PR Collaborative Featured Campaigns
ATTICA
Nominee, Best Documentary Feature, 2022 Academy Awards ®
Stanley Nelson and Traci A. Curry’s documentary ATTICA takes a new look at the Attica prison uprising in the year of its 50th anniversary, exploring not just the five-day rebellion but the interwoven factors that led to it: race, politics, power, and punishment. Coming at a time when we are re-examining this country's history and grappling with the same questions of justice and race that surrounded the Attica prison uprising, ATTICA joins Nelson’s filmography dedicated to re-examining and correcting the “official” record of historical events, in an examination of justice that is as powerful and urgent today as it was half a century ago. PR Collaborative headed a campaign to engage with press covering law, politics, and race to emphasize the film’s historic and current significance, and arranged a series of virtual and in-person events, including with the Smithsonian’s National Museums of American History and African American History and Culture, the Edlavitch DCJCC, and the Motion Picture Association.
About the film: In 1971, tensions between inmates and guards at the Attica Correctional Facility come to a head in the early hours of September 9 when inmates from the maximum-security prison in Upstate New York launched into the largest and bloodiest prison riot in US history. Through original interviews with former inmates, family members of the hostages, and those who witnessed the rebellion firsthand, ATTICA brings us back to a moment in time that resonated for decades, weaving hundreds of hours of never-before-seen, archival footage from inside the prison. The film captures the people, politics, emotions and tragedy, which continue to serve as a wake-up call about the need for prison reform and a reminder of the responsibilities of justice.
Coverage Highlights:
MSNBC Politics Nation
Move With Intent (with Stanley Nelson & Traci Curry)
Pod Save the People
Attica documentary tells the story of America’s deadliest prison riot
NBCBLK
Attica prison rebellion was 50 years ago. This film makes it feel like yesterday.
Roll Call
Film revisits deadly Attica uprising 50 years later
Axios
Democracy Now
Special screening hosted by the Smithsonian National Museum of American History
THE FIRST WAVE
Featuring interviews with doctors, nurses, patients, and family members facing the COVID-19 pandemic and its physical and psychological effects, THE FIRST WAVE is an unvarnished look into the daily battles healthcare workers in New York faced in the early days of the crisis, the likes of which have been mostly out of view from the public. With THE FIRST WAVE, Oscar®-nominated director Matthew Heineman creates a vital record of the onset of the global pandemic, when hospitals were overrun with this new, unknown disease, in a powerful testament to the strength of the human spirit. As the COVID pandemic continued to evolve, PRC arranged interviews for Heineman and physician Dr. Nathalie Dougé on key national, political platforms, to illustrate why continued vigilance was necessary as the country faced new variants of the virus, using this film as a vivid reminder of what COVID can do at its worst.
About the film: With exclusive access inside one of New York’s hardest hit hospital systems during the terrifying first four months of the pandemic, Oscar®-nominated and Emmy® Award-winning director Matthew Heineman’s THE FIRST WAVE spotlights the everyday heroes at the epicenter of COVID-19 as they come together to fight one of the greatest threats the world has ever encountered.
Coverage Highlights:
New documentary 'The First Wave' follows NYC Covid frontline doctors
MSNBC MTP Daily
Interview with Matthew Heineman and Dr. Nathalie Dougé Pt. 1
MSNBC Politics Nation
Interview with Matthew Heineman and Dr. Nathalie Dougé Pt. 2
MSNBC Politics Nation
Matthew Heineman and Dr. Nathalie Dougé with Laura Coates
SiriusXM The Laura Coates Show
Covid documentary ‘The First Wave’ is a simultaneously vital and hard-to-watch time capsule
Washington Post
‘The First Wave’ shows early days of COVID we never had to see
Roll Call
DOPESICK
Nominee, Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, 2022 Emmy Awards ®
Nominee, Michael Keaton, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series
Nominees, Kaitlyn Dever, Mare Winningham, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series
Nominees, Will Poulter, Peter Sarsgaard, Michael Stuhlbarg, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series
Going back to the beginning of the opioid crisis that has plagued the United States for more than two decades, Danny Strong’s limited series “Dopesick” explores the human cost of the epidemic with interwoven stories of people affected by Oxycontin: from doctors to law enforcement agents to those struggling with addiction. PRC engaged with political, cultural, and healthcare press who have been covering the opioid epidemic, as well as with health-policy organizations including the Aspen Institute and Kaiser Health for panels with the “Dopesick” cast and creators, to emphasize the continued pervasiveness of the opioid crisis over 20 years after the introduction of Oxycontin and the lack of true accountability for those responsible.
