SANTA MONICA, Calif.,
April 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Academy
Award®-winning filmmaker Roger
Ross Williams will produce and oversee a documentary series
based on materials drawn from The New York Times Magazine and
Nikole Hannah Jones' acclaimed "The
1619 Project," slated to debut in the U.S. on the premium
streaming service Hulu as part of a distribution agreement between
Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF.A, LGF.B) and Disney General Entertainment
Content's BIPOC Creator Initiative led by Tara Duncan, the companies announced
today.
Williams will direct the first episode and produce the series
under his One Story Up production banner with producing partner and
co-executive producer Geoff Martz in
collaboration with Lionsgate Television, The New York Times and Oprah
Winfrey's Harpo Films. Williams, an award-winning director,
producer and writer, is the first African American director to win
an Academy Award when he was awarded it for his short film "Music
by Prudence." His other notable projects include the
Emmy® Award-winning documentaries "Life, Animated" and
"The Apollo"; the documentary "God Loves Uganda"; "American Jail";
and the Emmy-nominated, Webby Award-winning virtual reality
experience "Traveling While Black."
Emmy-nominated and Peabody Award-winning journalist and
showrunner Shoshana Guy will serve
as showrunner. Guy most recently was showrunner for Vice TV's
late-night series "Cari and Jemele: Won't Stick to
Sports." She spent more than a decade as an anchor producer
for Tom Brokaw and Brian Williams at NBC News. Her work at NBC
focused on issues of race and justice, including coverage of the
defunding of the Camden Police
Department, which earned her a Peabody Award. Her work has
also been recognized with two Emmy nominations for her coverage of
President Barack Obama's re-election
campaign and her in-depth reporting on a year in the life of Black
high school students in Jackson,
Mississippi.
One of the most impactful and thought-provoking works of
journalism of the past decade, The New York Times Magazine's "The
1619 Project" was a landmark undertaking that connected the
centrality of slavery in U.S. history with an unflinching account
of the brutal racism that endures in so many aspects of American
life today. It was launched in August
2019 on the 400th anniversary of the arrival
of the first enslaved Africans in the English colonies that would
become the United States. It
examines the legacy of slavery in America and how it shaped nearly
all aspects of society, from music and law to education and the
arts, and including the principles of our democracy
itself.
Oprah Winfrey, Lionsgate and The
New York Times announced the
wide-ranging partnership to develop "The 1619 Project" into an
expansive portfolio of feature films, television series and other
content for a global audience in July
2020.
"'The 1619 Project' is an essential reframing of American
history. Our most cherished ideals and achievements cannot be
understood without acknowledging both systemic racism and the
contributions of Black Americans. And this isn't just about the
past—Black people are still fighting against both the legacy of
this racism and its current incarnation," said Williams. "I am
thrilled and grateful for the opportunity to work with The
New York Times, Lionsgate Television,
Harpo Films and Hulu to translate the incredibly important 'The
1619 Project' into a documentary series."
"I could not ask for a more gifted and committed storyteller to
entrust "The 1619 Project" to than Roger
Ross Williams," said Ms. Hannah-Jones. "I have long admired
the impact and authenticity of his filmmaking, and the fact that
we're working with Disney and Hulu aligns with our vision of
partnering with the world's greatest Black storytellers to bring
this project to a global audience."
"We worked hard to get everything right with our first
offering," said Ms. Winfrey. "Adding the reach of Disney and its
powerful brand to our collaboration, launching on a great premium
platform like Hulu, and bringing together the creative resources of
our friends at Lionsgate and The New York
Times to support Nikole
Hannah-Jones' narrative and Roger
Ross Williams' vision is the perfect start to our
partnership."
"'The 1619 Project' is a revelatory master class in the power of
history," stated Duncan, "Nikole
Hannah-Jones' extraordinary work speaks to contemporary
America and reveals how our past is ever present, but more
importantly, why engaging in a much-needed dialogue about our
origins has the power to create healing and a meaningful positive
impact on our collective future. It's an honor to join forces
with Nikole, the enormously gifted Roger
Ross Williams, Oprah Winfrey
and our partners at Lionsgate and The New York
Times to bring this new chapter of 'The 1619 Project' to
life."
