At TCA’s Winter Press Tour, National Geographic announced two brand new unscripted anthology franchises: One Day in America and a franchise (title TBC) that will forensically explore the biggest natural disasters in recent history.
What’s Happening:
- These two anthology series exemplify National Geographic’s commitment to delve into contemporary history with unparalleled depth and complexity.
- The One Day in America franchise comes on the heels of the Emmy Award-winning documentary series 9/11: One Day in America, a six-part series about the events of Sept. 11, using archive and first-person testimony from first responders and survivors.
- From 72 Films and Emmy and Academy Award-winning producers Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin (LA 92, Undefeated), the series was also an official selection of Tribeca Film Festival, AFI DOCS and Sheffield International Documentary Festival.
What They’re Saying:
- Courteney Monroe, National Geographic Content President said: “These new documentary franchises exemplify our aim to be the brand of record for events that forever changed the shape of history. Weaving together never-before-seen archive and powerful first-person testimony, these powerful and riveting series will serve as the definitive stories of these momentous events."
One Day in America
JFK: ONE DAY IN AMERICA (72 Films)
- This is the story of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the president of the United States, told in real time by those who were there.
- The three-part series will capture how in November 1963, the American president was shot, a search ensued, a policeman was killed, and the assassin was then murdered.Using archive footage of the investigation, police radio recordings, live broadcasts and footage from dozens of television crews, viewers will be fully immersed into the events as they unfold.
- New and archival interviews with eyewitnesses who were there will give a unique perspective on what really happened, their version of events, and how they think these experiences shaped them and the wider world.
- The series marks 60 years since the assassination of JFK, and they are the last surviving witnesses to these extraordinary events.
- Executive producers are David Glover, TJ Martin and Dan Lindsay.
THE CULT: ONE DAY IN JONESTOWN (72 Films)
- The Cult: One Day in America is the story of the largest mass murder-suicide in America, told in real time by those who were there.
- The three-part series will capture how on November 18th, 1978, over 900 people died during a mass suicide at a cult temple run by Jim Jones. Providing insight and context into this cult, we discover how Jim Jones started a progressive society based on Marxist ideals, helping marginalized people who were excluded from society; how his vision became marked by paranoia and fear, leading him to create a colony in the Guyanese jungle; and the final shocking order of mass suicide to his followers.
- The series taps into a staggering archive, including the Jonestown death tape, the 44-minute live audio that records the entirety of the fatal mass suicide, and the harrowing military footage of the soldiers sent to clear up.
- The series will also feature an extensive collection of films by the Jonestown survivors themselves from the months leading up to the tragedy, allowing a rare look into Jim Jones’ secretive cult.
- The only voices you’ll hear are the voices who were there on the day and can be seen in the archival footage. There will be archival interviews and first-hand testimony from witnesses giving a unique perspective on what really happened, their version of events, and how they think these experiences shaped them and the wider world.
- Executive producers are David Glover, TJ Martin and Dan Lindsay.
Untitled Natural Disaster Franchise
TSUNAMI (Working Title) (Blast Films)
- Premieres in 2024, timed to the 20th Anniversary
- On December 26th, 2004, the world witnessed the worst-ever natural disaster, the Indian Ocean Tsunami. More than 230,000 people lost their lives. Three million people across 14 countries were caught up in the unfolding tragedy. Thousands clung to trees, buildings and floating wreckage in a bid for survival. Many were rescued through acts of astonishing bravery carried out by strangers from all over the world ― neighbors and friends, tourists and first responders.
- The four-part series will be the most comprehensive and immersive, minute-by-minute account of the tsunami’s seven-hour trail of destruction across two continents, 14 countries and 5,000 miles. For the first time, the voices of those caught in the disaster will be combined with the never-before-seen footage to shine a light on the resilience, kindness and bravery that human beings are capable of in the most extreme and difficult circumstances.
- Executive producers are Danny Horan, Tanya Winston and Daniel Bogado.
KATRINA (Working Title) (Lightbox)
- Premieres in 2025, timed to the 20th Anniversary
- From Lightbox, the Oscar and Emmy-winning producers behind LA92, this five-part premium series tells the definitive story of Katrina from a period of two decades of hindsight, with everything we can now see clearly for the first time. As such, the series will offer a layered and nuanced narrative that has not previously been possible. It will foreground the cataclysmic events of the weeks of the disaster in forensic detail while also contextualizing this narrative by pulling together the threads of seemingly unrelated events that played out years, and sometimes even decades, prior to the catastrophe that is vital in understanding not just how Katrina unfolded in the way it did, but why.
- Told from the perspectives of key characters ― both people on the ground and those in positions of power ― and hundreds of hours of visceral archival footage which will drive every aspect of our narrative, KATRINA (working title) will show how the floodwaters of America’s worst natural disaster tore through not only the Gulf States but also the very fabric of society. In doing so, it will raise searing questions about race in America, many of which remain unanswered ― yet still highly relevant ― two decades later.
- Executive producers are Simon Chinn and Jonathan Chinn.