Atlas Media Corp.

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Atlas Media Corp.
Company typeCorporation
IndustryEntertainment Industry
Founded1989
FounderBruce David Klein
Headquarters,
ProductsTV Series, TV Specials, Theatrical Documentaries, Web Series
Websitehttp://atlasmedia.tv

Atlas Media Corp. is a New York-based independent production company of non-fiction entertainment. The company was founded in 1989 by Bruce David Klein and produces television series and specials, theatrical documentaries, and digital web series for cable networks like Discovery Channel, Travel Channel, E! Network, TLC, Food Network, A&E, History, WE, GSN, DIY Network, Investigation Discovery, Style, National Geographic, BIO, SyFy, and HGTV—as well as national syndication and international distribution in over 100 markets worldwide.

For ten years in a row (2006-2015), Realscreen magazine has named Atlas to its annual "Global 100" list of the largest and most influential producers of non-fiction entertainment around the world.[1][full citation needed]

Television[edit]

Atlas Media Corp.'s projects have covered many genres of reality television including formatted reality (Hotel Impossible, Auction Agent, Big Brian: The Fortune Seller); docusoap (Playing with Fire, Big Sexy, Hot Listings Miami); docudrama (Breaking Vegas, Who Killed Chandra Levy?, Evacuate Earth, Alien Invasion: Are We Ready?); documentary (American Eats, It Could Happen Tomorrow, Mysterious Places, Exotic Islands, Things You Have To See To Believe); science and technology (Super Tools, Factory Floor); medical mystery (Dr. G: Medical Examiner, Skeleton Stories), wildlife (Maneaters of the Wild, Shark Terror with Stacey Keach), true crime (Stalked: Someone's Watching, Frenemies: Loyalty Turned Lethal); comedy (Phowned, How They Won with Mo Rocca; adventure (Everest: Mountain of Dreams, Mountain of Doom); light entertainment (Out of This World, Amazing People); food (Top 5, Extreme Cuisine, Behind the Bash with Giada DeLaurentis); Lifestyle/How To (Raising House, All Year Round With Katie Brown, Survival Guide, Romantic Inns); pop culture (Biography, Young, Sexy &..., Royal Families of the World, TV Game Show Hall of Fame); and game shows (Spend It Fast!, Bragging Rights, Beach Ambush).

Atlas Media Corp.'s programming has won numerous awards including multiple Cine Gold Eagles,[2] New York Festivals Gold Medals, the Genesis Award, and the James Beard Award for Best TV Food Journalism.[3] In 2009, its series Art Attack with Lee Sandstead earned an Emmy nomination.[4]

The company has produced numerous hit shows, include Hotel Impossible (for Travel Channel), Stalked: Someone's Watching (for Investigation Discovery), Frenemies: Loyalty Turned Lethal (for Investigation Discovery), Raising House (for DIY Network), Dr. G: Medical Examiner (for Discovery Fit & Health and TLC), Top 5 and Behind the Bash with Giada DeLaurentiis (Food Network).

In 2011, Atlas produced the television movie "Who Killed Chandra Levy?", which aired on TLC and was called "a terrific docudrama" by the New York Post.[5]

Theatrical Documentaries[edit]

In 2007, Atlas Media launched a theatrical documentary division to produce and release feature-length documentaries.[6] The first film from this division, Meat Loaf: In Search of Paradise was an official selection of the Montreal World Film Festival and was released theatrically in 100 North American markets in March 2008. The film is a portrait of the rock performer Meat Loaf, shot during the preparation for and beginning of his 2007 world tour. The film received positive reviews from The New York Times ("amusing"),[7] Variety ("revealing ... leaps off the screen"),[8] and many others. The film was directed by Bruce David Klein. It was released in association with Voom HD Pictures and IFC. The DVD was released by Universal in May 2008.