"Our goal has been to find the right creative voices to
translate Nikole Hannah-Jones'
vision into memorable television, film and other new forms,
and just the right partners to champion our work," said
Caitlin Roper, executive producer,
Scripted Film & TV at The New York
Times. "Roger Ross Williams
is an iconic documentary filmmaker, and alongside our
incredible partners at Hulu, we'll really be able to
expand the scope and reach of the project."
Kathleen Lingo, editorial
director for film and TV at The New York
Times, will also executive produce for The Times.
"We're thrilled to bring aboard world-class Black storytellers
and platform partners who can do justice to Nikole Hannah-Jones' powerful journalistic
masterpiece," said Lionsgate Senior Vice President and Head of
Alternative Programming Alice Dickens-Koblin. "It takes content as
special as 'The 1619 Project' to bring singular talents like
Roger Ross Williams, Nikole Hannah-Jones and Oprah Winfrey together, and we're delighted to
partner with our friends at Disney and Hulu to share this
compelling story with a global audience."
"'The 1619 Project' has helped frame our understanding of U.S.
history and contemporary society, elevating an under-reported,
systemic story of vital importance," said Kelly Campbell, president of Hulu. "We're
honored to be the exclusive streaming home to this transformative
documentary series along with our partners at The New York Times, Lionsgate Television and Harpo
Films."
The docuseries will be the first offering from Lionsgate's
collaboration with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, staff writer at The
New York Times and one of the nation's
foremost investigative journalists. The New
York Times and media titan Oprah
Winfrey will develop Ms. Hannah-Jones' landmark issue of The
New York Times Magazine, "The 1619 Project," and hit New York Times podcast, "1619," into an expansive
portfolio of feature films, television series, location-based
exhibitions and other content for a global audience.
About Hulu
Hulu is the leading premium streaming
service offering live and on-demand TV and movies, with and without
commercials, both in and outside the home. Launched in 2008, Hulu
is the only service that gives viewers instant access to current
shows from every major U.S. broadcast network; libraries of hit TV
series and films; and acclaimed Hulu Originals like
Emmy® and Golden Globe®-Award-winning
series "The Handmaid's Tale" and "The Act;" Golden
Globe® Award-winning, the Emmy Award-nominated
and Peabody-winning series "Ramy;" and Emmy Award-nominated series
including "Wu-Tang: An American Saga" and "Pen15;" alongside hit
series "Little Fires Everywhere" from Reese
Witherspoon and Kerry
Washington; "Normal People," "The Great," "Hillary,"
"Shrill," "Solar Opposites" and the Oscar® and
Emmy-nominated documentary film "Minding The Gap;" and critically
acclaimed Hulu Original films "Palm
Springs," "Run," and "Happiest Season." The service also
streams live news, entertainment and sports from
21st Century Fox, the Walt Disney Company,
NBCUniversal, CBS Corporation, the CW, Turner Networks, A&E
Networks, and Discovery Networks – available all in one place.
Upcoming Original releases include "The Dropout," based on the ABC
News investigative podcast, and the book-to-screen adaptation of
"Nine Perfect Strangers," starring Nicole
Kidman and Melissa
McCarthy.
About Lionsgate
Combining the STARZ premium global
subscription platform with world-class motion picture and
television studio operations, Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF.A, LGF.B) brings
a unique and varied portfolio of entertainment to consumers around
the world. Its film, television, subscription and location-based
entertainment businesses are backed by a 17,000-title library and
the largest collection of film and television franchises in the
independent media space. A digital age company driven by its
entrepreneurial culture and commitment to innovation, the Lionsgate
brand is synonymous with bold, original, relatable entertainment
for the audiences it serves worldwide.
About Nikole
Hannah-Jones
Nikole
Hannah-Jones is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative
reporter who covers civil rights and racial injustice for The New
York Times Magazine. Her work has also earned three National
Magazine Awards, two George Polk Awards, a Peabody, the
John Chancellor Award for
Distinguished Journalism from Columbia
University and a MacArthur Fellowship, known as the "Genius
Grant." Hannah-Jones is also the co-founder of the Ida B. Wells
Society for Investigative Reporting.
Prior to joining The New York Times,
she worked as an investigative reporter at ProPublica in
New York City, where she spent
three years chronicling the way official policy created and
maintains segregation in housing and schools.
