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CNN is going to death row. The network announced Friday at the Television Critics Association winter press tour that it has ordered an eight-part documentary series about capital murder cases.
Death Row Stories comes to CNN from executive producers Alex Gibney and Robert Redford, with Dead Man Walking actress and Oscar-winner Susan Sarandon on board to narrate.
“We are thrilled to be able to collaborate with this award-winning team of filmmakers on such a powerful and thought-provoking series — and to bring a second extraordinary series from the Sundance Productions team to CNN,” said CNN president Jeff Zucker.
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CNN previously ordered Chicagoland from Sundance, which will debut this year. Each episode of Death Row Stories will explore a different case and address the divisiveness of the death penalty in the U.S.
“This series is about the search for justice and truth,” said Redford. “We are pleased to be working with Alex Gibney to tell these important stories and give a voice to these cases.”
Gibney is the Oscar-winning documentarian behind Taxi to the Dark Side as well as the recent Emmy-winner Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God.
The move comes as CNN continues to put more effort into alternative programming and documentary work. The network currently has an Oscar contender in Sea World exposé Blackfish and took two Emmys for the Anthony Bourdain series Parts Unknown.
Jigsaw Productions is producing with Sundance.
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