CNN Films and CNN Original Series Strike Content Deal with Hulu
New CNN Films content deal, expanded CNN Original Series deal launches with Hulu
CNN and Hulu have struck a new content deal for six series and two films produced by the network, the two companies announced today. This is the first such deal between CNN and Hulu for CNN Films, the network’s premium brand for nonfiction documentaries, and the second deal with CNN Original Series, the network’s premium brand for nonfiction series content.
“We are pleased to extend our partnership with a trusted brand like CNN,” said Lisa Holme, Hulu’s head of content acquisition. “Their powerful story-telling is best in class and we are very happy to offer even more of their programming to Hulu viewers.”
“Our goal for these content brands was to bring the strong, journalistic sensibility of CNN to premium nonfiction content,” said Amy Entelis, executive vice president for talent and content development for CNN Worldwide. “So, we couldn’t be more pleased to partner with Hulu, which values that high-quality content proposition as well,” Entelis said.
The new deal includes the film ‘9/11 Fifteen Years Later,’ a co-production with Goldfish Pictures, available now, and ‘The End: Inside the Last Days of the Obama White House,’ a wholly original film production by the network, to become available in July. CNN Films, launched in 2012, marks its fifth year anniversary later this year.
CNN Original Series previously sold streaming rights to Hulu for Race for the White House from executive producers Kevin Spacey and Dana Brunetti. This expanded deal for series content includes: The History of Comedy (Season 1), United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell (Seasons 1-2), This is Life with Lisa Ling (Seasons 1-3), Declassified: Untold Stories of American Spies (Season 1), The Hunt with John Walsh (Seasons 1-3), and Crimes of the Century (Season 1). The majority of the content will become available to Hulu subscribers on a rolling basis this summer, with the exception of The History of Comedy, which will become available this winter. FULL POST
OUR NIXON airs Saturday, July 1 on CNN; Streams via CNNgo Beginning Sunday, July 2
Home movies and archival footage of Richard Nixon reveal personal, public persona of 39th President
45 years after a break-in at the Democratic National Committee offices at the Watergate building complex in Washington, D.C., CNN Films will air Our Nixon, an intimate portrait of the 39th president’s time in office told wholly through archival footage. The two-hour film will air Saturday, July 01, beginning at 8:00pm Eastern. Our Nixon is co-produced by Brian Frye and Penny Lane.
Much of the film’s footage was shot by three of Nixon’s top White House aides, H.R. Haldeman (Chief of Staff, 1969-1973), John Ehrlichman (Assistant to the President, Domestic Affairs, 1969-1973), and Dwight Chapin (Deputy Assistant to the President, 1969-1973). Throughout Richard Nixon’s presidency, the men documented their experiences with Super 8 home movie cameras for a unique and personal visual record of their lives and work with Nixon. The result is an intimate and complex depiction of the Nixon presidency as rarely seen.
Our Nixon will also stream live for subscribers via CNNgo (at www.CNN.com/go, and via CNNgo apps for AppleTV, Roku, Amazon Fire, and Samsung TV), as well as via the CNN mobile apps for iOS and Android. The film will be available for streaming via CNNgo beginning Sunday, July 2 through Dec. 31, 2017, via CNNgo platforms, and CNN mobile apps.
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THE PULSE OF ORLANDO: TERROR AT THE NIGHTCLUB
A CNN SPECIAL REPORT TO AIR FRIDAY, JUNE 30th AT 10PM
On June 12, 2016, forty nine people were murdered and dozens more injured at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida. It was one of the worst mass shootings in United States history. The attack left 49 families grieving, as well as survivors and first responders reeling from the horrors they witnessed. In the year since, many of those touched most deeply by this tragedy have found purpose in their pain and turned their grief into action.
In a moving one hour special, Anderson Cooper returns to Orlando and revisits this painful chapter of American history. Cooper helps tell the stories of what happened that night, and what has happened since in the lives of a number of people touched by the tragedy, including Christine Leinonen, mother of Christopher Andrew Leinonen, who was killed that night, as well as survivor Angel Colon, first responder, police officer Omar Delgado, and Pulse owner Barbara Poma.
"This was the deadliest terror attack in the United States since September 11th, and sickening assault on the LGBT community," said Cooper. " We wanted to remember the lives lost, and reconnect with many of those we first met one year ago."
The Pulse of Orlando: Terror at the Nightclub, a CNN Special Report will air Friday, June 30th, at 10pm ET.
In addition to the TV airings, The Pulse of Orlando: Terror at the Nightclub will also stream live for subscribers on June 30th via CNNgo (at www.CNN.com/go and via CNNgo apps for AppleTV, Roku, Amazon Fire and Samsung TV) and on the CNN mobile apps for iOS and Android. The Pulse of Orlando: Terror at the Nightclub will also be available the day after the premiere (July 1) on demand via cable/satellite systems, CNNgo platforms and CNN mobile apps.
