"AMERICAN MASTERS: NORMAN LEAR: JUST ANOTHER VERSION OF YOU" Out on DVD/BD October 25

PBS Distribution announced today it is releasing “AMERICAN MASTERS: NORMAN LEAR: JUST ANOTHER VERSION OF YOU,” the first documentary about the 94-year-old television legend, on DVD and Blu-ray. Largely responsible for the explosion of bold American television in the 1970s, writer/producer Norman Lear’s name is synonymous with the sitcom. 

With unprecedented access to Lear, his work and his massive personal archives, “NORMAN LEAR: JUST ANOTHER VERSION OF YOU” combines stories from his turbulent childhood and early career with his groundbreaking TV success (All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Good Times, Maude) and social activism. The documentary also features colorful stories from Lear’s family, friends and collaborators, including John Amos, George Clooney, Alan Horn, Bill Moyers, Rob Reiner, Phil Rosenthal and Russell Simmons, as well as cinéma vérité moments with Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Jon Stewart, Amy Poehler and Lena Dunham.

“AMERICAN MASTERS: NORMAN LEAR: JUST ANOTHER VERSION OF YOU” will be available on DVD and Blu-ray October 25, 2016. The run time of this program is approximately 90 minutes. The DVD SRP is $24.99 and the Blu-ray SRP is $29.99. The DVD and Blu-ray include over 12 minutes of bonus features. The program will also be available for digital download.

Breaking down the fourth wall to create an evocative collage where past and present intermingle, Academy Award-nominated filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady (Jesus Camp, 12th & Delaware, DETROPIA for Independent Lens) reveal a psychologically rich man whose extraordinary contributions emerge from both his personal story and his own self-professed childlike view of the world. The documentary traces how a poor Jewish kid from Connecticut started writing for The Colgate Comedy Hour with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, created All in the Family and became one of TV’s most successful showrunners. All character-driven, with theatrical sets and live audiences, Lear’s TV series changed not only the face of national television but the content of national discourse. Bringing provocative subjects like war, poverty and prejudice to 120 million viewers every week, Lear proved that social change was possible through an unlikely prism – laughter – and created some of the greatest moments in television history.


Co-produced by Ewing and Grady’s Loki Films and THIRTEEN’s American Masters series, “JUST ANOTHER VERSION OF YOU” doesn’t shy away from the controversies Lear stirred with his TV series and advocacy organization People For the American Way (PFAW). The documentary also highlights his later years touring the country with the Declaration of Independence and promoting his memoir Even This I Get to Experience, spending time with his tight-knit family, and developing new productions. “JUST ANOTHER VERSION OF YOU” had its world premiere as the Opening Night selection at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.

 “AMERICAN MASTERS: NORMAN LEAR: JUST ANOTHER VERSION OF YOU” is a production of Loki Films and THIRTEEN PRODUCTIONS LLC’s American Masters for WNET. Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady are directors. Suzanne Hillinger and Brent Miller are producers. JD Marlow and Enat Sidi are editors with a score by Kris Bowers. Ronan Killeen is director of photographer with additional cinematography by Sam Levy and Jenna Rosher. Michael Kantor is executive producer.

Major support for “AMERICAN MASTERS: NORMAN LEAR: JUST ANOTHER VERSION OF YOU” has been provided by the Jonathan D. Lewis Foundation with additional support from The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, Anne Ulnick Gumowitz, and Cheryl and Philip Milstein Family. Funding for American Masters is provided by The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Rosalind P. Walter, The Blanche & Irving Laurie Foundation, Rhoda Herrick, Michael & Helen Schaffer Foundation, Vital Projects Fund, Rolf and Elizabeth Rosenthal, The Philip and Janice Levin Foundation, Lenore Hecht Foundation, Judith and Burton Resnick, The André and Elizabeth Kertész Foundation, Ellen and James S. Marcus, and public television viewers.

 

AMERICAN MASTERS: NORMAN LEAR: JUST ANOTHER VERSION OF YOU

Street Date: October 25, 2016

Genre: Documentary
Run Time: Approx. 90 Minutes
SRP: DVD $24.99, Blu-ray $29.99
Format: DVD, Blu-ray

Bonus Features: What do a 92 year old Jew and the world of hip hop have in #Common? - Mary Hartman Breakdown - Mary Hartman Casting - Not Dead Yet - Bill Moyers on Norman Lear - The Shrink and Syndication