Viceland Greenlights New Series AMERICAN JUNKIE

VICELAND has greenlit a new topical docu-reality series AMERICAN JUNKIE inspired by and spun off from the independent feature documentary AMERICAN RELAPSE, directed by Pat McGee and Adam Linkenhelt, which recently premiered at the Rhode Island Film Festival and continues to premiere at the Other Venice Film Festival, the Louisville International Festival of Film and the Santa Cruz Film Festival. It is set to premiere September 12, 2018 at 10:00 PM on VICELAND.

In South Florida, which has become Ground Zero in America's current drug crisis, addicts from all over the country arrive daily looking to get clean but instead find one the nation's fastest growing and profitable industries: rehab.

AMERICAN JUNKIE follows two recovering addicts, Allie and Frank, who devote their lives to helping fellow addicts in their life-and-death struggle for recovery, rescuing them from the streets and helping them avoid the countless corrupt rehab facilities and sober houses where greed trumps treatment and Millennial addicts have become cash commodities.

"At VICELAND, we make shows that immerse our audience into environments and experiences," said VP of Current Programming and executive producer Patrick Moses "This show takes the current drug crisis BEYOND headlines and statistics and makes it human."

"Addiction is a faceless disease that does not discriminate," said Pat McGee. "We wanted American Junkie to speak the truth about the opioid epidemic - yes 80% of addicts will relapse, but we found a couple warriors in Frankie and Allie who don't give up on addicts. They don't care about the stats; they're out there dealing hope."

"Pat is an expert at blending documentary and cinematic storytelling," said T Group Productions head Jenny Daly. "He's taken a topic that is raw and tragic and captured it in a hauntingly beautiful way."

The series is produced by Viceland with Pat McGee Pictures and T Group Productions. Executive producers include Pat McGee, Ian Manheimer, Jaime Manheimer for Pat McGee Pictures, Jenny Daly for T Group and Patrick Moses for VICELAND.

Watch a preview here:

About VICELAND

Most TV channels are just a collection of shows - Viceland is a collection of personal points-of-view. Everything at Viceland has a reason to exist and a strong perspective. Our mission is to examine the world we live in, and explore the things that confuse us, make us curious, make us laugh, or awaken our sense of wonder.

VICELAND features series examining all things culture, including music, food, technology, sex, fashion and more. Oscar-winning writer/director Spike Jonze, co-chief creative officer of VICE Media maintains creative oversight on the channel which features diverse series from documentary style programming to shows hosted by longtime VICE personalities like Action Bronson and Eddie Huang and serves as an experimental platform for familiar faces like Ellen Page, Gloria Steinem, Tyler the Creator, James Van Der Beek and Michael K. Williams to explore personal projects while also breaking new talent like VICELAND's critically acclaimed first late night show "Desus & Mero."

About Pat McGee Pictures

Based in Los Angeles, Pat McGee Pictures is an independent production company founded by executive producer Pat McGee in 2013. As a Michigan transplant, McGee has been passionately telling stories in television for over two decades, both as a showrunner and creator. PMP has recently sold documentary projects to Viceland, National Geographic and A&E Networks. McGee has a unique area of expertise in developing and producing series in challenging and off-the-grid locations, including underwater, deserted islands, volcanoes, jungles and even the Arctic Circle. Previously, he served as Senior Vice President of Development and as an in-house Executive Producer at T Group Productions where he created and oversaw 24 to Life among many other series, and served as co-executive producer and showrunner for FILTHY RICHES (NatGeo). Prior, he spent four years at Bigfoot Studios, serving as Chief Executive Officer of Bigfoot Productions and overseeing production in Cebu, Hong Kong, Singapore and Los Angeles, and eventually transitioning to Head of Programming/Creative for Bigfoot's sister company, Fashion One Network. Throughout his long career he has developed and produced for a wide array of networks including National Geographic, Animal Planet, CBS, MTV, Style, Comedy Central, Lifetime, GSN, Bravo and Planet Green.

About T Group Productions

Based in Los Angeles and led by Jenny Daly, T Group Productions develops, sells and produces across all genres for broadcast and cable networks, both domestically and internationally, as well as digital platforms. Since its launch in 2010, the company has produced over 50 series, specials and pilots including over 100 episodes of MYSTERY DINERS (Food), STORAGE HUNTERS (truTV), A WICKED OFFER (CW), Hollywood and Football (E!) among many more. T Group's current slate includes the upcoming VERY CAVALLARI (E!) starring Kristin Cavallari, the third season of Ozzy and Jack's World Detour (A&E), Disney's Fairytale Weddings (Freeform), RETURN OF THE MAC (Pop), 24 to Life (LMN), Elevator Pitch (Entrepreneur Network) among many more. The company also has co-production partnerships with award winning producers Ann Roberts of Roberts Media and Simon Lythgoe of Legacy Productions as well as Jack Osbourne's Osbourne Media, Sunshine Sachs' sister company Madica Productions, Beth Greenwald of Wax World Media and EveryWhere Studios. Recently, T Group acquired digital house Big Boots Studio and established its own digital studio, T Group Media (TGM).

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