Before that, she reported for the largest daily newspaper in the
Pacific Northwest, the Oregonian in Portland, Oregon. She started her journalism
career covering the majority-Black Durham Public Schools for the
News & Observer in Raleigh, North
Carolina.
She has said, "I see my work as forcing us to confront our
hypocrisy, forcing us to confront the truth that we would rather
ignore."
About The New York Times Company
The New York Times
Company is a trusted source of quality, independent journalism
whose mission is to seek the truth and help people understand the
world. With more than 7 million subscriptions across a diverse
array of print and digital products — from news to cooking to games
— The Times has evolved from a local and regional news leader into
a diversified media company with curious readers, listeners and
viewers around the globe. The Times is extending that mission by
developing and producing nonfiction and fiction feature films and
series including feature documentaries: Time (Amazon), which was
recently nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary
Feature, Some Kind of Heaven (Magnolia Pictures) and Father Soldier
Son (Netflix), the scripted series Modern Love (Amazon) and
nonfiction series, The Weekly and The New York Times Presents
(Hulu/ FX), as well as Diagnosis (Netflix). Follow news about the
company at NYTCo.com.
About Oprah
Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey
is a global media leader, philanthropist, producer and critically
acclaimed actress. She has created an unparalleled connection with
people around the world, making her one of the most respected and
admired figures today. Winfrey currently hosts a variety of series
that tackle issues and concerns facing Black lives, featuring
candid and in-depth conversations that create real dialogue to
inspire systematic change. Recent specials include "Oprah Talks:
COVID-19 -- The Deadly Impact On Black America" on Apple TV+ and
the two-part "OWN Spotlight: Where Do We Go From Here" that aired
worldwide across the Discovery family of networks, featuring
Nikole Hannah-Jones.
Through her company's film division, Harpo Films, Winfrey has
produced acclaimed feature films and scripted television
programming. Past features include the Academy Award-nominated
"Selma" starring David Oyelowo and Golden Globe-nominated "The
Hundred-Foot Journey" starring Helen
Mirren and the Black List script "The Water Man" alongside
David Oyelowo's Yorubo Saxon and
ShivHans Pictures. Harpo Films is producing the musical film "The
Color Purple" with Warner Bros. and "An American Marriage," adapted
from the 2018 Oprah's Book Club title of the same name by
Tayari Jones. Recent television
projects include OWN's critically acclaimed series "Queen Sugar," "David Makes Man," "Cherish the
Day" and "Delilah" with Warner Bros., and the
Emmy®-nominated HBO film "The Immortal Life of
Henrietta Lacks" starring
Oprah Winfrey.
Winfrey is also a dedicated philanthropist. She has contributed
more than $200 million toward the
Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa and has donated $20 million to Morehouse
College. In 2020, Winfrey committed $12 million to COVID-19 relief efforts focusing
on underserved communities in her "home cities" of Chicago, Nashville, Milwaukee, Baltimore and Kosciusko, Mississippi. Additionally, Winfrey
is a founding donor of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African
American History and Culture.
About One Story Up
Founded by Oscar and
Emmy® Award-winning director Roger Ross Williams and Emmy Award-winning
producer Geoff Martz, One Story Up
specializes in creating documentary films, television, streaming
series and specials, animation and VR. One Story Up has produced a
variety of projects including two limited documentary series for
Netflix and a screen adaptation of Ta-Nehisi Coates'
bestseller, Between the World and Me for HBO.
Presently, One Story Up is producing numerous projects and series
including an untitled Netflix feature documentary about civil
rights lawyer Ben Crump; The
Empire of Ebony, about the first black media empire Ebony &
Jet, to be directed by Lisa Cortes;
a short film series with Topic and First Look Media; and a doc
feature on music group TLC for A&E; as well as an
additional doc feature titled Master of Light. Through
the One Story Up banner, Williams is additionally set to direct and
produce Ibram X.
Kendi's Stamped from the Beginning as well
as its counterpart Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and
You for Netflix, which will be
aimed at the YA audience.
About Roger Ross
Williams
Roger Ross
Williams is an Oscar® and Emmy®
Award-winning director, producer and writer and the first African
American director to win an Academy Award®, with his
film Music By Prudence.