About the series: From Executive Producer Danny Strong and starring and executive produced by Michael Keaton, “Dopesick,” examines how one company triggered the worst drug epidemic in American history. The series takes viewers to the epicenter of America’s struggle with opioid addiction, from the boardrooms of Purdue Pharma, to a distressed Virginia mining community, to the hallways of the DEA. The unsparing yet deeply human portraits of the various families affected by Oxycontin addiction and their intersecting stories hold up a mirror to this American tragedy, while shining a hopeful light on the heroes battling the craven corporate forces behind this national crisis. The limited series is inspired by the New York Times bestselling book by Beth Macy.
Coverage Highlights:
Beth Macy's 'Dopesick' gets the TV streaming treatment
NPR All Things Considered
Dopesick: What Purdue Pharma Knew About Opioids
ABC News Start Here Podcast
Michael Keaton was scared to take on his latest role. That’s why he did.
Washington Post
'Dopesick' looks at Oxycontin epidemic
CNN
The Dopesick Tragedy (w/ Danny Strong & Beth Macy)
Yahoo News Skullduggery Podcast
How 'Dopesick' Creator Danny Strong Brought the Opioid Epidemic to the Screen
WNYC The Takeaway
Beth Macy and John Hoogenakker: Hulu’s new series Dopesick
SiriusXM The Laura Coates Show
Watch: Going Beyond the Script of ‘Dopesick’ and America’s Real-Life Opioid Crisis
Kaiser Health News
Stat News
Rosario Dawson on sexism, racism and the opioid crisis
Politico
‘Dopesick’ humanizes the overwhelming losses of the opioid epidemic
Roll Call
Hulu's 'Dopesick' dives into US opioid epidemic
Fox News America’s Newsroom
THE FOREVER PRISONER
In THE FOREVER PRISONER, Oscar®-winning director Alex Gibney takes on the story of Abu Zubaydah, the first high-value detainee subjected to the CIA’s “enhanced interrogation techniques,” (EITs) which have now been identified as torture, diving deeply into a question our nation has struggled with for the past two decades: what democratic values do we sacrifice in the name of keeping those very same values safe? PR Collaborative’s DC campaign for the film focused on political, legal, and national security outlets to reflect on the legacy of the EIT program and its continued stain on American policies as the nation grapples with the 20 years following 9/11.
About the film: HBO documentary THE FOREVER PRISONER, from acclaimed director Alex Gibney (HBO’s “The Crime of the Century,” “Agents of Chaos,” “The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley”), tells the chilling story of Abu Zubaydah, the first high-value detainee subjected to the CIA’s program of Enhanced Interrogation Techniques (EITs), later identified as torture by those outside the agency. Having never been charged with a crime or allowed to challenge his detention, Zubaydah remains imprisoned at Guantánamo Bay in Kafkaesque limbo, in direct contravention of America’s own ideals of justice and due process.
Coverage Highlights:
Alex Gibney’s ‘The Forever Prisoner’ reveals CIA torture tactics
PBS NewsHour
‘It’s soul-crushing’: the shocking story of Guantánamo Bay’s ‘forever prisoner’
The Guardian
Director Of 9/11 Doc On Lawyers' Alleged Role In Torture
Law360
‘The Forever Prisoner’ — condemned for what was done to him
Roll Call
THE UNITED STATES VS. BILLIE HOLIDAY
Nominee, Andra Day, Best Actress in a Leading Role, 2021 Academy Awards ®
Touching on powerful social issues that still resonate today, including the lesser known aspects of her Civil Rights activism, THE UNITED STATES VS. BILLIE HOLIDAY follows jazz icon Billie Holiday as she becomes the target of the U.S. government both for her lifelong struggle with drug addiction and for her performance of the anti-lynching anthem "Strange Fruit," making her one of the first public victims of America's War on Drugs. PR Collaborative spearheaded a campaign celebrating Holiday’s status as a Civil Rights pioneer and her importance in the ongoing fight for equality in the United States, through a series of appearances in political outlets and Q&As during Black History Month and Women’s History Month.
