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‘Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food‘ (2023) is a documentary that delves into the issue of fatal foodborne illnesses within the United States. Directed by Stephanie Soechtig , this film sheds light on a significant problem.

Are you someone who likes to know what you’re eating? This documentary is perfect for you, although it will make you think twice about shopping in the organic products section, because – according to the documentary – even in this section, there are products that can be harmful to your health.

“Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food” is a documentary on Netflix that you can watch starting from August 2nd.

About the Documentary

Kidney and liver failures, sick babies, salmonella-infected chickens, melons contaminated with listeria. . the list goes on, and “Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food” provides us with a clear picture of these issues. The documentary focuses on the United States, analyzing the...

So you’re hungry, and you want to eat something healthy. Maybe a salad. Whoops. Romaine lettuce and spinach are prolific carriers of foodborne pathogens (a 2006 baby spinach contamination led to a severe E. coli outbreak). Ok, so maybe a chicken sandwich. Not so fast: It remains industry practice to sell raw chicken infected by salmonella. How about a wholesome peanut butter sandwich? Well, peanuts, too, have a bad salmonella history.

Such is the hazard of watching Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food, a sobering new Netflix documentary that...

Exclusive: Uninterrupted a brand within The SpringHill Company, founded by LeBron James and Maverick Carter, is partnering with the creators of The Game Changers documentary to produce its sequel.

The original film — executive produced by James Cameron, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jackie Chan, Lewis Hamilton, Chris Paul and Novak Djokovic – documented the dramatic rise of plant-based eating in professional sports. With more than 100M viewers, the film is credited with creating a measurable shift in eating patterns across the globe.

The sequel is being co-directed by Stephanie Soechtig and Kristin Lazure, the filmmakers behind Fed Up, Knock Down the House, The Devil We Know, and Netflix’s forthcoming Poisoned. The feature documentary, which is being produced in association with Soechtig and Lazure’s production company, Atlas Films, goes into production later this summer. For Uninterrupted, LeBron James, Maverick Carter, Jamal Henderson and Philip Byron will serve as executive producers. Matt Rissmiller and Naomi Wright will co-executive produce.

“Fed Up” director Stephanie Soechtig has teamed up with Part2 Pictures, in association with Atlas Films, to direct the Netflix documentary “Get Smart With Money.”

The personal finance documentary follows several individuals from different socioeconomic backgrounds as they examine their spending habits and, with the help of four financial coaches, figure out their financial goals and ways to improve their money mindset. The four coaches include Peter Adeney (aka Mr. Money Mustache), Tiffany Aliche (aka The Budgetnista), Ross MacDonald (aka Ro Mac) and Paula Pant of Afford Anything.

In a statement, Soechtig said: ”Somehow we have ended up with an education system that teaches us the fundamentals of square dancing, yet fails to teach us the fundamentals about how to manage our money. As a result, most of us are left bewildered when it comes to budgeting or investing – I know I was! While we are calling this a ‘money...

101 Studios, Grain Media and the Miami Herald are partnering on a documentary about the horrific collapse of the Champlain Towers South condo building in Surfside, Fla., that killed 98 people in 2021.

The film, about one of the deadliest building failures in modern history, will be based on the Herald’s Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting. “Surviving Surfside” will feature interviews with survivors, first-responders, relatives of the victims, and the journalists and engineers examining the event. It will reveal “the turbulent history of Miami” and examine the suspects that may have contributed to the collapse of the 12-story beachfront condo. The investigation finds that “this crisis might have been averted,” exposing “profound truths about how profit so easily trumps human life,” according to a press release.

“As a newsroom, we poured our hearts into the breaking news and the ongoing daily coverage, and subsequent investigative coverage, of the Champlain Towers South condominium collapse story,...

“Surfside,” a documentary series about the 2021 collapse of Champlain Towers, is under way from director Stephanie Soechtig and former “E! News” host Jason Kennedy.

The Champlain Towers South was a 12-story condominium in Miami’s Surfside community that partially collapsed on June 24, 2021. The event resulted in the deaths of 98 people, becoming one of the deadliest structural failures in U.S. history.

The three-part documentary series will investigate the possible causes of the collapse by examining the 40-year history of the building, as well as the 2018 re-inspection process that revealed severe issues with the infrastructure that were swept under the rug. The series will feature first-hand accounts from survivors and never-before-seen footage of the event, and a recreation of a seven-minute escape through the building during the collapse.

“Initially, we were approaching it as a feature doc, but it quickly became clear that there was too much to tell in a 90-minute film.

The filmmakers behind “Tiger” and “Fed Up” are teaming with the producer of “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” on a new investigative documentary into food safety.

Entitled “Poisoned,” the film will be directed by Stephanie Soechtig and executive produced by Jeff Benedict and produced by Ross Dinerstein’s Campfire. It will be based on Benedict’s book, “Poisoned: The True Story of the Deadly E. Coli Outbreak That Changed the Way Americans Eat.”

“‘Poisoned’ began with my interest in writing about the Jack in the Box E. coli infections in 1993 that sickened over 750 children, four of whom died,” said Benedict in a statement. “But once I entered that world, it became clear the story was much bigger than one outbreak. It’s the same broken system behind each of these horrific events, and while we’ve become more vigilant about what we eat, the issues plaguing the industry rage on.”

Soechtig...

Epix announced the premiere dates for several of its original programs Saturday at the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour.

