News

Hulu has released a first look at Colin Kaepernick’s latest project, docuseries Killing County.

Directed by Michaela Dowd, narrated by André Holland and executive produced by Kaepernick and Robe Imbriano, the series centers on the police force in Bakersfield, California, and the death of Jorge Ramirez in 2013 following a shootout that included several police officers in a hotel parking lot.

It’s described by Kaepernick as “one of the most powerful projects I’ve been involved with,” and seeks to unpack how Ramirez — an informant for the Bakersfield Police Department, according to his family — and his death speaks to a larger culture of corruption and violence within the town and its police force.

“I knew the homicide rate in Bakersfield was high,” says one woman during the trailer. “I didn’t really know what that meant until I got here.”

Ramirez’s family details how the decision to “call the cops on the cops,...

ABC News Studios will unveil three new true crime docuseries on Hulu beginning in January, including one which comes from Colin Kaepernick and another from “The Way Down” executive producer Nile Cappello.

“Death in the Dorms”, which premieres Jan. 5, follows the tragic stories of six college students whose lives were cut short by violence crime: UCLA student Andrea DelVesco, University of Florida first-year student Christian Aguilar, University of Virginia lacrosse player Yeardley Love, Baruch College first-year student Michael Deng, University of South Carolina senior Samantha Josephson and Western Kentucky University first-year student Katie Autry.

Through emotional testimony from family and friends and interviews with key law enforcement, each episode focuses on the life of one bright young student, diving into their lost potential, their loved ones’ grief, and the fight to bring their killers to justice.

The series is produced in association with The Intellectual Property Corporation (a part of Sony Pictures Television), and Yes,...

Exclusive: ABC News Studios is ramping up its slate of true-crime docuseries for Hulu with new projects from the likes of Colin Kaepernick and The Way Down’s Nile Cappello.

The streamer will launch three new docuseries from the fledgling production division that was launched last year with plans for 100 hours of programming this year.

Three new titles that will air in January are: Killing County, Death in the Dorms and Web of Death.

Death in the Dorms, which launches on January 5, tells the true stories of six college students whose lives tragically ended in murder: UCLA’s Andrea DelVesco, University of Florida’s Christian Aguilar, University of Virginia’s Yeardley Love, Baruch College’s Michael Deng, University of South Carolina’s Samantha Josephson, and Western Kentucky University’s Katie Autry.

Each episode will focus on the life of one bright young student, diving into their lost potential, their loved ones’ grief,...

The Writers Guild of America, East will hold its annual “And the Nominees Are…” documentary contenders’ panel on March 8, with Variety hosting the livestream.

The limited series panel will take place at 7 p.m. Et/ 4 p.m. Pt and will be split into two parts, with the second one airing 45 minutes after the first. It will be streamed on Variety.com via the YouTube link below, and on Zoom for members of the Guild.

The first conversation will include WGA nominees Pax Wassermann (“Becoming Cousteau”), Marc Shaffer (“Exposing Muybridge”), Suzanne Joe Kai (“Like a Rolling Stone: The Life & Times of Ben Fong-Torres”) and Robe Imbriano (“Amend: The Fight for America”). The second part will feature panelists Rick Young (“The Healthcare Divide”), Marcela Gaviria (“The Jihadist”), Geoffrey C. Ward (“A Writer”), Gene Tempest and Sarah Burns (“Round One”). The panels will be moderated by Wgae president Michael Winship.

The 2022 Writers Guild...

ABC News will expand its recent “Soul of a Nation” series with two primetime specials designed to commemorate the first anniversary of George Floyd’s death and Juneteenth.

“After Floyd: The Year that Shook the World – A Soul of a Nation Special,” will air Tuesday, May 25 from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m., and will attempt to chronicle the events around Floyd’s death and consider how the nation moves forward from it. Tamron Hall and T.J. Holmes will co-anchor the program, said Marie Nelson, senior vice president of integrated content strategy for ABC News, in an interview.

ABC News will present a celebration of Juneteenth on Friday, June 18, between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m., marking the second year in a row that the Disney news unit will produce a special to honor the holiday.

Additional details for each special are expected to be announced in weeks to come.

ABC News...

ABC News is premiering a six-episode series on Tuesday that is being promoted as something far different for traditional network newsmagazine: Soul of a Nation focuses on the Black experience in America, or as ABC News executive Marie Nelson put it on Friday, “The series expands the vision of Black life in America in a way broadcast TV journalism has never done.”

