CNN Films
{{Short description|Film production company}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2014}}
{{Infobox company
| name = CNN Films
| logo = CNN Films.svg
| logo_size = 200px
| type = Division
| owner = Warner Bros. Discovery
| parent = CNN
| homepage = [http://www.cnn.com/cnnfilms cnn.com/cnnfilms]
| foundation = {{Start date and age|2012}}
| location_city =
| location_country = United States
| key_people =
| num_employees =
| industry = Motion picture
Film distribution
| products = Films
| revenue =
}}
Cable News Network Films (known as CNN Films) is a motion picture division of CNN under Warner Bros. Pictures, originally launched in 2012.{{cite news|title=CNN To Start Documentary Film Unit|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/08/cnn-documentary-film-unit_n_1948217.html|work=HuffPost|access-date=April 30, 2013|date=October 8, 2012}} Its first film, Girl Rising premiered in spring 2013 in the United States.{{cite web|last=Benzine|first=Adam|title=CNN launches feature docs division with 'Girl Rising'|url=http://realscreen.com/2012/10/08/cnn-launches-feature-docs-division-with-girl-rising/|publisher=Real Screen|access-date=April 30, 2013|date=October 8, 2012}}{{cite web|title=CNN Announces Creation Of CNN Films|url=http://www.foxtel.com.au/whats-on/foxtel-insider/cnn-announces-creation-of-cnn-films-201771.htm|publisher=Foxtel|access-date=April 30, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130519055227/http://www.foxtel.com.au/whats-on/foxtel-insider/cnn-announces-creation-of-cnn-films-201771.htm|archive-date=May 19, 2013|url-status=dead}}
History
On October 8, 2012, CNN announced the creation of CNN Films. CNN says that it will acquire and commission original feature-length documentaries that will "examine an array of political, social, and economic subject matters." It also signed development deals with documentary directors Alex Gibney and Andrew Rossi.{{cite web|last=Lieberman|first=David|title=CNN Creates Unit To Acquire Documentary Films For Theaters And TV|url=https://deadline.com/2012/10/cnn-documentary-films-349476/|work=Deadline Hollywood|access-date=April 30, 2013|date=October 8, 2012}}{{cite news|last=Flint|first=Joe|title=CNN's creation of film unit is step in right direction|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/la-xpm-2012-oct-08-la-et-ct-cnn-films-20121008-story.html|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=April 30, 2013|date=October 8, 2012}} Since its creation, it already acquired the rights for Girl Rising, a 100-minute documentary narrated by Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Kerry Washington, and Selena Gomez.{{cite web|last=Raftery|first=Liz|title=Girl Rising to Help Launch CNN Films|url=https://www.tvguide.com/News/Girl-Rising-Help-1054348.aspx|work=TV Guide|access-date=April 30, 2013|date=October 8, 2012}}
While the documentaries will initially air on CNN, the network reportedly plans to enter them in film festivals and distribute them to theaters as well.
At the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, CNN announced the acquisition of three documentaries. It acquired the rights to air Life Itself, a film adaptation of Roger Ebert's 2011 memoir, in television. The project will be directed by Steve James and executive produced by Martin Scorsese and Steven Zaillian. It is scheduled to air in 2014.{{cite web|last=Patten|first=Dominic|title=Sundance: CNN Films Makes Buying Debut; Announces Trio Of Documentaries|url=https://deadline.com/2013/01/sundance-film-festival-cnn-films-martin-scorsese-roger-ebert-documentaries-407700/|work=Deadline Hollywood|access-date=April 30, 2013|date=January 18, 2013}} The two other untitled projects are expected to air on CNN in 2013. One, from directors Michael Tucker and Petra Epperleini, centers on 9/11 and reconstructs the events at Ground Zero; the other, from director Andrew Rossi, focuses on the transformation of higher education, examining the costs and relevance of college.{{cite news|last=Miller|first=Daniel|title=Sundance 2013: CNN Films Announces Three Documentaries|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/sundance-2013-cnn-films-announces-413673|work=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=April 30, 2013|date=January 18, 2013}}
