First Works

Our Town is a three-act play by American playwright Thornton Wilder. It is a character story about an average town's citizens in the early twentieth century as depicted through their everyday lives. Using metatheatrical devices, Wilder sets the play in a 1930s theater. He uses the actions of the Stage Manager to create the town of Grover's Corners for the audience. Scenes from its history between the years of 1901 and 1913 play out. Originally broadcast on the Showtime Network, then as part of the PBS series "Masterpiece Theatre" (season 33, episode 1).

Led Zeppelin is a double DVD set first released in 2003. It represents the first official video release of Led Zeppelin's live material since 1976's The Song Remains the Same. The recording of the DVD spans the years from 1969 to 1979 and includes performances from the Royal Albert Hall in 1970, Madison Square Garden in 1973, Earls Court in 1975, and Knebworth in 1979. Extras provided on the set include a 1969 promo film for Communication Breakdown, a short performance on the French TV show 'Tous En Scene' in 1969, a short performance on the Danish TV Show 'TV-Byen' in 1969, a performance on the British TV shoe 'Supershow' in 1969, a performance of Immigrant Song from the band's show at the Sydney Showground in February 1972, an interview with the NYC Press Conference in 1970, an Australian press conference in 1972, an interview with The Old Grey Whistle Test, the Over The Hills And Far Away promo (1990) and the Travelling Riverside Blues promo (1990).

Animated characters introduce a compilation of George Pal replacement animation Puppetoon short films from the 1930s and 1940s. Originally released in 80 minutes length, The Puppetoon Movie also exists in a subsequently expanded ten minutes longer version.

THE AUTEUR follows formerly renowned porn director Arturo Domingo (Five Easy Nieces, Requiem for a Wet Dream) through a bizarre weekend as he receives a lifetime achievement award at a film festival in Portland, OR. Encountering crazed fans, former collaborators, bitter enemies and free-loving hippies, Arturo attempts to put the pieces of his broken career and personal life back together.

Privilege is an intelligently conceived, boldly anarchic, and wickedly insightful exposition on the culturally ingrained and socially divisive malaise of isms that artificially define and characterize empowerment in contemporary society: ageism, sexism, economic elitism, and racism. Yvonne Rainer conveys texture through the intercutting of archival footage, video, and film - as well as compositional layering through the film-within-a-film structure, elliptical (and self-referential) fusion of past and present, and the filmmaker's idiosyncratic penchant for superimposed typed text.

IN 1988, rising star Kenneth Branagh tackled the role of Shakespeare’s prince of Denmark for the first time in his professional career under the guidance of celebrated actor Derek Jacobi. Narrated by Patrick Stewart, this hour-long film documents how Kenneth Branagh and Derek Jacobi, two intelligent and passionate men, found new depths in Shakespeare’s classic drama, Hamlet. Filmmakers Mark Olshaker and Larry Klein follow the company through four weeks of rehearsals, from the first read-throughs to opening night.

A rare look at the the career of film director Pedro Almodóvar, especially his early works, with interviews with the director himself and his stars and admirers.

The Magic Show is a one-act musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Bob Randall. It starred magician Doug Henning. Produced by Edgar Lansbury, it opened on May 28, 1974 at the Cort Theatre in Manhattan, and ran for 1,920 performances, closing on December 31, 1978. Henning was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical and director Grover Dale was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical. In 2001, a filmed performance staged especially for the cameras in 1980, directed by Norman Campbell at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Toronto, was issued on DVD by Image Entertainment. This production, originally intended for cinema release, differed notably from the original Broadway production, with several of the most memorable songs, such as "West End Avenue" and "Solid Silver Platform Shoes", removed. Doug Henning reprised his original starring role, while Didi Conn co-starred as Cal.

One of the greatest playwrights of the 20th century, Arthur Miller created such celebrated works as Death of a Salesman and The Crucible, which continue to move audiences around the world today. He also made headlines for being targeted by the House Un-American Activities Committee at the height of the McCarthy Era and entering into a tumultuous marriage with Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe. Told from the unique perspective of his daughter, filmmaker Rebecca Miller, Arthur Miller: Writer is an illuminating portrait that combines interviews spanning decades and a wealth of personal archival material, and provides new insights into Miller’s life as an artist and exploring his character in all its complexity.

