WOWOW Enters SACRED Co-Production with WNET

Continuing to ramp up its original production activity and international co-production partnerships, WOWOW, Japan's leading premium pay TV broadcaster, is teaming with New York based WNET, the most-watched PBS station in the U.S., to produce a new crowdsourced TV documentary titled "Sacred."

WOWOW and WNET intend to make "Sacred" the most inclusive and comprehensive movie ever made about humankind's search for the divine and take viewers on a spectacular journey through 365 days of spiritual life on Earth.

Using crowdsourced footage from around the globe, the final film will be a tapestry of footage depicting life's sacred moments from viewers' points of view, including major religious holidays in big cities around the world, birthdays, 'coming of age' ceremonies, weddings, pilgrimages, rites of passage, trips to holy or beautiful places, personal celebrations, prayers, rituals, song, dance, family traditions, something beautiful, uplifting, and unique, and any moment that can be called 'Sacred.'

The companies opted for a crowdsourced film because they want it to be personal, up-close and from the audiences' point of view - a truer encapsulation of what is sacred - and something traditional filmmaking could not capture.

All are welcome to contribute footage, which can be uploaded at http://sacredthemovie.org/

Submissions will be accepted through June 21, 2014. Professionally shot footage will be included in the film and interwoven with the submitted footage.

WOWOW will serve as co-producer of the documentary and oversee shooting in Japan and Asia.

Executive producers of the documentary are the president emeritus of WNET, William Baker, WNET Vice President, Stephen Segaller, and 84th Academy Award nominee for short documentary, Julie Anderson ("God is the Bigger Elvis").

No broadcasting date for 'Sacred' has been set at this time.

WOWOW continues to produce original content and deliver the highest quality entertainment under the concept of their corporate message "new encounter as you watch." Among the new documentary projects currently being produced by WOWOW (with international co-production partners) are "Cathedrals of Culture," directed by Wim Wenders and Robert Redford, and "Cameron Carpenter: The Rebirth of Majesty," directed by Thomas Grube.

About WOWOW

WOWOW is Japan's leading premium pay TV broadcaster with about 2.6 million subscribers and the first 24/7, 3 channel, full-HD broadcaster in Japan. With a focus on quality entertainment and exceptional customer service, WOWOW has seen seven years of continuous net growth in subscribers. As of July 2011, all of the company's subscribers are now on a digital subscription, which includes WOWOW's groundbreaking members on demand channel.

Listed in the First Section of the Tokyo Stock exchange, WOWOW's offering includes 3 premium Full-HD channels and a subscription streaming service:

WOWOW Prime covers a wide range of genres, including 7 popular overseas TV series per week along with our original series, movies, and documentaries. WOWOW Prime is also the official channel of both the Oscars and the Grammy Awards in Japan.

WOWOW Live brings exclusive live broadcasts of the world's greatest sports events along with live concerts and stage performances. Sports featured on WOWOW Live include the NBA, La Liga Española, LPGA, UFC, and more.

WOWOW Cinema carries output contracts with all major studios and a lineup of approximately 1400 movie titles from all over the world. WOWOW Cinema provides an experience to the world of cinema through a selective collection of movies.

WOWOW Members On Demand offers subscribers the ability to view our quality programming anywhere and anytime. The streaming service features live events and sports as well as popular series and movies.

About WNET

In 2013, WNET is celebrating the 50th Anniversary of THIRTEEN, New York's flagship public media provider. As the parent company of THIRTEEN and WLIW21 and operator of NJTV, WNET brings quality arts, education and public affairs programming to over 5 million viewers each week. WNET produces and presents such acclaimed PBS series as Nature, Great Performances, American Masters, Need to Know, Charlie Rose and a range of documentaries, children's programs, and local news and cultural offerings available on air and online. Pioneers in educational programming, WNET has created such groundbreaking series as Get the Math, Oh Noah! andCyberchase and provides tools for educators that bring compelling content to life in the classroom and at home. WNET highlights the tri-state's unique culture and diverse communities through NYC-ARTS, Reel 13, NJ Today and MetroFocus, the multi-platform news magazine focusing on the New York region.

The WNET family of companies is a major producer of broadcast and online media for local, national and international audiences, creating award-winning content in the areas of arts and culture, news and public affairs, science and natural history, documentaries, and children's programming.

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