9/11

World Screen Weekly, August 10, 2006

A look at some of the documentary titles about September 11, 2001, available on the international market.

Five years may have gone by, but images of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks still evoke very raw emotions in many, many people. And networks in the U.S., as well as several broadcasters around the world, are gearing up to commemorate the fifth anniversary of 9/11. “Any smart history programmer is going to have certain dates marked on their calendar,” says Gary Lico, the president and CEO of independent distributor CABLEready. “September 11 will be a date that is marked for a long, long time.”

Although in the past couple of years 9/11 programming hasn’t generated much demand from international broadcasters, according to Judy Barlow, the VP of international sales at APT Worldwide, “this year being the fifth anniversary, and given that the world has changed so dramatically since that marking point, there’s been renewed interest.”

And that interest has run the gamut from intricate, minute-by-minute dissections of the day, to analytical docs looking at the history leading up to September 11, to emotional pieces chronicling the effects on the victims’ families.

National Geographic Channels International (NGCI) has been rolling out the four-part Inside 9/11, which has shored up deals with, among others, ZDF, TV12 in Singapore and MBC in the Middle East, after delivering record ratings for the National Geographic Channel in the U.S. “It brings together this weave of finances, training and individuals who carried out 9/11.” says Germaine Deagan Sweet, the director of program syndication at NGCI. “I’ve had many broadcasters watch it and say these are the most comprehensive four hours they’ve seen.”

On the opposite end of the spectrum is the buzz-generating Loose Change 2, an independently produced low-budget film that seeks to shatter the official story of what happened on September 11, 2001. “It creates a completely different narrative,” says Tim Sparke, the managing director of MercuryMedia International, which is distributing the film around the world. Using news footage culled from a range of sources, the film questions every aspect of the events of the day, positing that explosives, not planes, caused the World Trade Center towers to fall, and disputing the attack on the Pentagon. If the filmmakers are right, Sparke says, “The mainstream media has been the victim of the most audacious hoax in history.”

While broadcasters were initially ambivalent about Loose Change 2, demand for the film has gone up following significant press—including a piece in Vanity Fair—and 12 million downloads from Google Video. Stations that have acquired the film include Planete in France, VRT in Belgium, VARA in the Netherlands, Noga in Israel, MBC in the Middle East, Globosat in Brazil and Rai in Italy.

There is, however, plenty of less controversial fare on the market. AETN International has been rolling out two specials from The History Channel, Countdown to Ground Zero and The Miracle of Stairway B; and one from the A&E Network, Trapped in the Towers: The Elevators of 9/11.

Cineflix International Distribution has seen a tremendous response for the 9/11 episode from its hit Zero Hour series. “9/11 shows rate,” says Paul Heaney, the company’s managing director. Deals have been secured with more than 40 broadcasters for the episode, which looks at the final hour of American Airlines Flight 11. “It did really well on M6, Vox, Five, Seven Network, it’s done amazingly well, and it continues to be shown every year.”

While for Cineflix docudramas have been key, CABLEready has found that broadcasters are keen on more analytical current affairs pieces, such as New York Times Television’s Thomas L. Friedman Reporting: Searching for the Roots of 9/11. Another Times production, Portraits of Grief, looking at some of the individuals who died in the Towers, has also generated international interest.

APT has also opted for a more emotional approach with its offerings. For the Love of Their Brother tells the story of a firefighter who died on September 11 and the family he left behind, while September’s Children, from Newsweek Productions, explores how kids are affected by terrorism.

Alfred Haber Distribution (AHDI) recently acquired the worldwide rights (excluding the U.S.) to Finding Paddy, about Captain Patrick "Paddy" Brown, a New York City firefighter who died in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Produced by Steve McCarthey Productions, the tribute is slated to air on MSNBC on September 10. It is said that Brown and his men from Ladder 3 were on the 40th floor of the North Tower with 30 or 40 severely burned people when that tower fell.

Janson Media has gone a similar route, offering broadcasters the Grizzly Adams-produced docudrama Portrait of Courage: The Untold Story of Flight 93. According to the company’s president, Stephen Janson, broadcast deals have been challenging, but he has found significant interest from the DVD market.

For distributors taking on September 11-related programming, shelf life remains an issue. As CABLEready’s Lico notes, “Most everyone who is going to do anything about 9/11 is probably going to do it this year, and my guess is that unless any producer or programmer has any new information, or unique or new access, they probably aren’t going to do anything.”

NGCI’s Deagan Sweet, however, expects Inside 9/11 to be as relevant five years from now as it is today. “The details of the story are not going to change,” she says. “It is going to have a shelf life beyond what we normally have for our contemporary history narratives. And, we can add on an update.”

The producers of Loose Change 2, meanwhile, are already working on a third installment that, Sparke says, will include about 80 percent new material. MercuryMedia will be doing television sales on that title, and is working to secure a theatrical release. “We don’t think 9/11 is going to die on the fifth anniversary. We think this story is going to get bigger,” Sparke says.

—By Mansha Daswani