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Starz acquires America to Me

America to Me follows high school students in Chicago

SUNDANCE: US cablenet Starz has acquired a 10-part documentary series from Hoop Dreams director Steve James that has its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival this week.

America to Me, created by James (The Interrupters, Life Itself) and produced by Participant Media and Kartemquin Films, follows students, teachers and administrators in suburban Chicago’s Oak Park and River Forest High School over the course of a year. The network picked up the show in Park City for an undisclosed sum.

Starz president of programming Carmi Zlotnik said: “America to Me is extremely socially relevant and timely, which exemplifies our diversity strategy. Steve’s ability to bring the real and honest portrait of these students and the complex and compelling issues they face through this series is admirable.”

The series will premiere this fall on Starz and will also be available for download or streaming via the Starz app.

The series is exec produced by Gordon Quinn (The Trials of Muhammad Ali, Unbroken Glass), Betsy Steinberg (Edith + Eddie, Keep Talking) and Justine Nagan (Minding the Gap, All the Queen’s Horses), alongside Participant Media’s Jeff Skoll (The Help, Lincoln) and Diane Weyermann (Human Flow, Citizenfour). Kevin Shaw, Rebecca Parish and Bing Liu served as story directors.

David Linde, CEO of Participant, said: “As Participant continues to expand its global footprint with exciting new content opportunities, we are thrilled to announce this distribution partnership with Starz, bringing America to Me, our first documentary television series, to audiences everywhere.”

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