About the film: The legendary Billie Holiday, one of the greatest jazz musicians of all time, spent much of her career being adored by fans across the globe. Beginning in the 1940’s in New York City, the federal government targeted Holiday in a growing effort to escalate and racialize the war on drugs, ultimately aiming to stop her from singing her controversial and heart-wrenching ballad, “Strange Fruit.” Led by Oscar® nominated director Lee Daniels and introducing Grammy® nominated singer-songwriter Andra Day, The United States vs. Billie Holiday unapologetically presents the icon’s complicated, irrepressible life. Screenplay writer Suzan-Lori Parks, the first African American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, pens this intimate tale of a fierce trailblazer whose defiance through music helped usher in the civil rights movement.
Coverage Highlights:
“She kicked off the civil rights movement”: Interview with Lee Daniels
CNN Tonight
Interview with Lee Daniels and Andra Day Pt. 1
MSNBC Politics Nation
Interview with Lee Daniels and Andra Day Pt. 2
MSNBC Politics Nation
Race in America: The United States vs. Billie Holiday
Washington Post
Lee Daniels and Andra Day on the hidden activist life of Billie Holiday
Washington Post: Cape Up
‘A lesson in authenticity:’ Andra Day reflects on the experience of playing Billie Holiday
PBS NewsHour
Andra Day on portraying Billie Holiday’s signature voice and power
PBS NewsHour
Why we’re drawn to Billie Holiday’s story
PBS NewsHour
Endangered jazz history faces greater risk with the pandemic
Axios
States wrestle with how to teach slavery, genocide
Axios
Lee Daniels Warns CNN Of “Dark Time” In America Following Capitol Assault & Racist Undercurrents
Deadline
The UNITED STATES VS. BILLIE HOLIDAY Discussion
Special event hosted by the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
TIME
Nominee, Best Documentary Feature, 2021 Academy Awards ®
As the nation grapples with the toll of systemic racism, TIME examines the effects of America’s flawed incarceration policies on the Rich family. PR Collaborative engaged with journalists and organizations to highlight both the film’s important commentary on this country’s justice system and its impact on people of color, as well as its celebration of the everyday triumphs and beauty of a Black family.
About the film: Fox Rich is a fighter. The entrepreneur, abolitionist and mother of six boys has spent the last two decades campaigning for the release of her husband, Rob G. Rich, who is serving a 60-year sentence for a robbery they both committed in the early 90s in a moment of desperation. Combining the video diaries Fox has recorded for Rob over the years with intimate glimpses of her present-day life, director Garrett Bradley paints a mesmerizing portrait of the resilience and radical love necessary to prevail over the endless separations of the country’s prison-industrial complex.
Coverage Highlights:
The Recast: Chauvin's murder trial ends. The waiting begins.
Politico
Reflections on the film TIME by former Obama Cabinet member Broderick D. Johnson
Medium
TIME Discussion - Hosted by the Smithsonian National Museum of African American HIstory and Culture
COLLECTIVE
Nominee, Best Documentary Feature & Best International Feature, 2021 Academy Awards ®
With its harrowing look at the failure of a country’s healthcare system to care for its citizens, the Romanian documentary COLLECTIVE became a prescient warning for the global healthcare failures in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. PR Collaborative sought out press for the film to both address the healthcare failures and celebrate the power of investigative journalism that are depicted in the film. PRC also worked with the Aspen Institute to arrange a Q&A with its Health, Medicine & Society Program, as well as the Institute’s Romanian branch. Moderated by Margot Sanger-Katz, health policy writer for the New York Times, the conversation included filmmaker Alexander Nanau, journalist Cătălin Tolontan, and Romanian Health Minister Vlad Voiculescu.
