CNN Special Programming & Documentaries

CNN Films and Cinedigm Acquire ‘Our Nixon’

Documentary features newly released personal footage shot by Nixon’s closest aides

CNN plans for broadcast in August 2013; film will be released theatrically by Cinedigm

CNN FILMS and CINEDIGM have acquired OUR NIXON, a new, feature-length film, produced with rediscovered Super 8 home movie footage, filmed by the 37th president’s closest aides.  More than 500 reels of personal films were shot separately by Nixon chief of staff H.R. Haldeman, domestic affairs adviser John Ehrlichman, and special assistant Dwight Chapin, between 1969 and 1973, and were until relatively recently, retained by the National Archives.

Our Nixon is directed by Penny Lane, and co-produced by Lane and Brian Frye.  The film is expected to premiere on CNN/U.S. in August 2013, and will be released theatrically by Cinedigm.

The home movies are complemented by subsequent archival interviews in which each man reflects upon his relationship with the others and with the president, recounts the exhaustive work of White House service, and of course, recalls Watergate.  The film also includes rarely broadcast excerpts from nearly 4,000 hours of Nixon audiotapes.

“The personal footage reveals a multidimensional president and staff who were heartbreakingly earnest, idealistic, and naïve – as well as self-protective, suspicious, and cynical,” Lane said.  “Our goal was to invite viewers to re-examine their prior assumptions about Nixon and come to their own conclusions about what that era means.”

“Our history-focused film acquisitions allow CNN to revisit key national events – and the people who shaped them – with new information and fresh perspectives.  We are pleased to offer viewers very unique films, like OUR NIXON – in this case, in the year that would have been Nixon’s centennial,” said Amy Entelis, senior vice president for talent and content development for CNN Worldwide.

“Lane and Frye have meticulously created a film that may impact the way future historians recount and interpret the Nixon White House,” said Vinnie Malhotra, senior vice president of development and acquisitions for CNN Worldwide.  “It also portrays the intensively insular nature of governing at the highest levels, and how those inside that world can be changed by it,” Malhotra said.

The extraordinarily intimate access reveals the debates and decision-making behind the most historic moments of Nixon’s secretive presidency, and with the filmmakers’ archival footage yields a deeply immersive portrait of turbulent late 20th Century America – the anti-war protests, Nixon’s state visit to China, and the Apollo moon landing.

The CNN FILMS television acquisition deal was negotiated with Josh Braun of Submarine and for theatrical distribution between Submarine and Cinedigm’s Emily Rothschild.

IMAGES:

Our_Nixon_1: http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2013/images/04/25/our_nixon_1.jpg (courtesy of Dipper Films for CNN)

Our_Nixon_2: http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2013/images/04/25/our_nixon_2[2].jpg (courtesy of Dipper Films for CNN)

Our_Nixon_8: http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2013/images/04/25/our_nixon_8[2].jpg (courtesy of Dipper Films for CNN)

About CNN Films

CNN Films brings documentaries beyond the small screen by developing strategic partnerships to leverage distribution opportunities at film festivals and in theaters.  Amy Entelis, senior vice president of talent and content development for CNN Worldwide, and Vinnie Malhotra, senior vice president of development and acquisitions for CNN Worldwide, oversee the acquisition strategy of documentaries for CNN Films.  Malhotra manages the day-to-day operation of CNN Films, and works directly with filmmakers to develop original projects.

CNN Worldwide, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company, is the most trusted source for news and information. Its reach extends to nine cable and satellite television networks; one private place-based network; two radio networks; wireless devices around the world; CNN Digital Network, the No. 1 network of news Web sites in the United States; CNN Newsource, the world’s most extensively-syndicated news service; and strategic international partnerships within both television and the digital media.

About Cinedigm 

Over the past decade, Cinedigm (NASDAQ: CIDM) has led the digital distribution revolution that continues to transform the media landscape. In addition to its pioneering role in transitioning movie theatres from traditional film prints to digital distribution, Cinedigm continues to advance worldwide cinema modernization with its suite of software products allowing exhibitors and distributors to manage their newly digital businesses with efficiency, insight and certainty. And, as the leading distributor of independent content in the world, Cinedigm collaborates with producers and the exhibition community with unequalled transparency to market, source, curate and distribute quality content across all digital platforms to targeted and profitable audiences. The company’s library of over 5,000 titles includes award-winning documentaries from Docurama Films®, next-gen indies from Flatiron Film Company® and acclaimed independent films and festival picks through partnerships with the Sundance Institute and Tribeca Film. Cinedigm is proud to distribute many Oscar®-nominated films including “The Invisible War,” “Hell and Back Again,” “GasLand,” “Waste Land” and “Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory.”

Upcoming CEG multi-platform releases include Dante Ariola’s ARTHUR NEWMAN, Craig Zisk’s THE ENGLISH TEACHER, Jared Moshe’s DEAD MAN’S BURDEN, Geoffrey Fletcher’s VIOLET & DAISY, MalikaZouhali-Worrall and Katherine Fairfax Wright’s CALL ME KUCHU, Jimmy Loweree’s ABSENCE, and Shaul Schwarz’s NARCO CULTURA.

Cinedigm™ and Cinedigm Digital Cinema Corp™ are trademarks of Cinedigm Digital Cinema Corp www.cinedigm.com. [CIDM-G]

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