behind the Emmy®-winning documentary 9/11.  Executive producers are Gédéon Naudet, Jules Naudet, Whipple, David Kennerly and Susan Zirinsky.       

Contact: Jackie Ioachim: Jackie.Ioachim@showtime.net, 212-708-1220

 

LISTEN TO ME MARLON

Premiere date to be announced soon

Under the SHOWTIME DOCUMENTARY FILMS banner, LISTEN TO ME MARLON is the definitive Marlon Brando cinema documentary. Described as “revelatory” by the Los Angeles Times, “a masterpiece” by the Village Voice, and “the greatest, most searching documentary” by New York Magazine, LISTEN TO ME MARLON was created using Brando’s vast personal audio archive, allowing him to tell the story in his own words. For the first time, Brando’s personal audio recordings come to life, charting his exceptional career as an actor and his extraordinary life away from the stage and screen. The film reveals the complexities and contradictions that were Marlon Brando, guiding us into the padlocked recesses of his own memory and through the story of his life. LISTEN TO ME MARLON is written, edited and directed by Stevan Riley (Fire in Babylon) and produced by Academy Award®-winning producer John Battsek (Searching for Sugar Man, Restrepo, The Tillman Story, One Day In September), Emmy® winner R.J. Cutler (THE WORLD ACCORDING TO DICK CHENEY, The September Issue) and Emmy Award nominee George Chignell (Ali). Simon Chinn serves as the executive producer. LISTEN TO ME MARLON is a Passion Pictures production in association with Red Box Films and co-produced by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Content Group. 

Contact: Alysia Sands: Alysia.Sands@showtime.net, 212-708-1516

 

COMPARED TO WHAT? THE IMPROBABLE JOURNEY OF BARNEY FRANK

Premiere date to be announced soon

This rollicking film reveals a Barney Frank you only thought you knew. It is an intimate and entertaining look behind-the-scenes at the public and private life of one of America’s greatest legislators. Combining 40 years of rare and archival material with verité footage and interviews shot over several years, the film follows Frank from the Halls of Congress to the streets of Boston-- and to the side of his loving partner, Jim Ready, as he takes his vows and becomes the first member of Congress to enter into a same-sex marriage. Directed and produced by Sheila Canavan and Michael Chandler, Geralyn Dreyfous serves as executive producer.

Contact: Morgan Fouch: Morgan.Fouch@showtime.net, 310-234-5219

 

DREAMCATCHER

Premiered on Friday, March 27th at 9 P.M. ET/PT 

DREAMCATCHER is the inspirational portrait of Chicago’s Brenda Myers-Powell whose Dreamcatcher Foundation fights to end human trafficking and to prevent the sexual exploitation of at-risk youth.  Directed by veteran documentarian Kim Longinotto (Salma, Rough Aunties, Divorce Iranian Style), the film focusses on Myers-Powell, a former Chicago prostitute who helps women and teenage girls break the cycle of sexual abuse and exploitation. The film lays bare the hidden violence that devastates the lives of young women, their families and the communities where they live. Armed with an overwhelming personality and unflinching focus, Brenda establishes The Dreamcatcher Foundation, which helps women and girls acquire the tools they need to leave the sex industry. DREAMCATCHER is a Rise Films, Vixen Films and Green Acres production in association with Impact Partners and Artemis Rising Foundation. It is produced by Lisa Stevens and three-time Emmy winner Teddy Leifer (The Interrupters, Oscar nominee The Invisible War). Executive Producers are Dan Cogan, Geralyn White Dreyfous and Regina K. Scully.

 

About Showtime Networks Inc.

Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CBS Corporation, owns and operates the premium television networks SHOWTIME®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ and FLIX®, and also offers SHOWTIME ON DEMAND®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ ON DEMAND and FLIX ON DEMAND®, and the network's authentication service SHOWTIME ANYTIME®. Showtime Digital Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of SNI, operates the stand-alone streaming service SHOWTIME®. SNI also manages Smithsonian Networks™, a joint venture between SNI and the Smithsonian Institution, which offers Smithsonian Channel™. SNI markets and distributes sports and entertainment events for exhibition to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis through SHOWTIME PPV. For more information, go to www.SHO.com.

 

 

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