Season 3 of the dark comedy Get Shorty will premiere on October 6. Slow Burn, a six-episode docuseries based on the popular Slate podcast by the same name, will premiere on November 24. Alive, about the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, premieres November 9, and the documentary Laurel Canyon is set to air in December. Additional details are below.

Get Shorty, Season 3

Premieres Sunday, October 6 at 10Pm

The dark comedy from MGM Television, based in part on the 1990s bestselling Elmore Leonard

novel of the same name and created for television by Davey Holmes (Shameless), will return

this fall with seven all-new episodes. Season 3 will see Miles Daly, newly released from

prison, in a cat and mouse game with studio head Laurence Budd, while Amara and Rick flee to

the Guatemalan jungle to escape the FBI.

Women In Film is accepting applications for the organization’s 2019’s Film Finishing grants, which for the 34th year will award grants in cash and in-kind gifts for films by female directors. The submission period runs through July 14. Recipients will be revealed in November.

Last year, nine grantees were chosen by an industry jury. The winners emerged from a crop of 390 feature-length narrative films, documentaries and shorts, submitted from 22 countries.

This year, Wif said 10-15 grants will be awarded. It also plans to debut a public showcase of fund recipients’ completed films in September.

Previous Wif grantees have gone on to win Oscars, Emmys and festival awards. In 2018 three recipients — Amy Adrion’s documentary Half the Picture, Christina Choe’s Nancy and Stephanie Soechtig’s The Devil We Know — bowed at Sundance. Another docu, Tina Brown and Dyana Winkler’s United Skates, won the audience award at Tribeca. Another, Cynthia Wade’s Freeheld,...

March 1

– Now in its fourth year, the Doc10 film festival is proud to announce their official 2019 film slate. Presented by Chicago Media Project, Doc10 will open with the critically acclaimed Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez documentary “Knock Down the House” and close with Emmy Award-winning director John Chester’s “The Biggest Little Farm.” In celebration of the highly curated event, filmmakers from this year’s ten best documentaries will be descending on Chicago for screenings and Q&A’s. Doc10 will also showcase Vr content, industry panels, and creative workshops, and takes place from April 11 – 14, 2019 in Chicago, Il.

Winner of the Audience Award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, “Knock Down the House” follows progressive activist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other insurgent female candidates running for Congress in 2018. Setting their sights on making a difference, the film chronicles these women as they fight for the issues they are most passionate about and shake...

Katie Couric, Stephanie Soechtig, Epix and others associated with the documentary Under the Gun have successfully fended off an attempt to revive a lawsuit contending that the film tarnished the reputation of a gun rights group and several of its members.

The Virginia Citizens Defense League brought the legal claim and asserted $13 million in damages after Under the Gun premiered at the Sundance Film Festival with a controversial scene. Couric asks members of the group, "If there are no background checks for gun purchasers, how do you prevent felons or terrorists from purchasing a gun?"

What followed was nine seconds ...

Katie Couric, Stephanie Soechtig, Epix and others associated with the documentary Under the Gun have successfully fended off an attempt to revive a lawsuit contending that the film tarnished the reputation of a gun rights group and several of its members.

The Virginia Citizens Defense League brought the legal claim and asserted $13 million in damages after Under the Gun premiered at the Sundance Film Festival with a controversial scene. Couric asks members of the group, "If there are no background checks for gun purchasers, how do you prevent felons or terrorists from purchasing a gun?"

What followed was nine seconds ...

Following “An Inconvenient Sequel,” “The Cove,” and “Chasing Ice,” a pointed and thorough environmental documentary can have a lasting impact on the global conversation around pollution and climate change. Three-time Sundance filmmaker Stephanie Soechtig has been a leading voice in the genre, and adds yet another environmental atrocity to the pile in her fourth feature film, “The Devil We Know.” The film takes aim at powerful corporations such as Dupont and 3M, following a group of West Virginia whistleblowers who claim both companies knew of the harmful environmental properties of the patented chemical Teflon, and covered it up for decades.

Per the official synopsis: “Unraveling one of the biggest environmental scandals of our time, a group of citizens in West Virginia take on a powerful corporation after they discover it has knowingly been dumping a toxic chemical – now found in the blood of 99.7% of Americans – into the drinking water supply.

Women in Film is now accepting applications for its 2018 Finishing Fund and Belgian beer Stella Artois continuing its support of female filmmakers with the announcement of $100,000 in new grant funding.

The Women in Film Finishing Fund will award 10-15 grants in cash and in-kind gifts for films by and/or about women as represented in documentary, fiction, animated and/or experimental films, shorts or feature length. Stella Artois will provide four $25,000 grants for fiction and documentary films that inspire social change, with particular consideration given to films with a water theme.

To kick off the opening of the submission period, Wif and Stella Artois will host a screening of director Amy Adrion’s documentary “Half the Picture” in Los Angeles Thursday night. The film – a Stella Artois-funded Film Finishing Fund grant recipient last year — examines Hollywood’s discrimination against female filmmakers in the hiring of film and television directors, and features interviews with Ava DuVernay, Lena Dunham, Jill Soloway and others.

The film had its World Premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and will open theatrically in June.

