MEDIA ALERT: EPIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY TO RUSSIA WITH LOVE EXPLORES LGBT HUMAN RIGHTS JOURNEY AS SEEN THROUGH ATHLETES’ EXPERIENCE — PREMIERES OCTOBER 29 AT 8PM ET

EPIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY TO RUSSIA WITH LOVE

EXPLORES LGBT HUMAN RIGHTS JOURNEY AS SEEN THROUGH ATHLETES’ EXPERIENCE 

PREMIERES OCTOBER 29 AT 8PM ET

FEATURING JOHNNY WEIR, BILLIE JEAN KING, GREG LOUGANIS, JASON COLLINS AND

OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST MARK TEWKSBURY  

GOLDEN GLOBE & EMMY AWARD WINNER JANE LYNCH NARRATES

New York, NY, September 15, 2014 – Premium entertainment network EPIX announced today that Golden Globe and Emmy Award winner Jane Lynch (“Glee”) will lend her voice to the EPIX Original Documentary, To Russia With Love, that will make its World Premiere Wednesday, October 29 at 8PM ET.  To Russia with Love explores human rights through the lens of LGBT athletes, with iconoclastic athlete and commentator Johnny Weir serving as the viewers’ guide into this world.  The 90 minute film examines the experiences of Olympic legends Billie Jean King and Greg Louganis as well as the next generation of LGBT athletes who participated in the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.  Shooting worldwide in locations as diverse as Sochi, New York City, Calgary, Toronto, St. Petersburg and Moscow, the film follows these athletes from the ice to the slopes as they bear the brunt of constant media questioning about Russia’s anti-gay laws.

In addition to Olympic sports legends, 2014 Olympians and Olympic hopefuls included in the film are snowboarders Belle Brockhoff and Simona Meiler, speed skaters Anastasia Bucsis and Blake Skjellerup, four-time gold medal winning hockey player Charline Labonté, as well as notable sports personalities such as Calgary Flames President of Hockey Operations and USA Hockey personnel director Brian Burke, Olympic gold medalist swimmer Mark Tewksbury and Russian Open Games’ Konstantin Yablotskiy and Elvina Yuvakaeva.  To Russia With Love also features interviews and commentary from David Remnick, editor-in-chief of The New Yorker, Golden Globe-nominated actor and activist Stephen Fry and the Brooklyn Nets’ Jason Collins.

To Russia With Love is an EPIX Original Documentary, produced by Sundance Productions. Noam Gonick is director; Howard Gertler (Oscar®nominee, How to Survive a Plague) and Elle Flanders are producers and Emmy® winner Jennifer P. Honn is editor.  Laura Michalchyshyn and Johnny Weir are executive producers and Laina Cohn is co-producer.  Ross Bernard and Jill Burkhart are executive producers for EPIX.

Join the conversation about#ToRussiaWithLove on Twitter http://Twitter.com/EpixHD, on Facebook http://Facebook.com/EPIX  and on the EPIX webpage http://www.epix.com/to-russia-with-love.

Video clips from To Russia With Love are available at:

http://vimeo.com/user28593418/review/106213884/a07159505e

http://vimeo.com/user28593418/review/106213929/77ab1221d6

http://vimeo.com/user28593418/review/106213930/a826a1b82d

About EPIX

EPIX is a premium movie and original programming entertainment service delivering the latest movie releases, classic film franchises, original documentaries, comedy and music events on TV, on demand, online and on devices.  Launched in October 2009, EPIX has pioneered the development and proliferation of “TV Everywhere.”  It was the first premium network to provide multi-platform access to its content online at EPIX.com and was the first premium network to launch on Xbox, PlayStation®, Android tablets and phones, Windows 8.1 and Roku® players.  EPIX is available to authenticated subscribers on hundreds of devices including Apple® iPads® and iPhones® and is the only premium service providing all its programming on all platforms, delivering more movies than any other premium network, with thousands of titles available for streaming.

EPIX is a joint venture between Viacom Inc., its Paramount Pictures unit, Lionsgate and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. Through relationships with cable, satellite and telco partners, EPIX is available to over 50 million homes nationwide.

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212.846.6748                              201.746.0005                          

 

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646.861.0843