Documentary Production and Distribution News
George W. Bush The World Television Exclusive
By StudentFilmmakers.com
posted Jul 28, 2011, 14:55
After its U.S. premiere August 28, the film will premiere globally on National Geographic Channels worldwide in early September, reaching a total of 370 million homes, 188 countries and 37 languages.
GEORGE W. BUSH: THE 9/11 INTERVIEW Premieres Sunday, August 28, at 10 PM
ET/PT on the National Geographic Channel; Anchors Week of Programming Remembering
9/11
(Washington) As the nation prepares to mark the 10th anniversary of the day
that changed America and the world as we know it, the National Geographic Channel
presents GEORGE W. BUSH: THE 9/11 INTERVIEW.
The world premiere documentary, airing Sunday, August 28, 2011, at 10 PM ET/PT,
reveals exclusive, first-person insight into the man at the epicenter of our
government's decisions in the face of the deadliest terrorist attack launched
on American soil. Taped over the course of a two-day interview, President George
W. Bush opens up with candid details and personal experiences on the grueling
hours and pressure-packed days following the attacks. George W. Bush: The 9/11
Interview also opens a new window into his personal account, with never-before-released
archival footage and exclusive materials directly from the George W. Bush Presidential
Library.
After its U.S. premiere August 28, the film will premiere globally on National
Geographic Channels worldwide in early September, reaching a total of 370 million
homes, 188 countries and 37 languages.
NGC also plans to present the first look at the documentary Thursday, July
28, for the summer gathering of TV critics in Los Angeles.
Until now, the former president has never discussed on camera what he was thinking
and feeling, and what drove his real-time, life-or-death decisions in the first
minutes, hours and days after the attacks. In the most in-depth televised interview
he has ever given on the subject, he provides intimate detail on what he grappled
with as both commander in chief charged with protecting his fellow citizens,
and as a family man concerned for his loved ones.
Through the two-day interview, President George W. Bush tells his first-person
story, starting with his morning jog before a school visit where he first learned
the nation was under attack. We hear what facts he weighed when Andrew Card
first whispered in his ear; the impact of his situation in a classroom full
of children and the press corps; his first efforts to communicate with the nation
at large; the concerns of the Secret Service for his safety on Air Force One;
the flow of information from the military, intelligence agencies and news outlets;
and his historic trip to Ground Zero in New York in the aftermath of this unprecedented
moment.
"From the air it looked like...a giant scar. But when I actually got to
the site, it was like walking into hell," President Bush said of his Sept.
14 visit to Ground Zero.
President Bush also shared the personal concerns that many Americans had that
day — for his parents, his children, his wife. Hear in intimate detail
as never before what the president was feeling, not only as the president but
as a man worried for his family. "One of my concerns, like the concerns
of other husbands and wives, was, 'Was my spouse okay? Was Laura okay?' And
my second concern was 'Were our girls okay?'"
Coincidentally, the day before NGC's two-day interview with President Bush,
the announcement that the United States had killed Osama bin Laden was made
by President Obama. Bush gave his real-time reaction to those fresh events on
camera: "And President Obama called me [and] told me that Osama bin Laden
had been killed. And my response was, I congratulated him, and the special operators
that conducted a very dangerous mission...And so I was grateful. I didn't feel
any great sense of happiness or jubilation. I felt a sense of closure. And I
felt a sense of gratitude that justice had been done."
The in-depth interview and candid observations by the former president illuminate
his personal journey through one of the most unforgettable moments in modern
American history. "There were no politics, no agenda as he recalled what
happened that day," explains Peter Schnall, executive producer and director,
who conducted the two-day interview. "What you hear is the personal story
of a man who also happened to be our president. Listening to him describe how
he grappled with a sense of anger and frustration coupled with his personal
mandate to lead our country through this devastating attack was incredibly powerful."
"Eventually, September the 11th will be a day on the calendar; it'll be
like Pearl Harbor Day," President Bush concludes. "For those of us
who lived through it, it'll be a day that we'll never forget."
In the U.S., the film begins Remembering 9/11, a week of programming that includes
the premieres of Inside 9/11: The War Continues (also premiering Sunday, August
28), a new chapter in NGC's critically acclaimed, definitive four-part documentary
on the attacks; CIA Confidential: 9/11 Mastermind (August 29), chronicling the
CIA's dramatic story of the quest to capture Khalid Sheik Mohammed; and 9/11:
Where Were You (August 30), offering fresh stories of life-and-death decisions
people made amid the chaos on the ground in New York City and Washington, D.C.,
the day of the attacks.
George W. Bush: The 9/11 Interview is produced by Partisan Pictures for National
Geographic Channels worldwide. For Partisan Pictures, director/producer is Peter
Schnall; producer/writer is Don Campbell; editor is Connie Rinehart; coordinating
producer is Whitney Johnson; associate producer is Kyle Giddens. For National
Geographic Channels, executive producer is Allan Butler. Senior vice president
of programming and production is Michael Cascio.
Resources:
http://www.natgeotv.com/
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