Also Read: Power Lunch With Dakota Fanning: 'You're Not Telling a Women's Story, You're Telling a Human Story' (Exclusive Video)

“The support from Stella Artois has truly magnified the impact of the Fund for our filmmakers,” said Wif executive director Kirsten Schaffer. “We have seen this in both their financial assistance toward completion of the films and also the platform given to these filmmakers through events like the ‘Filmmaker Roundtable’ at Sundance Film Festival. We are thrilled to continue our partnership with Stella Artois in empowering the next generation of films.”

An advocate of film and its community, Stella Artois hopes to inspire up-and-coming female filmmakers as the 2019 festival season approaches.

“By funding these grants, we’re thrilled to continue our commitment to women in the film industry and help them achieve their dreams,” said Stella Artois brand director, Anna Rogers. “It’s incredibly exciting to follow these films as they make a difference in the world and we hope to encourage other filmmakers to use their medium to do the same.”

Since its inception in 1985, the Film Finishing Fund has awarded more than $2 million worth of grants to cover 235 films from all over the world, films that have gone on to win Academy, Peabody, Berlin FilmFestival and Sundance Awards. This year alone, past grant winners premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, like, Amy Adrion’s “Half the Picture,” Stephanie Soechtig’s “The Devil We Know,” Christina Choe’s “Nancy,” and Heather Lenz’s “Kusama: Infinity.”

Applications are being accepted beginning April 26 through June 30 for the Women in Film Finishing Fund grants. Recipients will be announced in November. Interested filmmakers can visit the Wif website http://womeninfilm.org. Entrants do not have to be Women in Film members to apply for a grant. Detailed requirements will be available in the online application.

Read original story Women in Film’s $100,000 Finishing Fund Grants Open for Submission At TheWrap...

The list of modern conveniences that will sooner or later take a toll on your — or somebody’s — health gets a lot longer with “The Devil We Know.” Stephanie Soechtig’s documentary exposes the apparently decades-long efforts by the DuPont corporation to deny the adverse effects of chemicals used in the manufacture of Teflon kitchenware, which they knew about at least as early as 1982. They’re still denying them, even as birth defects and other problems have increasingly surfaced among factory workers and nearby residents whose water has become polluted with industrial waste.

This cogent, powerful indictment will most likely make its primary impact in small-screen exposure — though the Trumpian war on industrial and environmental regulation lends it a particularly urgent relevancy. The Sundance-premiered feature is slated for a broadcast debut on PBS’ “Pov” series later this year.

What we first see is rough old video footage shot by Wilbur Tennant,...

The latest in a long line of eco-docs that leave viewers hoping pitchforks will be distributed as they leave the theater, Stephanie Soechtig's The Devil We Know uses just a single case study to find ample reason to want decision-makers at DuPont jailed or worse. Parkersburg, West Virginia, has been ground zero for the impact of chemicals used in the company's Teflon and other products — chemicals now reportedly found in the blood of 99.7% of Americans. An obvious choice for HBO or a similar outlet, the doc will agitate on the fest circuit, and likely prompt more than a...

Whether it’s firearms resulting in school massacres or simple sugar addiction, documentarian Stephanie Soechtig has always been interested in exposing society’s ills. “My very first film, Tapped, looked at the bottled water industry, and in doing that, we were looking at the plastics and Bpa and other phthalates that were leaching into our water bottles,” the director recalled, sitting down at Deadline’s Sundance Studio to discuss her latest project, The Devil We…...

Choosing cameras and lenses is a complicated process for nonfiction filmmakers; it must take into account their films’ unique shooting situation, budget and cinematic styles. Which is why in answering the question of why they picked the gear they did, this year’s crop of Sundance documentary directors also tells us how they shot their movies — the challenges, the choices, and the look. Thirty-seven directors, with features in Documentary Premieres, and the U.S. and World Cinema Documentary Competitions at this year’s festival — took IndieWire behind the scenes of shooting what will be some of the most talked-about nonfiction films of the year.

Read More:Sundance 2018: Here Are the Cameras Used to Shoot This Year’s Narrative Films Category: U.S. Documentary Competition “Bisbee ’17”

Dir: Robert Greene

Camera: Mostly the Sony FS7

Lens: Mostly Zeiss superspeed primes

Greene: “Dp Jarred Alterman created a look that he and the team of...

Kicking off the first Sundance Film Festival since actresses Rose McGowan and Louisette Geiss alleged that Harvey Weinstein respectively raped and sexually harassed them there in previous years, Sundance leadership firmly denied that they enabled the now-disgraced producer. “Sundance as an institution never contributed to that behavior,” said Sundance Institute Executive Director Keri Putnam, partaking in the traditional, Day One press conference with the Institute’s president and founder, Robert Redford, and festival director John Cooper. “While of course these things sickened us and happened during our festival, they’re nothing we were aware of at the time.”

Read More: Top 20 Acquisition Titles of the 2018 Sundance Film Festival Star Keira Knightley, Ethan Hawke, and More

Setting aside Weinstein’s alleged personal wrongdoing, Redford did not sound like he’s mourning Weinstein’s professional presence at the festival, either: “When we have people that come to the festival like Harvey, they...

Four recipients will receive $25,000 grant from Stella Artois.

Women In Film, Los Angeles has announced the recipients of the 32nd annual Film Finishing Fund.

16 grantees were chosen from 370 feature-length narrative films, documentaries and shorts, submitted from 22 countries.

The Film Finishing Fund provides cash grants and in-kind production services to complete films that are by, for or about women. The works-in-progress are viewed by a special jury of women in the industry who select the winning films.

