BBC Storyville Picks Up Sundance Prize-Winning Doc ‘Bad Press’

Zac Ntim
·2 min read
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EXCLUSIVE: BBC Storyville has acquired U.K. rights to the Sundance prize-winning doc Bad Press.

Directed by Rebecca Landsberry-Baker (Muscogee Creek Nation) and Joe Peeler, Bad Press debuted at last year’s Sundance Film Festival, where it picked up the U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Freedom of Expression. The film will hit BBC and iPlayer in 2024.

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Billed as a “political docu-thriller,” the doc charts the fight for a free press in the native Muscogee Nation. Synopsis reads: Bad Press provides unparalleled insight into the inner workings of a modern Native American tribe. Just three years after its passage, the “Free Press Act” was repealed in 2018, placing Mvskoke Media, the Muscogee Nation’s sole news outlet, back under the control of the chief and his cabinet. Veteran reporter Angel Ellis quickly becomes the key voice of dissent at the decimated news outlet and is willing to lay it all on the line to deliver the truth to her fellow citizens.

“We’re thrilled to share our story with the world’s leading public service broadcaster at the BBC. For both Indigenous and non-Indigenous audiences, Bad Press is a film that shows the value of press freedom, transparency, and the critical role of the Fourth Estate within our democracies,” said Landsberry-Baker and Peeler.

After Sundance, the doc went on to earn best documentary awards at the Dallas International Film Festival, and RiverRun International Film Festival in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Emma Hindley, Strand Editor, BBC Storyville, added: “I am so delighted that Bad Press is going to be shown on Storyville. It’s a great example of the power of observational documentaries — as soon as you meet the brilliant Angel Ellis, you know it’s going to be a dramatic and equally importantly, an authentic ride. I also love the fact it was co-directed — Rebecca and Joe’s powerful command of storytelling in this hardest of genres is second to none.”

The deal was negotiated by Submarine Entertainment Sales.

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