ELIÁN Premieres Thursday, Aug. 24 on CNN/U.S. & CNN en Español
CNN Film explores the international custody battle and history of the relationship between U.S.& Cuba
As America renews restrictions to its Cuba policy, a new documentary from Pulitzer prize-winning journalist and director Tim Golden, director Ross McDonnell, and producer Trevor Birney, explores a pivotal moment in that relationship: the international custody battle and cultural fallout following the 1999 sea rescue of five-year-old Elián González. ELIÁN, will premiere in simulcast on CNN/U.S. and CNN en Español Thursday, Aug. 24 at 9:00pm, with limited commercial interruption. The two-hour CNN Film will encore Friday, Aug. 25 on CNN/U.S. at 12:00am, with limited commercial interruption, and will air again Saturday, Aug. 26 at 10:00pm and Sunday, Aug. 27 at 2:00am on CNN/U.S.. All times Eastern. ELIÁN is narrated by Tony Award®-nominated actor Raúl Esparza.
“At a moment when Americans are once again debating the country’s relationship with Cuba, Elián’s story is a powerful reminder of how ordinary Cubans in both countries have so often been trampled in the geopolitical battles between Washington and Havana,” Golden said.
In a series of exclusive interviews for the film, Elián González, now 23 years old, eloquently details harrowing memories of his rescue from the Florida Straits and the unrelenting media circus that surrounded his days in America. He also describes his hopes for reconciliation between the Cuban and American people, and more specifically for his own divided family. Elián’s father, Juan Miguel González, and his American cousin, Marisleysis González, speaking in separate exclusive interviews, talk through their emotions as the legal battle and the family drama unfolded.
“This timely story is expertly revealed, in all of its necessary complexity, by Tim, Ross, and Trevor,” said Amy Entelis, executive vice president for talent and content development for CNN Worldwide. “The film lays bare both the emotional family tensions of the custody battle over young Elián González, and the overlying ideological struggle between nations that shadowed every extraordinary event between Elián’s rescue and return to his father,” Entelis said. FULL POST
Tribeca Film Institute®, Points North Institute, CNN Films Announce Third Annual Filmmaker Retreat
Camden/TFI Filmmaker Retreat presented by CNN Films to take place in Maine
Tribeca Film Institute® (TFI) today announced the third annual filmmaker retreat in partnership with the Points North Institute and CNN Films. The Camden/TFI Retreat presented by CNN Films kicks off June 19 in Camden and Rockport, Maine and will run for six days, providing five U.S.-based documentary filmmaking teams with professional guidance and mentorship to help them advance their filmmaking careers.
This year’s selected projects represent a variety of thought-provoking themes around American culture and social issues, from an exploration of Islamic radicalization, to immigration, birth tourism, reproductive rights, and even national parks. Each tells a unique and vital story that embodies an issue facing Americans today.
Members of each of the five filmmaking teams will attend the scenic retreat in Maine for a series of mentoring sessions, workshops and master classes led by a cross-section of industry experts and professionals. Through these sessions, each filmmaker will advance their filmmaking skills and learn about impact producing, financing, the state of the documentary marketplace, and more.
“We’re excited to be hosting this retreat for the third year in a row with our partners CNN Films and Points North Institute,” said Amy Hobby, executive director of TFI. “The stories these filmmakers tell are compelling, vital, and relatable. We look forward to helping cultivate their voices and following their future successes, as we have with so many past Camden/TFI participants.”
“CNN Films is proud to partner with Tribeca Film Institute and Points North Institute for another incredible summer week of mentoring,” said Amy Entelis, executive vice president for talent and content development for CNN Worldwide. “Along with these very talented established filmmakers, we are pleased to contribute to the development of emerging documentary makers as part of our commitment to the industry,” she said. FULL POST
Television Academy Honors CNN Films for WE WILL RISE: Michelle Obama's Mission to Educate Girls Around the World
CNN Films WE WILL RISE: Michelle Obama's Mission to Educate Girls Around the World was celebrated with five other honorees last night in Los Angeles by the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences with a Television Academy Honors Award. The Television Academy Honors are conferred for exceptional programming that changes hearts and minds about challenging social issues.
VIDEO of the acceptance remarks is available here: http://www.emmys.com/video/2017-television-academy-honors-we-will-rise-michelle-obamas-mission-educate-girls-around-world
WE WILL RISE featured the former First Lady Michelle Obama, actors and human rights activists Meryl Streep and Freida Pinto, and CNN's Isha Sesay as they explored the inspirational stories of girls in Liberia and Morocco overcoming incredible odds to pursue their educations. The film first premiered on CNN/U.S. and CNN International on October 11, 2016.
Actor Dana Delany presented the award last night to CNN's Isha Sesay and to the film's director, Tony Gerber of Market Road Films and The Documentary Group, which produced the film for CNN Films.