Atlas Media Corp's second theatrical documentary was Robert Blecker Wants Me Dead, which premiered at the USA Film Festival, and was shown at the Rhode Island International Film Festival as well as the Cork International Film Festival in Ireland. It received a Gold Kahuna Award from the 2009 Honolulu International Film Festival.[9] Its theatrical run began in New York City on February 27, 2009, and the film made its television premiere on MSNBC on April 19, 2009.[10]

In Fall 2016, Atlas released another theatrical documentary Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened [1] directed by Lonny Price, produced by Bruce David Klein, executive produced by Scott Rudin, and featuring Stephen Sondheim, Hal Prince, Jason Alexander, Mandy Patinkin and others was an official selection of the New York Film Festival. The film was released in theaters on November 18, 2016, to rave reviews—Entertainment Weekly called it "A Triumph"[2], the Washington Post "Heart-piercing"[3], Rolling Stone "Mesmerizing"[4]—and the NY Times said "a sense of wonder animates every frame and leaves you with a misty-eyed glow."[5] The film was included lists of the Best Films of 2016 by the New York Times [6], The Wrap, and Newsweek [7]—and is currently 94% "Fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes.[8]

In July 2021 Atlas announced that it had signed a deal with stage and screen legend Liza Minnelli to produce a feature documentary incorporating "lost footage" of Liza during her spectacular rise in the 1970s. The film is to be produced and directed by Bruce David Klein.

Digital & Emerging Media[edit]

Atlas Media Corp. launched its Digital & Emerging Media division in 2007.[11] One of their first productions was a series of webisodes for History.com to complement the History Rocks television special series premiere on The History Channel. Similarly, they produced a series of 2-3 minute pieces for The History Channel's video-on-demand (VOD) component to accompany the 2007 television series American Eats.

The division also produced its first series for Comcast's FEARnet online network in 2007, Rt. 666: America's Scariest Home Haunts. A new webisode was released every day throughout the month of October as part of a month-long Halloween stunt. In October 2008, they created Streets of Fear, also for FEARnet.

Other recent productions from the Digital & Emerging Media Division of Atlas Media Corp. include Expedition: Africa webisodes for History.com, Breaking Down for FUSE TV online, Path to the Podium and The Vote 101, for History.com, How to Beat Death for Discovery.com, and Total Beauty Makeover: Dog Edition, for Lifetime.com. The division also operates Atlas Media Corp.'s own online channel, the MUST SEE BELIEVE on YouTube, which features short videos about amazing people, places and events.[12]

Multiplatform[edit]

In October 2008, Atlas Media Corp. expanded one of its long-running shows, Dr. G: Medical Examiner, into a multi-platform brand, starting with Dr. G's book project How Not to Die: Surprising Lessons on Living Longer, Safer, and Healthier from America's Favorite Medical Examiner, published by Random House's Crown division. The multi-platform effort also included the production of a corresponding one-hour TV Special entitled "How Not to Die" for the Discovery Health network[13] and the development of the companion website HowNottoDie.com.[14]

Productions[edit]

Television shows[edit]

Theatrical Documentaries[edit]

Web series[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "About Us".
  2. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-07-05. Retrieved 2014-01-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^ 2000 James Beard Award winners
  4. ^ 2009 Daytime Emmy nominees
  5. ^ "No small affair". 29 April 2011.
  6. ^ Atlas Media Launches New Theatrical Doc Division
  7. ^ New York Times: That Dashboard Light Now Casts Its Glow on Nostalgia
  8. ^ Variety: Meat Loaf: In Search of Paradise
  9. ^ 2009 Gold Kahuna winners Archived 2009-04-25 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ MSNBC Acquires Robert Blecker Wants Me Dead
  11. ^ Atlas carries content to YouTube, others
  12. ^ TV Week: Check Out Atlas Digital's Business Model Archived October 19, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ Discovery Health's Dr. G Fansite
  14. ^ TV Week: Discovery Health's 'Dr. G' Rolls On

External links[edit]