Wif executive director Kirsten Schaffer said: “One of the ways we achieve gender parity, is by ensuring that female filmmakers have the resources they need to produce excellent work. Women In Film is enormously proud that for 31 years we have enabled talented filmmakers to complete their films and bring their remarkable stories to the world.”

Stella Artois, with whom Women In Film, La began a partnership in 2017, has expanded their support of female filmmakers by investing in the Finishing Fund for the...

The upcoming documentary Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken has been dropped by its distributor, YouTube Red, following director Morgan Spurlock's self-imposed admission about his own past sexual misconduct. The movie was picked up by YouTube Red for $3.5 million following its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, and while a theatrical release date has not been set for the documentary, it was being planned for a 2018 debut before the film was dropped. Here's what the studio had to say in a brief statement about cleaning their hands of the documentary.

"We feel for all of the women impacted by the recent statements made by Morgan Spurlock. In light of this situation, we have decided not to distribute Super Size Me 2 on YouTube Red."

Morgan Spurlock took to Twitter last week to admit his past sexual indiscretions, which include accusations of rape when he was in college. There...

The fallout continues in the wake of Morgan Spurlock's confession that he was involved in a college incident in which the other party claimed rape and had settled a sexual harassment charge by a former employee.

The Oscar-nominated documentarian was poised to bring the film The Devil We Know to the upcoming Sundance Film Festival, but the filmmakers behind the Stephanie Soechtig-helmed exposé of mega-corporation DuPont and the environmental hazards caused by the manufacture of its Teflon product moved quickly to extricate Morgan's name from the documentary, which is set to screen in the U.S. Documentary Competition.

"In light of...

Morgan Spurlock has joined forces with consumer activist Erin Brockovich and “Fed Up” director Stephanie Soechtig to help bring the new documentary “The Devil We Know” to audiences. The film, currently in post-production, centers on the toxic chemical C8, which is found in countless consumer products and contaminated the town of Parkersburg, West Virginia, where Spurlock was born and raised.

‘Bodyslam: Revenge of the Banana’ Trailer: Morgan Spurlock Presents Doc Explores Wild World of Amateur Wrestling — Watch

“The Devil We Know” centers on “one of the greatest environmental scandals of our time,” Spurlock said in an Indiegogo video shot to help raise post-production funds for the film. Found in the blood of 99.7 percent of Americans, C8 is used in the making of Teflon, invented by DuPont, one of the largest chemical companies in the world, and is also found in consumer products ranging from carpeting to dental floss to waterproof clothing and pizza boxes. “The Devil We Know” is directed and produced by Soechtig and executive produced by Spurlock.

The story of how C8 contaminated the town of Parkersburg was also the subject of a 2016 New York Times Magazine story. Studies have linked exposure to the chemical to diseases including kidney cancer, testicular cancer, thyroid disease and more.

“With the Trump administration gutting the Epa and filling its ranks with chemical industry insiders, the timing of this film is more important than ever,” Spurlock said in the Indiegogo video.

Read More: Morgan Spurlock’s New Documentary ‘Rats’ Will Definitely Make You Lose Your Lunch — Watch

To watch a clip from the documentary featuring Brockovich explaining the dangers of C8, check out the video below, via Deadline.

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Exclusive: Award-winning documentary filmmakers Morgan Spurlock and Stephanie Soechtig are teaming to take on The Devil We Know, a new film that exposes the evils of C8, a toxic industrial chemical used by DuPont to make Teflon and other products. The project, now in postproduction, just launched its Indiegogo campaign to help finish the film, which features activist Erin Brockovich. Check out a first-look exclusive clip featuring Brockovich above. Soechtig (Fed Up) is…...

A Virginia judge has just shot down a $13 million lawsuit against Katie Couric, Stephanie Soechtig, Epix and others associated with the documentary Under the Gun.

The film, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, provoked controversy because of one scene in particular. In it, Couric asks gun rights advocates, "If there are no background checks for gun purchasers, how do you prevent felons or terrorists from purchasing a gun?"

Under the Gun shows those being interviewed in nine seconds of silence.

In response, the Virginia Citizens Defense League attempted to make the case that this pregnant pause was defamatory. In <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/katie-couric-under-gun-director-928482"...

Katie Couric is standing her ground in the $12 million-plus defamation lawsuit the former CBS anchor and others were hit with in September over their anti-gun documentary Under the Gun. On Tuesday, Couric and director Stephanie Soechtig field a motion of dismissal against the legal move by members of Virginia Citizens Defense League. “A careful reading of their Complaint reveals that, beyond its vituperative rhetoric about the film and its producers, it strains to try…...

In court papers lodged Tuesday, Katie Couric contends that a gun rights group has read too much into pregnant silence in Under the Gun. She's now moved for dismissal of a $13 million lawsuit with the argument that eight seconds from the 120-minute documentary are incapable of defamatory meaning.

In September, the Virginia Citizens Defense League brought the lawsuit against Couric, Under the Gun director Stephanie Soechtig, Epix and others associated with the documentary.

The controversial scene shows Couric asking Vcdl members, "If there are no background checks for gun purchasers, how do you prevent felons or terrorists from purchasing a gun?"

The plaintiffs are...

