PASSION DISTRIBUTION PLACES BABIES BEHIND BARS FOR FIRECRACKER FILMS
May 27, 2011 - ITV1 is to show a two-part series about women inmates who give birth while serving time and keep their babies with them in prison. The 2x60’ documentary, Babies Behind Bars, is made by Firecracker Films and will be shown for the first time in the UK, following a successful broadcast in the US on Discovery’s TLC channel earlier this year. Passion Distribution brokered the licence deal for the series with ITV1 for its UK broadcast. Passion Distribution previously licensed the specials to ABC2 Australia, VMMA Belgium, M6 France, Yes TV Israel, TV3 New Zealand, Polsat Poland and Odisea Spain. Firecracker’s production team were granted access to follow the dramatic and emotional stories of a group of pregnant inmates at the Indiana Women's Prison, in the US, which runs a unique scheme allowing some prisoners to keep their children on the ‘baby wing’. With a 400 per cent increase in the number of incarcerated women in the US in the last 30 years, thousands of babies are born in American prisons every year, meaning competition for places on Indiana’s baby wing is fierce. Many prison mothers have their babies taken away from them 24 hours after giving birth, but a few lucky ones are permitted to keep their babies in the Indiana facility’s unique prison nursery. Featuring births, babies and often intensely emotional scenes, this series uses powerful personal stories to pose questions about how the American criminal justice system deals with women and children and how the bond between mother and child survives the harsh realities of life behind bars. Babies Behind Bars was acquired for ITV by Jo Clinton-Davis, Controller of Popular Factual, and Alison Sharman, Director of Daytime and Factual. Jo said: “The combination of remarkable access to this closed world, to the lives of female prisoners, and the visceral human dramas of giving birth behind bars makes for not only powerful viewing but talking point television with the potential to challenge preconceptions.” Sally Miles, CEO, Passion Distribution said: “Mark Soldinger at Firecracker Films showed me the taster to the stories and characters they had gained extraordinary access to and it lit my passion from the first frame! I was determined, with Firecracker, to make the show happen and work with such formidable producers on this show. They open the doors to extraordinary lives we haven’t seen before watching women in shackles giving birth and going through a process that potentially allows them to keep their new borns behind bars with them whilst they serve a sentence for up to 18 months and the other inmates become their nannies and carers! There are only a certain number of places for this pioneering scheme and it is an emotional rollercoaster as the mums-to-be position themselves to bag their place.” Mark Soldinger said: “After almost three years in development hopping from one broadcaster to the next, we were thrilled to finally see the show go out on TLC earlier this year. Giving birth in prison is surely one of the last taboos, but this two hour special treats the subject matter with respect and reinforces that there can be a positive outcome from a negative situation. I take my hat off to Passion for working so hard to get this show on the air and remain hopeful that Babies Behind Bars will go to series.” About Passion: Passion Distribution was officially launched by its founder and CEO, Sally Miles, in 2008. This unique, boutique and intimate style international distribution business represents great content and formats on behalf of UK and North American producers and broadcasters. London-based Passion Distribution specialises in popular quality programming and formats in genres including Factual Entertainment, Reality, Documentaries, Lifestyle, Game-shows and Comedy. Passion Distribution has exclusive distribution agreements with several broadcasters and production companies including Scripps Networks International, Sundance Channel and World of Wonder and works with many others both in the UK & US. Passion Distribution has built a catalogue with over 2500 hours in its first 2.5 years and is also active in pre-selling, finding co-pro partners and deficit funding. About Firecracker: Since it began trading in early 2003, Firecracker Films has produced high profile documentaries to critical acclaim and outstanding viewing figures, as well as innovative motion graphics, 3D animations and successful corporate campaigns for a wide range of blue chip clients. These include the BBC, Channel 4, Five, Sky, TLC and Discovery on the TV side and Sony, Virgin, Nokia, Avaya, Range Rover and Shell on the corporate side of the business. Using the latest in-house technology, we aim to provide the perfect solution to our client’s briefs and we are committed to making innovative, stylistic and sometimes controversial work that has become the signature of our unconventional brand of filmmaking. Press Contact: Faridazoubaa@passiondistribution.com Farida Zoubaa 0044(0)207 199 9204
