PBS GREEN LIGHTS TWO PRIMETIME MINI-SERIES FROM
TMC ENTERTAINMENT,
WALKING THE BIBLE AND
ABRAHAM: A JOURNEY TO THE HEART OF THREE FAITHS,
BASED ON BESTSELLING BOOKS BY BRUCE FEILER
(Los Angeles—-February 24, 2004) PBS and TMC Entertainment have finalized an agreement to air two three-hour primetime mini-series based on Bruce Feiler’s bestselling books, Walking the Bible: A Journey by Land Through the Five Books of Moses and Abraham: A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths, confirmed Drew S. Levin, TMC Entertainment president and CEO.
Walking the Bible and Abraham – both slated to premiere on PBS in 2005 – will be filmed on high-definition video utilizing state-of-the-art CGI and extensive live-action recreations. Special eight-hour versions will also be released on DVD for on-air and direct-response distribution.
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“These are two of the most exciting and challenging projects I have had the privilege to produce. Bruce Feiler has taken the Bible, the sacred document of Judaism and Christianity, as well as the Koran, and translated them into a contemporary setting that allows the reader, and now the viewer, to experience these most precious chronicles of our ancestors, firsthand,” said Levin. “In our upcoming mini-series, we will travel with Bruce as he relives the journey he took to write these two inspiring books. Our cameras will be with him as he walks the sands of ancient Ur and travels the Sinai Desert in search of the holy mountain where Moses received the Ten Commandments, then follows in the footsteps of Abraham, the father of the three great religions,” said Drew Levin. “We are delighted to produce Walking the Bible and Abraham for PBS and look forward to seeing these two vivid depictions of the Bible come alive,” concluded Levin.
Walking the Bible records Feiler’s epic journey through the Holy Land. Along the way, he will cross the Red Sea, climb Mount Sinai and touch the Burning Bush. The second mini-series, Abraham, retraces another of Feiler’s one-of-a-kind adventures: his search for the man at the heart of the world’s three great religions – and today’s deadliest conflicts. Both will be filmed on location in the Middle East, including Iraq, Israel, Egypt and Morocco.
“PBS is proud to bring these projects to its viewers. We have a rich tradition of programming in this genre, from Frontline and its award-winning Faith and Doubt at Ground Zero to an examination of God and Country on a recent Flashpoints USA With Bryant Gumbel and Gwen Ifill. We are also the only broadcaster that regularly examines issues of religion on our weekly series, Religion and Ethics Newsweekly,” said Jacoba Atlas, senior vice president, PBS programming. “These two mini-series will greatly enhance our long-standing commitment to present compelling and in-depth explorations of religion and its place in contemporary life.”
Walking the Bible and Abraham have been on The New York Times bestseller list for over a year and a half, and Abraham graced the cover of Time magazine in September 2002.
“Ever since I worked for PBS as a freshman in college twenty years ago, it has been my dream to present documentaries on the ‘blue chip’ of networks. I am thrilled that these two deeply personal journeys, which have moved and transformed me in recent years, as well as readers around the world, will now reach an even greater audience. I look forward to making mini-series that live up to the spirit of both Walking the Bible and Abraham: taking the greatest stories ever told and exploring them through the intimate, rich prism of the present,” said the author, Bruce Feiler.
Both series will be executive produced by Drew S. Levin and his long-time associate, Jim Coane. Levin and Coane each won an Emmy for their critically acclaimed PBS series, Future Quest, hosted by Jeff Goldblum. Rebecca Dobbs will serve as producer. Dobbs’ London-based production company, Maya Vision International, is best known for its BBC/PBS mini-series, Conquistadors and In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great. Alex Gregory, who won Emmys for The Living Eden and The Secret Life of 118 Green Street, will co-write with Feiler.
TMC Entertainment was founded in 2001 by veteran producer, Drew Levin, and a group of private investors and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. With its in‑house production, acquisitions and development divisions, the company produces and distributes television programs, from dramatic series and mini-series to reality shows and documentaries. Visit TMC’s website at www.tmcent.tv.
PBS, headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, is a private, nonprofit media enterprise owned and operated by the nation’s 349 public television stations. Serving nearly 90 million people each week, PBS enriches the lives of all Americans through quality programs and education services on noncommercial television, the Internet and other media. Additional information about PBS is available at http://www.pbs.org, the leading dot.org website on the Internet.
Bruce Feiler (www.brucefeiler.com) is the award-winning author of six books, including Learning to Bow and Under the Big Top, as well as a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, The New York Times, The Washington Post and Gourmet. He is published by William Morrow, a division of HarperCollins (www.harpercollins.com).