EPIX PREMIERES NEW DOCUSERIES ‘ENSLAVED’ IN FALL 2020

SIX-PART SERIES FEATURING HOLLYWOOD ICON AND HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST SAMUEL L. JACKSON IS THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE NON-SCRIPTED SERIES EVER MADE ON THE TRANSATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE

PREMIERES SEPTEMBER 14, 2020 AT 10 P.M. ET/PT

New York, NY – August 4, 2020 – Premium network EPIX® announced today that six-part docuseries Enslaved will premiere September 14, 2020 at 10 P.M. ET/PT.  Led by icon and activist Samuel L. Jackson, Enslaved sheds new light on 400 years of human trafficking from Africa to the New World.   Based on a DNA test identifying his ancestral tribe, the series traces Jackson’s personal journey from the U.S. to Gabon for his induction into the Benga tribe, with rare and unprecedented access to secret ceremonies and local customs.   Following its launch on EPIX, Enslaved will also premiere on CBC in Canada on Sunday, October 18 at 9 p.m. (9:30 NT).  The series is being distributed internationally by Fremantle.

Using new diving technology – such as advanced 3D mapping and ground-penetrating radar – to locate and examine sunken slave ships on three continents, the series reveals an entirely new perspective on the history of the transatlantic slave trade. The series also tracks the efforts of Diving With a Purpose (DWP), a collaborating organization with The National Association of Black Scuba Divers (NABS), as they search for and locate six slave ships that sank drowning the enslaved humans aboard.  Featuring the most dives ever made on sunken slave ships, Enslaved also chronicles the first positive identification of a “Freedom Ship,” an American schooner that ferried African American runaways to Canada.

Each episode follows three separate story lines: the quest for a sunken slave ship, a personal journey by Samuel L. Jackson and a historical investigation led by investigative journalists Simcha Jacobovici and Afua Hirsch.

Enslaved also celebrates stories of resistance, accomplishment and hope; the cultures left behind and the culture that we live in presently…a culture that, in many ways, was born in the bowels of those sunken slave ships.

Enslaved is a Canada/UK co-production between Toronto-based Associated Producers and London-based Cornelia Street Productions produced in association with CBC, Canada’s public broadcaster, and documentary Channel in Canada. Simcha Jacobovici serves as series director. Enslaved is executive produced by Samuel L. Jackson, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Eli Selden, Rob Lee, Simcha Jacobovici, Ric Esther Bienstock, Sarah Sapper and Yaron Niski, and produced by Ric Esther Bienstock, Sarah Sapper and Felix Golubev.  Produced in association with Anonymous Content, along with UppiTV, Samuel and LaTanya Jackson’s television production company.

Fremantle holds global distribution rights (excluding US, Canada and Israel).

 

About Associated Producers

Founded in 2002, Associated Producers is one of the leading companies in the world of non-scripted documentaries and has garnered three US Emmys and over 100 international awards for its documentaries including a DuPont Award from Columbia University School of Journalism, two Edward R. Murrow Awards from the Overseas Press Club of America and two Donald Brittain Awards from the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television.

When it comes to archaeology, Associated Producers won the Special Jury Prize of the Annual Archaeology Film Festival in Brussels. Associated Producers has also made two documentary specials, specifically involving underwater archaeology: “The Struma” (HBO/Channel 4), the underwater search for a ship of Jewish refugees that sunk during the Holocaust and “Atlantis Rising” (National Geographic Channel), a modern-day quest in pursuit of the legendary city, executive produced by James Cameron.

Associated Producers has produced content for every major broadcaster in the world including NBC, HBO, CNN, Discovery Channel, National Geographic, A&E, The History Channel, Science Channel, TLC, CBC, BBC, C4, PBS, ZDF, FR3, NHK, Vision Canada and many more.

 

About Cornelia Street Productions

Cornelia Street Productions was founded in 2018 and has offices in London and Dublin. We specialise in quality factual and drama programming with international appeal and our management team have extensive specialist experience in international co-production.

Our popular factual team have just produced two series in Ireland. Burnt By The Sun, a two-part true crime documentary about fraud in the holiday housing market, achieved a 35% market share for its opening show. The observational vet series Cat Hospital is now being distributed worldwide with Fremantle, following a successful Irish run. We also have three films in funded development with Screen Ireland.

Sarah Sapper, MD, was Commercial Director of Blink Films for ten years, where she spearheaded international co-productions, including the BAFTA Award Winning Mummifying Alan for Channel 4 and National Geographic, We’ll Meet Again for PBS, Noah’s Ark for Channel 4, PBS, Nat Geo and France 5 and Monty Don’s Paradise Gardens for BBC and All3Media.