CNN Films bought the television rights of Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare which premiered on March 10, 2013, on CNN. The film was directed by Matthew Heineman and Susan Froemke. The film premiered on January 19, 2012, at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and was theatrically released on October 5, 2012.{{cite web|last=Patten|first=Dominic|title=CNN Films Acquires 'Escape Fire' U.S. TV Rights; Healthcare Doc To Air In March|url=https://deadline.com/2013/03/cnn-films-acquires-escape-fire-the-fight-to-rescue-american-healthcare-cnn-jeff-zucker-sundance-film-festival-443382/|work=Deadline Hollywood|access-date=April 30, 2013|date=March 1, 2013}}{{cite news|title=CNN Films: 'Escape Fire' Debuts on CNN on March 10 at 8pm ET|url=http://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2013/03/01/cnn-launches-escape-fire-on-cable-television-in-march/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130304153838/http://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2013/03/01/cnn-launches-escape-fire-on-cable-television-in-march/|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 4, 2013|publisher=CNN|access-date=May 1, 2013|date=March 1, 2013}}
CNN Films acquired Penny Lane's Our Nixon, and CNN premiered the film in August 2013, while Cinedigm released it theatrically.{{cite news|last=Guthrie|first=Marisa|title=CNN Films Snaps Up Richard Nixon Documentary (Exclusive)|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/cnn-films-snaps-up-richard-444766|work=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=April 30, 2013|date=April 24, 2013}}{{cite news|last=Fleischer|first=Matthew|title=CNN Films acquires SXSW doc 'Our Nixon' to air on the network in August|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-cnn-films-acquires-our-nixon-cinedigm-sxsw-20130424,0,6743114.story|access-date=April 30, 2013|date=April 24, 2013|work=Los Angeles Times}}{{cite news|title=CNN Films and Cinedigm Acquire 'Our Nixon'|url=http://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2013/04/24/cnn-films-and-cinedigm-acquire-our-nixon-featuring-newly-released-personal-footage-shot-by-richard-nixons-closest-aides/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130628215908/http://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2013/04/24/cnn-films-and-cinedigm-acquire-our-nixon-featuring-newly-released-personal-footage-shot-by-richard-nixons-closest-aides/|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 28, 2013|publisher=CNN|access-date=April 30, 2013|date=April 24, 2013}} The network has also then acquired the domestic television broadcast rights of the Sundance film selection Robert Stone's Pandora's Promise and aired it on CNN in November 2013 while it was theatrically released five months before.{{cite news|last=Fleischer|first=Matthew|title=CNN continues acquisition spree with 'Pandora's Promise'|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-cnn-continues-acquisition-spree-with-pandoras-promise-20130430,0,1937497.story|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=May 1, 2013|date=April 30, 2013}}{{cite news|title=CNN Films Announces Acquisition of 'Pandora's Promise' for Fall 2013 Broadcast|url=http://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2013/04/30/cnn-films-announces-acquisition-of-pandoras-promise-for-fall-2013-broadcast/?iref=allsearch|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407094636/http://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2013/04/30/cnn-films-announces-acquisition-of-pandoras-promise-for-fall-2013-broadcast/?iref=allsearch|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 7, 2014|publisher=CNN|access-date=May 1, 2013|date=April 30, 2013}}
On December 10, 2020, CNN Films teamed up with the BBC to produce a documentary about the development and manufacturing of vaccines for the COVID-19 pandemic. The documentary that is not a film is produced by British virologist-turned-filmmaker Catherine Gale who also directs with American independent filmmaker and medical journalist Caleb Hellerman, and will air in 2021 on CNN in the United States under the title Race for the Vaccine and BBC Two in the United Kingdom under the title Vaccine: The Inside Story.{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/cnn-films-bbc-coronavirus-vaccine-documentary-1234849945/|title=CNN Films, BBC Team on Documentary Showing Race to Create Coronavirus Vaccine|website=Variety|date=10 December 2020|access-date=11 December 2020|author=Brian Steinberg}}