About the film: In 2015, a fire at Bucharest’s Colectiv club leaves 27 dead and 180 injured. Soon, more burn victims begin dying in hospitals from wounds that were not life-threatening. Then a doctor blows the whistle to a team of investigative journalists. One revelation leads to another as the journalists start to uncover vast health care fraud. When a new health minister is appointed, he offers unprecedented access to his efforts to reform the corrupt system but also to the obstacles he faces. Following journalists, whistle-blowers, burn victims, and government officials, Collective is an uncompromising look at the impact of investigative journalism at its best.
Coverage Highlights:
The documentary ‘Collective’ is about a deadly nightclub fire — and much, much more.
The Washington Post
Needless deaths in Romania’s hospitals
The World
Romanian documentary chases Oscar, and the truth
Christian Science Monitor
ALL IN: THE FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY
The timely documentary ALL IN: THE FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY from Amazon Studios reminds Americans of the struggle many groups have historically faced in order to exercise their right to vote, and the barriers they continue to face today. PR Collaborative helmed the political outreach in Washington, DC for the film, focusing on press interested in exploring both the historic context of voter suppression and its current ramifications. In addition to securing press coverage, PRC also organized events with cultural and political organizations including the Opening Night discussion of The Atlantic Festival with film subject Stacey Abrams and The Circus co-host Alex Wagnerl; a screening with Young People For; a discussion with filmmakers Liz Garbus, Lisa Cortés, and the Center for American Progress’ Associate Director for Voting Rights & Access to Justice Danielle Root; and a screening at the Virginia Film Festival with filmmaker Lisa Cortés, Larry Sabato, and Rep. Bobby Scott.
About the film: In anticipation of the 2020 presidential election, ALL IN: THE FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY examines the often overlooked, yet insidious issue of voter suppression in the United States. The film interweaves personal experiences with current activism and historical insight to expose a problem that has corrupted our democracy from the very beginning. With the perspective and expertise of Stacey Abrams, the former Minority Leader of the Georgia House of Representatives, the documentary offers an insider’s look into laws and barriers to voting that most people don’t even know are threats to their basic rights as citizens of the United States.
Coverage Highlights:
Stacey Abrams calls GOP efforts to restrict voting ‘new Jim Crow era laws’
MSNBC The ReidOut
"When you break democracy you break it for everyone": Interview with Stacey Abrams
CNN Anderson Cooper 360
Stacey Abrams: ‘People are hungry for truth’
MSNBC The Last Word
The fight against voter suppression in Georgia
MSNBC The Week with Joshua Johnson
Stacey Abrams on Biden’s leadership, Georgia’s election and challenging voter suppression
PBS NewsHour
Deadline
A Black WWII veteran voted in Georgia in 1946. He was lynched for it.
Washington Post
Roll Call
Former Georgia Gubernatorial Candidate Stacey Abrams: Why Georgia Could Go Blue in November
SiriusXM The Big Picture
You Can Protest at the Ballot Box: Liz Garbus and Lisa Cortes on All In: The Fight for Democracy
RogerEbert.com
THE FIGHT
Celebrating the 100 years of civil liberties work the ACLU has done, Magnolia Pictures’ THE FIGHT explores the cases brought against the Trump administration by following the lawyers fighting every day for Americans’ rights. PR Collaborative worked with AFI DOCS to stage the 2020 festival’s Centerpiece screening of THE FIGHT during its first all-virtual festival, including a post-screening discussion with the filmmakers and Washington Post deputy editor Ruth Marcus. For the film’s release, PRC raised awareness among journalists covering the issues highlighted in the film, including immigration, reproductive justice, and LGBTQ+ rights.
About the film: THE FIGHT is an inspiring, emotional insider look at how these important battles are fought and the legal gladiators on the front lines fighting them. Directors Elyse Steinberg, Josh Kriegman, and Eli Despres capture the rollercoaster ride of the thrill and defeat in these deeply human battles. When a mother is separated from her child, a soldier is threatened to lose his career, a young woman’s right to choose is imperiled at the pleasure of a government official, and the ability to exercise our basic right to vote is threatened, the consequences can be devastating to us and to future generations. THE FIGHT celebrates the unsung heroes who fiercely work to protect our freedoms.
