Release
SHOWTIME TO AIR AMERICAN JIHAD
New Documentary Investigates The Phenomenon Of Domestic Jihadism,
Inspired By The Critically-Acclaimed Motion Picture Patriots Day
NEW YORK – January 31, 2017 – Today, Showtime Documentary Films announced a compelling new documentary titled AMERICAN JIHAD (wt), which explores home-grown Jihadism, how young men are radicalized to commit violent acts of terrorism and what can be done to prevent it. Through intimate personal stories, we witness the havoc it creates in the lives of their families and the destruction of their communities. AMERICAN JIHAD will premiere on SHOWTIME on March 11 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on-air, online and On Demand, and will serve as the closing night film at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in late February.
AMERICAN JIHAD offers an inside look at Jihadism from former Jihadists and those deeply affected by its practices. By analyzing the strategic outreach and specifically online tactics that terrorists employ in order to reach susceptible members of society, experts weigh in on what actions those in power can take to help prevent the phenomenon of domestic Jihadism from occurring. The documentary also explores the impact of Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen identified by the CIA as an al-Qaeda leader whose charismatic, highly personal recruitment tactics were responsible for influencing other Americans to the Jihadist cause. As the first American-born terrorist targeted and killed by a U.S. drone strike overseas, his death held worldwide political implications and invigorated the momentum of U.S. radicalism.
From Film 45, CBS Films, 60 Minutes and Jigsaw Productions, AMERICAN JIHAD was directed by Alison Ellwood (History of The Eagles, Magic Trip), and produced by Sarah Dowland (Zero Days). The film is executive produced by Oscar®-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side, Going Clear, Zero Days) and Stacey Offman of Jigsaw Productions, along with 60 Minutes’ Michael Radutzky and Jeff Fager, and Film 45’s Matt Goldberg, Brandon Carroll and John Logan Pierson. Richard Perello serves as co-executive producer.
AMERICAN JIHAD was inspired by the critically-acclaimed feature film PATRIOTS DAY directed by Peter Berg and starring Mark Wahlberg, John Goodman, Kevin Bacon, J.K. Simmons and Michelle Monaghan, about a community's extraordinarily courageous response to the homegrown terrorism that precipitated the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.
About Showtime Networks
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®. SHOWTIME is currently available to subscribers via cable, DBS and telco providers, and as a stand-alone streaming service through Apple®, Roku®, Amazon and Google. Consumers can also subscribe to SHOWTIME via Hulu, Sony PlayStation® Vue and Amazon Channels. SNI also manages Smithsonian Networks™, a joint venture between SNI and the Smithsonian Institution, which offers Smithsonian Channel™, and offers Smithsonian Earth™ through SN Digital LLC. 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.
About Film 45
Led by acclaimed filmmaker Peter Berg, Film 45 specializes in non-scripted entertainment and branded content for film, television, and digital platforms. Film 45 aims to tear down the facades and present pure, unvarnished accounts that document the human experience- who we are and what we’re made of. Upcoming projects include National Geographic’s Uncensored with Michael Ware, HISTORY's The War Fighters and The Selection, Verizon Go90’s QB1: Beyond the Lights, and the feature documentary chronicling pop superstar Rihanna.
About CBS Films
CBS Films is a division of CBS Corporation. The division develops, finances, acquires, produces and releases theatrical feature films spanning all genres. Recent releases include the critically acclaimed Patriots Day and Hell or High Water, which has been nominated for multiple Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Upcoming releases include an adaptation of The Man Booker prize-winning The Sense of an Ending from filmmaker Ritesh Batra and the Michael Cuesta-directed American Assassin, an action thriller based on the massive bestselling series by Vince Flynn. For more information, log on to www.cbsfilms.com.
About 60 Minutes
60 Minutes is the most successful television broadcast in history. Celebrating its 49th season on the CBS Television Network, the critically-acclaimed, award-winning news program offers hard-hitting investigative reports, interviews, feature segments and profiles of people in the news, and remains a ratings hit in 2017. “60 Minutes” has won 138 Emmy Awards -- more than any other primetime broadcast, including a special Lifetime Achievement Emmy. It has also won every major broadcast journalism award over its tenure, including 20 Peabody and 16 DuPont Columbia University awards for excellence in television broadcasting. Other distinguished awards won multiple times include the George Polk, RTNDA Edward R. Murrow, Investigative Reporters and Editors, RFK Journalism, Sigma Delta Chi and Gerald Loeb awards.
About Jigsaw Productions
Jigsaw Productions is helmed by Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney, considered one of the most prolific and thought-provoking documentary filmmakers of our generation. Jigsaw has produced many acclaimed films, including the triple Emmy-winning Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, one of the most watched documentaries in HBO’s history; the Oscar-winning Taxi to the Dark Side; the Oscar-nominated Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room; the PGA award-winning We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks; and the Grammy® and Peabody Award-winning Mr. Dynamite: The Rise and Fall of James Brown. Gibney’s latest film, Zero Days, a cyber-thriller chronicling the Stuxnet cyber-attack, premiered in theaters this summer and on Showtime last fall, and has been included on the 2017 Oscar shortlist for Best Documentary. Jigsaw’s 2012 partnership with Content Media has seen the company expand from award-winning features to long-form series on such platforms as CNN (Death Row Stories), Amazon (The New Yorker Presents), Netflix (Cooked, Dirty Money), A&E (The Killing Season), and Nat Geo (Parched) with a number of scripted and non-fiction series in development. From geopolitics to sports, from finance to music, all of Jigsaw’s projects reflect the myriad interests of its founder. And whether the company is creating a documentary or narrative film, a scripted or unscripted series, Jigsaw adheres to the ethos: well-told, scrupulously researched, artfully filmed stories which ignite our curiosity will always have an audience, on screens small or large, on platforms digital or traditional, and can achieve critical and commercial success without sacrificing style or authenticity.
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Contacts:
Johanna Fuentes
Showtime Networks
212-708-1590
