ABAMEDIA PACTS
DEAL WITH THE HISTORY CHANNEL TO PRODUCE "YANKS FOR STALIN"
LOS ANGELES,
September 29, 1998 -- Abamedia, premier creator and producer of programming
primarily focusing on Soviet Union and Russian history, has made a deal
with The History Channel to produce "Yanks for Stalin," a one-hour documentary
for the cable channel's intriguing series, "History Undercover," it
was announced today by J. Mitchell Johnson, CEO of Abamedia.
Before
the Cold War...before Nikita Khrushchev declared Joseph Stalin a mass
murderer of his own people...American industry was the key component
in helping "Comrade" Stalin achieve many of the grandiose goals of his
Five-Year Plans. He dreamed to create "the second America," with gleaming
new cities, dams, bridges, roads, mega-factories and mines, all to efficiently
exploit Russia's abundant natural resources - with the goal of 20% annual
industrial growth. So during the Great Depression, major U.S. company
executives, industry consultants, engineers, skilled laborers and even
citizen volunteers came to Russia to assist in this grueling, superhuman
effort that was called, "the greatest experiment in government and economics
in the history of modern times."
Produced
and directed by J. Mitchell Johnson, "Yanks for Stalin" is scheduled
to air in the Spring of 1999 and will feature never-before-seen images
and information from deep within Russia's archival vaults, making this
virtually untold story of Soviet/American history a riveting television
experience. This broadcast will answer several provocative questions,
including: Without this mammoth U.S. support, would Russia have ever
survived WWII's Nazi invasion?
In "Yanks
for Stalin," high-rolling American industrialists will be juxtaposed
with Yank volunteers who went to the Soviet Union to build "a society
that seemed to be at least one step ahead of the Americans." Viewers
will also see how these Americans received very special treatment by
the Soviet Government for their efforts, while the common Russian workers
lived under incredibly grim conditions. As one Yank said: "Men froze,
hungered and suffered, but the construction work went on with a disregard
for individuals and a mass heroism seldom paralleled in history." Ultimately,
when Stalin's purges of "foreign influence" cast out all Americans,
their monumental contributions were ignored, erased and replaced by
propaganda, which touted only the heroic deeds of Stalin and the great
Soviet people. They have succeeded in keeping their secret. Until now.
"History
Undercover," with host Emmy Award-winning broadcast journalist Arthur
Kent, currently airs Sundays at 10 PM, ET/11PM, PT, on The History Channel.
This historical investigative series reexamines, through new evidence,
facts, and interviews, a cavalcade of historical events, from the John
F. Kennedy/Richard Nixon televised debates during the 1960 presidential
campaign, to the sinking of the SS Leopoldville, to the "rape of Nanking,"
Japanese Imperial Army atrocities committed in that city prior to the
onset of World War II.
In 1996,
through funding by the Internews Network and USAID, Abamedia and their
Russian production partners formed AMP (Archive Media Project) and became
the Russian State Film and Photo Archive's official trade representative,
allowing them unprecedented access to the country's major image repository,
as well as other primary cultural, academic and governmental institutions.
Abamedia has also been awarded a grant (from a field of over 200 applicants)
by the Russian Digital Library Program that will fund certain aspects
of Internet and database software development for the Russian Archive's
digital catalog.
Based
in Fort Worth, Texas, Abamedia has been a leading producer of television
programming for and about Russia for more than 20 years, beginning with
the 1977 broadcast of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.
In addition to many other projects since then, another milestone occurred
in 1994 when the company co-produced Russia's first current affairs
program on Ostankino/ORT, entitled "Everybody's Talking," with ABC News.
In addition to "Yanks for Stalin," Abamedia is producing the four-part
documentary series, "Secrets from the Russian Archives," with filmmaker
William Cran of InVision Productions ("The Prize"), in association with
Devillier Donegan Enterprises and PBS, scheduled to air in the Fall
of 1999.
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