Coverage Highlights:
Riveting legal doc goes behind the scenes to show ACLU lawyers at work
Washington Post
A new film goes inside the war on civil rights, and this time ACLU lawyers are the stars
Washington Post
‘The Fight’ Goes Behind The Scenes Of Pivotal Legal Battles Against Trump
Huffington Post
‘Cases and Controversies’ Podcast: Movie Night, Trump, and RBG
Bloomberg Law
RogerEbert.com
JOHN LEWIS: GOOD TROUBLE
One of the first Washington, DC releases PR Collaborative led during the COVID-19 pandemic, JOHN LEWIS: GOOD TROUBLE follows the extraordinary life and career of the late Congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis. Adapting to the “new normal” of the pandemic, PRC led a virtual press day for filmmaker Dawn Porter to discuss the Congressman’s legacy and work, made all the more urgent by the surge of protests for racial justice across the country.
About the film: JOHN LEWIS: GOOD TROUBLE, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Dawn Porter (TRAPPED, GIDEON’S ARMY), chronicles the life and career of the legendary civil rights activist and Democratic Representative from Georgia. Using interviews and rare archival footage, JOHN LEWIS: GOOD TROUBLE chronicles John Robert Lewis’ 60-plus years of social activism and legislative action on civil rights, voting rights, gun control, health-care reform and immigration. Using present-day interviews with Lewis, now 80 years old, Porter explores his childhood experiences, his inspiring family and his fateful meeting with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1957. In addition to her interviews with Lewis and his family, Porter’s primarily cinéma verité film also includes interviews with political leaders, Congressional colleagues, and other people who figure prominently in his life.
Coverage Highlights:
John Lewis’s ‘good trouble’ of the 1960s resonates for today’s protests for racial justice Washington Post
John Lewis to Black Lives Matter protesters: ‘Give until you cannot give any more’
Washington Post
Civil rights icon John Lewis is ‘deeply moved’ by today’s demonstrations
Washington Post
A good time for a film about ‘Good Trouble’
Roll Call
‘Watching John Lewis watch himself’: Dawn Porter’s documentary on the civil rights icon
Roll Call
BOYS STATE
With a fascinating look at a microcosm of American politics, BOYS STATE follows four very different young men participating in the week-long civics program. PR Collaborative organized a number of events with the filmmakers and subjects to highlight the cultural and political significance of the film, including the Opening Night screening of BOYS STATE at AFI DOCS 2020, with a post-screening discussion moderated by NBC’s Meet the Press host Chuck Todd; an Axios Live event on Gen Z’s impact on politics with Beto O’Rourke and Rep. Will Hurd; a screening at the Virginia Film Festival with Governor Terry McAuliffe and Larry Sabato; a discussion with the McCain Institute moderated by Cindy McCain; and a Congressional screening with Rep. Chris Murphy and Sen. Tim Scott.
About the film: The sensational winner of the Grand Jury Prize for documentary at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival is a wildly entertaining and continually revealing immersion into a week-long annual program in which a thousand Texas high school seniors gather for an elaborate mock exercise: building their own state government. Filmmakers Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine closely track the escalating tensions that arise within a particularly riveting gubernatorial race, training their cameras on unforgettable teenagers like Ben, a Reagan-loving arch-conservative who brims with confidence despite personal setbacks, and Steven, a progressive-minded child of Mexican immigrants who stands by his convictions amidst the sea of red. In the process, they have created a complex portrait of contemporary American masculinity, as well as a microcosm of our often dispiriting national political divisions that nevertheless manages to plant seeds of hope.
Coverage Highlights:
Boys State churns out members of Congress. These were their teenage dreams
Roll Call
The best-kept secret in documentaries? It’s all in the casting.
