CNN has created CNN Films, its mission, to secure feature-length documentaries for air on CNN and CNN International, alongside theatrical distribution. The move is part of a wider strategy to acquire original non-fiction content to complement their news programs.
"Girl Rising," the first documentary acquired by CNN Films, will air in spring 2013. The film, which inspired a global action campaign to promote girls' education called 10x10, tells the extraordinary stories of several girls from around the globe fighting to overcome impossible odds to realize their dreams. The film includes voice performances by Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway.
CNN Films has also signed development deals with Academy Award Winning Director and Producer Alex Gibney ("Taxi to the Dark Side," "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room," and "Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer") and Director Andrew Rossi ("Page One: Inside the New York Times"). Both will develop original documentaries to air on CNN.
The original feature-length documentaries will examine an array of political, social, and economic subject matters. Surrounding the premiere of each documentary, there will be dedicated programming, such as interviews, commentary, roundtable discussions, debates, and behind-the-scenes footage that sheds light on the topics and issues discussed in each film, and be shown across all of CNN's broadcast and online platforms.
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