Filmography
| class="wikitable sortable" style="width:95%;" |
| Title
!Release date !Director(s) !Writer(s) !Producer(s) !class="unsortable"|Ref(s) |
|---|
| Évocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie
|align="right"|June 7, 2013 |Seth Kramer |Daniel A. Miller |Seth Kramer | |
| Girl Rising
|align="right"|June 16, 2013 |{{Div col}}Aminatta Forna |Martha Adams |
| Blackfish
|align="right"|July 19, 2013 |Gabriela Cowperthwaite |Manny Oteyza |
| Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare
|align="right"|March 10, 2013 |Matthew Heineman |Matthew Heineman |Matthew Heineman |
| The Flag
|align="right"|September 4, 2013 |Michael Tucker | | | |
| Our Nixon
|align="right"|August 1, 2013 |{{N/A}} |Brian L. Frye |
| Pandora's Promise
|align="right"|November 7, 2013 |TBA |Jim Swartz |
| An Unreal Dream: The Michael Morton Story
|align="right"|December 5, 2013 | | | |
| Sole Survivor
|align="right"|January 9, 2014 |Ky Dickens |Ky Dickens |Susan Aurinko | |
| 41ON41
|align="right"|June 15, 2014 |Lisa Lax | |Lisa Lax | |
| Whitey: United States of America v. James J. Bulger
|align="right"|June 27, 2014 | |Joe Berlinger | |
| Life Itself
|align="right"|July 4, 2014 |TBA |
| Documented
|align="right"|June 29, 2014 |Jose Antonio Vargas |Jose Antonio Vargas |Jose Antonio Vargas | |
| Lady Valor: The Kristin Beck Story
|align="right"|September 4, 2014 |Mark Herzog | |Mark Herzog | |
| More than a Game
|align="right"|October 24, 2014 |Kristopher Belman |Kristopher Belman |Kristopher Belman | |
| Ivory Tower
|align="right"|November 20, 2014 |Andrew Rossi |Andrew Rossi | |
| Dinosaur 13
|align="right"|December 11, 2014 |Todd Douglas Miller |TBA |Todd Douglas Miller | |
| Sunshine Superman
|align="right"|May 22, 2015 |Marah Strauch |Marah Strauch | |
| Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me
|align="right"|June 28, 2015 |{{N/A}} |James Keach | |
| Fresh Dressed
|align="right"|September 3, 2015 |Sacha Jenkins |Nasir Jones |
| Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine
|align="right"|September 4, 2016 |Alex Gibney |Alex Gibney | |
| The Hunting Ground
|align="right"|November 22, 2015 |Kirby Dick | |
| Holy Hell
|align="right"|September 1, 2016 |Will Allen |{{N/A}} |Will Allen | |
| We Will Rise
|align="right"|October 12, 2016 | | | | |
| Enlighten Us: The Rise and Fall of James Arthur Ray
|align="right"|December 3, 2016 |Jenny Carchman |{{N/A}} |Allyson Luchak | |
| Now More Than Ever: The History of Chicago
|align="right"|January 1, 2017 |Peter Pardini |{{N/A}} | |
| Unseen Enemy
|align="right"|April 7, 2017 |Janet Tobias |Janet Tobias | |
| Elián
|align="right"|August 24, 2017 |Ross McDonnell |Tim Golden |Alex Gibney | |
| The Reagan Show
|align="right"|September 4, 2017 |Pacho Velez |Francisco Bello |Dan Cogan | |
| Legion of Brothers
|align="right"|September 24, 2017 |{{N/A}} |Amy Entelis | |
| Jeremiah Tower: The Last Magnificent
|align="right"|November 12, 2017 |Lydia Tenaglia |{{N/A}} |Susan Porretta | |
| Trophy
|align="right"|January 14, 2018 |Shaul Schwarz |{{N/A}} |Lauren Haber | |
| RBG
|align="right"|May 4, 2018 |Betsy West | |Betsy West | |
| Three Identical Strangers
|align="right"|June 29, 2018 |Tim Wardle | |Becky Read | |
| American Jail
|align="right"|July 1, 2018 |Roger Ross Williams |Roger Ross Williams | |
| Love, Gilda
|align="right"|September 21, 2018 |Lisa Dapolito | |Bronwyn Berry | |
| Apollo 11
|align="right"|March 1, 2019 |{{n/a}} |Todd Douglas Miller | |
| Scandalous
|align="right"|November 15, 2019 |Mark Landsman | | | |
| Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice
|align="right"|January 1, 2020 |{{n/a}} |James Keach | |
| John Lewis: Good Trouble
|align="right"|September 27, 2020 |{{n/a}} |Erika Alexander | |
| Dreamland: The Burning of Black Wall Street
|align="right"| May 31, 2021 | Salima Koroma | {{n/a}} | Salima Koroma |
| LFG
|align="right"| June 24, 2021 |{{n/a}} |Andrea Nix Fine |
