National Geographic Channel Re-Releases Before the Flood Commercial-Free Across Its Digital and TVE Platforms

WASHINGTON, June 2, 2017 /3BL Media/– On the heels of the Trump administration’s announcement to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Accord, National Geographic will re-release BEFORE THE FLOOD commercial-free and unauthenticated across its digital and TVE platforms as part of the network’s continued commitment to covering climate change. 

BEFORE THE FLOOD, the climate change feature documentary produced and directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Fisher Stevens alongside producer, Academy Award-winning actor, environmental activist and U.N. Messenger of Peace Leonardo DiCaprio, premiered last October on National Geographic in 171 countries and 45 languages as well as commercial-free on streaming and digital services, reaching over 60 million people worldwide and surpassing a record-setting 1 billion minutes viewed. 

Critics called the film “a rousing call to action” and “the climate change documentary Americans need to see.” So National Geographic is making BEFORE THE FLOOD available for free across its digital and TVE platforms for seven days, beginning today, June 2, through June 9. This includes Natgeotv.com and Nat Geo TV apps (iOS and Android devices, Apple TV, Roku and Samsung Connected TVs).

“This story is now more relevant than ever, and as part of our network’s ongoing commitment to engaging audiences in important global discussions, we are pleased to again release this powerful and important film for the world to see,” said Chris Albert, executive vice president, global communications for National Geographic Global Networks. “By re-releasing BEFORE THE FLOOD across our platforms, we hope to continue to educate the world about the facts surrounding climate change, and provide them with the resources and knowledge to preserve our planet, just as National Geographic has done for 129 years.”

Following the administration’s announcement yesterday, National Geographic Society and National Geographic Partners released a joint statement on the decision:

“We are disappointed that the U.S. administration has withdrawn from the 2015 Paris Agreement, the landmark climate change accord that committed the United States and nearly all nations of the world to take actions to protect and care for our planet. National Geographic has historically witnessed and documented the impacts of changing weather patterns on people and wildlife. Through scientific discovery and exploration, we have supported those findings and been a leader in educating the public about these profound changes.”

Next Thursday, June 8, BEFORE THE FLOOD will be among the six honorees recognized at the Television Academy Honors, which celebrates and recognizes programming that creates awareness, enlightens, educates and/or positively motivates audiences. 

BEFORE THE FLOOD was one of several high-profile projects on climate change National Geographic has featured over the past 12 months, including season two of the critically acclaimed series Years of Living Dangerously, the thought-provoking, ambitious, cinematic and Emmy award-winning television series from executive producers David Gelber, Joel Bach, James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger, devoted entirely to the impacts of climate change; and the one-hour documentary Sea of Hope: America’s Underwater Treasures, which followed iconic ocean explorer and conservationist Dr. Sylvia Earle, renowned underwater National Geographic photographer Brian Skerry, author and environmental activist Max Kennedy and their crew of teenage aquanauts on a yearlong environmental quest.

National Geographic continued to bring climate change to the feature documentary space with Water & Power: A California Heist, which included a companion limited series, Parched. Water & Power: A California Heist, directed by Emmy award winner Marina Zenovich and executive produced by Alex Gibney and Jigsaw Productions, unfolds like a real-life version of the 1974 film noir “Chinatown,” as it peels back the layers of California’s history of water manipulations. Parched, the three-part companion series narrated by Gibney, investigates water wars from West Virginia and Michigan to Syria and India. 

The network also has a new feature documentary, From the Ashes, hitting select theaters starting today in New York and Los Angeles. From National Geographic Documentary Films, produced by RadicalMedia, in partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies, From the Ashes portrays Americans in communities across the country as they wrestle with the legacy of the coal industry and what its future should be under the Trump administration. From Appalachia to the West’s Powder River Basin, the film goes beyond the rhetoric of the “war on coal” to present compelling and often heartbreaking stories about what’s at stake for our economy, health and climate. Premiering on National Geographic on Sunday, June 25, at 9/8c, the film invites audiences to learn more about an industry on the edge and what it means for their lives.

