TELEVISION EVENT Opens May 30 at Film Forum | Cold War Tensions, Nuclear Apocalypse, and a Riveting Making-of Chronicle

TELEVISION EVENT: Cold War Tensions, Threat of Nuclear Apocalypse,

And a Riveting Making-of Chronicle of the Most Controversial Movie

Ever to Air on Network TV, THE DAY AFTER;

Doc Has US Theatrical Premiere Friday, May 30 at Film Forum

Film Forum is pleased to present the US theatrical premiere of Jeff Daniels’ TELEVISION EVENT on Friday, May 30.

“TV’S NUCLEAR NIGHTMARE” a fall 1983 Newsweek cover screamed, as American viewers awaited the long-publicized premiere of a made-for-TV movie depicting an all-out nuclear exchange with the Soviets. The threat of nuclear annihilation loomed, and THE DAY AFTER played on these fears to a staggering 100 million viewers (the largest TV movie audience in history at that point).

TELEVISION EVENT tracks the unlikely evolution of this audacious project after it is greenlit by the ABC Network. Director Nicholas Meyer (STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN) combatively, hilariously details a succession of clashes with network executives and censors. THE DAY AFTER so disturbed President Ronald Reagan, it prompted his reversal on the country’s nuclear weapons policy.

The documentary includes segments from an ABC News post-broadcast special, hosted by journalist Ted Koppel, featuring an all-star panel: Carl Sagan, Henry Kissinger, Robert S. McNamara, William F. Buckley, Jr., Elie Wiesel, and others.

TELEVISION EVENT had its world premiere at DOC NYC in November 2020, and went on to screen at Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, and RiverRun International Film Festival, where Jeff Daniels received the award for Best Feature Documentary Director.

TELEVISION EVENT filmmaker Jeff Daniels, THE DAY AFTER filmmaker Nicholas Meyer and star Steve Guttenberg, and journalist Ted Koppel are available for select interviews.Contact: Andrea Torres, andrea@filmforum.org

IN-THEATER PRESS SCREENINGS:Wednesday, May 21 at 10:00 AMFilm Forum (209 West Houston Street)

“Absolutely riveting, highly entertaining…not only a remarkable, often oddly funny, look at the broadcast network machinations at the time, plus the making of a major TV project, but also a game-changing show business event that directly affected then-President Ronald Reagan and his whole attitude towards the possibility of a nuclear holocaust. It was so revolutionary that sponsors bailed and those that stayed got bargain basement deals that turned out to be a bonanza when it became a ratings juggernaut... It is a wild ride to be sure.” – Pete Hammond, Deadline

“Witty, moving and engaging... a dynamic oral history of [THE DAY AFTER’s] making, capturing the clash of creative and commercial interests around a daring project. On a broader scale, it taps into the heightened anxiety over U.S.-Soviet tensions, the growing nuclear stockpiles that went with them, and the response of the Reagan administration to the movie’s anti-nukes message…In 1983, most Americans expected a nuclear war to take place within the next 10 years. Daniels’ sharp film never loses sight of that sense of urgency. As the movie’s biggest name, Jason Robards, told Meyer when he agreed to star in a film about the losing end of the arms race, ‘Beats signing petitions.’” – Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter

TELEVISION EVENT (2020, 90 min) Directed and Produced by Jeff Daniels. Produced by Amanda Spain, Ozzy Inguanzo. Editors: Eileen Meyer, Aaron Wickenden. Director of Photography: Nick Higgins. Composer: T. Griffin. With: Nicholas Meyer, Brandon Stoddard, Ted Koppel, Edward Hume, Ellen Anthony. USA/Australia. The Film Desk.