HBO hails 'Taxi to the Dark Side'
Network picks up TV rights to documentary
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The pay cabler negotiated with Discovery Communications to assume the first TV run of the doc, which will now bow on HBO in September. As part of the deal, Discovery maintained rights to run "Taxi to the Dark Side" on its Investigation Discovery channel; those basic cable airings won't begin until 2009.
"Taxi to the Dark Side," directed, written and produced by Alex Gibney ("Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room"), focuses on the murder of a taxi driver at the U.S.' Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. The homicide is used as a backdrop to investigate American use of detention and condoning of torture in interrogations.
After it was apparent Discovery wouldn't run "Taxi" this year, HBO Documentary Films prexy Sheila Nevins said Gibney contacted her team directly to gauge their interest.
"We heard it was available, and now it's ours," Nevins said. "We're happy to put it on, especially before the election. When we see something we want and it's available, we go after it. It's raw, it's truthful, it's sad, and it's important for people to see. It has all the things we like in documentaries."
Gibney said he was concerned that "Taxi" might not hit TV screens -- where it would get wider exposure than in theaters -- this year.
"I was upset," he said. "This is a big election year, and these issues are important right now."
As a premium cable service, HBO is available in fewer homes than Discovery -- but Gibney said that fact was balanced out by HBO's ability to run "Taxi to the Dark Side" without any cuts.
"I suspect Discovery might have had to make some compromises because it's a basic cable network," he said. "I think it's well suited to HBO. They've got a great audience and attentive audience for documentaries."
Discovery had already paid a license fee for "Taxi to the Dark Side." Gibney, who had some harsh words for the cabler when it held off from running the film, said he's now pleased that the company found a resolution that allows it to be seen this year.
"It was not a pretty picture to imagine the film on the shelf during such a critical time," he said. "Whatever reason they had for not showing it this year, at least they found a mechanism to sell it to a pretty good place."
In a statement, Discovery contended that it didn't shelve the film at all and that the decision to sell a pay TV window for the film to HBO followed "industry standards."
"We are proud that 'Taxi to the Dark Side' will make its basic cable debut in 2009 on Investigation Discovery, the network dedicated to providing in-depth, thought-provoking programs that challenge viewers' perception on important issues shaping our culture and defining our world," the company said. "In the meantime, we encourage audiences to see this important film in theaters now."
"Taxi to the Dark Side," which was released by ThinkFilm, has earned heaps of praise, including a documentary feature nomination at this Sunday's Academy Awards. Other recognition includes the doc nod at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival and a Writers Guild of America award for docu screenplay.