Washington Post
‘Boys State’ film offers hope about our next generation of leaders
Washington Post (3.5/4 review)
Why Is American Politics Unravelling? 'Boys State' Film Looks for Answers
Reason
Axios AM: "Boys State": American politics in a teenage microcosm
Axios
“Boys State” Directors Amanda McBaine & Jesse Moss on Their Timely Doc
The Credits
KINGDOM OF SILENCE
Released on the second anniversary of journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder, Showtime’s KINGDOM OF SILENCE delves into the complicated history of the relationship between the US and Saudi Arabia, exploring how Khashoggi’s life, career, and death mirrored that relationship. Ahead of the film’s premiere on SHOWTIME, PR Collaborative raised awareness of the film among journalists who have been watching the story since Khashoggi’s shocking and brutal assassination. PRC also worked with the Washington Post (where Khashoggi was a columnist) to arrange a Washington Post Live virtual discussion with filmmaker Rick Rowley and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Lawrence Wright, moderated by Post foreign affairs columnist David Ignatius. PRC also worked with the Post and SHOWTIME to give Post subscribers free, early access to KINGDOM OF SILENCE before its premiere. PRC arranged another discussion with Rowley, Wright, and Tamara Cofman Wittes, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Center for Middle East Policy, hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations, and moderated by Mona Yacoubian, Senior Advisor at the United States Institute of Peace.
About the film: KINGDOM OF SILENCE is the untold story of Jamal Khashoggi -- a man who lived his life at the center of the violence and chaos unleashed by America’s toxic relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, until it killed him. From his youthful reporting on Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan in the 1980s, to his work as spokesman for the Saudi government after 9/11, to his relationship with the revolutions of the Arab Spring, to the shocking details of his final hours -- including the old friend who became his assassin -- Khashoggi's life has never been examined in such depth and scope. Nor has his death been so movingly recalled.
Coverage Highlights:
How slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s call for reform is still heard today
PBS NewsHour
Why Is America Still Friends with Saudi Arabia?
Persuasion
“Kingdom of Silence”: A Conversation with Rick Rowley and Lawrence Wright
Washington Post
Documentary probes the murder of Jamal Khashoggi and our complicated relationship with Saudi Arabia
Washington Post
AFI DOCS
Since 2014, PR Collaborative has led the publicity for the American Film Institute’s annual documentary festival AFI DOCS. Called “The nation’s leading documentary festival” by The Washington Post and “The premier showcase for documentary film” by The Hollywood Reporter, AFI DOCS brings the year’s best documentaries to Washington, DC where filmmakers, audiences, journalists, and policymakers can experience and discuss their ideas. PRC leads press outreach and coverage, in addition to working with the festival to find journalists to moderate post-film discussions. From our partnership with AFI DOCS, PRC has also been brought on to lead publicity for the Meet the Press Film Festival with AFI. In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, AFI DOCS presented an entirely virtual festival, the first major film festival of 2020 to do so. PRC worked to bring a national audience as well as thought leaders and luminaries together for dynamic Q&A sessions, resulting in an unforgettable festival that attendees could experience safely at home.
About AFI DOCS: About AFI DOCS: AFI DOCS is the American Film Institute's annual documentary festival historically held in Washington, DC. Presenting the year's best documentaries, AFI DOCS is the only festival in the U.S. dedicated to screenings and events that connect audiences, filmmakers and policy leaders in the heart of our nation's government. The AFI DOCS advisory board includes Ken Burns, Davis Guggenheim, Chris Hegedus, Werner Herzog, Barbara Kopple, Spike Lee, Errol Morris, Stanley Nelson and Frederick Wiseman.
Coverage Highlights:
AFI Docs 2020: 10 of the Most Exciting Films in This Year’s Lineup
IndieWire
Film festivals face the dreaded choice this year: Go virtual or go dark
Washington Post
AFI Docs Announces Plans For Online Film Festival, ‘Boys State’ Will Open Event
Deadline
AFI Docs Film Festival Will Go Virtual Amid Pandemic
The Hollywood Reporter
AFI Docs Film Festival moves online, will open with ‘Boys State’
Screen International
AFI Docs moves online for 2020 festival, sets “Boys State” as opening film
Realscreen
Film Festivals Aren’t Just Surviving Online, They’re Creating a Better Future
IndieWire
AFI Docs 2020 Has Majority Films by Women, New Movies from Julia Reichert, Ron Howard
IndieWire
Deadline
Minneapolis police, workplace gender equality in spotlight at AFI Docs
Screen International
“Boys State”, “The Fight” to screen at AFI Docs ’20
Realscreen
AFI Docs 2020: The Stories behind the Headlines, the Business behind the Stories
Documentary Magazine
The best-kept secret in documentaries? It’s all in the casting.
