CNN unveiled highlights of their new and returning premium nonfiction content for 2022 and 2023 as part of the Warner Bros. Discovery upfront presentation.
CNN Films is developing premium documentaries with an extraordinary and diverse group of talented creatives, across varied subjects that will entertain and engage all film fans. The brand is also collaborating with Warner Bros. Discovery brands, and other partners, for premieres on CNN’s linear network. Some of the upcoming 2022-2023 titles for CNN Films are:
- Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down is directed by Julie Cohen and Betsy West, who also directed the Academy® Award-nominated, Emmy® Award-winning RBG for CNN Films. The film explores the life and mission of the former Arizona Congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords, who survived an assassination attempt in 2011. The film profiles her remarkable recovery, and her marriage with Sen. Mark Kelly, as they navigate their new lives together in the wake of the assault. Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down is produced by Storyville Films and Lisa Erspamer Entertainment for CNN Films and TIME Studios.
- Little Richard: I Am Everything (wt), directed by Lisa Cortés and produced by Bungalow Media + Entertainment, in association with Rolling Stone, is commissioned by CNN Films and HBO Max. The biographical documentary takes viewers on the wild ride of the life of Richard Penniman (aka, Little Richard), an original architect of rock and roll. Premiering on CNN in 2023.
- An untitled documentary about the rise and fall of HQ Trivia, directed by Salima Koroma (Dreamland: The Burning of Black Wall Street) and produced by Left/Right, takes viewers on the rocket-like rise and sudden implosion of the once-ubiquitous mobile game show, HQ Trivia. The global viral sensation drew millions of daily users to its frenetically fun trivia challenges and attracted celebrity fans including Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Neil Patrick Harris, Jimmy Kimmel, and Kelly Clarkson. The appeal of the promising phenomenon where correctly answering a series of 12 questions won the players cash prizes, quickly gave way to corporate clashes, jealousies, questionable leadership, and even a tragic death. The gameplay was simple and the concept clear, but like so many well-financed toppled tech start-ups before it, the antics behind the screens were rife with drama, destruction, and dysfunction – this is the story of the sh*tshow. Premiering on CNN in 2023.