Although a preview of the first episode was not available, a preview clip showed that this was different than the traditional, 60 Minutes-style newsmagazine: Sterling K. Brown will guest host. It will feature Byron Pitts’ interview with Danny Glover, in a segment on reparations, and Pierre Thomas’ sitdown with Capitol police officer Harry Dunn, but the debut also will include a spoken word performance by Common and close out with a musical performance from John Legend (who is also interviewed by Adrienne Bankert). A mini-documentary from ESPN’s The Undefeated...

Following long form news specials dedicated to race in America like “Turning Point” and “America’s Future: The Power of the Latino Vote,” ABC is presenting “Soul of a Nation,” which it hails as “the first broadcast network newsmagazine that aims to put Black life in America front and center.” Each of the six episodes will explore a different theme: The racial reckoning that erupted following the death of George Floyd; sports activism; faith; Black joy, and the power behind the next generation of Black Americans. Each episode will be hosted by a different guest anchor, including Jemele Hill and Marsai Martin.

The episodes will include short and feature documentary pieces on topics such as the Tulsa Massacre and the abortion debate in the Black community, as well as more conversational “kitchen table” discussions surrounding current events and hot button issues. Each episode will conclude with a musical performance, including ones from John Legend,...

The subtitle for “Amend,” the new Netflix documentary series, is “The Fight for America.” It’s an apt description in many ways, both in the evolution of the U.S. Constitution that the six-part season describes — and in how those advances are understood in the present day.

Hosted by Will Smith, “Amend” presents a concise history of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment. Ratified in 1868, its first section spans just 80 words, but contains provisions for due process and equal protection that have become an engine for change across any number of areas of American life. To help make an overview of those shifts both powerful and accessible to the wide variety of potential Netflix viewers, figuring out how exactly to approach this expansive timeline was one of the project’s core challenges.

“Let’s say you’re a high school freshman and you’re watching this. We wanted you to be...

In today’s TV news roundup, Netflix announced the docuseries “Amend: The Fight for America,” and Peacock released a trailer for its continuation of the hit ’80s sitcom “Punky Brewster.”

Dates

Netflix announced the six-part docuseries “Amend: The Fight for America” will premiere on Feb. 17. Executive produced and hosted by Will Smith, each hour-long episode will explore American history through a lens that will have its viewers questioning what a “United States” really means. Terence Carter, Jana Babatunde-Bey, Jamal Watson, Tom Yellin, Robe Imbriano, Jonna Mclaughlin, Angus Wall, Larry Wilmore also executive produce. Watch a trailer below.

Allblk announced that their six-episode original sitcom “Millennials” will begin premiering weekly on Feb. 25. Centered on the lives of four 20-something roommates and their neighbors across the hall, the new comedy follows them navigating the chaos of being young and finding success in the city of angels. “Millennials” stars Kyle Massey, Keraun Harris,...

Will Smith is set to host Amend: The Fight for America, a Netflix documentary series that asks the evolving question, “What does it mean to be an American?” Executive produced by Smith and Larry Wilmore, the six-parter launches February 17. Check out a teaser above.

Created by Robe Imbriano and Tom Yellin, Amend: The Fight for America explores the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution — which, in 1868, promised liberty and equal protection for all persons — as America’s most enduring hallmark of democracy. The six-hour docuseries deploys a groundbreaking narrative format featuring a number of luminaries including Mahershala Ali, Diane Lane, Samuel L. Jackson, Pedro Pascal, Yara Shahidi breathing life into speeches and writings by the Fourteenth Amendment’s most ardent advocates and foes such as Frederick Douglass, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Andrew Johnson among them. It also offers insights from an inclusive array of contemporary thought leaders and experts.

On Tuesday, Netflix announced its forthcoming six-part docuseries “Amend: the Fight for America,” hosted by Will Smith.

Executive produced by Smith and Larry Wilmore, the project “enlightens, entertains and challenges what Americans know about the Fourteenth Amendment” — which grants equal protection under the law to all U.S. citizens — “and the unwavering fight for equality.”

The series features Mahershala Ali, Diane Lane, Samuel L. Jackson, Pedro Pascal, Yara Shahidi and more stars performing speeches and writings by supporters and foes of the amendment, including Frederick Douglass, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Andrew Johnson.

“Amend: the Fight for America” premieres Feb. 17. Watch a trailer for the series above.

The project is produced by Westbrook Studios, The Documentary Group, Wilmore Films and MakeMake Entertainment, and was created by Robe Imbriano and Tom Yellin. Kenny Leon and Reinaldo Marcus Green direct from a script by Sasha Stewart. Will Smith,...