Washington Post
AMERICAN FACTORY
Winner, Best Documentary Feature, 2020 Academy Awards ®
PR Collaborative is proud to have helmed the Washington, DC press campaign for Netflix’s Academy Award ®-winning documentary AMERICAN FACTORY, starting with its screening at the 2019 AFI DOCS film festival. As the festival’s Centerpiece film, PRC arranged a post-screening discussion with filmmakers Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar, moderated by NBC News' Meet the Press moderator and NBC News Political Director Chuck Todd. Reichert and Bognar returned to DC to discuss the film with cultural and political journalists during a press day ahead of release, diving into the nuanced issues raised in AMERICAN FACTORY.
About the film: This acclaimed film takes a deep dive into a post-industrial Ohio, where a Chinese billionaire opens a new factory in the husk of an abandoned General Motors plant and hires two thousand blue-collar Americans. Early days of hope and optimism give way to setbacks as high-tech China clashes with working-class America.
Coverage Highlights:
Washington Post
The Obamas aren’t done with politics just yet, if their new Netflix film is any indication
Washington Post
Inside The First Netflix Movie To Get The Obamas’ Stamp Of Approval
Huffington Post
New documentary: what happens when a Chinese company buys a GM Plant?
Hill.TV
‘American Factory’ arrives in time fraught with U.S.-China troubles
Roll Call
17 films that delighted Post critics in 2019
Washington Post
RBG
Nominee, Best Documentary Feature, 2019 Academy Awards ®
PR Collaborative led the Washington, DC press tour for Magnolia Pictures’ Academy Award ®-nominated RBG, the 2018 documentary that followed the life of the late Supreme Court Justice and pop culture icon. Following a day of interviews, directors Betsy West and Julie Cohen participated in a post-screening discussion moderated by Dana Bash, attended by DC media, Members of Congress, Justice Stephen Breyer, and the guest of honor, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
About the film: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg has created a breathtaking legal legacy for women’s rights while becoming an unexpected pop culture icon. The personal journey of this diminutive, quiet warrior’s rise to the nation’s highest court during a hostile time for women, is revealed in this inspiring and multidimensional portrait. Now 85, Ginsburg refuses to relinquish her passionate duty, continues to have vigorous dissenting opinions and her exercise workouts.
Coverage Highlights:
In ‘RBG,’ Ruth Bader Ginsburg looks back on a life spent working for equality
PBS NewsHour
PopPolitics: Filmmakers Discuss Surprising Moment in Ruth Bader Ginsburg Doc ‘RBG’
Variety
The new film ‘RBG’ reveals how Ruth Bader Ginsburg became a meme — and why that’s so surprising
Washington Post
Is Ruth Bader Ginsburg a judicial ‘rock star’? This new documentary makes a strong case.
Washington Post (3/4 review)
‘RBG’ Doc Shows How Lasting Political Change Often Happens Behind The Scenes
Huffington Post
Ruth Bader Ginsburg Is Ready for Her Close-up
Roll Call
RBG Co-Directors/Producers on Their Groundbreaking Subject – Part I
RBG Co-Directors/Producers on Their Groundbreaking Subject – Part 2
The Credits
THE HANDMAID’S TALE
PR Collaborative worked with Hulu to launch the Emmy-winning hit series THE HANDMAID’S TALE. In addition to securing interviews for star Elisabeth Moss and author Margaret Atwood with top political news outlets, PRC forged a partnership between Hulu and Change.org to encourage Americans to take action and speak out on the issues that matter to them, promoted by the series’ stars and creators in a PSA. For the show’s third season, Hulu and CNN’s Courageous Studios created an installation in downtown New York to show the disparity between statues of men versus of women by erecting enough mirrored female figures to achieve parity. On Women’s Equality Day, PRC raised awareness among news outlets as Hulu brought these powerful installations to Boston, Atlanta, and San Francisco.
