Starz Acquires Unprecedented Documentary Under the Wire About War Correspondent Marie Colvin and Photographer Paul Conroy

STARZ ACQUIRES UNDER THE WIRE FROM BAFTA-NOMINATED DIRECTOR CHRIS MARTIN

Starz Acquires Unprecedented Documentary <i>Under the Wire</i> About War Correspondent Marie Colvin and Photographer Paul Conroy 1

Documentary is Intimate Portrayal of Sunday Times War Correspondent Marie Colvin and Photographer Paul Conroy’s Journey from Inside Syria in 2012

Santa Monica, Calif. – April 8, 2019 – Starz, a Lionsgate company (NYSE: LGF.A, LGF.B), announced it has acquired from A+E Networks the feature drama-documentary Under the Wire from BAFTA-nominated director Chris Martin. Based on the book of the same name by Paul Conroy, Under The Wire tells the incredible story of his and Marie Colvin’s fateful mission – and Conroy’s epic battle to escape the city. Under the Wire will premiere on Monday, April 22nd at 9 PM ET/PT on STARZ.

“We are proud to bring this unprecedented documentary to our viewers,” said C. Brett Marottoli, Head of Program Acquisitions for Starz. “The authentic and unflinching filmmaking is a testament to the work of Marie Colvin and Paul Conroy who risked everything to illuminate the atrocities of the ongoing Syrian crisis.”

On February 13, 2012, Sunday Times war correspondent Marie Colvin and photographer Paul Conroy entered war-ravaged Syria to cover the plight of Syrian civilians trapped in Homs, a city under siege and relentless military attack from the Syrian army.

Trapped in Homs after filing their initial story from a nearby village, they were unable to leave their makeshift media center due to incessant bombing. There, Colvin reported live to international broadcasters CNN, C4 and BBC.

The next day, their building was directly targeted. Colvin and Remi Ochlik, a French photographer, were killed in the attack. A badly injured Conroy, his translator Wa’el, two other French journalists, Edith Bouvier, (also injured) and William Daniels, were trapped in a suburb of Homs. With the Syrian army closing in and their building taking direct hits, the journalists made desperate pleas via YouTube to the outside world for help. When a ceasefire was finally called, they were able to breakout through the frontlines and risk an escape through a mile-long underground tunnel.

The documentary features first hand testimonies from Conroy and the individuals directly involved, all recalling the harrowing story for the first time.

Directed by Chris Martin (The War on Democracy), the feature doc is a project from London-based indie Arrow Media, History Films in association with A&E IndieFilms, BBC Storyville and the British Film Institute (BFI) in association with Vice Films, and Arrow’s joint creative director Tom Brisley.

The 2018 Golden Globe®-nominated A Private War starring Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl, “Watership Down”) is based on Colvin’s life and ultimately her death while embarking on the most dangerous assignment of her life in the besieged Syrian city of Homs.

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