In his Oscar-winning documentary “Bowling for Columbine” (2002), Michael Moore confronts Charlton Heston and Kmart executives, Michigan militiamen and the producer of “Cops,” but his quixotic search is for the structure itself, the undercarriage of American violence. Though his starting point is the 1999 massacre at Colorado’s Columbine High School, in which two students murdered one teacher, 12 classmates, and injured 21 others, Moore spins a dense web of historical connections and geopolitical comparisons: A montage of American imperialism from the overthrow of Mohammed Mossedegh to the rise of Osama bin Laden, set to “What a Wonderful World”; interviews with ordinary Canadians baffled by the American obsession with crime. “Bowling for Columbine” is, in short, the filmmaker’s most chilling and prescient polemic, framing the United States’ gun epidemic as the logical consequence of our “culture of fear,” and its concomitant economy of terror.

Nearly 14 years on from Moore’s Oscar acceptance speech,...

Katie Couric is named in a defamation lawsuit filed by a Virginia gun rights group that is alleging that the Under the Gun documentary was edited to show them in a negative light. Katie Couric Sued Couric is being sued alongside Under the Gun director Stephanie Soechtig, Atlas films and Epix. The basis of the $13 […]

The post Katie Couric Sued For Defamation Over Edited ‘Under The Gun’ Documentary Scene appeared first on uInterview.

Update, 3:15 Pm: Hit with a more than $12 million defamation lawsuit today, the director of the Katie Couric-fronted and -produced anti-firearms documentary Under The Gun responded this afternoon. And even though she’s admitted in the past to selectively editing footage, Stephanie Soechtig is not backing down.

“It’s ironic that people who so passionately defend the Second Amendment want to trample the rights guaranteed to a filmmaker under the First,” said Stefan Friedman, a spokesperson for Soechtig on Tuesday. “Stephanie stands by Under The Gun, and will not stop her work on behalf of victims of gun violence.”

Soechtig, Courtic and cabler Epix were all named as defendants in the jury-seeking complaint that calls out how members of Virginia Citizens Defense League were shown in the film being unable to offer an argument against background checks on gun purchases. An exchange with Couric that both the host and...

Update, 3:15 Pm: Hit with a more than $12 million defamation lawsuit today, the director of the Katie Couric-fronted and -produced anti-firearms documentary Under The Gun responded this afternoon. And even though she’s admitted in the past to selectively editing footage, Stephanie Soechtig is not backing down. “It's ironic that people who so passionately defend the Second Amendment want to trample the rights guaranteed to a filmmaker under the First," said Stefan…...

Update, 3:15 Pm: Hit with a more than $12 million defamation lawsuit today, the director of the Katie Couric-fronted and -produced anti-firearms documentary Under The Gun responded this afternoon. And even though she’s admitted in the past to selectively editing footage, Stephanie Soechtig is not backing down. “It's ironic that people who so passionately defend the Second Amendment want to trample the rights guaranteed to a filmmaker under the First," said Stefan…...

The Virginia Citizens Defense League is taking aim at Katie Couric in a court of law. The Vcdl slapped Couric with a $12 million lawsuit on Tuesday, claiming that members of the group were defamed by editing in the documentary “Under the Gun” that made it apppear they were stumped on the issue of background checks for gun purchases. The defamation suit, which also names Epix, filmmaker Stephanie Soechtig and Atlas Films, seeks a bundle in damages — $12 million in compensatory damages, and $350,000 in punitive damages from each defendant. Also Read: Katie Couric Hopes Gun Doc Controversy Sparks Bigger Conversation “The film contains false.

Can silence in a certain context be held up as a defamatory statement? The Virginia Citizens Defense League is hoping the answer is affirmative in a $13 million lawsuit against Katie Couric, Stephanie Soechtig and Epix over the documentary film Under the Gun. In the film, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, Couric asks, "If there are no background checks for gun purchasers, how do you prevent felons or terrorists from purchasing a gun?" Under the Gun portrays Vcdl members Daniel Hawes and Patricia Webb in about nine seconds of silence in response to Couric's question, but

read more...

Katie Couric and Epix are being sued for more than $12 million over "manipulated and misleading footage that appears" in gun control advocacy film Under the Gun. According to the lawsuit obtained by Deadline, members of the Virginia Citizens Defense League are suing Couric, Epix (as Studio 3 Partners LLC), Atlas Films and the film's director, Stephanie Soechtig, for manipulating footage that appeared in the 2016 Sundance film. The suit states that "the film contains false footage purporting to show members of the [Vcdl] sitting silently, stumped, and avoiding eye contact for nearly nine seconds after Couric asked, 'If there are no background checks for gun purchasers,...

Katie Couric and Epix are being sued for more than $12 million over "manipulated and misleading footage that appears" in gun control advocacy film Under the Gun.

According to the lawsuit obtained by Deadline, members of the Virginia Citizens Defense League are suing Couric, Epix (as Studio 3 Partners LLC), Atlas Films and the film's director, Stephanie Soechtig, for manipulating footage that appeared in the 2016 Sundance film.

The suit states that "the film contains false footage purporting to show members of the [Vcdl] sitting silently, stumped, and avoiding eye contact for nearly nine seconds after Couric asked, 'If there are no background checks for gun purchasers,...

Director Stephanie Soechtig is fighting back against allegations of deceptive editing in her two most recent documentaries, both of which were executive produced by Katie Couric.

