Pressroom
Blackout - Explodes on DVD February 5, 2008
Jeffrey Wright, Zoe Saldana and Melvin Van Peebles Star in the Explosive Story of a Forgotten New York Neighborhood During the Largest Power Failure in American History
BLACKOUT
Available on DVD February 5, 2008
With Exclusive Bonus Features Including Terrifying First-Hand
Accounts of the Day the Lights Went Out
Los Angeles, Calif. – A massive power outage sets off a chain reaction of frustration, violence and despair in an inner city neighborhood when BET Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Entertainment present BLACKOUT, a riveting new drama, inspired by actual events, coming to DVD on February 5, 2008. Starring Emmy® and Golden Globe® winner Jeffrey Wright (Casino Royale, “Angels in America”), NAACP Image® Award nominee Zoe Saldana (Guess Who, Vantage Point) and pioneering filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles (Sweet Sweetback’s Badasssss Song), BLACKOUT recounts the devastating events of two days and a night in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, a simmering African American enclave forgotten in the midst of the largest power failure in American history. Written and directed by
Jerry LaMothe (Nora’s Hair Salon) and produced by Jeffrey Wright, BLACKOUT makes its broadcast debut on BET the week prior to the DVD’s debut. The DVD includes deleted scenes, exclusive conversations with the filmmaker and cast, plus gripping interviews with survivors of the great blackout of 2003. The DVD will be available for the suggested retail price of $22.99.
A favorite at festivals worldwide, BLACKOUT premiered at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival, opened the 2007 Urbanworld/VIBE Film Festival, where director Jerry LaMothe earned the "Directors Spotlight Award," and screened at the Chicago International Film Festival,
Sao Paolo Film Festival, London’s BIFF Festival in London, Amsterdam’s Africa in the Picture International Film Festival and the Zurich Film Festival.
In the summer of 2003, the largest blackout in history darkened cities throughout the northeastern United States and Canada. Inspired by actual events, director and screenwriter Jerry LaMothe creates a poignant picture of a struggling neighborhood in Brooklyn as it descends into chaos. Looters emerge, violence breaks out and residents fear for their lives as they wait for help that never comes. Based on real life stories, LaMothe weaves a compelling narrative from the lives of an interrelated group of residents, including a rising young publishing executive and her traumatized husband, a single mother and her college-bound son, the neighborhood poet and a Middle Eastern convenience store owner, an elderly building superintendent and the wealthy white landlord he shelters from the tenants’ anger, the gangbangers who terrorize the neighborhood, and the local barber. Some will find each other in the darkness, others will lose everything they have ever worked for and East Flatbush will never forget the events of these two days.
Additional members of the film’s gifted ensemble cast include LaTanya Richardson-Jackson (The Fighting Temptations, Freedomland), Sean Blakemore (Dress 2 Impre$$, Woman Thou Art Loosed), Jamie Hector (“The Wire”), Michael B. Jordan (“The Wire”), hip hop star Prodigy (of Mobb Deep), Tony® Award nominee Anthony Chisholm (“Radio Golf”) and Saul Rubinek (War).
DVD:
BET’s BLACKOUT DVD is presented in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 televisions with Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround. Never-before-seen bonus features include:
• An Exclusive Interview with director and writer Jerry LaMothe
• A Behind the Scenes Featurette on the making of BLACKOUT
• Meet the Cast – BLACKOUT features extraordinary performances by some of Hollywood’s most honored actors. Jeffery Wright, Zoe Saldana, Melvin Van Peebles and more sit down to talk about their roles.
• 2003 Blackout True Stories – Meet real life survivors of the 2003 blackout and hear true stories about the terrifying two-day ordeal that went largely unreported by mainstream media.
• Exclusive Deleted Scenes
ABOUT BET NETWORKS
BET Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom, Inc. (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B), is the nation’s leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs television programming for the African-American audience. The primary BET channel reaches more than 84 million households according to Nielsen media research, and can be seen in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of businesses extensions: BET.com, a leading internet destination for Black entertainment, music, culture, and news.; BET Digital Networks – BET J, BET Gospel and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting-edge entertainment tastes; BET Event Productions, a full-scale event management and production company; BET Home Entertainment, a collection of BET-branded offerings for the home environment including DVDs and video-on-demand; BET Mobile, a service venture into the lucrative world of ring tones, games and video content for wireless devices; and BET International, an extension of BET network programming for global distribution.
ABOUT PARAMOUNT HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Paramount Home Entertainment (PHE) is part of Paramount Pictures Corporation, a unit of Viacom (NYSE:VIA, VIA.B), a global entertainment company that produces and distributes filmed entertainment through the Paramount Motion Picture Group. PHE is responsible for the worldwide sales, marketing and distribution of home entertainment products on behalf of various parties including: Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks SKG, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central, CBS, PBS and Hasbro and for providing home entertainment fulfillment services for DreamWorks Animation Home Entertainment.
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For artwork please visit: phepromo.com
PRESS CONTACTS:
BAZANPR
212-643-4664
Jackie Bazan Evelyn Santana Iman Criner
jbazan@bazanpr.com evelyn_santana@bazanpr.com iman_criner@bazanpr.com
BLACKOUT
Street date: February 5, 2007
Price: $22.99 U.S.
Catalog #: 853234
Runtime: 95 minutes
Rating: NR
PRESS CONTACTS
BazanPR (212) 643-4664
Email: info@bazanpr.com