| Lady Boss: The Jackie Collins Story
| align="right"|June 27, 2021 | Laura Fairrie | {{N/a}} | John Battsek | align="center"| {{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2019/08/jackie-collins-documentary-lady-boss-agc-studios-cnn-films-bbc-arts-passion-pictures-1202665079/|title=Jackie Collins Doc 'Lady Boss' Lined Up By AGC Studios, CNN Films, BBC Arts & 'Searching For Sugar Man' Outfit Passion Pictures|website=Deadline Hollywood|first=Andreas|last=Wiseman|date=August 9, 2019|access-date=May 31, 2021}} |
| Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain
| align="right"| July 16, 2021 | {{n/a}} | Morgan Neville |
| The Lost Sons
| align="right"| September 26, 2021 | Ursula Macfarlane | {{N/A}} | Amy Entelis |
| Julia
| align="right"|November 5, 2021 | Julie Cohen | {{N/A}} | Julie Cohen |
| The Hunt for Planet B
| align="right"|November 20, 2021 | {{N/A}} | Nathaniel Kahn | align="center"| {{cite web|url=https://www.cnncreativemarketing.com/project/the-hunt-for-planet-b/|title=The Hunt for Planet B|website=CNN Creative Marketing|access-date=December 17, 2021}} |
| Citizen Ashe
|align="right"| December 3, 2021 | Rex Miller | {{N/A}} | Rex Miller | align="center"| {{cite web|url=https://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2021/07/15/cnn-films-and-hbo-max-partner-to-bring-citizen-ashe-to-screens-film-is-produced-by-dogwoof-rexpix-and-stick-figure-productions/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210715190848/https://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2021/07/15/cnn-films-and-hbo-max-partner-to-bring-citizen-ashe-to-screens-film-is-produced-by-dogwoof-rexpix-and-stick-figure-productions/|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 15, 2021|title=CNN Films and HBO Max Partner to Bring Citizen Ashe to Screens; Film is Produced by Dogwoof, Rexpix and Stick Figure Productions|publisher=CNN|date=July 15, 2021|access-date=September 3, 2021}} |
| Carole King & James Taylor: Just Call Out My Name
|align="right"| January 2, 2022 | {{N/A}} | Frank Marshall | align="center"| {{cite web|title=Carole King & James Taylor Documentary From Frank Marshall Set For CNN & HBO Max|url=https://deadline.com/2021/10/carole-king-james-taylor-documentary-from-frank-marshall-cnn-hbo-max-1234858166/|work=Deadline Hollywood|first=Denise|last=Petski|date=October 19, 2021|access-date=October 19, 2021}} |
| Navalny
|align="right"| April 11, 2022 | {{N/A}} | Daniel Roher | align="center"| {{cite news|title=Alexei Navalny Documentary Set From CNN Films & HBO Max|url=https://deadline.com/2022/01/alexei-navalny-documentary-cnn-films-hbo-max-1234911948/|work=Deadline Hollywood|last=Pedersen|first=Erik|date=January 13, 2022}} |
| Gabby Giffords Won't Back Down
| align="right"| July 15, 2022 | Julie Cohen | {{N/a}} | Lisa Espramer | align="center"| {{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2022/film/news/rbg-filmmakers-documentary-on-gabby-giffords-1235163965/|title='RBG' Filmmakers Betsy West and Julie Cohen to Direct Gabby Giffords Documentary|website=Variety|first=Brent|last=Lang|date=January 26, 2022|access-date=April 22, 2022}} |
| Glitch: The Rise & Fall of HQ Trivia
| align="right"| March 5, 2023 | Salima Koroma | {{N/a}} | Ken Druckerman |
| Little Richard: I Am Everything
| align="right"| April 21, 2023 | Lisa Cortés | {{N/a}} | Lisa Cortés |
| Carville: Winning Is Everything, Stupid!
| align="right"| October 5, 2024 | {{N/A}} | Matt Tyrnauer |
| Luther: Never Too Much
| align="right"| January 1, 2025 | {{N/A}} | Trish D Chetty | align="center"| {{cite web|url=https://www.cnncreativemarketing.com/project/luther/|title=Luther: Never Too Much|website=CNN Creative Marketing|access-date=January 27, 2025}} |
| Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
| align="right"| February 2, 2025 | Ian Bonhôte | Ian Bonhôte | Robert Ford |
| Prime Minister
| align="right"| June 13, 2025 | Lindsay Utz | {{N/A}} | Cass Avery |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|http://www.cnn.com/cnnfilms}}
{{CNN}}
{{CNN Films}}
{{Warner Bros. Discovery Sports & News}}
{{Film studios}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Film distributors of the United States
Category:Film production companies of the United States