Soechtig challenged an accusation made this week that her 2014 documentary “Fed Up” omitted relevant interview footage in its portrayal of obesity researcher and University of Alabama at Birmingham professor David Allison. Allison told the Washington Free Beacon that the documentary showed him stumbling over his words and saying he wanted to re-phrase an answer to a question, only to cut away from the interview and not include his response.

In an interview with IndieWire, Soechtig asserted that Allison had already dodged the question Couric had put to him about whether calories from sugary drinks contribute to U.S. obesity more than other calories multiple times, and that the response he gave that was left out of the film was another non-answer from their exchange.

“We did nothing wrong,” Soechtig said.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham’s media relations department told IndieWire in a statement that it did not have a transcript of the interview and couldn’t give the verbatim response Allison provided, but could offer a response to a question which is similar to what Allison said in the interview. “The question is, what would be the ideal science behind showing that calories taken in in the form of sugary beverages contribute more to obesity than do equivalent calories taken in in other forms?” Allison said in the statement. “One way to address this would be to randomly assign some people to consume calories in the form of sugary beverages and other people to consume them in solid form and see if one group gained more weight over time than another. This has been done in one study of 15 subjects followed for 8 weeks. The authors found that ‘there was no difference between the change in body weight in the two conditions.'”

Allison has previously self-disclosed financial ties to the American Beverage Association and Coca-Cola, and in 2011 declined to be interviewed for an ABC News investigative piece entitled “Is Big Food’s Big Money Influencing the Science of Nutrition?” The piece accused Allison of being part of an effort by corporations to influence scientists by funding their research and paying them handsome fees for speaking engagements and consulting services.

Allison’s complaint about the editing of “Fed Up” came roughly two weeks after Couric came under attack for editing decisions in the 2016 gun law documentary she executive produced, “Under the Gun,” also directed by Soechtig. In the film, Couric asks members of the Virginia Citizens Defense League about whether any gun purchases should require background checks. After a long pause, the film cuts away to another scene in the documentary.

Again, Soechtig said that the answer to Couric’s question that was immediately given–with no pause–but omitted in the film was “redundant” with responses that had already been included. “Their views were expressed repeatedly throughout the film, so we’d already established how they feel about background checks, and for that reason I didn’t feel like we were misrepresenting them,” Soechtig said.

Couric issued a statement on May 30 saying, “I take responsibility for a decision that misrepresented an exchange I had with members of the Virginia Citizens Defense League.” Soechtig said people were using Couric as a scapegoat. “I’m the director of both of these films and I make the final decision about what is and what is not in the final cut,” Soechtig said. “It was my decision and I stand by it.”

What’s Soechtig’s response to claims “Under the Gun” intentionally tried to make members of the Vcdl look bad?

“The Vcdl is a group of extremists who think that domestic abusers should have guns and that guns should be allowed in schools and bars,” she said. “If I wanted to make them look bad I would have only focused on this radical ideology, but I wanted to advance the conversation and give them an opportunity to explain their beliefs.”

Soechtig added that the outcry over editing in “Under the Gun” reflects the concern on the part of the NRA and related special interest groups that the success of “Fed Up” in altering Americans’ views on obesity might lead to a similar consensus about the need to enforce and extend background checks for guns.

“There are forces in this country that are going to attack any woman who stands up to them and says ‘Unfettered access to guns is dangerous’ or ‘Corporate interests controlling our food supply is dangerous,’” she said. “There are special interest groups that have launched a campaign trying to smear my reputation but I really trust that people will see this for what it is.”

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Katie Couric has apologised for "misleading" portion of editing in documentary "Under The Gun".

After gun rights activists accused Couric and director Stephanie Soechtig of "selective editing" in the project, the veteran broadcast journalist issued a statement on Monday night (May 30) in which she apologised for any misrepresentation

The Epix Original documentary which premiered at Sundance Film Festival earlier this year (16), and was aired on channel Epix on 14 May (16), focuses on the effects of gun violence in the United States.

Controversy flared after members of the pro-gun Virginia Citizens Defense League (Vcdl), who were interviewed for the film took issue with a section where Couric asks the members about background checks on gun ownership.

In the version screened, a long pause followed, which implied the members were stuck for an answer, but the transcript shows they responded right away.

In her statement which was posted on the Under the Gun website,...

Katie Couric has issued an official statement apologizing for what she calls an instance of "misleading" editing in her new documentary Under the Gun.

"As Executive Producer of Under the Gun, a documentary film that explores the epidemic of gun violence, I take responsibility for a decision that misrepresented an exchange I had with members of the Virginia Citizens Defense League (Vcdl)," Couric, responding to uproar from several pro-gun organizations, said in a statement on the documentary's website.

Couric said that the moment in question was a lengthy pause following a question to the group regarding "the ability of convicted...

Katie Couric has issued an official statement apologizing for what she calls an instance of "misleading" editing in her new documentary Under the Gun. "As Executive Producer of Under the Gun, a documentary film that explores the epidemic of gun violence, I take responsibility for a decision that misrepresented an exchange I had with members of the Virginia Citizens Defense League (Vcdl)," Couric, responding to uproar from several pro-gun organizations, said in a statement on the documentary's website. Couric said that the moment in question was a lengthy pause following a question to the group regarding "the ability of convicted...