"Beautiful," "Uplifting," "Extraordinary," "Triumphant," "Rich
with insight," "Searing," "Remarkable," and "Inspirational" are
accolades Williams' films have received from the New York Times, Vanity Fair, Hollywood Reporter,
Variety, Forbes, Stephen Colbert,
and Entertainment Weekly
Williams has directed a number of acclaimed films including
Life, Animated, which won the Sundance Film Festival Directing
Award, was nominated for an Academy Award and won three Emmys in
2018, including the award for Best Documentary. He also directed
God Loves Uganda, which was shortlisted for an
Academy Award and American Jail, which examined the
U.S. prison system and premiered on CNN. Williams'
Traveling While Black, a VR documentary made for
Facebook's Oculus, premiered at Sundance Film Festival and was
nominated for a Primetime Emmy and won a Webby Award. His
film The Apollo, a documentary about Harlem's
legendary Apollo Theater, was the opening night film of the 2019
Tribeca Film Festival and won the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding
Documentary. He recently directed three hours of The Innocence
Files, which premiered on Netflix in their top ten. Williams is
currently set to direct and produce (under his One Story Up
banner), Ibram X. Kendis
Stamped From The Beginning as well as it's
counterpart Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and
You, which will be aimed at the YA
audience.
His production company, One Story Up, creates documentary films,
series, specials, animation and VR. It specializes in providing
opportunities for filmmakers from underrepresented communities. One
Story Up has produced a variety of projects including two limited
documentary series for Netflix and a screen adaptation of Ta-Nehisi
Coates' bestseller, Between the World and Me for
HBO. They are currently producing numerous projects and series
including an untitled Netflix feature documentary about civil
rights lawyer Ben Crump; The
Empire of Ebony (Roger to EP), and a short film series with
Topic and First Look Media; and a feature documentary for A&E
titled Master of Light.
Williams is currently in pre-production on his first narrative
feature, Cassandro, based on the real life story of
an openly gay, cross-dressing, Lucha
Libre wrestler. The film will star Gael Garcia Bernal, and is produced by Bernal
and Diego Luna's production company
La Corriente Del Golfo.
Since 2016, Williams has been on the Board of Governors of the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences representing the
Documentary Branch and is also Chair of the Documentary Diversity
Committee. Williams serves on the advisory board of the Full Frame
Film Festival, and the boards of Docubox Kenya, None On Record, and
the Zeitz Museum Of Contemporary Art Africa. He resides in
New York and Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
About Shoshana
Guy
Shoshana Guy is a
journalist and showrunner. Most recently she was the showrunner for
Vice TV's late-night series 'Cari and Jemele: Won't Stick to
Sports.' Shoshana holds a master's degree from Columbia School of Journalism and cut her
journalistic teeth in the halls of NBC News. She went on to work as
an anchor producer for more than a decade producing for
Tom Brokaw and Brian Williams. Her work at NBC focused on
issues of race and justice, including coverage surrounding the
defunding of the Camden Police
Department, which earned her a Peabody award. Additionally, her
work has been recognized with two Emmy® nominations
for her coverage of President Obama's re-election campaign and her
in-depth reporting focusing on a year in the life of Black high
school students in Jackson,
Mississippi.
Outside of her work for NBC, Shoshana has partnered with PBS,
MTV, CTV, National Geographic, EPIX, A&E, Netflix and Apple TV,
and has worked extensively overseas. Shoshana is based in
Brooklyn, NY.
About Geoff Martz
Geoff Martz is a four-time
Emmy® Award winning producer. He left a long
career at ABC in 2018 to join Roger Ross
Williams in starting One Story Up. Since then, he has
executive produced two limited series for Netflix (The Innocence
Files, and an as-yet-to-air project), as well as a feature for
HBO (Between the World and Me, based on the book by
Ta-Nehisi Coates), The Empire of Ebony (directed by
Lisa Cortes) and a series for Topic
that features short films by under-represented filmmakers.
One Story Up is currently in production on two more doc features
for Netflix, as well as developing a true crime series for HBO, and
producing a doc feature for A&E (Untitled TLC Project).
Media Contacts:
Kristen
Andersen
Disney General Entertainment Content
kristen.andersen@disney.com
Kendel White
Hulu
kendel.white@hulu.com
Peter Wilkes
Lionsgate
Pwilkes@lionsgate.com
Jordan Cohen
The New York Times
Jordan.cohen@nytimes.com
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