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CNN Films Debuts UNSEEN ENEMY for World Health Day Presentation
The world’s urgent call to action on pandemics like Zika, Ebola, flu has global premiere April 7
UNSEEN ENEMY, about the potential looming crisis of disease pandemics, will debut as a CNN Films broadcast for a World Health Day presentation Friday, April 7 at 10:00pm Eastern on CNN/U.S. The film is exclusively presented by Johnson & Johnson. All broadcasts will have limited commercial interruptions.
UNSEEN ENEMY is narrated by Emmy® and Golden Globe award-winning actor Jeffrey Wright and is written and directed by award-winning filmmaker Janet Tobias. CNN’s chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta, MD, is an executive producer and consultant for the film. Philanthropist Paul G. Allen, known for his catalytic leadership during the 2014 West Africa Ebola outbreak, is also an executive producer.
‘THE MOST POWERFUL MAN IN THE WORLD’ – Fareed Zakaria on the Rise, Reign, and Aims of Vladimir Putin
New documentary makes global broadcast premiere Monday, March 13 at 9:00pmET on CNN/U.S. and CNN International
What is the true nature of the relationship between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin – and, what are the implications of their relationship for America and the world? CNN’s Fareed Zakaria searches for answers to these essential questions in ‘The MOST POWERFUL MAN IN THE WORLD.’ The one-hour documentary simulcasts Monday, March 13 at 9:00pm on CNN/U.S. and CNN International, and then replays on CNN/U.S. at 12:00am. Both times Eastern.
Putin is subject to neither a legislature nor a court, and there is little free press in Russia. Reared in Soviet poverty, Putin served as a KGB officer in East Germany before maneuvering his rapid rise from deputy mayor of St. Petersburg to president of post-Soviet Russia. FULL POST
Sick, dying and raped in America’s nursing homes – a CNN Investigation
They go to nursing homes to be cared for. Instead, the unthinkable is happening at facilities across the country: Vulnerable seniors are being raped and sexually abused by the very people paid to care for them.
Senior Writers Blake Ellis and Melanie Hicken provide a shocking and detailed account of the rape and sexual abuse occurring in nursing homes across the country — and the systemic failures of nursing homes and state regulators to stop it.
The graphic reports of abuse they uncovered are horrifying.
- 83-year-old Sonja Fischer fled war-time Indonesia as a young girl only to be raped by a nursing assistant during the “final, most vulnerable days of her life."
- An 88-year-old California woman only had sex with one man her entire life - her husband of nearly 70 years — then contracted a sexually transmitted disease from her alleged rapist.
- One elderly man with paralysis was sexually abused and forced to eat feces out of his adult diapers by a group of nursing aides.
Content Media Corporation and CNN Films Announce Acquisitions for ‘ELIÁN’ Film
CNN Films confirms acquisition of U.S. and Canadian broadcast exhibition rights, Content Media Corporation acquires international distribution rights, from Fine Point Films
Los Angeles, CA, February 06, 2017 – Content Media Corporation and CNN Films have announced their acquisitions of content rights for the gripping new documentary, ELIÁN, co-directed by Tim Golden and Ross McDonnell, and executive produced by Academy Award®-winner Alex Gibney.
CNN Films has acquired television broadcast and CNN-branded authenticated television exhibition rights from Fine Point Films for ELIÁN in the U.S. and Canada. Content Media Corporation has acquired international sales rights to the film.
Content’s president of film, Jamie Carmichael and executive vice president for sales and distribution, Jonathan Ford, will introduce ELIÁN to distributors at the European Film Market (EFM) in Berlin next week.
ELIÁN is the remarkable story of Elián Gonzalez, a five-year-old Cuban boy plucked from the Florida Straits, and how the fight for his future changed the course of U.S.-Cuba relations. Featuring powerful personal testimony, candid interviews, and an extraordinary news archive, this riveting documentary recounts Elián’s remarkable rescue on Thanksgiving Day in November 1999, after his mother and 10 others fleeing Cuba perished at sea. The custody battle between the boy’s Cuban father and his Miami-based relatives, and the momentous political fight that came to surround it, changed the course of history.
Trevor Birney (“Bobby Sands: 66 Days”) produced the film through his Fine Point Films banner. Amy Entelis, executive vice president for talent and content development for CNN Worldwide is an executive producer for ELIÁN. Courtney Sexton, vice president for CNN Films, is supervising producer.
“Tim’s and Ross’ thoughtful film will receive broad international exhibition for audiences around the world through this partnership with Content Media Corporation,” said Entelis.
Offering a never-before-seen intimate portrait of Elián today, the film is a story of family and the challenges of reconciliation. The wounds of this once-close family reflect the wider divisions of the Cuban people, and the complicated relations between Cuba and the United States. The film also explores the possibility that there might finally be peace for the family, and the two nations, some 17 years after these events.
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