Katie Couric on Monday released a statement saying she regrets the "misleading" editing on the documentary Under the Gun following a storm of criticism from gun rights activists. Pro-gun blogs and pundits took issue with selective editing by director Stephanie Soechtig on the doc, which premiered at Sundance earlier this year and focuses on the effects of gun violence in the U.S. The specific controversy arose in a section where Couric interviews members of the pro-gun Virginia Citizens Defense League (Vcdl). In the film, Couric asks the members about background checks on gun ownership, specifically related to

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Katie Couric is upset that an eight-second pause inserted into an interview she did with gun rights activists in the documentary “Under the Gun” has drawn criticism, calling the edit an “unnecessary mistake,” according to an individual with knowledge of her thinking. The individual spoke to TheWrap and said that director Stephanie Soechtig inserted the pause, which critics are calling an example of “deceptive” and “appalling journalism.” “This was an unnecessary mistake,” the individual told TheWrap. “It did not represent editing someone’s sentences, there was no factual error, this is not a mistake that is a substantive mistake. It could have been avoided,...

Director Stephanie Soechtig, collaborator Katie Couric and Epix have issued statements in response to criticism over the way the pro-gun control documentary Under the Gun was edited. The uproar started over a scene in which Couric, who co-produced and narrated the documentary, asks members of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, “If there are no background checks for gun purchasers, how do you prevent felons or terrorists from walking into, say, a licensed gun dealer and…...

Director Stephanie Soechtig, collaborator Katie Couric and Epix have issued statements in response to criticism over the way the pro-gun control documentary Under the Gun was edited. The uproar started over a scene in which Couric, who co-produced and narrated the documentary, asks members of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, “If there are no background checks for gun purchasers, how do you prevent felons or terrorists from walking into, say, a licensed gun dealer and…...

Katie Couric and Stephanie Soechtig are speaking out about the considerable amount of heat they've gotten from the gun lobby since Epix premiered their latest documentary collaboration, Under the Gun. The feature, which premiered at Sundance earlier this year, focuses on the effects of gun violence in the U.S. — and while the term "gun control" is deliberately avoided, it does not have a particularly pro-gun narrative. That's why several groups, including the National Rifle Association, have cried foul over a controversial edit where several documentary subjects appear stumped by a question. "If there are no background checks

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The case for gun control in Stephanie Soechtig and Katie Couric's latest documentary collaboration, Under the Gun, is aggressively laid out — but it's not an expression that you'll hear either push. After years of non-starter debates about the role readily available arms play in domestic killings and terrorism, a fact many cannot reconcile with the Second Amendment, Couric suggests that it's time to make the dialogue about something most everyone can agree on: the scary reality of gun violence in America. Covering mass shootings throughout her career, starting with Columbine in 1999, Couric admits that even journalists are

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Between her reporting for Yahoo and her documentary work, Katie Couric is busier than ever. The focus of her latest project is a feature-length movie about the scourge of gun violence in America. “Under the Gun,” which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in January and premieres on Epix on May 15, is often an infuriating piece of work. The documentary, directed by Stephanie Soechtig and executive produced by Couric, reminds viewers how intractable the issue has become despite the overwhelming public support for basic limits on the availability of guns, including a majority of gun owners backing basic background...

Plus: Production begins on Battle Of The Sexes; Cac reports record ad revenues in 2015; FilmRise acquires National Bird; and more

Roughly 69% of the audience for David O Russell’s Joy in the Us was aged 50 and over, while the demographic captured 70% of the audience for The Theory Of Everything.

The data came out of a CinemaCon panel on Wednesday called Movies For Grown-Ups: Films For An older, Loyal And Growing Theatre-Going Audience.

The session include a comment by Russ Collins of Art House Convergence that the group will cease advertising in newspapers later this year because “it’s so ineffective” in the tech-savvy age.

The Us cinema advertising industry reported record revenues in 2015 of $716.4m, according to the Cinema Advertising Council. The result marked a 13.4% year-on-year climb from $631.9m and was announced at CinemaCon on Wednesday.Little Miss Sunshine co-directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris have begun production for Fox Searchlight on Battle Of the Sexes. [link...

Plus: Production begins on Battle Of The Sexes; Cac reports record ad revenues in 2015; FilmRise acquires National Bird; and more

Roughly 69% of the audience for David O Russell’s Joy in the Us was aged 50 and over, while the demographic captured 70% of the audience for The Theory Of Everything.

The date came out of a CinemaCon panel on Wednesday called Movies For Grown-Ups: Films For An older, Loyal And Growing Theatre-Going Audience.

The session include a comment by Russ Collins of Art House Convergence that the group will cease advertising in newspapers later this year because “it’s so ineffective.”

The Us cinema advertising industry reported record revenues in 2015 of $716.4m, according to the Cinema Advertising Council. The result marked a 13.4% year-on-year climb from $631.9m and was announced at CinemaCon on Wednesday.Little Miss Sunshine co-directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris have begun production for Fox Searchlight on Battle Of the Sexes. Steve Carell and [link...

Hot Docs has announced 14 documentary features that will screen in this year¹s Special Presentations program, joining 15 selections previously announced. Special Presentations features a high-profile collection of world and international premieres, award winners from the recent international festival circuit and works by master filmmakers or featuring some star subjects.