And on July 9 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, National Geographic will globally premiere the network’s greatest-ever natural event, Earth Live, a night of unprecedented live wildlife programming across National Geographic, Nat Geo WILD and Nat Geo MUNDO networks. Golden Globe- and Emmy award-winning actress Jane Lynch and Emmy-winning television personality Phil Keoghan will host the two-hour live broadcast. Earth Live is the first program of this magnitude showcasing the best of the animal kingdom in real time and in spectacular fashion. In the span of two hours, viewers will experience the adventure of a lifetime as they travel the world and witness how species respond to the powerful forces of nature in order to survive. National Geographic has also made BEFORE THE FLOOD available for free to schools and community groups across the country, with more than 300 screenings already taking place and more requests fulfilled each week. With today’s announcement, the network renews its commitment to provide the film and corresponding discussion guide (www.beforetheflood-livefyre.nationalgeographic.com/lib/pdf/BTF_Disc_guide_r2.pdf) to any organizations that wish to screen it (email beforetheflood@natgeo.com with requests).  

BEFORE THE FLOOD is also available for purchase digitally on iTunes, Amazon and GooglePlay and on DVD at ShopNG.com.

For more information, visit www.natgeotvpressroom.com or follow us on Twitter using @NGC_PR.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PRESENTS WITH RATPAC DOCUMENTARY FILMS 

AN APPIAN WAY PRODUCTION IN ASSOCIATION WITH INSURGENT DOCS AND DIAMOND DOCS

A FILM BY LEONARDO DiCAPRIO AND FISHER STEVENS

BEFORE THE FLOOD

WRITTEN BY MARK MONROE EDITED BY GEOFFREY RICHMAN A.C.E  BEN SOZANSKI 

ABHAY SOFSKY AND BRETT BANKS

CINEMATOGRAPHER ANTONIO ROSSI EXECUTIVE MUSIC PRODUCERS TRENT REZNOR & ATTICUS ROSS

MUSIC BY TRENT REZNOR & ATTICUS ROSS, GUSTAVO SANTAOLALLA AND MOGWAI

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS MARTIN SCORSESE ADAM BARDACH MARK MONROE AND ZARA DUFFY

PRODUCED BY FISHER STEVENS TREVOR DAVIDOSKI JENNIFER DAVISSON BRETT RATNER AND JAMES PACKER

PRODUCED BY LEONARDO DiCAPRIO DIRECTED BY FISHER STEVENS

© 2016 RatPac Documentary Films LLC and Greenhour Corporation Inc.

All rights reserved.

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About National Geographic Partners LLC:
National Geographic Partners LLC (NGP), a joint venture between National Geographic and 21st Century Fox, is committed to bringing the world premium science, adventure and exploration content across an unrivaled portfolio of media assets.  NGP combines the global National Geographic television channels (National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo WILD, Nat Geo MUNDO, Nat Geo PEOPLE) with National Geographic’s media and consumer-oriented assets, including National Geographic magazines; National Geographic studios; related digital and social media platforms; books; maps; children’s media; and ancillary activities that include travel, global experiences and events, archival sales, licensing and e-commerce businesses. Furthering knowledge and understanding of our world has been the core purpose of National Geographic for 128 years, and now we are committed to going deeper, pushing boundaries, going further for our consumers … and reaching over 730 million people around the world in 171 countries and 45 languages every month as we do it. NGP returns 27 percent of our proceeds to the nonprofit National Geographic Society to fund work in the areas of science, exploration, conservation and education.  For more information visit natgeotv.com or nationalgeographic.com, or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, YouTube, LinkedIn and Pinterest.

Media Contacts:
Erin Griffin, 202-912-6681, erin.griffin@natgeo.com
Kristin Montalbano, kristin.montalbano@natgeo.com