As the 2018 Hurricane season is underway, Discovery has put into production a feature-length documentary spotlighting everyday civilians who risk their lives to help others survive devastating storms. From production company Lightbox's multi award-winning team of Simon Chinn, Jonathan Chinn, and Suzanne Lavery, and directed by award-winning filmmaker James Newton, CAJUN NAVY follows a group of men and women who, when everyone else flees deadly storms and floodwaters, run towards it and do the work of saving their community and its people from utter destruction.
"These are stories of neighbors helping neighbors, of people relying on each other, of communities overcoming devastating obstacles together." says Nancy Daniels, Chief Brand Officer, Discovery & Factual. "We are really excited to shine a light on the Cajun Navy's inspiring work for our audience."
Simon Chinn and Jonathan Chinn, co-Founders of Lightbox and Executive Producers of CAJUN NAVY, add: "The Cajun Navy was born, spontaneously, out of one of the most devastating natural disasters in living memory in America - and the fact that it has endured and continues to rescue people every hurricane season is a testament to the need it fills in American life. This feature documentary will be a snapshot into a fascinating and little understood group of people in the deep South who are driven to risk life and limb to help their neighbors, regardless of religion, race or creed. We are very excited to be collaborating with Discovery to bring their stories into audiences' homes."
The group formed in 2005 in response to Hurricane Katrina. Hailing from all walks of life including fishermen, lawyers, pastors, and housewives, this group of boat enthusiasts - later known as the Cajun Navy - realized that their government wasn't going to act in time and mobilized out of a desire to help their fellow citizens. Even as armed police and FEMA officials ordered them to turn back, or face being arrested and even shot, they refused to give up. With unprecedented access to various groups operating in the area under the Cajun Navy banner, CAJUN NAVY will chronicle the amazing, spontaneous grass-roots rescue efforts from a movement that started during Hurricane Katrina and lives on today.
CAJUN NAVY is produced by Lightbox for Discovery Channel. The Executive Producers are Simon Chinn, Jonathan Chinn and Suzanne Lavery for Lightbox, with James Newton as Director and Laura Warner as Producer. Jon Bardin and Andrew O'Connell are Executive Producers for Discovery.
About Discovery Channel:
Discovery Channel is dedicated to creating the highest quality non-fiction content that informs and entertains its consumers about the world in all its wonder, diversity and amazement. The network, which is distributed to 100.8 million U.S. homes, can be seen in 224 countries and territories, offering a signature mix of compelling, high-end production values and vivid cinematography across genres including, Science and technology, exploration, adventure, history and in-depth, behind-the-scenes glimpses at the people, places and organizations that shape and share our world. For more information please visit www.discovery.com.
About Discovery:
Discovery, Inc. (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) is a global leader in real life entertainment, serving a passionate audience of superfans around the world with content that inspires, informs and entertains. Discovery delivers over 8,000 hours of original programming each year and has category leadership across deeply loved content genres around the world. Available in 220 countries and territories and 50 languages, Discovery is a platform innovator, reaching viewers on all screens, including TV Everywhere products such as the GO portfolio of apps and Discovery Kids Play; direct-to-consumer streaming services such as Eurosport Player and Motor Trend OnDemand; and digital-first and social content from Group Nine Media. Discovery's portfolio of premium brands includes Discovery Channel, HGTV, Food Network, TLC, Investigation Discovery, Travel Channel, Turbo/Velocity, Animal Planet, and Science Channel, as well as OWN: OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK in the U.S., Discovery Kids in Latin America, and Eurosport, the leading provider of locally relevant, premium sports and Home of the Olympic Games across Europe. For more information, please visit www.corporate.discovery.com and follow @DiscoveryIncTV across social platforms.
About Lightbox
Headquartered in London and Los Angeles, Lightbox is a multi-platform media company creating high quality non-fiction content for an array of distribution platforms. It was founded by two-time Academy Award(R)-winning producer Simon Chinn (Man on Wire, Searching for Sugar Man, Whitney) and Emmy(R)-winning producer Jonathan Chinn (LA 92, American High, Whitney). Lightbox's most recent release is Whitney, a major theatrical feature documentary directed by Academy Award(R) winner Kevin Macdonald, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival; The company is currently in production on Diagnosis (w/t) an innovative Netflix Original eight-part documentary series produced in partnership with Scott Rudin Productions and The New York Times; Weinstein (w/t) a theatrical documentary on the Weinstein SCANDAL which will also air on BBC 2; Tina Turner (w/t), a theatrical feature documentary which will tell the full story - for the first time - of global icon and undisputed Queen of Rock and Roll, directed by Academy(R) and Emmy Award winners Dan Lindsay and TJ Martin; Gypsy's Revenge, a feature length documentary for Investigation Discovery and FOOD EXPOSED WITH NELUFAR HEDAYAT (8x60') for US Network FUSION. The company has previously produced documentary series including Captive, a major 8-part series for Netflix about international hostage crises; LA92, an Emmy-winning feature documentary on the 1992 LA riots for National Geographic Channels; War Child - an acclaimed feature documentary on the refugee crisis for Channel 4; Absolutely Fashion: Inside British Vogue for BBC Two and The Traffickers for Fusion, as well as content for Xbox Entertainment Studios, NBC Universal's Esquire Network and ESPN's prestigious 30 FOR 30 Strand.
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