Showtime's "In the 20th Century" is a millennium-related strand of feature-length documentaries in which famous directors take on major subjects of their choosing. In the fourth of the six films, "The Pursuit of Happiness," filmmaker Robert Zemeckis delves into the history of America's relationship with mind-altering substances over the past 100 years, presenting interviews with historians and professionals in the drug treatment field, interspersed with a treasure trove of film and television clips depicting the highs and lows of smoking, drinking and drugging in the 20th century

This program, culled from the over 28 hours of interview footage between Sir David Frost and U.S. President Richard M. Nixon, was originally broadcast in May of 1977. Never before, nor since, has a U.S. President been so candid on camera. Even more intriguing is the fact that Nixon agreed to appear on camera with no pre-interview preparation or screening of questions.

Showtime's "In the 20th Century" is a millennium-related strand of feature-length documentaries in which famous directors take on major subjects of their choosing. In the third of the six films, "Yesterday's Tomorrows," filmmaker Barry Levinson delves into what we, as Americans, thought the future would be as we traveled through the 20th century. Houses and cars of the future, the promise of technology, and the other hopes and dreams of the early part of the century gave way to the fears and anxieties brought about by the atomic age and the Hollywood disaster films that followed. Soon we wondered if we could control technology, or if it would control us. This film is by turns light-hearted and thoughtful, and rare historical and archival film, produced by government and industry, alternates with on-screen interviews with people as diverse as consumer advocate Ralph Nader, cartoonist Matt Groening, futurist Alvin Toffler, comedienne Phyllis Diller, and actor Martin Mull.

Showtime's "In the 20th Century" is a millennium-related strand of feature-length documentaries in which famous directors take on major subjects of their choosing. In the first of the six films, "In Search of the Happy Ending," filmmaker Garry Marshall delves into the institution of marriage as it has evolved in America throughout the past 100 years.

The successful short film compilation series continues with six outstanding films focused on school and college-age youth. 6 Shorts: Benny's gym (2007); Flatmates [Kompisar] (2007); Kali Ma (2007); Mr_Right_22 (2007); Secrets (2007); Yeah No Definitely (2007).

Honing his craft as an indie filmmaker in Germany in the early 90s, Uwe Boll never could have imagined the life that lay before him. From working with Oscar-winning actors and making films with US$60million budgets to having actors publicly disparage him and online petitions demanding he stop making films, Boll continued to work; he has a filmography of 32 features, a career that has led to his new life as a successful high-end restauranteur. Already a cult legend, he will be remembered forever in the film world; for some, as a modern-day Ed Wood, who made films so bad, they're good, while for others, a prolific filmmaker who came from a small town in Germany and never compromised his integrity while forging his own unique Hollywood trajectory.

Space Patrol is a science fiction adventure series that was originally aimed at juvenile audiences of the early 1950s via television, radio, and comic books. However, it soon developed a sizable adult audience such that by 1954, the program consistently ranked in the top 10 shows broadcast on a Saturday.

SportsCenter is a daily sports news television program, and the flagship program of American cable and satellite television network ESPN since the network's launch on September 7, 1979. Originally broadcast only daily, SportsCenter is now shown up to twelve times a day, replaying the day's scores and highlights from major sporting events, along with commentary, previews and feature stories. The show has aired more than 50,000 unique episodes, more than any other program on American television, and is shot in ESPN's high definition studio facilities in Bristol, Connecticut and Los Angeles, California.

Stella was a short-lived television series that originally ran from June 28, 2005 to August 30, 2005 on the American television channel Comedy Central, created by and starring Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter, and David Wain, the three members of the sketch comedy troupe of the same name and former cast members of MTV's The State. Stella, as a comedy troupe, has existed since 1997. It has a cult following and plays to sold out shows across the USA. The show aired on Tuesdays at 10:30 PM, EST. In September, after 10 episodes, Stella's timeslot was filled by Mind of Mencia. On March 8, 2006, the following message was posted on Stella's official website: "The STELLA series was on Comedy Central last summer. The network has officially decided not to renew it for a second season," thus effectively cancelling the series. The first season DVD was released on September 12, 2006. Episodes have also been available on iTunes and Hulu and some episodes on Joost. Stella premiered in Australia on The Comedy Channel on May 3, 2007.

Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! is an American sketch comedy television series, created by and starring Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, which premiered February 11, 2007 on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim comedy block and ran until May 2010. The program features surrealistic and often satirical humor, public-access television–style musical acts, bizarre faux-commercials, and editing and special effects chosen to make the show appear camp. The program featured a wide range of actors, spanning from stars such as Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, David Cross, Bob Odenkirk, Will Forte and Zach Galifianakis, to alternative comedians like Neil Hamburger, to television actors like Alan Thicke, celebrity look-alikes and impressionists. The creators of the show have described it as "the nightmare version of television."

World's Most Amazing Videos is a reality television series that showcases accidents, disasters, police chases and other extraordinary events that are caught on video camera. These videos normally shown anybody involved in these aforementioned incidents survive nonetheless. Although it is similar in content to the other series Real TV and Maximum Exposure, it takes a more serious tone. Originally, the show appeared on NBC as a timeslot filler program. A new series of episodes of the show were created in 2006 first-run for Spike TV, after a six-year hiatus from the NBC stint. Until the year 2008, all episodes of the show were narrated by Stacy Keach. From that point on, the season was narrated by Erik Thompson. The show is broadcast in the UK on Bravo and Channel One, in which David Wartnaby served as the narrator of the first season followed by Lee Boardman in the second season of broadcast in the particular country, and is expected to return in 2012. In Australia, it is shown on the pay-TV channel FOX8. The series was given its own local name titled Global Shockers for the Philippines market and it was hosted by Johnny Delgado.

WWE Superstars is a professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that originally aired on WGN America in the United States. It debuted on April 16, 2009 and ended its domestic broadcasting on April 7, 2011. After the final domestic TV broadcast the show moved to an internet broadcast format while maintaining a traditional television broadcast in international markets. The show features mid-to-low card WWE superstars and divas, in a format similar to the former show WWE Heat which served the same purpose. Big names such as John Cena and Randy Orton previously appeared on the show at its beginning. The show also previously featured talent from the now-defunct ECW brand.

Vic Reeves Big Night Out is a British cult comedy stage show and later TV series which ran on Channel 4 for two series in 1990 and 1991, as well as a New Year special. It marked the beginnings of the collaboration between Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer and started their Vic and Bob comedy double act. The show was later acknowledged as a seminal force in British comedy throughout the 1990s and which continues to the present day. Arguably the most surreal of the pair's work, Vic Reeves Big Night Out was effectively a parody of the variety shows which dominated the early years of television, but which were, by the early 1990s, falling from grace. Vic, introduced by Patrick Allen as "Britain's Top Light Entertainer and Singer", would sit behind a cluttered desk talking nonsense and introducing the various segments and surreal guests on the show. Vic Reeves Big Night Out is notable as the only time in their career where Vic solely took the role of host, while Bob was consigned to the back stage, appearing every few minutes as either himself or as a strange character. The two received equal billing in the series credits. On 3 October 2007, the first episode was re-broadcast on More4 as part of Channel 4 at 25, a season of classic Channel 4 programmes shown to celebrate the channel's 25th birthday.

Soul Food: The Series is a television drama that aired Wednesday nights on Showtime from June 28, 2000 to May 26, 2004. Created by filmmaker George Tillman, Jr. and developed for television by Felicia D. Henderson, Soul Food is based upon Tillman's childhood experiences growing up in Wisconsin, and is a continuation of his successful 1997 film of the same name. Having aired for 74 episodes, it is the longest running drama with a predominantly black cast in the history of North American prime-time television.