Notable subjects featured as part of the Special Presentations program include activist Bobby Sands ("Bobby Sands: 66 Days"), musicians David Byrne, Nelly Furtado and St. Vincent ("Contemporary Color"), filmmaker Brian de Palma ("De Palma"), former NFL defensive back Steve Gleason ("Gleason"), Canadian rapper Shad and hip-hop stars Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash ("Hip-Hop Evolution"), Afghan rapper and activist Sonita Alizadeh ("Sonita"), artist Frida Kahlo ( "The Legacy Of Frida Kahlo"), and comedians Mel Brooks, Sarah Silverman and Carl Reiner ("The Last Laugh").

Award winners from the recent international festival circuit include "Life, Animated" (Directing Award: U.S. Documentary, Sundance 2016), "Trapped" (U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Social Impact Filmmaking, Sundance 2016), and "Sonita" (World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary and Audience Award: World Cinema Documentary, Sundance 2016).

Special Presentations will screen as part of the 2016 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, running April 28 to May 8. Ticket packages and passes as well as single tickets are now on sale online and at the CraveTV Box Office at Hot Docs House, located at 610 Markham Street.

Special Presentation titles are below:

"The Age of Consequences"

D: Jared P. Scott | USA | 2016 | 78 min | World Premiere

Sounding an alarm over the critical and disturbing effects of societal inaction, this revealing film highlights the irreversible impacts of climate change‹resource scarcity, mass migration and conflict‹through the lens of global stability and national security.

"American Movie"

D: Chris Smith | USA | 1999 | 107 min | Cinema Eye Legacy Screening

In this beloved cult classic, an aspiring filmmaker struggles to complete a hilariously lo-fi horror film, only to be derailed by personal demons and the staggering ineptitude of his production team.

"Bobby Sands: 66 Days"

D: Brendan Byrne | Ireland, UK | 2016 | 105 min | World Premiere

This riveting account of a turning point in the Troubles in Northern Ireland is taken straight from the diary of Bobby Sands, who led protests of imprisoned Irish Republicans and a hunger strike with momentous consequences.

"Contemporary Color"

D: Bill Ross IV, Turner Ross | USA | 2016 | 96 min | International Premiere

An extraordinary lineup of top music stars including event mastermind David Byrne of The Talking Heads, Nelly Furtado, St. Vincent and more perform live with 10 ³colour guard² teams‹perfectly synchronized students in pep-rally choreography‹in this one-of-a-kind, kaleidoscopic event.

"De Palma"

D: Noah Baumbach, Jake Paltrow | USA | 2015 | 107 min | Canadian Premiere

From Carrie to Mission: Impossible to Scarface and beyond, Brian de Palma has created some of cinema¹s most iconic work. In this career-spanning, funny and candid conversation, he reveals his unique perspective on life, work and the past 50 years in film.

"Gleason"

D: Clay Tweel | USA | 2016 | 110 min | International Premiere

At age 34, former NFL defensive back and New Orleans hero Steve Gleason was diagnosed with Als. With limited time left to live, he purposefully records his spirited and inspiring life‹a heartfelt time capsule for his newborn son.

"Hip-Hop Evolution"

D: Darby Wheeler | Co-d: Scot McFadyen, Sam Dunn | Canada | 2016 | 90 min | World Premiere

Acclaimed Canadian rapper Shad travels to the Bronx and Harlem to talk with hip-hop¹s originators and biggest stars‹Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash among others‹tracing its evolution from underground to global phenomenon.

"The Last Laugh"

D: Ferne Pearlstein | USA | 2016 | 85 min | International Premiere

Mel Brooks, Sarah Silverman, Carl Reiner, a 90-year-old Auschwitz survivor and others uproariously debate and test the limits of comedy¹s ultimate taboo: how to joke about the Holocaust, or if it¹s even ethical to try.

"The Legacy of Frida Kahlo"

D: Tadasuke Kotani | Japan | 2015 | 89 min | Canadian Premiere

A renowned Japanese photographer inventories iconic Mexican artist Frida Kahlo¹s wardrobe and personal belongings, recently discovered 58 years after her death, lending deserved importance to fashion and ³women¹s work,² while resurrecting the dead through clothing and talismans.

"Life,Animated"

D: Roger Ross Williams | USA | 2015 | 91 min | International Premiere

Disney cartoons play a key role in helping a young autistic boy communicate and understand the world around him in this moving testament to coming-of-age through fantasy, from Academy Award­winning director Roger Ross Williams.

"Sonita"

D: Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami | Iran, Germany, Switzerland | 2015 | 90 min | Canadian Premiere

After her family attempts to sell her into marriage, a young Afghan refugee in Iran channels her frustrations and seizes her destiny through music. Grabbing the mic, she spits fiery rhymes in the face of oppressive traditions.

"Sour Grapes"

D: Jerry Rothwell | USA, France | 2016 | 96 min | World Premiere

Controversy erupts when an unassuming young man floods the American market with fake vintages valued in the millions, bamboozling wine snobs and the super-wealthy alike, in this suspenseful tale of excess on the eve of the 2008 crash.

"Trapped"

D: Dawn Porter | USA | 2016 | 80 min | International Premiere

American women¹s right to abortion is no longer clear, as 288 dubious laws slyly crafted by the right have decimated access. While a watershed Supreme Court battle looms, witness the human stakes of the right to choose.

"Under the Gun"

D: Stephanie Soechtig | USA | 2016 | 110 min | International Premiere

With razor-sharp arguments and insight, Stephanie Soechtig and Katie Couric (the team behind Fed Up) craft a gripping indictment of American gun culture, meeting communities shattered by shootings and exposing the politics that allow the epidemic of violence to persist.