David Kerr, Creative Director, is a former Head of Sport at national UK network Channel 4 and Managing Director of Eurosport UK, a pay TV, digital and OTT service. He has exec produced several BAFTA and RTS Award Winning Series.

 

ABOUT ANONYMOUS CONTENT

Founded in 1999 by Steve Golin, Anonymous Content is a leading management and Film, TV and Commercial production company. As one of the largest and most successful management companies operating today,  Anonymous Content’s clients have been recognized with Academy Awards®, Emmys®, Golden Globes®, Tony Awards®, Pulitzer Prizes® and many other prestigious awards. The company’s award-winning Film & TV division boasts many commercially successful and critically acclaimed works, including BABEL, WINTER’S BONE, BEING JOHN MALKOVICH, ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND, THE REVENANT and Best Picture Academy Award winning SPOTLIGHT. The company’s TV credits includes “True Detective” (HBO), “Mr. Robot” (USA Network), “Schitt’s Creek” (POP), “13 Reasons Why” (Netflix), “Homecoming” (Amazon), “Catch-22” (Hulu),  “Briarpatch” (USA) and “Dickinson” (Apple).  Current Anonymous Content films in production include STILLWATER, directed by Tom McCarthy and starring Matt Damon and Abigail Breslin, THE MIDNIGHT SKY, directed by George Clooney and starring Clooney and Felicity Jones and SWAN SONG, written and directed by Ben Cleary and starring Mahershala Ali.  On the television side, the company produced recently released series “Home Before Dark” (Apple), “Defending Jacob” (Apple), When the Streetlights Go On” (Quibi) and soon to be released “The Now” (Quibi).  Through its Commercial work, Anonymous Content is also the driving creative force behind countless leading global brands including HP, Prada, Nike and Coke. For more information, visit www.anonymouscontent.com.

 

About Fremantle

Fremantle is one of the largest and most successful creators, producers and distributors of scripted and unscripted content in the world. From Got Talent to My Brilliant Friend, Family Feud to The Young Pope, Idols to American GodsThe Price is Rightto Neighbours and The X Factor to Deutschland 83 – we are behind the world’s most-loved and most-watched shows.

We have an outstanding international network of production teams, companies and labels in over 30 countries – our Fremantle family includes UFA (Germany), Wildside (Italy), Abot Hameiri (Israel), Miso Film (Denmark, Sweden and Norway), Blue Circle (Netherlands), Original Productions (USA) and Easy Tiger (Australia) to name a few.

We produce in excess of 12,000 hours of original programming, roll out more than 70 formats and air 400 programmes a year worldwide. We also distribute over 20,000 hours of content in more than 200 territories.

As a world leader in digital and branded entertainment, we have more than 370 million subscribers across 1,500 social channels and over 100 billion views across all platforms – and are the creator of Facebook’s most viewed video of all time, The Sacred Riana.

For more information, visit www.fremantle.com, or follow us @FremantleHQ and visit our LinkedIn and Facebook pages.

 

ABOUT EPIX

EPIX®, an MGM company, is a premium television network delivering a broad line-up of quality original series and documentaries, the latest movie releases and classic film franchises – all available on TV, on demand, online and across devices. EPIX® has tripled the amount of original programming on the network and has become a destination for original premium content with series including Godfather of Harlem, starring and executive produced by Forest Whitaker; Pennyworth, the origin story of Batman’s butler Alfred; Perpetual Grace, LTD, starring Sir Ben Kingsley; spy thriller Deep State; War of the Worlds, from Howard Overman and starring Gabriel Byrne and Elizabeth McGovern; two-part music docuseries Laurel Canyon; docuseries Slow Burn based on the hit podcast, docuseries NFL: The Grind, from NFL Films and hosted by Rich Eisen; Belgravia, from Julian Fellowes, Gareth Neame and the creative team from Downton Abbey and six-part docuseries Helter Skelter: An American Myth, executive produced and directed by Lesley Chilcott; as well as upcoming premieres of drama Chapelwaite, based on the short story Jerusalem’s Lot by Stephen King and starring Academy Award winner Adrien Brody; epic fantasy drama series Britannia and music docuseries By Whatever Means Necessary: The Times of Godfather of Harlem. Launched in October 2009, EPIX® is available nationwide through cable, telco, satellite and emerging digital distribution platforms as well as through its EPIX NOW app, providing more movies than any other network with thousands of titles available for streaming.

For more information about EPIX, go to www.EPIX.com. Follow EPIX on Twitter @EpixHd (http://www.twitter.com/EpixHD) and on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/EPIX), YouTube (http://youtube.com/EPIX), Instagram (http://instagram.com/EPIX) and Snapchat @EPIXTV.

 

Contact:

Maureen Granados

mgranados@epix.com