Big Brother: After Dark was an uncensored, uncut live feed from the American Big Brother House while broadcast on Showtime2. The program debuted on July 5, 2007 as a companion show since Big Brother 8 and it aired on Showtime 2 in the United States and Slice in Canada. The program was the only first-run original program produced specifically for any of Showtime's seven multiplex channels. On May 29, 2013, it was announced that Big Brother: After Dark will move to TVGN beginning on June 26. While it was promoted by TVGN as remaining uncensored as it was on Showtime 2, on TVGN "Big Brother: After Dark" is now rated TV14 and censored for language by muting of the audio.. The network says that nine words and nudity will be censored from the show, though some profanity still goes through. The broadcast airs uncensored over Slice in Canada. A version of this program was also developed as a companion series to Big Brother Canada on Slice.

Family Business was an American reality TV series produced for the cable network Showtime. Based in Los Angeles, the series focused on the pornography industry and the life of Adam Glasser, a reality porn star and video director who uses the stage name "Seymore Butts". Also featured on the series were his son, Brady, along with his mother, Lila Glasser, and his older cousin, Stevie Glasser, both of whom help Adam run the eponymous "family business" of the series, which in this case is a successful porn video production and distribution house in the San Fernando Valley, known for the "Seymore Butts" line of videos. The series first aired in 2003. In Canada it is broadcast on The Movie Network, Movie Central, and Showcase Television, in the UK on Channel 4, and in Latin America on FX. The first two seasons are currently available on DVD in North America. The series ran for four seasons. The series won the 2005 AVN award for 'Best Alternative Release'.

The Hunger is a British/Canadian television horror anthology series, co-produced by Scott Free Productions, Telescene Film Group Productions and the Canadian pay-TV channel The Movie Network. Though it shares a title with the feature film The Hunger the series has no direct plot or character connection to the film, and was created by Jeff Fazio. Originally shown on the Sci Fi Channel in the UK, The Movie Network in Canada and Showtime in the US, the series was broadcast from 1997 to 2000, and is internally organized into two seasons. Each episode was based around an independent story introduced by the host; Terence Stamp hosted each episode for the first season, and was replaced in the second season by David Bowie. Stories tended to focus on themes of self-destructive desire and obsession, with a strong component of soft-core erotica; popular tropes for the stories included cannibalism, vampires, sex, and poison.

BMW film presents "The Hire", a series of eight short films produced for the Internet in 2001 and 2002. A form of branded content, all eight films feature popular filmmakers from across the globe, star Clive Owen as the "The Driver" and highlight the performance aspects of various BMW automobiles. The series made a comeback in 2016, fifteen years after its original run ended.

Nanalan' is a Canadian television show broadcast by CBC Television in Canada and by PBS in the US, created by The Grogs. Its target audience is preschool kids and Nanalan' is "designed to foster children's curiosity and love of learning, with the hope they will carry it with them as they grow". Excerpts from the show also air on Fox Kids UK. Nanalan also aired on Nick Jr. as short episodes in between shows. Nanalan' began airing in 1999. In 2004, it was nominated for the following three Gemini Awards: Best Performance in a Pre-School Program or Series; Best Writing in a Children's or Youth Program or Series; and Best Pre-School Program or Series. Nanalan' won Best writing and Best performance, an award shared by Jamie Shannon, Jason Hopley, Marty Stelnick, Todd Doldersum, and Ali Eisner. Several compilation DVDs of the show and a CD of musical highlights are also available.

The Great American Dream Machine was a weekly satirical variety television series, produced in New York City by WNET and broadcast on PBS from 1971 to 1973. The program was hosted by humorist and commentator Marshall Efron. The show centered around skits and satirical political commentary. The hour and a half long show usually contained at least seven different current event topics. In the second season, the show was trimmed down to an hour. Other notable cast members included Chevy Chase. Contributors included Albert Brooks and Andy Rooney. Some of the skits would later be revamped for the movie The Groove Tube. There were also occasional short films presented on the show, most of them "experimental" or documentaries about artistic endeavours. Some of these were subtitled.

Early NBC series showcasing compilation films - documentaries made from existing archival footage. Patterned on the successful Victory at Sea, it employed fast-paced editing, music, and narration. Concentrating on public affairs and public life, it steered clear of controversial subjects and enjoyed strong ratings, inspiring many competitors such as Air Power and The Twentieth Century. In later years, however, it would be criticized as superficial in comparison to "serious" documentary and current events programs.