About the series: Adapted from the classic novel by Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale is the story of life in the dystopia of Gilead, a totalitarian society in what was formerly the United States. Facing environmental disasters and a plunging birthrate, Gilead is ruled by a twisted fundamentalism in its militarized ‘return to traditional values'. As one of the few remaining fertile women, Offred (Elisabeth Moss) is a Handmaid in the Commander’s household, one of the caste of women forced into sexual servitude as a last desperate attempt to repopulate the world. In this terrifying society, Offred must navigate between Commanders, their cruel Wives, domestic Marthas, and her fellow Handmaids – where anyone could be a spy for Gilead – all with one goal: to survive and find the daughter that was taken from her.
Coverage Highlights:
The Handmaid’s Tale - Fighting for Change
PSA Collaboration with Change.org
In dystopian ‘Handmaid’s Tale,’ a warning for a new generation not to take rights for granted
PBS NewsHour
The Visceral, Woman-Centric Horror of The Handmaid's Tale
The Atlantic
Washington Post
‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ crashes up against Trump
Politico
ESPN’s The Undefeated
The Handmaid’s Tale’s Samira Wiley Talks Religion, Love, and Season 2
The Credits
THE LOOMING TOWER
For the release of Hulu’s limited series THE LOOMING TOWER, PR Collaborative arranged a number of interviews with a mix of entertainment and political press to discuss the series’ portrayal of the governmental dysfunction during the lead up to the 9/11 attacks, and its relevance to the current political climate. Additionally, PRC coordinated a panel discussion with the Washington Post Live featuring series stars Jeff Daniels, Peter Sarsgaard, Wren Schmidt and Tahar Rahim; showrunner Daniel Futterman; FBI agent and series subject Ali Soufan; and executive producers Alex Gibney and Lawrence Wright, author of the Pulitzer-winning book on which the series is based; and moderated by Post columnist David Ignatius.
About the series: About the series: Based on the Pulitzer-Prize winning book, THE LOOMING TOWER traces the rising threat of Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda in the late 1990s and how the rivalry between the FBI and CIA during that time may have inadvertently set the path for the tragedy of 9/11.
Coverage Highlights:
PBS NewsHour
Jeff Daniels and Peter Sarsgaard talk Woody Allen, 9/11 and #MeToo in Hollywood
MTP Daily
'The Looming Tower' Cast Brings 9/11 Series to Washington, D.C.
The Hollywood Reporter
He hunted bin Laden — then died in 9/11. Now the FBI legend is the center of a new TV show.
Washington Post
Sober Assessment: Jeff Daniels, Peter Sarsgaard & Lawrence Wright on The Looming Tower
RogerEbert.com
A Looming Warning from ‘The Looming Tower’
Roll Call
HUMAN FLOW
Chinese contemporary artist and activist Ai Weiwei’s film HUMAN FLOW documents the global refugee crisis with his unique voice and vision. With that in mind, PR Collaborative showcased both the artistic and political achievements of the film with a mix of political, foreign policy, and cultural press. PRC also spearheaded a bipartisan screening with the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission with co-chairs Rep. Randy Hultgren (R-IL) and Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) and secured the Washington Post’s Ishaan Tharoor to moderate the Q&A with Ai.
About the film: Over 65 million people around the world have been forced from their homes to escape famine, climate change and war in the greatest human displacement since World War II. HUMAN FLOW, an epic film journey led by the internationally renowned artist Ai Weiwei, gives a powerful visual expression to this massive human migration. The documentary elucidates both the staggering scale of the refugee crisis and its profoundly personal human impact.
Coverage Highlights:
Ai Weiwei captures the global refugee crisis in ‘Human Flow’
PBS NewsHour
'More Than A Political Status': Ai Weiwei Captures Scale Of Global Refugee Crisis
NPR All Things Considered
Ai Weiwei on His Experimental New Doc About the Refugee Crisis and Why It’s Our Crisis, Too
Slate
Politico Magazine
Ai Weiwei Brings Politics, Humanity to ‘Human Flow’
Roll Call
Chinese Dissident Ai Weiwei Explores the Tragedy of the Refugee Crisis
Reason
Ai Weiwei on “Human Flow,” Refugees, and Countries Who Won’t Let Them In
Huffington Post
Dissident on Trump era: ‘China, Russia, they all laugh about it’
The Hill